Nudging the front door open, Lisa cautiously looked around. All was quiet and there didn't seem to be anyone about, but she wasn't sure if she should feel relaxed or more anxious.
Like the apartments, the house was still fully furnished, further supporting her theory that all the town's residents had all suddenly left.
Lisa slowly walked through the front room, taking in her surroundings. Nothing was out of the ordinary, it appeared to be a completely normal sitting room, with two black leather chairs, a rather ugly pink sofa and a very seventies triple swag luminaire. The dining room proved to be equally boring.
Though she saw nothing important, there had to be something here for her to see or find, as the catwalk lead to this specific house. She was still questioning why she was here when she entered the kitchen and saw a note taped to the refrigerator.
Adam-
I have to work a double shift at the hospital today, I won't be back until really late. Could you do me a favor and pick up that electric train set for Trenton? Thanks sweetie!
love, Susan
Lisa disregarded the note, opting instead to investigate the cabinets, finding nothing special. She did notice another 'health drink' on the island next to the stove and picked it up.
"Why do I keep finding these? Furthermore, who would drink something like this?" she asked herself.
She searched the rest of the first floor, not finding any clues or hints whatsoever. The door to the basement was in the kitchen and was unlocked, yet she couldn't get it open no matter how much she tugged at it. It was as if somebody was holding it shut from the other side. Eventually she gave up trying.
"Alright, next stop, second floor." she said without thinking. It occurred to her that she was speaking just to hear herself talk. Just to hear something, as the silence was beginning to unnerve her.
She crept up the stairs, causing them to creak with each step. As she went up, she was overwhelmed by a repugnant smell drifting from above. It was rank and rotten, but with a tinge of sweetness to it. Lisa swallowed hard as she pinpointed what it was: decomposing flesh. It was an odor she was familiar with, as an entire family of mice had died in her bedroom walls several years ago. It was coming from the door to her immediate left.
She stood in front of the door for several minutes. On one hand, she didn't want to open it, but at the same time, she was overcome with morbid curiosity. She had never seen a dead body before, and while she didn't know if she truly wanted to, this might be her only chance. She decided to take a brief glance.
Turning the doorknob, she opened the bedroom door just a crack, barely enough to see. Sure enough, there was a body on the bed. It was swathed in filthy white sheets, wrapped tightly, with only the shins and feet exposed. Judging by its feminine frame, she concluded that it was female. She stared at the corpse's discolored feet for exactly two seconds before quickly shutting the door.
"Oh shit. I think I just found Susan. Get out of here, Lisa. Get out." she told herself. For all she knew, the killer could still be lurking about, stalking the area. After all, she knew the old saying, that a killer will always return to the scene of the crime to relive the memory.
She was about to turn and leave when she noticed the attic door was open, casting a soft, warm light into the hall and beckoning her to go up. Not bothering to check the bathroom or the other two bedrooms, she made her way up, and the stairs were so steep that she had to climb them on all fours.
Once she reached the top, she suddenly sneezed due to all the dust in the air. There were piles of ancient grey insulation in all four corners, and it looked to be the variety that causes extreme itchiness when touched, so she steered clear of it. All kinds of items where strewn about, from empty suitcases to long abandoned stuffed animals, each covered in year's worth of dust. In the middle of it all was an electric train set, with many extra cars laying about. Unlike most of the other items up here, the train set looked new.
Remembering the note she saw downstairs, Lisa bent down to examine it. The track was in a large oblong shape, and there was a control pad near her feet. A note was attached to it, this one written in blue crayon and scripted by a child.
Reading out loud, Lisa recited, "Mr. Jones needs to make a delivery to Mr. Tompson. He must take eight new cars, some Nitrogen, two herds of horses, an order of iron pipes, a shipment of couches and a place to sleep with the B-engine."
