Escape from the Hell House

 "Here's what we're gonna do," I breathed in Therese's ear. She responded only with understanding silence. "He came in last night, so he's probably going to come in again. As soon as that door opens..."

I didn't understand why in two days, no one had noticed our absence or looked for us. Someone should have come knocking, riddled with concern and good intent and as close as the bathroom was to the front door, we would have heard it. It was true. No one had come for us.

 She seemed to accept my desperate plans. We waited there, prepared to act at any moment, for what felt like a span of years. When we finally heard the faint thumping of footsteps on the other side of the door, I tensed up and moved closer to the wall. I had no intention of dying here, but what I was bracing myself to do could very well end up killing me.

                                  

The creak of the door was drowned out by Therese's shriek as soon as Bailey's figure appeared in the doorway.

 As he switched his gaze to his shouting wife, I lunged on him from behind. My hands wrapped around his torso. My fingers grazed the cool steel of the gun as I summoned all of my strength to attempt to wrench it from his grip. He zoomed back and slammed me against the door, causing me to grunt and sink down to the floor.

 I gripped his ankle and pulled him down to my level. Before he could do anything I was on top of him, scratching, clawing, kicking, biting... It came to a point where I was not truly even there anymore. My primal instincts took over with one focus: getting the hell out of that house.

BANG!

 I recovered from the shock of the stray gunshot before Bailey and took the opportunity to pry it from his hands. I was on my feet in an instant with the gun in his face. I thought I heard a pitiful noise escape his throat, but I soon realized that the sound had come from a different direction.

 I couldn't turn around to look. I remained focuses on Bailey, but I knew that behind me, Therese was on the ground moaning in agony. The stray bullet that escaped in the middle of our struggle had found its way to Therese and I knew in my heart from that awful sound that she would die.

 "Yes... Do what you love most, whore," Bailey spat at me as he positioned himself on his knees, inching closer to my gun. "Take me... Kill me... That's all your good for..."

I knew what I should do, but still I wavered. He was my brother. Not my favorite person in the world, but my brother. How could I-

"KILL ME! KILL ME YOU EVIL BITCH! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!"

BANG!

 "THERE I FUCKING DID IT!" I wailed. I certainly had done it, and apparently my aim had been pretty damn good. What had once been my brother's head was now reduced to a pile of red glop strewn across the tile floor. Bailey's blood glistened in the fluorescent lighting as the puddle of red continued to grow larger.

 I sank to the floor in tears. Therese's already dead body laid on my left and my brother's corpse was on my right. I noticed that Therese's cold hand was reaching out for her dead husband, just barely grazing his shin with its icy fingers. That's when I heard a sound on the other side of the door. Someone else was in the house.

 A girl in an ivory nightdress stained with blood stalked through the doorway. I immediately recognized Jeannine, even spattered with gore.

"Oh Jesus," I gasped, lurching to my feet. "Jeannie, shit, we've gotta get you to a hospital... Come on let's go!" I made a move towards her to try to keep her from viewing anymore of the gruesome scene.

 

Her knees buckled down into a primal, tertiary position and a snake-like hiss passed through her teeth. I saw the eyes. Those dead, gleaming, red eyes. In an instant I had the gun in her face.

Click. Click. Click. No ammo.

It's funny how well your memory can work when your life depends on it. I remembered what Therese said about her encounter and I threw myself on her body and yanked her crucifix necklace from around her dead throat.

 

 I whirled around and saw the creature prepared to lunge at me. I gripped the cross in my palm and slammed it into her forehead. She hissed, spat, and screamed as I pressed it deeper and deeper, burning her flesh to the bone.

 

 Her body hit the floor with a thump. It was sickening to watch her writhe around, gripping her burning face. It seemed that she was in the throes of death (again) so I shoved her out of the way with my foot and dashed through the door I had longed to pass through for two days.

I passed by a large chest that had previously been used to barricade the door. I saw a black square sitting on the edge out of the corner of my eye and scooped up my cell phone without skipping a beat. I wasted no time reaching the large double doors, gripping the gold handles, and dashing out into the night.

 A gust of cool night air met me at the threshold of that hell-house. For the first time in days natural air swam through my nostrils and into my open mouth. It was more refreshing than any drink of water I'd ever tasted. I became acutely aware of the stench of death lingering on my borrowed sweater and I ripped it off. The cool, October air felt like the touch of an angel on my bare arms and shoulders.

I dashed to my car, threw myself in, retrieved the key from my pocket, dug it into the ignition, and I was off.

I didn't look back.

Not once.

