Fun House

Chapter 3: The House

"Emily!" I screamed. Her name echoed along the walls of the room. I tried to stand up, yet my legs weakened and I collapsed back to the ground. A chain rattled behind me, the metal striking the calf of my leg. The other end of the chain connected to the wall, about 3m away. A dim light flickered, showing the contents of the room hidden in the darkness. It was a large, gloomy room, probably 10x10m².

"Welcome!" Shouted a voice in the distance. A overcast figure stood at the other side of the room, yet it's too far to make out the gender, or, even, species. "Welcome to the Fun House!". The figure emerged into the light. It was a man, tall with dark hair. He was wearing a frost white suit, a blood red cane in his hands. "Don't worry about your friends," He began, "they're safe in my care. Anyhow, to pass the time, here's a riddle. If I drink, I die. If I eat, I'm okay. What am I?" He asked. Was this some kind of game to him? I had been kidnapped, surrounded by removed body parts and now I'm being told to answer a riddle.

"I'm sorry? What?!" I replied, anger bubbling in my voice. "What the hell do you think this is? Who even are you?"

"I messaged you this morning, remember?" His voice sounded confused, as if I was supposed to know who he was. "It's Jacob? Don't you remember me?" He walked towards me. His walk was elegant, slow and gentle. I tried not to notice it, and I thought about the riddle he gave me. I closed my eyes, thinking all the possible answers. I kept them closed until I could feel Jacob's gentle breath on my skin. "Why? Aren't you beautiful!" He stated. I blushed, giggling to myself. I wasn't beautiful, I was far from it. My black, shoulder length hair drapes over my grey left eye. My favourite bright red lipstick covers my pale pink lips, and my big boobs and wide hips make me look bigger than I actually am. His hand touched my cheek, his fingers were so delicate and soft. My eyes opened, to see his cyan blue eyes stare at me. He inclined towards the padlock on my chain and disengaged the lock. "Come with me." He insisted. He reached his hand out, silently demanding me to hold it. I grasp it with eagerness, hungry for human contact. He held me tightly under his arm, balancing me up right. I smiled to myself. It'd been so long since anyone had held me in such a way.

"Why are you being like this?" I asked. As much as I had began enjoying his affectionate compliments, it baffled me as to why he was being so nice. I looked up at him to see two dimples forming under his lips as he smiled.

"I don't know, to be honest. Usually I'm not like this with people, I mean, you have no idea what I'm like with new people. But with you, it's completely different. I feel as if I have this connection with you. I know it sounds silly, but it's true.". We'd stopped walking by now, and we were just stood looking at each other. "My god, you really are beautiful." He declared. I turned away from him, making sure he didn't see the tear falling down my face. "Let's go and find your friends!"

Emily's POV.

The floor was cold on my snowy white feet. Although my fluffy One Direction socks were said to be thermal, I could still feel the bitter frost beneath my toes. I've been awake for 10 minutes, at least, it seems like 10 minutes, looking for an exit. I left Rachael and Olivia back where we woke up to look for the way out. Yet it has only recently occurred to me that going off by myself wasn't as good an idea than it was at the time I left. I wasn't far from where I woke up, probably 2 or 3 corners away. But I couldn't turn back now. I could already feel the light breeze of fresh air chill down my spine. Wait? A chill down my spine. My head turned to see a tall, shadow like creature hang over my head. I couldn't move. My legs completely froze in shock. Its long fingers reached towards my face, making me step back to a wall. I turned back round. I'm sure this corridor carried on when I last looked. The creature's fingers grabbed the back of my collar, pulling me back. I fell back to the ground, hitting my back on the old wooden floor. A loose nail dug into my skin, ripping a long cut in my skin down the right side of my spine. I shrieked in agony. "Help! Anyone help!" I screamed, even though I knew nobody would come. The creature had a tight grip on my collar, catching my long, golden hair.

"There's no point in screaming, no one will hear you. You're finishe-" His voice broke off and his grip loosened. I laid myself down on the floor and took a breath of relief.

"EMILY!" A voice shouted from behind me. It sounded like Liam. I rolled over, ignoring the excruciating pain shooting down my back. I looked up. It was Liam.

"Liam!" I cried, "Liam! I'm here. I can't move!" He came rushing over to me, fighting off the shadows that surrounded him. I felt his arms wrap around my skin, and he pressed me into his chest. "I can't move, my back, it burns." He smoothly lifted me from the floor, covering his hands with my blood as if they were a canvas.

"I'm so glad I found you Emily. Me and Jay found Olivia and Rachael but you weren't there. Then I heard you scream and I knew it was you because of the sound of your voice and then I panicked and I didn't know what to do and-"

"It's okay," I began, "You've found me now." I smiled at him, looking deep into his eyes. He was scared. You could see it deep in his soul. I pressed my hand against his cheek and pulled his lips towards mine. His kiss was gentle, meaningful.

"Emily! Liam!" Rachael shouted. She ran over to me and Liam, taking half my weight off Liam, carrying me like a queens chair. "We can't find Shauna. Have you seen her?" She asked me. Did she go off or something when she woke up to find an exit? What if that thing got her? What if she's... dead? A tear spew from my eye. "I'll take that as a no then." I shook my head. The pain from my back had grown so strong that I could barely speak without whimpering. I was carried into, what seemed like, a class room. The chalkboard had the date written on it: Tuesday 11th November 2014. November? It was October 29th when I fell asleep. I'm sure it was just a joke to make us go crazy. Liam laid me on my stomach on one of the desks and pulled up my t-shirt.

"My god Emily. What happened?" Asked Liam, worry in his voice. I looked up at him, trying to gesture what happened, as the words wouldn't come out. "Right, we need to get this treated as soon as possible. Jay! You and Olivia go out and see if you can find any medicine for Emily. Rachael and I will stay here with Emily. Rachael will stand with the door open so you can find your way back." Everyone nodded. Talking and a high pitched giggle travelled through the door. "Wait? What's that? Rachael, go check!" Rachael slowly headed to the door, grabbling a ruler of the desk to use as a weapon. Who ever created the stupid place really did make it look realistic. Rachael slowly opened the door, squeaking so high it sounded like a kitten meowing. A smile emerged across her face.

"Its Shauna, and she's brought a nice friend."