Chapter Four:
Inside The Horror
The creature looked at me, as I ran and it grabbed me by the throat. It's not true when people say ghosts can't hurt you. After what everyone, including myself had seen you know that people are lying. The creature threw my on the wall, hand still on my next, next to my Cousin. Looking at him I remembered a time when Watson was very happy. Our families had gotten together for a picnic and I saw my cousin laughing and enjoying himself, as well as others around him. He didn't know anything about the house. Watson was only eleven at the time, as I was six. It's odd that I can remember this, but it's really the only time I remember him happy.
--------------------
A man walked up to my Uncle and began to explain some things, including information about his father. I saw the look on his face, as he became saddened. He called his child over and did the same with me. "How would you like to live in a house, much bigger then the one we have? It's right by the ocean and the site includes some beautiful scenery."
"Wow! Really?" Watson was so happy.
He was clueless to what the house really hid. I hadn't seen him for a few years after that, but when I did, he had changed. No longer was he the happy-go-lucky kid I had once known. He had become shy and paranoid.
--------------------
I was knocked from my memories when I felt an object puncture my skin. The ghost was nailing me to the wall. Oh God. This is how Amber died. I wailed in my mind. I don't want to die like this. After more pins were placed into my body, the ghost grinned and walked off. I became questionable. Not only did it walk away, but also as I looked at the holes in my hands, there was no blood. What was going on?
Michael had wandered around the corner. "Michael," I yelled. He hadn't heard me because he continued to walk off. "Where are you going? I need your help." He stops and looks my way. "Yea. Over here."
"Quit messing around," he yells. He gets closer to me, until he sees me. "Isabelle? How the hell, did you get like that? I could barley see you."
"Something odd is going on. Get me down."
"Hold on a sec."
He goes off. "Where are you going? No don't." But he is already out of site. "Jerk. Just leave me here. Geez."
Watson has disappeared, but the tacks were still there. He reappeared before me, and started to help me down. "There aren't many survivors left," he says to me.
"Yea. Only four left, including myself." Watson nods, as the last pin is pulled out of me.
"We have to get you guys out."
"Watson? Why did you rent the house, when you knew it was haunted? Why did you do it for the money?"
"I can't explain my reasons. I guess I didn't know them, so I thought the spirits of this damned house would leave them be. I was wrong. I didn't know any of the people, and I had no clue they were related to the orderlies, until it was too late."
"I'm sorry. Listen Watson? Something strange happened to me. When I was tacked up there, why didn't I bleed? Why did Michael not see me?
"You really want to know why?"
"Yes. Please."
"I don't think you should hear this now."
"Watson. I need to know. Tell me. I'm asking you, Cousin to Cousin."
He sighs. "You know when you were picked up by that cloud of ghosts? You don't remember, but..."
"Yea. What happened?"
"You not only arrived here, but you died."
The words struck me, as though I had the wind knocked out of me. "No! It's not true. I'm not dead. I'm not! Oh Jesus."
"I'm sorry you had to hear this, but you wanted to know."
"Everyone else?"
"Only two left."
"Two? Who's alive? Who? He is silent. "Dammit Watson, tell me."
"Amy and...And Michael."
No! Jeff was dead. I had grown too attached to him. Even started to like him and he had died. I thought maybe, just maybe he was going to survive. I cried for the longest time. Refusing to believe that I was no longer amongst the living. Whispers began to arise in the air. I looked up and saw Jeff. "Oh. Jeff," I cried, "Your one of them. One of...Of me." I wiped away the tears.
"It's okay now. I feel no pain. I know that you had feelings for me. Don't worry, I'm fine." He says, trying to make me feel better.
"How can I be sure that your you?"
"You can't. I don't know how to show you, except I can..."
He moves towards me. I don't know why, but I don't move, nor do anything. He kisses me. His lips are gently on mine, as we embrace. His lips are cold. For two people that are dead, I have no idea why I can "feel." "Isabelle, stop. He is tricking you." Jeff extends his arm and pushes Watson into the wall. He goes completely through it. We are still kissing. I don't know what to expect, but soon things get blurry.