You'll Be the Death of Me

 "UGH!" I yelled as pain shot through the right side of my body. I was trying (unsuccessfully) to break down the bathroom door. "Jesus Christ!" I panted as I pulled away from it, clutching my shoulder. "He  must've put something on the other side." I should've known that no brother of mine, as crazy as he may be, would be stupid enough to think a locked door could stop two grown women. If I could have possibly been out of here by now, I would have. It had already been a day, so I had already missed my meeting with Drake and Lydia. My chances at getting any answers were growing slimmer by the minute.

Therese said nothing in reply.

 Behind me, she was hunched over on the floor weeping. I knelt down beside her and stroked her back in an attempt to comfort her. She responded only by going rigid and recoiling from my touch.

"Look, we're gonna get out of here, alright? He can't just keep us in here forever," I soothed her, although the words were also for my benefit. In all honesty, my insides were bound up in a knot and, in my head, I was making my peace with God.

 "He can if we're dead," she whispered.

 

The door swung open just as she finished her sentence. Bailey offered no explanation as he stepped in, brandishing his gun and carrying a tray with several empty glasses on it. I could smell the alcohol rolling off of him. A single glass filled with a crimson substance caught my eye. It looked like red wine but... gloppier... thicker...

 Bailey moved me aside with the hand in the gun with it and moved closer to Therese who was now on the floor, trying to scoot away from the man who was once her loving husband. He knelt down and gently set the glass filled with the red substance next to her. In a flash, the rest of the tray crashed against the wall and glass shards rained down on the floor.

 "You earned your kill, demon," He spat at her. "Enjoy it. It's the last you'll ever taste."

I began to gasp, "Is that-"

 "Blood. Yes. Don't act like you don't know, hell-spawn. Don't act like you're not dying for a taste." He scolded me before returning his attention to Therese. "Stand up and drink so I can see."

 "Bailey, please," She whimpered, struggling to her feet. "It's me, baby, please. please-"

"DRINK IT, BITCH!" He bellowed, pointing the gun straight at her face.

Through her tears, she obliged and pressed the glass to her lips. She gripped it with both hands and moved it slightly back so that I could see the red liquid passing over onto her tongue. After only a second, she gagged violently and lost her grip on the glass. It made a crashing sound on impact that caused the poor, shaken woman to shudder.

"EVERY LAST DROP!" He hurled at her as he knocked her down to the floor as if to rub her nose in her mess like a dog. Before I could resist, he was on me. Holding me steady. Forcing me to watch as my sister-in-law lapped up her own daughter's blood off of the cold, tile floor. She knelt down and flicked her tongue through the death puddle. I could hear her sobbing and gagging with every movement.

"Get off me you son of a bitch!" I shrieked as I elbowed Bailey in the ribs. He let go with a grunt. I whirled around and once again, my face went the butt of his gun. I sprawled out across the floor, not unconscious, but stunned and dazed. 

"None for you tonight you greedy, whore," He hissed at me.

 I barely registered him leave the room as I attempted to get myself together. I glanced over at Therese who was now in full-blown melt down mode on the floor.

 I inched over to her, never quite able to completely stand up, and pulled her into a hug. We were all we had, and if we didn't figure out something soon, we'd have nothing.

Down the Rabbit Hole

My eyes flickered open. They shut again. They opened once more and I was awake. A wet rag hanging from a large sink dripped water onto my right hand. The white ceiling loomed over me as I grappled without my disorientation. Then I remembered. It was Bailey. The last thing I could remember he was babbling some psycho-nonsense and then... That's right. He had bashed me in the head with a pistol. What the hell was going on?

I didn't feel the throbbing pain in my head until I tried to sit up with a grunt of pain. I pressed my fingers to the side of my head and felt blood matted in my hair. It didn't really get on my face, but if I made it out of here I might have permanent staining in my hair. I reached for the sink, gripped the side of it for support, and pried myself off of the floor. I registered that I was in the bathroom as I hobbled towards the door. Of course. It was locked.

I turned around and jumped at the sight of a silent figure on the floor. Therese was facing away from me on the floor staring at nothing. I cautiously approached her, afraid she'd lost it, too, and quietly called, "Therese? What's going on?"

I went to stand beside her and she scuttled away from me to the other side of the room, not looking me in the eyes. I took a seat on the toilet across from her and just stared at her. The purple marks on her arms told me she had not come here by her own free will, either.

"Therese," I whispered calmingly. "Please tell me what's going on. What's the matter with Bailey?"

She turned her eyes to me and just stared. No expression, nothing to tell me she was even alive other than her intense focus.