Setting the note down, Lisa examined the control pad. She fiddled with the power switch and cranked it on. Nothing happened. Even when she increased the power, the train didn't move. It wasn't until a few seconds later that she realized the problem, there was a piece of track missing. Since there weren't any spare pieces laying about in the open, she turned her gaze towards a large plastic container presumably housing more train parts. To her surprise, it was empty. She glared at the gap in the track and sighed. Of course there was a missing piece. Nothing could ever be simple.
"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"
"Gah!" Lisa shouted and leapt up, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sudden voice. Looking around frantically, she gripped her pipe, ready to bash in the head of the unseen intruder.
"Who's there? Show yourself! You have until the count of three to show yourself!" she threatened, hoping she sounded more intimidating than she felt.
"One...two..." Lisa fidgeted, getting ready to attack the human silhouette standing motionlessly in the corner. "Three!" she sprang forward, swung her pipe as hard as she could and felt it firmly connect to her target. It fell to the floor harmlessly, revealing itself to be a mannequin.
Immediately feeling foolish, she ceased her attack on the object. She was alone in the room, but she heard a man's voice, she knew it. She wasn't crazy, and there's no way she was just imagining it. Someone had spoken to her, and she didn't want to stick around long enough to find out who. For all she knew, it could be the same guy who had been shooting at her and Dallas earlier.
Trying not to think about it, she concocted a game plan in her head: Solve this stupid puzzle and get the fuck out. In order to do that, she'd need to find the missing track, and assuming it wasn't out in plain sight, she figured she'd search the creepiest place in the house first.
She walked back down to the kitchen and felt uneasy when she saw that the basement door was now ajar. It gave off a very foreboding feel, the same feeling she had briefly felt back at the Happy Burger. Only this time, it was more unsettling. There was something awful down there, she could sense it.
Gathering her courage, she flipped on the basement light switch, absolutely relieved that the lights worked. For now, at least. The way things have been going so far, she wouldn't be shocked if she was suddenly plunged into darkness at the worst possible moment.
Once she set foot on the concrete floor, she was bombarded with the stench of rotting flesh for a second time. "Great..." she slowly inched forward, passed the laundry area, into the storage area. There were three massive shelves one one side of the room, and all three of them were fully stocked with antiques of all sorts. On the other side, there was a yellow wooden door with a simple latch keeping it shut.
The closer she got to it, the more pungent the putrid aroma got. Unlatching the door, Lisa peered in nervously, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. There was another wrapped up corpse laying against the wall, this one was larger and appeared to be a male. In its lap sat one train track segment, the same curved piece she needed.
Lisa fidgeted again, trying to calm her nerves. Her mind was racing. What happened to the kid? If both of the parents were murdered, did someone kill the kid too? Or maybe...
"You can do this Lisa. He's dead. He's not going to care if you take the track." She tried to reassure herself, but her confidence was low. Awash with nervousness, she slowly reached forward, speaking to prevent herself from panicking. "You must be Adam...I'm Lisa. Pleased to meet you. I need this track piece, surely you won't mind if I take it?" her voice slightly quavered as she extended her right hand.
Closer...
Closer...
Got it. Lisa snatched the track and withdrew her hand, immediately stepping back and closing the door. She didn't waste another second, she sprinted up the stairs and raced back to the attic. She had the track, now she could solve this puzzle and leave.
She placed the track, completing the power circuit, then looked at the child's note again. It didn't make very much sense at first, but after analyzing it a bit more, she concluded that she'd need to switch some of the cars around. Specifically, she'd need to place the BNSF engine on the track, and hook up four cargo carriers, a tanker, two animal carriers, a flatbed car, a boxcar, and a caboose, in that order.
Once she had the correct cars hooked up, she turned the dial on the control pad, which started the train. It chugged along the track, with the engine releasing real smoke every so often. After it completed three circuits, the whistle blew and something dropped from the rafters, landing on the floor with a clink.
It was a key, and a very fancy one at that. Etched into it was the number 308, the same number as the elegant looking door in the apartment building. Lisa swiped the key and swiftly exited the house, not caring to look behind her as she went.
