Chapter Three: Gripping Onto Life

Evelyn looks at us, as she continues to taunt. "What have you done to Amy?" Michael yells.

"Don't worry your pretty little head. She's alive. For now." With that, Evelyn disappears into the darkness.

Jeff tries getting up, but cannot. A pile of blood forms around him and it looks like he will not survive. He collapses on the floor, tired of trying. "Michael? What happened?" Amy says, waking up.

"Nothing. Nothing important, dear sister." Michael says, hugging her.

Poor Jeff, I think, as I run over to him. What am I going to do? "Jeff, is there anything that'll work to stop the bleeding?"

"I won't make it," he says, "stop wasting your time."

"No. I'm going to save you. You'll be alright."

I notice some cloth in the main lobby, and run over to get it. I start to shiver and realize that I am not alone. "Watson? Where are you?" I whisper, thinking its him. A hideous and loud scream is heard.

"It's Robert," Amy says, weakly.

I grab the cloth and head into the entrance room. As I wrap Jeff's injuries, I get a cold feeling, but shrug it off. Probably nothing. Maybe its Watson. I shrug it off. I hear Jeff laugh, but he then coughs. "What is it," I ask.

"I never thought anything like this would happen to me, or us. But here I am, and I don't even believe I am going to make it the whole night."

"Yes you are," Michael says. "Can you stand?"

"I tried, but it's useless. I'm injured pretty bad," Jeff explains.

"Alright then. You stay here. Amy I presume you would want to stay with Jeff. Do you mind while Isabelle and I go downstairs?" Michael says.

"No. Not at all. Right now I don't know what the hell is going on. So I'd love to stay put. Hey, I have one question though. What happened to Lisa? Where did she wander too?"

"She's around. Somewhere," Jeff says, while the rest of us look the other way.

"Oh great. Now she's lost too. Typical her." With that Amy gets up and walks over to Jeff.

The two head into the main lobby and sit on the couch. Michael signals to me, as he heads to the basement. Walking for a few minutes, Michael speaks up. "You know, ever since you showed up, things have been uneasy."

"What do you mean," I question him.

"Well, we had only been here for a short while and then you come, crashing in and now everything's fucked." Michael is mad at me.

"Sorry," I say, trying not to look at him. "Wasn't Amber missing before I came here?"

"Fifteen minutes into the house, we lost her. Then soon after, you showed up. How do I know that you aren't responsible for what's going on?"

"How can I be? You felt what killed Lisa. You saw something. There are other forces in this house, non-living."

"I don't know. Maybe you have psychic powers, or maybe it's your Cousin screwing with us. You never know, he could be a killer."

I'm about to say something, but he quiets me. "What?" I ask.

"Listen. Do you hear that noise?"

I'm silent, as I begin to make out some sound. First it's just a muffled sound, but it becomes a loud, smothered scream. Michael points to the left and we head to that direction. He carefully peaks into the room and I do the same, on opposite ends. Robert is there, lying down, strapped up. I cannot see his face, but I can see fluid. A man appears by his side and looks at him. He moves and an object is in his hands. He bends down and begins to cut and dig into Robert's face. He screams as he induces the pain. He removes something from Robert, as it makes a sickly suckling sound. He holds up Robert's eye.

The brown eye stares at Michael, its nerves still hanging from the cornea. Michael gags and turns away, walking up the hall. The strange man slowly turns around and stares at me. Oh Shit. He's gonna kill me. I began to panic in my mind. He wipes the blood away from the scalpel and vanishes.

"I don't think he saw us," I say to Michael, who has come back. He nods and walks into the room. "What are you doing? He might come back."

Michael takes a look at Robert and begins to get queasy. He rushes over to a tank and vomits. I walk in and go up to the table. I can see blood everywhere, as I get closer, I stare in horror. His face had been mutilated. Where his eyes had once been, were now empty sockets. He had no teeth and no tongue in his mouth. One side of his face had been cut open and you could see his brain. Parts of it had been cut away. The mad doctor had given him a Lobotomy. I glanced at his arms. They were cut open and displayed like his face. His veins were showing, as was the flow of blood. It was a nightmare. Worst of all, he was still alive.

"Robert? Can you hear me? It's Michael," he says. Robert mutters. "Oh God! How can you still be breathing?"

