Reviews: Thanks to NiennaAngel, chinechilla, Silverkaya, Curtis Zidane Ziraa, Mizuki hikair, Nkingy and kai-luver-666!
… … … … …
Michael continued to let the piece of charcoal in his fingers move about the paper as if it had a mind of it's own. Tears poured down his cheeks, and no matter how hard he tried the tears wouldn't stop.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Michael felt that these weren't his tears at all, they were Mitchell's.
Fear, longing, sadness. They were Mitchell's emotions.
Michael wanted the tears to stop, he wanted the emotions to leave him, but he was helpless. He couldn't do anything to stop these tears, emotions and images. He wasn't strong enough.
"Michael!"
Suddenly, Michael felt a strong hand on his arm and he was abruptly pulled away from the artist palette. He was pulled to the middle of the room, looking straight into Rick's eyes.
"You've got to stop drawing," he demanded more so than stated.
"I can't," Michael whispered, his eyes looking at the floor.
Rick grabbed Michael by the arms and forced him to look directly at him. "Cast him out, Michael."
"I can't," Michael sobbed. "I can't!"
"Michael."
"No, he won't leave, I can't…" he was getting hysterical now.
"Look at me," Rick said firmly. "Look at me," he shook Michael softly but firmly. "Michael."
"Stop it, get out!" Michael cried, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Rick pulled Michael up against his chest, one arm snaking around his back, while the other took a hold of his chin, making certain that Michael was looking directly at him.
"I can't do it," Michael said. "I can't deal with this."
"Tell him to go, Michael. Mitchell isn't welcomed here, tell him to leave."
"Mitchell, leave me alone!" Michael cried, screwing his eyes shut, trying in vain to stop anymore tears. "He,… he won't leave."
"He will, I won't let him harm you anymore."
"Rick, help me," he cried.
Rick pressed Michael against him, the hand on his chin, slipping to the back of his head, fingers entwining in his hair. Then he pulled Michael towards him, pressing their lips together in a show of reassurance, comfort and desperation. Michael's eyes widen for a moment, then his eyes slipped shut and fell further into Rick's chest.
Rick broke the kiss and cradled Michael against him, Michael burying his face in the crook of his neck. "Cast him out, Michael."
Suddenly Michael goes limp in his arms and lets out a shuddering gasp. "He's gone," he whispered. "He's gone."
With his arms still around him, Rick lead Michael out of the room, into the hallway, just out of the art room. He was slightly grateful that no one else had heard the commotion.
"Rick…"Michael whispered, sounding exhausted, leaning back slightly to look up at Rick again.
Rick placed a hand on his neck again and pressed their lips together, softer than before. Michael grasped onto Rick's hard frame, clinging for dear life, finding great comfort in the kiss.
"Rick…" he whispered again after the kiss was broken. "I don't want to deal with this anymore."
"We'll get through this," Rick said firmly, pressing Michael up against his chest, running his fingers through his hair. "Everything is going to be ok."
Suddenly, a startled scream was heard coming from the lounge room. Hand-in-hand, Rick and Michael ran towards the lounge room, finding Emily and Eddy already in there. Emily pointed in the corner of the room, where a large bookcase stands.
"It moved," Emily cried.
The other members of the all stars entered the lounge room as well, just in time to have a book thrown at them. Soon after more books were ripped off the shelves and thrown across the room. The book case began to sway dangerous as the group took cover behind the sofa, Emily clinging to Eddy and Steve, Max huddled with his mum, and Rick held Michael protectively in his arms.
The loud, wall shaking thuds returned, but they seemed louder than before. It was as if the demon had returned, far more angry than before.
The team stayed huddled behind the lounge as things were thrown violently across the room and all around them. The noise continued for what seemed like hours, when mercifully, everything returned to silence.
Judy hugged Max close as he cried softly against her. She let her eyes fall over the rest, noting they were all pale and shivering in fright. They all turned to her, desperate and very fearful.
"It's ok," she whispered. "We'll get through this. We are going to get rid of this demon once and for all."
She look around at her team, taking in turn to hold each one of their gazes. She was the adult, she was responsible for their well beings.
"Enough is enough," she said firmly. "This ends now."
… … … … …
Kai sat cross legged in the middle of his bed, clutching a pillow to his chest. It was around 3 am when Rick called and it was nearly 6 now.
He nervously pulled at the corners of his pillow as he nibbled on his bottom lip. Dranzer had reassured him that everyone was all right, that Michael will be able to cast Mitchell out. He trusts Dranzer, really, he does, he just can't help but feel nervous and impatient with the waiting.
He was startled when he heard a knock at his door. "Yes?"
The door opened and Tala popped his head in. "You're awake," he muttered. He then blinked and walked further into the room. "What is it?"
"Rick called me," Kai said, watching as Tala takes a seat next to him on the bed. "I do not think the situation at the now dubbed 'Hell house' is over yet."
"Why?"
"Michael, he was slowly being taken over by Mitchell."
"Are you sure?" Tala asked.
"Yes. You see, Rick told me that Michael has taken up sketching, sketching dark, ominous pictures. He even stays up all night to get the pictures out of his head."
"What makes you think it was Mitchell?"
"Michael kept speaking about him. And, remember, Mitchell was an artist, specializing in dark, uneasy pictures," Kai said, as he gazed at his mobile phone on his bed.
Tala frowned and scooted closer to the distress teen. "They'll be all right," he whispered.
"I know they will," Kai replied as he leaned against Tala. "Still, I'm worried. They believed that all of this was over."
"This time it will be," Tala said firmly. "They'll get fed up with this demon and cast it out themselves. They're very strong individuals."
"I know."
Silence followed, as both of them gazed at the phone. A moment later there was another knock at his door. A moment later Ian popped his head in.
"Kai," he whined. "I'm hungry."
Kai nodded and slipped his legs over the side of his bed. "All right, I'll make breakfast now, ok?"
"Yay!"
Kai stood up and stretched. He decided that he'll get changed later, knowing that will be a wise choice since Ian doesn't like to go hungry.
Picking up his phone, Kai, along with Tala and Ian, walked out of the room and into the kitchen. He placed the phone on the kitchen counter, within eye sight in case it rings soon.
Ian sat at the table, waiting patiently for his food as Tala headed out to grab the morning paper. Just as Kai had reached to grab a few things from the fridge, his phone rang. Immediately he dropped whatever he was holding and flipped the phone open.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Kai, it's me again."
"Rick?" Kai said. "Is everything all right? How's Michael?"
There was a sigh on the other end of the phone. "It's isn't finish with us yet," Rick said, then he proceeded to tell Kai everything that had happened.
Kai remained silent for a moment.
"So, what should we do now?" Rick asked.
"Stay strong," Kai said. "We'll be on the first flight to America," he then placed his hand on the phone and told Ian to wake everyone up and to get their things ready. They're heading back to America.
Ian nodded and jumped off the chair, heading towards the bedrooms in order to wake Spencer and Bryan up.
Kai turned back to the phone. "How is everyone? Was their any injuries sustained during the last attack?"
"No, just scared shitless.
"Don't worry, this time the demon will be gone." Kai said firmly. "I'll make sure of it."
… … … … …
Dun, dun, dun! (Sticks tongue out) The hell house saga is slowly coming to an end. I might just do another fic based on a episode of A haunting. I having a lot of fun writing this one.
Michael: Yeah, and torturing me.
Oh, alright. I'll torture someone else next time, ok?
Next chapter: Nothing like this has ever been attempted before.
Read and review, please.