It's like watching a movie. I can see myself on the other end. I watch as the events of that evening are played in front of me. I watch as the black mass grabs me. I can feel a horrible pain as I am dissolving. The sensation is a burning feeling. I am then ripped from my body, the ghosts pulling at my transparent soul, as I float endlessly in the collection of ghosts.
Amber wandered down into the basement. Curiosity had gotten to the best of her. One of the patients met up with her. The child from earlier on. He grabbed her and climbed up the wall, to the ceiling, with her. There, he started pounding her to the wall. She screamed and screamed, as blood poured out of her hands and legs. With that, the ghost child took a knife out of his body and cut her open. He started to remove her insides. Taking her stomach and intestines out. What disturbed me most, is that he started to consume her body parts. The fact that she was still alive terrified me.
When Lisa died, she mouthed a word to me. That word was, "Your one of them." I wasn't though. I wasn't evil, and I didn't want to harm anyone. After I was shown the answers, I got to see everything that had happened in the past. All the tests and all the members of the Institution. It was so sad to see what happened. I got to watch the party that had taken place a few years ago. Watched as everyone was killed, especially my Cousin. I could have sworn they played that scene too slow for me. Just to make me suffer.
"You see now?" Jeff says, "everything you wanted to know about this place, is finally revealed to you." He stops kissing me.
"What do you want from me?" I am not satisfied.
"Become one of us. You have to understand that if you are to, you would be giving supreme power. Sure you'd have to destroy a few lives, but once we take control, you won't even have to remember, or have remorse. All you have to do is say yes and It's done."
"What the fuck? No! I don't want anything to do with you people. No, you...You things. Get the hell away from me." I try to run, but he holds on to me. "Oh Jeff. Fight it. Fight the evil. I know there is still some good in you. You have to. Please."
"Aw, I'm sorry but like I said there is no remorse or remembering once you are with us. So poor Jeff. I'm afraid that the person you once knew is gone and his new soul is here to stay."
"Mother Fucker!" I yell. Now normally I don't get this angry, but boy was I pissed, at what was going on.
"Too bad. I guess we'll have to take you forcibly then."
With that people appear out of the shadows. They're all the people that were involved with the party, that one dreadful night. I look and I can see each character. There is Melissa Marr, she is completely naked and is covered in blood; Evelyn Price, whom was seen earlier; and Steven Price, well he looked rather normal. What ever happened to Donald Blackburn? Since the ghosts never killed him, they never accepted him. But there were always exceptions. I explained to myself. All of the tragic souls are soon followed by Dr. Vannacutt.
"Tsk. Tsk," he snickers, "you should have said yes. Now you'll be tortured."
Every one of the ghosts walks into Vannacutt, as do several other spirits from within the house. Jeff joins them. Now's my chance to get away. How does Watson appear and disappear? If he can do it, so can I. But It's too bad that my plan didn't work. Air sucks me up into the dark mass forming in the house. Last thing I remember, before blacking out, is the laughing and hissing of several voices.
--------------------
I lay on a gurney, as I am being strolled across the room. Everything is blurry, as I make out figures. They then pick me up and sit me upright. I can feel them strap me in, tightly as switches are heard. A jolt of pain shoots through my body, over and over again. I am being electrocuted. When it's over, a doctor walks over to me. "Will the patient cooperate with us now Dr. Marr?
"I hope so. Let's ask her for ourselves." The voice of the woman was Melissa Marr. The man is none other then Steven Price. I can see them a little better now, since my vision has cleared up.
"Well, young Rylow. Can you be on your best behavior now?" Steven asks.
"What am I doing here?" I am groggy.
"Why your parents sent you here. You've been very bad," Dr. Vannacutt says, as he steps up to me. Hearing that voice, I remember what happened.
