Alright, I changed this from complete to in progress. I can't promise it will be a lengthy but it seems as though their story wants to be told so I go with what the muse tells me. Hope you all are still enjoying :)

Song used is Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Chapter 3

"And it all started after I found this box in the basement from the previous owners," Carol finished telling him about everything that had happened since he left for work Friday morning. Well, everything except the part where she was bleeding out of her eyes. She didn't want to freak him out too much but now she wasn't so sure. He just sat there, not touching his food, staring at her with an expression she couldn't read. She didn't think he had even blinked in the last few minutes. "Daryl?"

His mind was reeling from her words. When she had said she needed to talk to him about something there was a million possibilities that ran through his mind but not one even came close to this. There had to be some explanation for all of this. Maybe there was a gas leak in the house he hadn't noticed and she had been exposed to it for too long. Maybe she was feverish causing her to be delusional. Though he tried to think of every rational reason for her spinning this ridiculous story his mind also went to the giggle he heard in the shower last night and what he thought he heard in the truck. He mentally chastised himself for even considering it. Ghost, spirits, the boogieman were all just stories told to scare someone.

Carol let out a long breath and twirled the ice around her glass with her straw. "I'm not insane, you know. You can't tell me that there hasn't been one questionable moment for you since we've been in that house."

"Shit like that ain't real," he finally spoke though his face stayed expressionless. He didn't want her under the impression that he thought she was nine shades of crazy but he wasn't sure how to fix something he didn't believe in.

"Oh, but your chupacabra is?"

Daryl's eyes left her face and flicked down to the burger sitting in front of him. "I know what I saw."

The waitress came over to their table to make sure they didn't need anything else and for once Daryl welcomed the interruption as he tried to wrap his head around Carol's words. He almost asked if Merle had put her up to it but the seriousness on her face told him that she truly believed what she was saying. Her eyes swam with the nightmares as she retold the story and as much as he wanted to reach across the table to grab her hand, offer her some kind of comfort, he couldn't move.

Carol asked the woman to box up the rest of their food and wished she waited until after he had eaten to tell him. She didn't expect this to be an easy conversation but if this little girl was after her for whatever reason she needed him to know. There wasn't even one other person in the world who could put her fears at ease the way he could.

"I think we need to get rid of that box," Carol spoke again as Daryl pulled his wallet out and left a few folded bills on the table along with the bill. "Maybe then it will all stop."

Daryl simply nodded, not having anything better to say at the moment but if getting rid of it made her forget all this then he would gladly destroy the thing any way he could.

X-X-X

The night was alive with the sounds of the crickets and tree frogs singing in harmony. The ride back to the house had been in silence both wrapped up in their own thoughts. Going home wasn't supposed to raise a fear in you so strong that it tightened your chest and closed your throat. It was supposed to be a sanctuary. The one place to go where you felt safe. Carol unlocked the front door but paused when she heard music playing. Hope you got your things together. Daryl stepped around her, flipping the light on and scanning the room for anything out of place. Hope you are quite prepared to die. With one look, never a word leaving his mouth, he told Carol to stay where she was as he went further into the house checking for intruders. Looks like we're in for nasty weather. The music playing through the house felt ominous and Carol only wondered if it was meant as a warning. One eye is taken for an eye.

When Daryl had gone down the hallway but hadn't returned Carol nervously chewed on her bottom lip. She knew he didn't want her to go further into the house without his say so but a chill ran through her. "Daryl?"

He came back with the radio in his hand as it started playing the song over again. He held the cord in one hand and showed her that it wasn't plugged in. "Shit don't make sense."

Carol finally stepped through the threshold and closed the door behind her, clicking the lock into place. "Nothing seems to make sense anymore. What do you say we get rid of that box, huh?"

"Alright," he nodded as he ripped the cord from the back of the radio, hoping the music would stop playing. When it didn't it only pissed him off more until he chucked it against the wall and it broke into pieces. Carol gave him a look but at least the song had quit taunting them.

She went with him to the basement and pointed out the box that had been in question. He could have picked it out easily enough from how worn it. He didn't bother to peer inside at its contents as he walked upstairs and straight out the backdoor with it. He dropped it in the old metal garbage can and lit a book of matches before dropping it in the container, watching as it set on fire. The flames danced around the edges, eating away at the horrors trapped within. After watching it burn for a few minutes he put the lid on to snuff out the fire.

He came back inside to see Carol standing in the kitchen with her brow creased in confusion. "What's wrong?"

Carol's head whipped around, searching the countertops before her gaze fell back onto the table. "I swear it was right here." She pointed to the empty table for emphasis. "Mrs. Hollis stopped by earlier to welcome us to the neighborhood and brought a pie with her."

"Who?"

"Mrs. Hollis. She and her husband, Marv, live next door. Told me about the family that used to live here. She was the one who confirmed that there was a little girl that used to live here. Well, twin girls actually and about the ribbons they used to wear in their hair…" she trailed off at the concern written across Daryl's face and an uneasy feeling settled deep in her stomach. "What?"

"Carol, we don't have neighbors."

Her hand immediately went to her cheek where Mrs. Hollis had patted her before saying she had to leave. "Of course we do."

"You were pretty out of it earlier," he tried to keep the worry out of his voice as she looked on the verge of panicking. "Maybe you dozed off and it was all a dream."

Carol knew that wasn't the truth. The woman had been sitting right in front of her. They had conversation, the woman had patted her cheek, and drank a glass of water for God's sake but wasn't about to argue with him right now so she slightly nodded. "Yeah. Maybe you're right."

Her gaze floated over to the glass she had washed earlier after Mrs. Hollis left and knew that there was someone here. Daryl wouldn't lie to her, he had no reason to, so if he said they didn't have neighbors that just meant Mrs. Hollis hadn't been who she said she was.

Daryl stepped closer, his thumb swiping over cheek as he searched her eyes for every truth her lips were too scared to reveal. "Sure you're okay?"

She closed her eyes at his touch and turned her head to kiss his palm. "I will be." She opened her eyes and forced a smile. "Think I'm just going to go get changed for bed."

Carol left him in the kitchen more worried than she would have liked but until she could figure out what was going on there would be no way to put his fears at ease. She was the reason those fears were there in the first place and she wondered if maybe there was something wrong with her. She pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it in the laundry basket before unbuttoning her pants. She felt a rush of cold air as if someone had walked past her and she spun around but no one was there. She could hear Daryl cleaning up the broken radio and fought down her nerves as she opened the closet to get her bathrobe out.

She slipped on the worn robe and secured it around her waist before searching for her slippers when she noticed a piece of wallpaper that had been handing off the back wall. She could have sworn she saw something underneath and was about to just forget it for tonight but against her better judgment she started peeling the paper away from the wall.

"Daryl!"

He was in the bedroom quicker than she thought was possible, his eyes quickly scanning her body to make sure she was okay. She moved into his side as she pointed at the words. The crimson liquid reflected the light as thick, sticky droplets moved down the paint towards the wooden floor, adding to the fear that was already eating at them.

Come play with me.