"Listen to me good. Because I can't tell this story twice."

"Me and Bailey had just come home from the movies. Your car was still gone and we were gonna call you once we got inside. When we started for the steps... We saw it..." She paused as if trying to maintain her composure. "It was... a person. Or at least it was shaped like one... It was up on the balcony of Jeannine's room. The door was already opened and it was just... gliding through.

"Bailey ran in the steps ahead of me yelling 'Get the fuck away from my daughter,' and 'I'll kill your sorry pedophile ass.' I went inside after him and went up the steps to her room. By the time I got there, Bailey was just standing there... frozen in place with his gun. That... thing was on her. I can still see the blood all over that bed, and some ungodly fog was pouring in through the open door.

"When it started to get up off the bed Bailey was screaming, 'Get back fucker!' and shit like that. I glanced at Jeannine for a split second and I swear to god... That thing was right in front of us... It knocked Bailey straight on the ground. The gun went flying...

"For just a moment... I just stood looking at that thing... It was so dark, but its fucking eyes were glowing brighter than any goddamn light I ever saw. Then its hand was on my throat. I started to say a prayer... or maybe I was begging... I don't even know.

"But then something happened... Its hand had brushed my chest and then it hissed at me and crouched down like a big African cat or something... It slithered across the ground towards the balcony... It was making noise like it was hurt... I swear, Abby, the way that thing was moving... No person could move that way. It was like it had no bones.

"I looked down at my chest real quick to see what in the hell hurt it. I realized I was wearing my crucifix necklace. Y'know the one. With the emeralds. I called out, 'It's the devil! It's the devil! God help us!' and Bailey heard my voice and got up off the floor and scooped up his gun.

"I rushed over to the bed to see Jeannine... Abigail..." She stopped, tears streaming down her face, flowing in a line with her day-old mascara. "She was covered in blood. Her face looked like it had got the life sucked straight out of it... She had blood caked all around her mouth... I couldn't even touch my own baby... I threw up all over the floor.

"I collapsed on the floor, crying, and cursing god, and just going out of my damn mind. I yelled at Bailey, 'We got to call a fucking ambulance! Get me the phone!' But when I got up to run for the phone, he kept pushing my back down on the floor. 'What are you doing?' I cried. 'We gotta help her!'

"He screamed, 'WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU CRAZY STUPID BITCH? SHE'S FINE! YOU'RE GONNA WAKE HER UP WITH ALL YOUR FUCKING CRYING!' I knew he'd snapped right then. He started waving his gun around in my face and screaming... I don't even know what he was saying... none of it made any sense... But then he said, 'you're just a fucking devil bitch! You just wanna hurt her! You belong in hell!" and he started slapping me and then he grabbed my wrists, and I was fighting like a madwoman. I just wanted to help my baby... We fought all the way down the stairs and he tripped and fell... I ran for the front door. I had my hand on the knob... And then I felt his hand on my wrist again.

"And here we are now..."

Back To Black

 I flipped through my text messages heatedly. Nothing from Donny. Nothing from anyone. I didn't understand why he would just ignore me. If he was anything, he was usually quite vocal about his feelings and wasn't shy about letting anyone know about his anger. It was then, in my fuming, that I felt a presence. I whirled around. It was Bailey. He had a gun.

 "What do you want now?!" He bellowed at me. "Haven't you done enough you fucking bitch?! You think you're gonna hurt my baby girl? I'll kill ya first!"

"Bailey, what the hell?!" I screamed in terror as he waved the gun around, inches from my face, in the frenzy of a madman. "It's me! It's Abby, your sister!"

"You can't deceive me you devil whore!" He insisted. "I know what you are! I know what you want!"

"Bailey, STOP!" I shrieked as he repositioned his weapon. I found myself staring straight down the barrel of a loaded gun. 

"Don't you dare say my name," He spat at me. "YOU ARE DAMNED!"

"BAIL-" was all I could get out before his arm moved across my line of vision in a blur.

I barely registered the cold steel of the gun make contact with the side of my head. The world went hazy as I lost my footing and found myself floating... floating... floating closer to the ground. I looked up at the face of my crazed brother. The hatred of his face was the last thing I saw before the back of my head met the arm of the couch.

...

...

Perfect Strangers

 "We oughta call the police," Bailey told me after we had been seated and waited on in a nearby lunch dive. "That's vandalism or desecration or something..."

Although I was equally as unnerved by what I'd seen Mr. Pierce's sister doing to my mother's grave, I had a better idea. I didn't let Bailey in on everything I knew about the girl because I certainly didn't want him tagging along with me when I went to find out more about what I had seen.