The demon birds were still clustered around the outer walls of the catwalk, but Lisa paid them no mind, instead proceeding directly back to the apartment complex. She shut the fire escape door behind her, actually somewhat relieved to be back in the moldy old apartment. Something about that home chilled her. She hadn't entered the child's room, which she was thankful for. Who knows what sort of grotesque sight would have awaited her in there.
As she took several steps forward, she saw a scrap of notebook paper slide out from beneath the door of room 312. She knelt down and gazed at it. It was hastily written and read:
'I can't take the pain anymore, and I beg you to kill me. I'll give you the bullet.'
As soon as she finished reading, one bullet rolled out from underneath the door, coming to a stop at her foot. She picked it up, cocked her head and stared at the door.
"What good is a bullet without a gun?" she asked, hoping the unseen person would answer.
The front panel of a nearby pipe box suddenly fell off, clattering to the floor and snagging her attention. Two handguns were stashed inside.
"Yes! Now that is what I'm talking about!" she bounded over to the box, picking up one of the guns. It was cool to the touch and relatively light, stocked with one full magazine. She had never fired a gun before, but with the monsters prowling about, she knew it would come in handy. Hoping she wouldn't need to use it much, she picked up the other gun and walked back to the room that Dallas was imprisoned in.
Putting her face against the bars, she inspected the room, looking for signs of her co worker. Though he was out of her sight, she could hear him blathering to himself.
"Dallas? Are you still there?" she called out.
The frustrated muttering ceased immediately and Dallas came sprinting from the left, clearly exited to see her. "Lisa! You came back! I thought you forgot about me."
"What? No! I didn't forget about you, I just had to make a pitstop." Lisa explained. "There's a really fancy locked room down the hall, and the fire escape path led to this creepy old house, where I had to solve some puzzle in the attic to get a key to room 308. That's not all I found though. Check this out." she showed him the pistols, pushing one through the bars. "One for you, one for me."
Dallas took the gun, carefully examined it, and traced his finger over the grip on the stock. "I've never fired a real gun before. I accidentally shot my friend in the leg with a BB gun once, but that doesn't really count." he admitted.
"Neither have I. At least now we'll be better protected. We're packing heat, how does that make you feel?" Lisa asked.
"Like a walking stereotype." Dallas answered. He spoke in a sarcastic voice, but wore a hint of a smile.
Despite her situation, Lisa had to laugh. It momentarily made her forget about their predicament, and she was tempted to blow off opening apartment 308 in favor of sitting here, talking to her companion. Before today, she had only spoken to him a few times at work, but she found that she really enjoyed his presence over the past two hours. Not only that, but she suspected that he was really starting to take a shining to her as well. He interrupted her thoughts by addressing her, effectively snapping her out of her daze.
"There's a window in the living room here, and a fire escape about fifteen feet from the window sill. It's too far to jump, but I haven't found any other way to get out of here."
"Hmm. Let me think a minute." Lisa mused. "I've got this odd feeling that there might be someone who can help us out in room 308. After all, someone wanted me to go through the trouble of getting that key. I just...I really hope I'm right about this."
"Yeah, me too. I'm going crazy in here. It feels like I've been in here for about a thousand hours, but in reality, it's probably been around half an hour at most. At least I'm safe. Probably, anyway."
"There's only one way to find out. I'm going to pay our friend in 308 a visit. Hopefully it will all go smoothly, then maybe we can find a way to bust you out of here. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" Lisa prepared to leave.
"Lisa?" Dallas asked, leaning against the bars.
"Yeah?"
"Be careful, okay? I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
Lisa grinned again. "I will. Don't worry about me."
With that, she spun around and strode down the corridor, key in hand. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was a little unraveled about meeting the mystery person. It was most likely an ally, but what if it wasn't? What if it was someone who wanted to harm or even kill her?
Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, Lisa slid the key into the lock and slowly turned the knob, inching the door open. Unlike all the others, this apartment was in excellent shape, and whoever was responsible for the interior decorating had high class taste. The furniture and vanities were high quality and appeared to be quite old, scenic paintings of lakeside architecture adorned the walls, and there were several shelves crammed with all sorts of books, mostly non fiction. Completing it all was a fully stocked mini bar in the corner.