"No. My parents cared about me. They would not send me here. I'm not crazy. You're just tricking me." He growls at me.
'Flash'. I am in a tank full of water. I begin to swim, but can never seem to get to the top. I begin to get dizzy because I cannot breathe.
'Flash'. I'm in a room. It's the Barber Room, only it looks a lot different. There are lots of people here. Most of them are quiet, but few scream and cry. I notice a lot of them are badly injured. Most of them were test subjects of Vannacutt's. I get up and rush into the bathroom. I look at myself. I am not pleased. I have cuts all over my face and when I put up my shirt, there are more cuts. I start coughing and to my surprise, I start to spit out blood. Shit. This is what Vannacutt meant by torture. I wipe the blood from my mouth and head into the lobby. I walk in and everyone is there, including the guests from the party.
'Flash'. I am inside the mass of ghosts. They begin to push me back. I can barley make out what's going on. I can hear voices. "Oh Crap. Amy behind you."
"What the hell is that. I guess Jeff was right. There are ghosts in this house."
In the mass, Jeff pushes past me. His face emerges from the dust. "So now you believe me do you? To bad that it's too late to turn back what you said. Now you're going to die." He smirks.
"Jeff? No. What's happened to you?" I make out Amy's voice. I guess that Michael is the other. He must have made his way back. "Where is that other girl?"
"She didn't make it. I came back for her and she was gone."
Came back! Ha! You left me there to save your sister. I guess he had a good point I mean, I am already dead. Hands grab me, as I am pulled up. I don't want to go anywhere. I struggle, but what's the point. I get to the top of the line and Vannacutt is there, he uses his hands, which turn into tentacles, and he jams them into my body. Agh. That hurts like hell. Words start to come out of my mouth. I can't control it.
"Good move to save your sister and not a useless soul like me. I guess you could say, it was too late."
"I knew you were with them the whole time. The whole God Damn time." Michael yells.
No, no! I'm not. He's using me. Help! There was nothing I could do to stop this madness. Everyone would be dead and I was useless.
The creature looked at me, as I ran and it grabbed me by the throat. It's not true when people say ghosts can't hurt you. After what everyone, including myself had seen you know that people are lying. The creature threw my on the wall, hand still on my next, next to my Cousin. Looking at him I remembered a time when Watson was very happy. Our families had gotten together for a picnic and I saw my cousin laughing and enjoying himself, as well as others around him. He didn't know anything about the house. Watson was only eleven at the time, as I was six. It's odd that I can remember this, but it's really the only time I remember him happy.
--------------------
A man walked up to my Uncle and began to explain some things, including information about his father. I saw the look on his face, as he became saddened. He called his child over and did the same with me. "How would you like to live in a house, much bigger then the one we have? It's right by the ocean and the site includes some beautiful scenery."
"Wow! Really?" Watson was so happy.
He was clueless to what the house really hid. I hadn't seen him for a few years after that, but when I did, he had changed. No longer was he the happy-go-lucky kid I had once known. He had become shy and paranoid.
--------------------
I was knocked from my memories when I felt an object puncture my skin. The ghost was nailing me to the wall. Oh God. This is how Amber died. I wailed in my mind. I don't want to die like this. After more pins were placed into my body, the ghost grinned and walked off. I became questionable. Not only did it walk away, but also as I looked at the holes in my hands, there was no blood. What was going on?
Michael had wandered around the corner. "Michael," I yelled. He hadn't heard me because he continued to walk off. "Where are you going? I need your help." He stops and looks my way. "Yea. Over here."
"Quit messing around," he yells. He gets closer to me, until he sees me. "Isabelle? How the hell, did you get like that? I could barley see you."
"Something odd is going on. Get me down."
"Hold on a sec."
He goes off. "Where are you going? No don't." But he is already out of site. "Jerk. Just leave me here. Geez."
Watson has disappeared, but the tacks were still there. He reappeared before me, and started to help me down. "There aren't many survivors left," he says to me.