"There's some really weird shit going on, Abby. I want you to come stay with us again tonight," He said to me. Bailey had never been an affectionate person, but he was the same way as all of my older siblings in the sense of being overprotective of me. They all still remember me as the little girl with chubby cheeks and pig tails.

 It was quite a long drive back to Bailey's place and I knew that there would only be just enough daylight to get to Mr. Pierce's apartment complex. I told Bailey that I just needed to go grab a few things from my place and I let him off before continuing on my way.

 I was dead on with my timing. The sun was low in the sky as the old minivan careened into place in front of the dilapidated apartments. My hands worked quickly to throw my messy hair up into a loose bun so that I could look halfway decent in front of Mr. Pierce. I then stepped out and strolled across the same crackled pavement I had walked on just a few days before when I heard my sister, Shawn had gone missing.

I reached the top of the steps and wavered for a moment before deciding which door it must be. He said he lived next to Shawn, so I headed for the old wooden door emblazoned with the number 12 in black lettering. 

I banged my fist against the old wood and called out, "Mr. Pierce I've gotta talk to you NOW! Open up!"

The door swung open in front of me to reveal a shirtless Mr. Pierce. Beads of sweat swam from the pores on his toned body, a clear indicator that he had been working out. I couldn't help but be a bit taken aback and my face must have given me away because he stood up a little straighter and I could've sworn I saw a subtle gesture of his eyebrows.

"And just what can I do for you tonight, Ms. Lawson?" He questioned me with a perplexed look on his face.

"I need to talk to you about your sister," I replied in a tone of voice that clearly said that I was not taking no for an answer.

"Get inside."

 "Well that would explain why she didn't come home last night," Mr. Pierce commented on my story of his sister in the graveyard. He was over in the kitchen making some coffee for us while we talked. He didn't seem surprised at all to hear about her strange little ritual, though. "She'll have to come home soon and we can talk about it then. I can tell you she's not going to like this. It's been just me and her for a very long time..."

"What are all these books?" I inquired, running my finger across the spine of an ancient looking hardcover adorned with foreign text.

"Don't touch those," He chastised me. "Those are Lydia's... She always knows when someone's touched her things." I supposed that was all the explanation I was getting.

 We waited for what felt like days in the cluttered living room. The sky was all out of light when the rickety door finally creaked open. Lydia stepped into the room and stopped dead with her eyes fixed on me. Her lids narrowed and she turned her sharp gaze to her brother who rose up from his place on the couch.

 "Why would you bring her in here?!" She shouted at him. "What the hell happened to keeping quiet?!"

Drake put his hands up as if to defend himself from his sister's sharp tongue. "Lydia, it's not like you think. She came here on her own, she says she saw you in the graveyard. Two of her people have gone missing. You need to tell her what you know."

 I got up to try and reason with her since her look of disgust only increased with every word out of her brother's mouth. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I don't wanna press charges or anything, I just want to know what the hell's going on here."

"And why should I help you?" She snapped. "You're a perfect stranger to me!"

"Well, I imagine that if your brother went missing and you thought I might know something you would expect me to help."

 Her expression softened and she glanced over at her brother. With a sigh of defeat, she threw up her hands and breathed, "Fine. But not tonight. I need to rest. Come back tomorrow morning... and we will talk. Say nothing about this to anyone."

I would've thanked her but she turned on her heels and disappeared down the hallway, presumably to her bedroom.

 "You should have my number," Mr. Pierce offered after she was gone. I pulled out my phone and created a new contact. I started to type out, "M-R P-I-E-R-" when he glanced at the screen and cut me off. "Please, you can just call me, Drake."

"Alright, and you might as well just call me, Abigail." I responded and finished typing his name into the phone. "I'll be here early. Don't go anywhere."

After our brief conversation I collected myself and walked back to my car. It must have been very late, but I hadn't though to catch the time when I had my phone out.

 There weren't hardly any cars on the road in town on my way back, considering the time of night. I headed up the stairs, found that the door had been left unlocked for me, and crept into the lavish house. I knew my brother had expected me back earlier, but the house was silent so I assumed he hadn't waited up for me.

When I reached the den where I had slept the previous night I kicked my shoes off and prepared to settle in. I thought about everything I had to do the next day. If I was going to be able to meet with Drake and Lydia in the morning I was going to have to be late for work... Then I thought of Donny. I hated being on the outs with a good friend, and seeing that it was really only about 11:00 I decided to just give him a quick ring.

It rang. And rang. And rang.