The sound of liquid being poured into a glass met her ears, which lead her over to the parlor area. Lounging on the sofa was a well dressed, handsome African American man who appeared to be in his mid thirties, enjoying a glass of brandy. He was clad in a white long sleeve shirt, a black vest, black slacks and had a bowler hat tilted over one eye. Though he was dressed in classy yet old fashioned attire, his outfit had a bit of an urban flair, as he was also wearing diamond stud earrings and fingerless leather gloves.
He looked up, pleasantly surprised to see her. "Ah, I was wondering when you'd come by. I've been expecting you. My name is Angelo. Come sit down, so we can talk."
Upon hearing his voice, Lisa's blood turned to ice, and it must have shown on her face, as he quickly changed the subject.
"Are you alright? You look like you've just witnessed a murder."
"You're...you're the guy from the attic!" Lisa accused.
Angelo raised a brow, evidently puzzled. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I've been in here for quite a while. You must have been hearing things, miss."
"My name is Lisa. And I wasn't imaging it, when I was in that house, I heard your voice crystal clear. And the bodies...did you kill those people?" Lisa asked, not sure if she wanted the answer.
"Now what makes you think that? You know, it's fairly rude of you to barge in here and accuse me of a multiple homicide, don't you think?"
"If you didn't kill them, then who did?"
"How should I know? As I said, I was here. Care for a glass of brandy?" Angelo offered. He got up from the sofa, filled a second glass halfway and handed it to her.
Lisa declined and set the glass on a nearby table. No way in hell was she going to drink anything this guy offered her. She was smarter than that.
"No thank you. I don't drink."
"Are you sure? I think you do, Lisa. Perhaps some bourbon would be more your flavor."
"No, really. I'm good."
"If you insist." Angelo smirked at her.
Lisa shifted uncomfortably. This man made her uneasy, like he knew something and didn't want to tell her, and despite his calm demeanor, she couldn't decipher if he was hostile or not. She looked him over, and her uneasiness increased by tenfold when she spotted a revolver sitting beside him. Immediately, it all fell into place, this was definitely the same man who had fired off those shots earlier. Without thinking, she gripped her own gun and pointed it at him, catching him off guard.
"Keep your hands where I can see them, and don't try anything stupid. I don't want to shoot you, but I will if I have to." she said coldly.
"Take it easy, Lisa. Don't do anything you'll regret." Angelo spoke calmly, like he was fully accustomed to having guns pointed at his head.
"I think you had better start talking."
"What do you want me to say?"
"Why were you shooting at us earlier? I'd answer that question very carefully if I was you."
"I meant no harm, I just needed to separate you two, that's all, I swear. There are orders to abide by, and I must follow them. I'm not a bad guy, as a matter of fact, I think you'll find me very useful, weather you realize it or not. Now, I'd love to continue this conversation, but there are places I need to be." Swallowing the rest of the brandy and picking up his gun, Angelo stood up and ambled over to the door. "You can stop pointing that gun at me now. Shooting me would be a big mistake."
"Perhaps, but I think you can see where I'm coming from. How can I trust you not to blow my head off with that hand cannon of yours?" Lisa asked.
"Don't worry. The only heads I'll be blowing off are demon heads. Speaking of which, there's another clip of handgun ammo in my desk, feel free to take it if you'd like." Angelo offered politely.
"Alright." Lisa lowered her gun. She still didn't trust him at all, but figured it would be best if she kept that thought to herself.
"I've got to run, perhaps we'll cross paths in the near future." he moved towards the doorway and put his hand on the knob. "Oh, and Lisa?"
"Yeah?"
"I'll see to it that Dallas gets out of confinement." he walked out and shut the door behind him before Lisa had the chance to speak.
"Hey, wait! How do you know his name?" she called, following after him. "Wait up, answer my question!"