"Help me," Robert says, barley understandable.

"I...How? What can I do?"

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Amy and Jeff are on the couch, recovering. Jeff doesn't look too well. Amy looks exhausted. Both could have seen better days. Scratching is heard in the distance. "No more. Can't this day just be over already?"

"It's never over," Jeff replies, "we'll be here forever."

"Stop being so down. What is wrong with you?"

"We aren't going to make it. If you haven't seen, half of us are already dead. And soon it will be all."

"Stop being so pessimistic."

"I'm sorry if the truth hurts. You might not even survive. I'm not, so why bother trying to fight it anymore?"

Jeff, stop. You're creeping me out. If we all stick together, we'll get out of this alive."

"Whatever you say." Jeff stays silent for a while. He begins to get antsy. "How long has it been? They should be back, or have they been killed?"

"They're alive."

"Robert didn't sound like he was surviving."

As the two talk, the scratching get closer and louder. Soon the noise begins to pound on the windows. Amy becomes frustrated and Jeff is doubtful. "Shut up you crazed psycho. I know you are there and I know you murdered my friends, so why don't you show your face, you monster!" Amy yells.

The pounding stops. "You still think the murderer is human?" Jeff laughs.

"There is no such thing as ghosts. Yes there is someone else in the house."

"How do you explain all the odd things occurring tonight? Your absence? How you got here?"

"The events took place because the killer has a good imagination," she stops, "I can't explain what happened to me though. I must've blanked out. I guess I was really tired."

"Do me a favor. Tell everyone I'll miss them," he tells Amy. He then says to himself, "See you soon guys." With that, Jeff passes out.

"Jeff!" Amy cries, running over to him.

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"I'm sorry guys. Amber, Lisa, and Robert. Sorry you had to die like this," Michael frowns.

"Life is fucked up. It's just a cycle of dramatic events. You don't know when you're going to die, or how. But I guess I know what is going to happen to me," Robert says, trying to speak well.

Amber's spirit appears before us. She growls and turns away. When she appears, her face has become horribly disfigured. She comes after me. I cover myself, as she runs right through me. I want to take the effect, but I feel nothing. I open my eyes, and everyone is gone. Amber, Michael, even Robert. All that is left is the blood and his eye. It just lays there on the floor, as if screaming out to me. I realize that someone is missing. "Watson? Where are you?" I realized I hadn't seen or heard from him in a while. Was he pissed at me? "Sorry. Please come out. I need to talk to you." Silence. What was going on? I really wanted to go home. Lay in my nice, warm bed and stay there, sleeping for hours. But I had to face reality.

Time for me to head back, but what was I going to do about Michael? I was sure Robert has died, but there was no way for me to find out. Where was I again? There were so many twists and turns in this place, I was too confused. I began retracing my steps, when I saw a dark, red line on the floor. It was someone's blood, but I wasn't sure whose. I followed it and it led into a wall. It stopped there. Dammit. I thought. Add another point to the house. I heard a scream. It was Watson's voice. He didn't sound scared, but more in pain. I didn't know where to go. I heard voices surround me. I could point out some of them. Amber and Lisa were the first among them. Others I did not know. They had become one with the house. Their souls tormented forever in a place of horror. Whether you were dead or alive. I hoped the others, alive, were all right.

The noises came from within the walls. I could hear them tell me to go one way, or another. My instincts told me to continue down straight. "Isabelle," I heard him whisper to me. Odd, how I heard him whisper.

"Where are you?" I screamed. The house laughed at me. I even heard one call me pathetic. "Shut up you damned, cursed house," I say. I get hisses back at me.

It was a horrible sound to hear. Almost as though my ears would split. I turned a corner and saw Watson held up against the wall. A creature was holding him up. This creature was from one of the displaying cases. If you remember the child whose head was displayed open, well that was he. His soulless eyes looked at me. He had Watson pinned with pieces from Its skull. Watson's arms and legs were strapped with wire. The child held his head up. It laughed, children's voices filling the dry air. There was no blood draining out of Watson, which was simple because he was dead already. What was I to do? I could always chase after the ghost. But that was dumb, because it could easily kill me. I don't know. I ran toward the evil ghost, screaming with enthusiasm.