"Yea. Only four left, including myself." Watson nods, as the last pin is pulled out of me.
"We have to get you guys out."
"Watson? Why did you rent the house, when you knew it was haunted? Why did you do it for the money?"
"I can't explain my reasons. I guess I didn't know them, so I thought the spirits of this damned house would leave them be. I was wrong. I didn't know any of the people, and I had no clue they were related to the orderlies, until it was too late."
"I'm sorry. Listen Watson? Something strange happened to me. When I was tacked up there, why didn't I bleed? Why did Michael not see me?
"You really want to know why?"
"Yes. Please."
"I don't think you should hear this now."
"Watson. I need to know. Tell me. I'm asking you, Cousin to Cousin."
He sighs. "You know when you were picked up by that cloud of ghosts? You don't remember, but..."
"Yea. What happened?"
"You not only arrived here, but you died."
The words struck me, as though I had the wind knocked out of me. "No! It's not true. I'm not dead. I'm not! Oh Jesus."
"I'm sorry you had to hear this, but you wanted to know."
"Everyone else?"
"Only two left."
"Two? Who's alive? Who? He is silent. "Dammit Watson, tell me."
"Amy and...And Michael."
No! Jeff was dead. I had grown too attached to him. Even started to like him and he had died. I thought maybe, just maybe he was going to survive. I cried for the longest time. Refusing to believe that I was no longer amongst the living. Whispers began to arise in the air. I looked up and saw Jeff. "Oh. Jeff," I cried, "Your one of them. One of...Of me." I wiped away the tears.
"It's okay now. I feel no pain. I know that you had feelings for me. Don't worry, I'm fine." He says, trying to make me feel better.
"How can I be sure that your you?"
"You can't. I don't know how to show you, except I can..."
He moves towards me. I don't know why, but I don't move, nor do anything. He kisses me. His lips are gently on mine, as we embrace. His lips are cold. For two people that are dead, I have no idea why I can "feel." "Isabelle, stop. He is tricking you." Jeff extends his arm and pushes Watson into the wall. He goes completely through it. We are still kissing. I don't know what to expect, but soon things get blurry.
It's like watching a movie. I can see myself on the other end. I watch as the events of that evening are played in front of me. I watch as the black mass grabs me. I can feel a horrible pain as I am dissolving. The sensation is a burning feeling. I am then ripped from my body, the ghosts pulling at my transparent soul, as I float endlessly in the collection of ghosts.
Amber wandered down into the basement. Curiosity had gotten to the best of her. One of the patients met up with her. The child from earlier on. He grabbed her and climbed up the wall, to the ceiling, with her. There, he started pounding her to the wall. She screamed and screamed, as blood poured out of her hands and legs. With that, the ghost child took a knife out of his body and cut her open. He started to remove her insides. Taking her stomach and intestines out. What disturbed me most, is that he started to consume her body parts. The fact that she was still alive terrified me.
When Lisa died, she mouthed a word to me. That word was, "Your one of them." I wasn't though. I wasn't evil, and I didn't want to harm anyone. After I was shown the answers, I got to see everything that had happened in the past. All the tests and all the members of the Institution. It was so sad to see what happened. I got to watch the party that had taken place a few years ago. Watched as everyone was killed, especially my Cousin. I could have sworn they played that scene too slow for me. Just to make me suffer.
"You see now?" Jeff says, "everything you wanted to know about this place, is finally revealed to you." He stops kissing me.
"What do you want from me?" I am not satisfied.
"Become one of us. You have to understand that if you are to, you would be giving supreme power. Sure you'd have to destroy a few lives, but once we take control, you won't even have to remember, or have remorse. All you have to do is say yes and It's done."
"What the fuck? No! I don't want anything to do with you people. No, you...You things. Get the hell away from me." I try to run, but he holds on to me. "Oh Jeff. Fight it. Fight the evil. I know there is still some good in you. You have to. Please."