She looked up and down the hall, but he was already gone. "Son of a bitch. Where did he go?" Defeated, she slunk back into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. Upon searching the desk, she learned that Angelo had been telling the truth, there was a clip in the center drawer. As she dropped it into her purse, she was startled by the sudden blaring of an air horn. It was relatively quiet at first, but steadily got louder as the seconds went by.
"What the hell?" she ran over to the window to investigate and saw that it was rapidly getting darker outside. "Oh crap. This isn't good. Time to go."
Lisa stealthily walked towards the exit, only to be taken aback by a strange dark liquid dripping out of the keyhole. At first glance she mistook it for blood, but this liquid was thicker and black. It began to snake in from below the doorframe, and Lisa instinctively backed away from it. The stuff began to ooze from receptacles, trickling down the cords, it dripped from light fixtures, and shot up in spurts from the drain in the kitchen sink. Out of everything she had seen so far, this ranked the highest on the can't possibly be real meter, and she had a feeling that it might dissolve her flesh or engulf her if she touched it.
Thoroughly terrified, Lisa jumped up on the sofa to avoid the black ooze that slowly crept towards her.
"What the fuck?! What IS this?" she tried to recline as far back to the wall as she could, hoping that it would open up and take her someplace safe.
She felt something wet and slightly warm touch her hand, and she jerked away upon realizing the stuff was now streaming down the wall. She had some on her right hand, and was only slightly relieved that it didn't burn her.
The air horn was still wailing, now louder than ever, and Lisa barely heard the rumbles and cracks coming from the north wall. The whole room seemed to shake, sending her into adrenaline overload mode. She flew over to the door, only to find it locked. Not letting that stop her, she began pounding on its surface, getting her hands coated with the strange black substance in the process.
"Let me out! Angelo, open the door! NOW! Get me out of here!" Lisa shouted until her throat stung, and banged on the door to no avail.
Her tirade was interrupted as an explosion rocked the room, showering chunks of plaster and wood all over the place and sending her toppling onto the floor. Looking behind her in a panic, she saw that a section of the wall had blown up, revealing another hallway behind it.
Once the dust settled, everything suddenly went deathly quiet. It was so quiet that she could almost hear her erratic heartbeat. For several minutes, she sat on the floor, unmoving. Finally she picked herself up, unsteadily walked over to the ruined wall and looked around with extreme caution. Equipping her gun again, she stepped into the new area and was afraid yet awestruck. This couldn't possibly be a section of the apartment, it was almost as if she had traveled to a completely different place. Or rather, as if the world had shifted around and brought a place to her.
The hall was a drab white, with water damage covering most of the peeling wall paper. Pipes ran across the ceiling, dripping stagnant water, which collected on the floor in murky pools. The floor itself was noticeably the most striking feature, as it was made of filthy glass. Molded inside it was a collection of bones, some from humans and some from animals, each one with a numbered tag tied to it.
The sound of wood snapping and bending became apparent, as the walls themselves undulated in waves like they were made of liquid. At the peak of a wave, cracks formed, and the wood splintered, causing hundreds of worms, flies, beetles and maggots to come pouring out.
Lisa leapt back just in time to avoid getting swarmed. The hall was quickly filling with hideous, oversized insects, so she ran down the corridor to get away from them. There was only one way to go, so she ran forward, not noticing the sudden static coming from her phone.
A horse demon intercepted her from around the bend, smashing its large head into her and knocking her flat on her back. Her gun went flying, but due to her quick reflexes, she jumped up and dodged the attack just as the monster brought its front hooves down, the fleshy fez on its face mask grazing her arm in the process. She scrambled away from it, retrieved her gun, and tried to line up a head shot. She only had about a second to make her move, so she fired somewhat blindly. Thankfully, the bullet pierced one of its hind legs, crippling it. The monster moaned in agony and fell down in pain, giving her time to run.
