Ch.2 Hold Your Breath
It had been several long hours since Carly and Sam had been done in by the tide. When Nora went back to retrieve the tapes, the tide still covered their heads. She found herself unable to stop watching the tapes of their deaths. She enjoyed the looks of fear and despair on their faces, especially Sam's, as the tide enveloped them.
As she watched Sam's final moments for what must have been the 20th time, a smile crept across her face. She seemed to be addicted to the look of utter terror as the water got to the point where it was covering Sam's head.
This time, however, her enjoyment was interrupted by a loud bang at the front door. She bolted from the chair she'd been sitting in, paranoia and fear etched all over her face. At the sound of a second bang, she dropped the glass she'd been drinking. It shattered on the hardwood floor as her eyes went wide.
"Who...who's there?" she asked. She slowly approached the front door. It looked like it had never opened. Just to be safe, she locked the bottom lock, the deadbolt, and the door also featured a chain lock. The door seemingly secure, she headed back to the tv room to clean the broken glass off the floor.
No sooner than she'd left the room did the door slam once again, this time much louder than the previous two. Nora froze in her tracks. There was no way the door could have been opened from the outside, it was bolted shut. She slowly turned around, and positively could not believe what she saw.
The door she had just locked down tight was wide open. The chain lock was snapped, and pieces of the deadbolt were on the ground near the door. "What...what the hell?" Nora whispered. She picked up the pieces of chain and metal with a look of disbelief in her eyes. She glared out the open door.
"Who's out there?" she demanded. "This is private property. If you don't leave, I'll..." she paused to think of a threat. It couldn't be police. She was sure they would have had her in cuffs by now.
"I'll call the police," she finally finished. It was a bluff, she knew. She couldn't afford to call police, being an escaped convict. But for all she knew, it could be some teenagers just doing vandalism. She could only hope they took the hint and left.
She cautiously stepped out of the house, and slowly circled it, looking for whoever could be intruding. To make absolutely sure that she was, in fact, alone, she circled the house twice. Both times, no one seemed to be there. She was the only one anywhere near this particular house, on this particular stretch of beach.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she went back into her house. She gingerly closed the front door. and tested the last lock. Somehow, it remained undamaged and functional. She'd have to make do until the morning, when she could have the door fixed. She looked to go back to watching Sam's death once again. She'd lost count how many times she'd watched since it actually happened.
Her relief turned to mind numbing horror, however, when she returned to her viewing room. The large plasma screen she'd been watching the tapes on was smashed, the DVD player broken, and the discs on which contained the demise of two thirds of the iCarly gang lay in pieces on the floor.
"What...how...who?" she sputtered in disbelief. It was clear that she was not alone. Somehow, someone had managed to sneak into her house. She thought about it for a moment. She had surveilllance cameras placed in and around the house. She'd find whoever was doing this later, and make them sorry.
She bolted back downstairs, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who was blocking the front door. "No..." she sputtered out. "It can't be...you're dead. I watched you die..." Sam Puckett blocked her path. But she had definitely seen better days.
Her once vividly golden locks had lost much of their color. In addition, strands of seaweed were stuck in her hair, and it was also heavily matted. Her waterlogged appearance only got worse further down her body.
The tank top Nora had chosen from Sam's own closet had been white, and featured a multicolored flower design in the center. Now, however, the garment was badly discolored and damaged, no doubt from the tidal waters. The left shoulder was torn, and in fact barely clung to Sam's shoulder, allowing Nora to see the equally damaged bra Sam wore earlier that day.
Sand clung to every inch of Sam's body like a second skin, and there were muddy footprints leading to her current position in front of the door. The pair of black shorts Nora had chosen bore a great amount of mud, and a larger strand of seaweed was wrapped around her right leg.
For several minutes Nora stared at her, as though she were trying to process just how it was possible. "Come with us, Nora," Sam finally gurgled, water flowing from her mouth as she spoke.
Nora's eyes went wide. "Us?" she questioned. A wet hand wrapped itself around her neck, revealing the prescence of Carly. "We want to show you something on the beach," Carly gurgled. She looked worse than Sam, if it was possible. Dirty water flowed from her mouth as well, and some of it splashed onto Nora's shoulder, bits of seaweed mixed with it.
Nora struggled to pull herself from Carly's grasp. "No, this isn't possible!" she shouted, a mix of disbelief and horror evident in her voice. "You can't be real!" Sam approached her as she finally pulled free of Carly. "We...want...to be...friends," Sam gurgled. "Best...friends," Carly added, flashing Nora a grin. Her teeth were tinted in a greenish-black colour.
