I Know What You're Afraid Of

Chapter 18

    It all happened so fast. Brad shoved Miles hard, sending him to the ground. Before anyone could step in, Miles was on his feet, launching himself at Brad. He tackled him to the ground and sat on his chest, throwing punches to his face. However, it wasn't long before Brad flipped them over. Now kneeling on Miles' stomach, Brad began punching him, hard.

   "Brad, stop!" Sydney screamed.

   Brad paused, only to glare at Sydney. "Shut up!"

   Miles coughed and choked on his own blood, pooling in his mouth from the gash on his lip. Marianne knew this was not going to end well. If Brad continued any longer, he'd kill him. Miles was strong, but Brad was - no doubt stronger. There was no way Miles would be able to have the upper hand, especially in this condition. There was nothing she could do either. She looked around, eyes landing on Ricky who's face screamed exactly what they were all thinking. 'We are going to die.' Surely they were if they continued to go at each other's throats.

   "This is your fault," Marianne whipped her head around to see that Gina hadn't stopped glaring at her. "You got in the way." She seethed through clenched teeth. Gina had her on the ground in seconds, throwing her off her rhythm. They rolled around, pinning each other to the ground, but never long enough to really fight. Out of the corner of her eye, Marianne could see Ricky and Sydney standing close together, watching both fights, clearly in distress, not knowing what to do. With Gina pinning her arms and legs to the ground, finally, she was stuck. She struggled to no avail. Something didn't feel right, and it wasn't the current chaos.

   Everything stopped, suddenly. It was quiet, the clock and heavy breathing being the only sounds in the house. Marianne was confused as to why they stopped, but then she heard it. The sound of rushing water. It sounded like it was coming from beneath them. She could feel the vibrations through the floor, getting closer and closer. The back of her head became wet and cold as the water seeped through the cracks of the wooded floorboards. The room seemed to fill up quickly. Brad jumped off of Miles and wiped his nose clean of blood. Gina didn't move off of Marianne. She stared down at her, a wild look in her eyes, hands wrapped around Marianne's throat, holding her down. "You are going to pay." That was the last thing she heard before going under.

   She gurgled, not being able to take a breath. The water made it easier to push Gina off of her. Though, someone else beat her to it. Once she was free, she sat up, gasping for air. To her left, she saw Sydney had tackled Gina into the water. Ricky ran to pull them apart from each other. The water began to rise quicker than before, now reaching her chest as she stood up. They each swam to a floating object, most of them holding onto a couch cushion. Marianne held on for her life. She knew what was coming, and this time she would be ready. Or so she thought.

   Miles swam over to her cushion, holding onto the other side. He looked her dead in the eye and said, "Hold on tight." He, too, knew what was coming. He dipped one hand under the water, and brought it back up along with one of his knives. At least someone was prepared. Marianne mentally rolled her eyes and sighed, relieved.

   The water stopped rising, and the room was quiet again, apart from the echo of their breathing. The silence was no relief. She tucked her legs under her, already being able to feel something wrapped around her ankle. Marianne looked to Miles, meeting his eyes. She held onto his gaze for as long as she could, before she was pulled under by that thing. "Mary!" She felt Miles' hand graze her own as he tried to grab her. She could hear their screams as they were each pulled under. The window illuminated the room just enough for her to see the silhouettes of the others, thrashing and fighting it. To her right, Miles struggled to break free. He gripped the knife and swung his arm down. The contents of the creature looked like black smoke under the water. Blood. Marianne could feel herself beginning to drown, and that's when she started kicking her legs as hard as she could. The thing just grabbed her other leg, dragging her down further, so her feet touched the floor. She didn't dare look down. If this was it for her, she didn't want that thing to be the last thing she saw. Slowly she slipped out of consciousness, and just as quickly as she came... she was gone.

   Goodbye Marianne Faith.

* Laughs and sips tea with Satan*