Lisa tore down the hall, barely noticing as the white walls gave away to blood tinged chain link intersected with barbed wire with blackness outside and below it. There were fans coming up from the darkness, all of them with the blades bent in every direction. Yet somehow, they still turned. Behind the distorted industrial fans, she could make out the forms of some kinds of objects tied up with ropes and suspended over the abyss. They looked like large, heavy bags and some of them were moving a bit.
Lisa guessed that they were body bags containing not quite dead victims, but she wasn't going to stick around to investigate. Her mind was in overdrive, she didn't even know what to think at the moment, all she knew was that she had to get out of this place.
She ran until the hall abruptly ended, presenting her with a ladder. It was basked in a vibrant red light, almost like a darkroom, but there was no clear light source.
She began to climb, taking note of the bizarre interior decor that adorned the walls. Every few feet, there were loops of razor wire, each one with a crucified toy in the center. Dolls, stuffed animals, action figures and the like, all with spikes driven through their hands and feet.
There was a little alcove to her left, so she jumped into it. Being about six feet by six feet, there was ample room for her to stand. One of the walls was entirely glass, so she peered in, captivated by what she saw in front of her. A very normal looking, well lit American style kitchen lay beyond it, and there was a distressed looking teenage boy, seventeen or eighteen at most, standing in front of the stove island. He was of average build, had short blonde hair and was wearing a flat brimmed hat cocked slightly to the side. Lisa banged on the glass to get his attention. He looked at her for a split second, then looked forward again.
Just as Lisa was about to question why, they came into her view. Monsters, three of them, had this kid cornered, and she audibly screamed when she got a good look at them. From the neck down, they looked like regular men, clad in black suits with red ties, but their heads were grotesque, misshapen and tumor like. They didn't have any recognizable facial features, and their heads were split in half right down the middle, revealing a vertical mouth lined with sharp teeth. Worst of all, each one wielded a gun.
Lisa heard low mumbling sounds emanating from the room and realized they were coming from the monsters. Were they capable of speech? They seemed to be speaking to the kid or communicating with him in some way, as he was clearly resisting their words.
He shook his head and said something to them, but Lisa couldn't hear what. It obviously upset them, as one of the monsters raised its gun, aiming at him. The kid tried to bolt, but a shot rang out and he fell to his knees in agony, having taken a bullet to the leg. The second monster fired, the bullet tearing through his torso and bloodying the surrounding area. The boy was on the ground now, crawling towards the glass. His eyes met with Lisa's, and her own eyes widened as the final monster stood over him. She knew what was about to happen, but there was nothing she could do. Knowing its victim wouldn't get very far, the monster took its time lining up the shot. Finally, it fired an execution style kill shot into the boy's head, sending blood and brain fragments splattering onto the glass.
Lisa gasped in horror and clamped her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. Unfortunately, she was detected anyway. One of the horrible monstrosities approached the glass, causing her to almost choke on her breath.
Before she could aim her gun, it twitched, suddenly pounding its fist on the glass and causing Lisa to flinch.
It saw her.
Even though it had no eyes, Lisa knew it was aware of her presence. A few seconds passed before it moved again. Instead of attacking, it made a motion to the other two. The three beings turned on their heels and walked away, disappearing into the shadows.
Lisa sighed in relief, overjoyed that the things had departed. Deeming it safe to move, she resumed climbing the ladder, taking one last look into the room out of morbid curiosity. The deceased teenager was laying face down in several growing pools of his own blood. Since this marked the third corpse she had seen today, it wasn't quite as shocking, but it still disgusted her. She had never seen the kid before, but nobody deserved to get blown away in such a brutal fashion.
She reached the top of the ladder, finding herself standing in front of a set of elaborate double doors. Surprisingly, they opened with ease, and she looked around in wonder at the cavernous new room.
It was a church, with very extravagant looking decorations and structures. A bright red carpet led down the isle, elegant chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and from behind the ancient looking organ, magnificent stained glass windows extending to the ceiling bathed the whole room in a beautiful multicolored glow. At least a dozen stone spires added to the epic feel of the room. Strangely, the rows of pews were all occupied by white retail mannequins dressed in fancy clothes, and there was a congregation of them on the church stage as well.