Nora frightfully ran back up the stairs. Throwing the door to her bedroom shut, she frantically went for her purse. She could hear them coming, slowly but surely. Sam and Carly's undead forms were in no rush as they shambled up the stairs.
Nora emptied the contents of her purse on her bed, and sure enough, the silver of the revolver glinted in the darkness. She grabbed it without a moments hesitation, and pulled the trigger, with the intent of firing a warning shot.
To her surprise, the gun just clicked. "Empty?" she said in fear. She could have sworn she'd loaded it that morning. Her plan had gone so well, she hadn't needed to fire a single shot to get Carly and Sam to comply.
She frantically rushed to her desk, ripping open a drawer. To her dismay, there were no bullets. "Shit," she whispered. She knew they were coming. But it was impossible. Sam and Carly were dead, right? Someone was playing a very sick and twisted prank on her.
The next drawer she opened contained what she was looking for. Six bullets rolled across the wood. Nora frantically scooped them up as she heard the doorknob beginning to turn. Clutching the gun in one hand and the bullets in the other, she threw herself into her closet.
Nora fumbled in the dark, trying to load her weapon, to give herself a chance to defend herself. Her heart pounding in her chest and her frightened gasps were the only sounds. As she struggled to control herself, she heard the door to the room open. They were in.
"Come with us, Nora..." Sam could be heard gurgling. Nora focused on nothing but loading her weapon. All the bullets were seemingly in, except, wait, in her haste, she'd dropped one. But she had no time to worry about that now. Five shots would have to do.
"Yes," Carly gurgled. But Nora realized her voice wasn't as faint as Sam's had been. She felt a wet hand touch her shoulder. No...it couldn't be...
Nora fumbled for the closet's light switch. When she turned it on, Carly grinned at her. "We're best...friends," she moaned. Out of fear, Nora aimed, and with a deafening bang, opened fire. Her bullet lodged itself in one of Carly's eye sockets, completely destroying the organ. But Carly just smiled.
"Not...nice," she gurgled, black blood flowing down her face. Nora threw herself against the door so hard it broke open, and she stumbled to pick herself up off the floor as Sam advanced on her. "Stop right there," Nora ordered shakily. Sam ignored the order. "This is a game..." she gurgled in response, continuing her approach.
Nora took more careful aim this time, and shot Sam dead center in the forehead at point blank range. Sam was knocked down by the shot, more black blood flowing. It gave Nora the chance to bolt for the door. But to her utter surprise, Sam was pulling herself up.
"Come play with us," Carly gurgled. This couldn't be real, Nora continued to tell herself. In fact it was impossible. She'd shot both of these...things at close range in the head, and still they advanced. She saw the missing bullet rolling in front of her dresser, but there was no time to grab for it. She had to get AWAY from these things.
She turned and bolted. She ran downstairs and out the front door. She went for her jeep, but when she tried to open the door, it didn't budge. "Dammit!" she cursed. The keys were in the house. As she considered going back for them, she saw Carly and Sam heading out the front door. There was no way. She'd have to flee on foot.
She ran as fast as she could, heading to where she knew she'd buried Sam. It was still dark, but her parents had installed a light system on their beach every half mile or so. Nora never looked back, even when she was certain they weren't following her.
She finally made it to where she'd buried Sam. The waters had receded, so Nora expected to see Sam's head, still sticking out of the sand, but probably in worse looking condition. To her sheer horror, however, there was nothing but an empty hole.
"This can't be!" she shouted in disbelief. "This is impossible!" In her rage, she didn't realize she wasn't as alone as she would have wished. "You're finally here," Sam gurgled. "Now we can continue our game," Carly added.
"YOU'RE NOT REAL!" Nora shouted, firing shots at the both of them. Of the three shots she had left, she put two in Sam's chest, and her last bullet lodged itself in Carly's forehead. But it was for naught. They kept coming, unfazed.
"Can you keep your cool?" Carly moaned. "Can you hold your breath?" Sam added. Nora tried to rush past them, but they grabbed her arms in an iron grip. Nora struggled, but it was useless. There was to be no escape.
In due time, she found herself buried in Sam's hole. "I CAN HOLD MY BREATH!" Nora shouted defiantly. "I CAN HOLD MY BREATH FOR A LONG TIME!"