"Aw, I'm sorry but like I said there is no remorse or remembering once you are with us. So poor Jeff. I'm afraid that the person you once knew is gone and his new soul is here to stay."
"Mother Fucker!" I yell. Now normally I don't get this angry, but boy was I pissed, at what was going on.
"Too bad. I guess we'll have to take you forcibly then."
With that people appear out of the shadows. They're all the people that were involved with the party, that one dreadful night. I look and I can see each character. There is Melissa Marr, she is completely naked and is covered in blood; Evelyn Price, whom was seen earlier; and Steven Price, well he looked rather normal. What ever happened to Donald Blackburn? Since the ghosts never killed him, they never accepted him. But there were always exceptions. I explained to myself. All of the tragic souls are soon followed by Dr. Vannacutt.
"Tsk. Tsk," he snickers, "you should have said yes. Now you'll be tortured."
Every one of the ghosts walks into Vannacutt, as do several other spirits from within the house. Jeff joins them. Now's my chance to get away. How does Watson appear and disappear? If he can do it, so can I. But It's too bad that my plan didn't work. Air sucks me up into the dark mass forming in the house. Last thing I remember, before blacking out, is the laughing and hissing of several voices.
--------------------
I lay on a gurney, as I am being strolled across the room. Everything is blurry, as I make out figures. They then pick me up and sit me upright. I can feel them strap me in, tightly as switches are heard. A jolt of pain shoots through my body, over and over again. I am being electrocuted. When it's over, a doctor walks over to me. "Will the patient cooperate with us now Dr. Marr?
"I hope so. Let's ask her for ourselves." The voice of the woman was Melissa Marr. The man is none other then Steven Price. I can see them a little better now, since my vision has cleared up.
"Well, young Rylow. Can you be on your best behavior now?" Steven asks.
"What am I doing here?" I am groggy.
"Why your parents sent you here. You've been very bad," Dr. Vannacutt says, as he steps up to me. Hearing that voice, I remember what happened.
"No. My parents cared about me. They would not send me here. I'm not crazy. You're just tricking me." He growls at me.
'Flash'. I am in a tank full of water. I begin to swim, but can never seem to get to the top. I begin to get dizzy because I cannot breathe.
'Flash'. I'm in a room. It's the Barber Room, only it looks a lot different. There are lots of people here. Most of them are quiet, but few scream and cry. I notice a lot of them are badly injured. Most of them were test subjects of Vannacutt's. I get up and rush into the bathroom. I look at myself. I am not pleased. I have cuts all over my face and when I put up my shirt, there are more cuts. I start coughing and to my surprise, I start to spit out blood. Shit. This is what Vannacutt meant by torture. I wipe the blood from my mouth and head into the lobby. I walk in and everyone is there, including the guests from the party.
'Flash'. I am inside the mass of ghosts. They begin to push me back. I can barley make out what's going on. I can hear voices. "Oh Crap. Amy behind you."
"What the hell is that. I guess Jeff was right. There are ghosts in this house."
In the mass, Jeff pushes past me. His face emerges from the dust. "So now you believe me do you? To bad that it's too late to turn back what you said. Now you're going to die." He smirks.
"Jeff? No. What's happened to you?" I make out Amy's voice. I guess that Michael is the other. He must have made his way back. "Where is that other girl?"
"She didn't make it. I came back for her and she was gone."
Came back! Ha! You left me there to save your sister. I guess he had a good point I mean, I am already dead. Hands grab me, as I am pulled up. I don't want to go anywhere. I struggle, but what's the point. I get to the top of the line and Vannacutt is there, he uses his hands, which turn into tentacles, and he jams them into my body. Agh. That hurts like hell. Words start to come out of my mouth. I can't control it.
"Good move to save your sister and not a useless soul like me. I guess you could say, it was too late."
"I knew you were with them the whole time. The whole God Damn time." Michael yells.
No, no! I'm not. He's using me. Help! There was nothing I could do to stop this madness. Everyone would be dead and I was useless.