As she looked around, a nostalgic feeling swept over her. This church felt very familiar, almost like she had been here before, but she knew she hadn't. Her parents had dragged her to church every Sunday until she was fourteen, but never to one this extravagant. The summer before she started ninth grade, her parents had finally accepted that she would never be a believer and had stopped forcing her to accompany them to services.
As she neared the podium, the display on the stage became clear, causing her to grimace in disapproval. A ring of creepily pleased looking mannequins were seated around a makeshift gallows where another mannequin was hanging. A nearby sign identified the scene, 'A sacrifice to our God.'
There was an open scripture laid out on the podium, beckoning Lisa to read from it.
"Though anyone can be used as a sacrifice, the ritual is more effective if the sacrifice is a non believer..." she read out loud to herself. "Well, okay then."
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two empty chairs in the circle surrounding the gallows. Both chairs had a small card placed on the seat, reading 'These seats are reserved for Gavin and Jennifer S.'
Lisa froze then blinked several times, refusing to believe what she just read. Surely it was a typo of some kind. Those were her parent's names. They were religious, but no way were they into this extreme level of zealotry. They would never stand for the hangings of innocent people in the name of sacrifice. Surely, this had to be another example of someone playing cruel tricks on her. Lisa knew this, yet at the very back of her mind, she heard this nagging voice that they might have lead secret life, one they didn't want their daughter to discover.
Lisa shook her head and pointed an accusatory finger at the display. "It's not true. That's a lie! My parents aren't cultists. They would never do that, not in a million years!" she shouted to the emptiness, directing her anger towards the town itself.
"It's NOT true!" she kicked one of the mannequins over, whacked the head off another, tore the scriptures to shreds and tossed the pieces into the air.
Satisfied with the destruction, she followed the red carpet to the right. It lead out to another hallway. Perched beside the doorframe was a collection bowl, with a handwritten sign asking for donations. Lisa scowled at it.
"Yeah, I don't think so," she flipped it over and dozens of odd looking silver coins spilled onto the floor. They all had a strange symbol on them, comprised of a circle with a triangle inside of it. There were several small symbols between the two shapes.
Lisa ignored them and ventured forward. Upon exiting the church, she found herself in yet another nightmare fueled hallway. Streams of gravity defying blood flowed up the walls, where it collected on the ceiling and completely covered it. The floors here were glass as well, showcasing lengths of intestines underneath which ran from one end of the hall to the other. The appeared to have some sort of fluid coursing through them.
An empty, safe looking room came into her view. She entered, sat down in the corner and finally allowed everything to sink in. She tried to make sense of what was happening, but to no avail. There simply was no logical explanation for any of this and no possible way to explain it to a rescuer without making her sound like a raving lunatic.
Her day had began normal enough, but it all went to hell so suddenly. She was trapped in a ghost town crawling with monsters, met some suspicious individuals, killed a creature thought to be fictional, witnessed someone getting murdered, and was now a little suspicious of her parent's activities. To top it all off, she was stuck in an alternate reality where time probably didn't even exist with no way out. Not only that, but she had absolutely no idea if Dallas was okay or not.
Though it had only been twenty minutes since she last saw him, it felt like forever due to the other world's influence. She wasn't the type to admit to sappy feelings, but she was beginning to miss him and hoped that he wasn't in danger. After all, she didn't trust Angelo at all, and if he was alone with Dallas, she figured nothing but bad things would arise.
She thought about what she had last said to him, that there was no need to worry about her, and promising him that nothing bad was going to happen. It was nothing but a false promise, the most recent addition to her long list of failures.
She had enough. What ever she had done to get here, she wanted out. Truthfully, she wanted to curl into a ball and cry for her mother, but she refrained from doing so. She hugged herself and let her head fall back against the wall in defeat.
For the first time in her life, she felt truly helpless.
