Ghosts
"It's spooky in here, isn't it?" Wheatley whispered darkly from Chell's arms. "Like an old, haunted house."
Chell wandered deeper into the house, her grip on Wheatley becoming tighter as she stood in the doorway of the next room. Only the dimmest ray of light illuminated the gleaming, damp walls of the long corridor ahead.
Her stomach turned as an ominous feeling crept through her body. It was as if she had been here before, long ago.
"What's wrong?" Cara-Mia asked, her husky voice hushed as if they were in a graveyard.
Chell shook her head and took a step across the threshold into the dark hall. The smell of dead bodies was stronger now, it's stench filling Chell's nostrils.
Her mouth dry, she swallowed nervously as she crept along the hall, Wheatley quivering in one hand, the other feeling the walls blindly. Cara-Mia followed behind, breath bated.
A flash of lightning lit up the hall as the storm raged on, and for a split-second Chell saw a figure blink back at her, right next to her-
In a silent scream she dropped Wheatley to the floor and backed away.
"Ow!" He cried in alarm as Chell hit the wall opposite, watching the silhouette move away from her silently.
"What's wrong?" Cara-Mia panicked, clutching at Chell's arm.
As she looked around her and Wheatley screamed, drowning out the crash of thunder outside-
Another flash of lightning revealed the two sisters in a cracked mirror.
The three let out a sigh of relief, Cara-Mia laughing nervously at her reflection.
Chell picked Wheatley up apologetically and held him closer to her, like a small child hugging a teddy bear.
Coming to a door, Chell crept towards it, the putrid, rotten smell of bodies filling her lungs and making her retch. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she reached out a shaking hand to push open the door-
CREAK.
Chell gasped at the sound, her pulse racing as the door swung open.
The patter of water drops hitting a hard, cold floor echoed through the room, and the thirsty growl of water rushing through pipes sounded from the crumbling walls.
Chell reached out for the wall, and her hand met chipped, slimy tiles. Cold water trickled onto her hands as she felt her way blindly along the room.
Suddenly, burning hands gripped her tightly, pushing her into the wall and paralysing her-
Chell's body seized up in fear as a sickening grip coursed through her muscles- arms flailing wildly, her mouth wide in a silent scream, she fought urgently against the hands, and she slowly slipped out of their grip-
Chell stood, shaking, her breath heaving, as far away from the wall as she could. Small electric sparks flashed back at her threateningly as she pulled Cara-Mia away by the wrist.
"Wow, what was that?" Wheatley panted, his large, blue optic glowing brightly. Chell swallowed the bile in her mouth and stumbled on the slippery floor as she backed out of the bathroom.
The next room was the kitchen; a large, oak table filled the room, it's once polished surfaces now gleaming with damp, thick grime.
A few objects lay on the table; two china bowls, their blue patterns faded, a large board with old jars and a thick, grey substance that Chell suspected had once been bread. Ripped, damp pieces of paper were stapled to the walls; Chell could make out a child's drawings, running with water and dark with mould. She strained her eyes, trying to make out the scribbled name at the bottom;
By Chell.
She backed off, her heart pounding, numb shock filling her. Sickening fear rose up in her again and she clutched Wheatley tighter to her, snuggling into the little reassurance that blue optic offered...
"What's wrong?" Cara-Mia and Wheatley asked in unison. Her breath coming in shallow gasps, Chell pointed to the name and to herself.
"By... Chell," Cara-Mia read aloud. "Who's that?"
Chell pointed to herself again, her stomach churning.
"You?" She asked, failing to hide the fear in her voice. Chell nodded. "But... What could it mean?"
Chell shook her head, backing out of the room. All she knew was, she desperately wanted to get away, to leave this place-
CRASH.
The three were hurled into the air as a bolt of lightning hit the building, ripping through it's rotten ceiling-
Chell landed on the damp floor, panting. Her shaking hands reached for the dim light of Wheatley's optic...
"Are you okay?" Cara-Mia screamed across the room. Chell grabbed the unusually quiet, trembling Wheatley in her sweating hands and pulled herself up, picking her way through the broken floorboards.
The two sisters found each other and Chell stumbled out of the room, into the hall. A smell of smoke filled her nostrils as she stared up at the dark sky through the hole in the cieling-
Suddenly, her feet slipped on the damp floor and she fell down-
Her eyes flew to the deep hole below her and Chell braced herself, curling into a ball around Wheatley-
"No!" A harsh voice called and Chell glanced up to see her sister jump in behind her-
Cold air rushed past her as she closed her eyes, and one thought spun through her mind; Cara-Mia didn't have long fall boots.