Being Human: When will my Death Begin?

By Ldynwaitin

Chapter Six

Going to a Dark Place

Randal pointed to the screen of the iphone, there was now just one dot. It was stable and blinking at the same time.

"That's Josh, I'm relieved to see its working here. I've been trying to get in touch with him all night."

"Josh," Nora shouted, as she spun around. "Can you hear us?"

Randal stopped her from spinning, "Sorry, I don't think he can. Deanna has him in a different place, here, yet not here. At least we know he's alive, or his cell phone is." He patted the iphone. "Now we have a way to track him, we'll know when Deanna is on the move."

Nora touched the iphone's jack opening. "His phone won't stay charged forever."

Randal winked at her, "Josh is smart, we may loose him at times, but I'd bet The Carroll that he'll find some way to contact us."

Nora stared at the blinking dot. Randal said Josh was here, right here in this spot. "I wish there was some way we can talk to him, let him know we're close by and haven't given up on him."

Randal smiled at her, "I think I have a way to let him know."

Randal opened up a new program, in seconds he gently smiled. "I just gave him a sign of hope."

He placed the phone on Nora's arm. She felt it gently vibrating. She realized it was vibrating to a certain song. Smiling she said, "Is that what I think it is?

Randal grinned widely, "Yes, he knows Nora, he knows we're here."

Nora smiled her thanks at Randal, he looked up into the night sky. "This weather is not getting any better." He looked at Nora with concern, "You may be a werewolf, but you're human right now. That means you can catch a cold or freeze to death. I think we should find a warm place to stay."

Nora was about to protest, until Randal cut her off. "It's no use staying here, Deanna could walk right past us without us even knowing. Once they start moving, we have a way to track them."

For now, Nora would have to put her trust in him. Closing her eyes, she whispered, "Josh, we haven't given up on you. We will find you."

Spinning around she rushed away, she felt so helpless there. Knowing she was so close to Josh, yet so far. Randal quickly caught up with her. He addressed the concerned ghost walking next to him. "Cecil, I want you to go to Sally's house. You need to tell her everything that's happened to Aidan and Josh. Once you tell her, go to Aidan. Let him know we are doing everything we can to get him out of there. Then bring Sally to us, we'll be…I'm really not sure where we'll be."

"Don't worry," Cecil said. "I'll just tune into you, I'm off."

Once he blinked out, Randal took the lead, taking Nora back to his car.

As they drove on the snow covered streets, Randal took in a deep breath. Two close friends were in deep trouble. He couldn't believe Mother had grounded Aidan.

Staring ahead, Randal recalled what happened earlier that night…

Mother quickly left where she buried Aidan. Her eyes planted on the ground she did not see a large figure moving through the trees. Randal stared out at the fresh mound of dirt. Four Vampires were left to guard the grave. Slowly a man began to appear next to Randal.

Randal pointed ahead, "Think you can get to Aidan with out them finding out?" Cecil grinned widely, "Piece of cake."

Moving into the ground he made his way to Aidan's coffin. He wasn't sure which coffin Aidan was buried in. Reaching a coffin, he called his name, getting no answer he would go to the next. He finally found Aidan in the sixth coffin. Calling his name he heard Aidan's reply.

His hands moved through the coffin's lid. Slowly he moved inside. The coffin was pitch black, he could hear Aidan's breathing.

"Aidan, it's me, Cecil," he whispered.

"Is Randal with you?" Aidan quickly asked. He pressed a small button on his wristwatch. An eerie green glow lit up the coffin, Aidan sighed in relief when he saw Cecil's face at the top of the coffin.

"Yes," Cecil said, as the light went out. "We got here as soon as we could."

"Cecil," Aidan panted. "Mother, she sent someone to hunt Josh. You have to warn him."

"We already know," Cecil said. "Randal said he's sorry. Mother asked him to look for Josh first, but he was resting at the Carroll. We tried to call him, but he wouldn't answer. Randal wanted me to let you know we're going to look for him and tell him that Mother's hunting him."

"He's at a cabin in the woods, he's going to kill Ray, the man that cursed him."

"Why would he do that?" Cecil said.

"He thinks if he kills him, he'll become human again. That cabin, it's….it's…, I can't remember."

"Don't worry." Cecil could hear the panic in his voice. He couldn't imagine what it was like to be trapped in this darkness. He tried to calm his concern for Josh. "We'll find him, Randal is keeping in touch with the other vampires looking for him."

Cecil waited for Aidan to say something, all he could hear was his breathing. "Aidan," he softly said. "I'm sorry, Mother left four vampires to guard your grave. Randal can't even get close to your…"

"Don't worry about me," Aidan said. "Go, warn Josh." He slammed his fist on the coffin's lid. "It's all my fault she's after him. You need to find him, Cecil. Promise me that."

"Don't worry," Cecil assured him. "Randal will find him. And I promise that you won't be alone for long." Even though he was in the darkness of the coffin for a few minutes, Cecil was already feeling panicked. "I'll be back to visit you and let you know what's going on."

Aidan let his head rest on the pillow of his coffin. He was going crazy thinking of what Mother would do to Josh. Now that he knew Randal was here, his fears died away.

"I'll be waiting here when you return," Aidan joked. "Now get out of here."

"I'm off, take care Aidan. I will be back soon, I hope with good news."

Aidan wanted to scream at him not to go, but he knew he had to. Once he felt his presence leave the coffin the reality of what Mother did hit him like a ton of bricks. He was truly alone now. The darkness of the coffin weighed heavy on him. Closing his eyes, he tried to sleep, that would help him pass the time if…no WHEN Cecil returned. He had to believe this, for the other was to horrible to even think about.

Josh tried once again to release himself from the chair, but the command Deanna gave him still held. His body refused to listen to him. He let out a tired sigh as Fidele babbled on about his life, and Deanna's life. He glanced back at Deanna. She looked to be in some kind of trance. Her eyes were glued to the flames of the fireplace.

Josh stared out the window of the cabin, he could see it was snowing harder. It all seemed hopeless. He still had a hard time believing that a real live witch had total control of his body. He shook with the memory of the transformation. Being conscious in the wolf frightened him to his core. He was aware of everything, yet could not do anything. He wondered if the same happened to the wolf when he changed. Then he felt it, a vibration where his iphone sat in his pants pocket. It had been vibrating all night, but after all that went on that night, he just didn't have time to see who was calling.

As it continued to vibrate a small grin graced his face, this one was special. It vibrated in a certain rhythm. He could feel it vibrating to the song, 'Who's afraid of the big bad wolf'. Josh immediately knew it was Randal. It was their private joke. He was here, and he knew where Randal was, Cecil wasn't far behind. That also meant they were there to help Nora. He now had a sliver of hope that all was not lost. He didn't know what Mother's plans were, but at least he knew that his friends were close by.

Sally screamed in pain as she tore at her stomach, ripping it apart the last thing she saw was her mother staring at her in horror. Her world turned black, the pain from ripping herself began to fade. Soon the darkness began to brighten, she blinked her eyes, she was in her house. She was back in her house.

"Damn!" she shouted. "It didn't work."

She kicked at the couch in frustration, she then got the shock of her unlife. That hurt! Reaching down she found she could actually feel the couch.

"Okay," she said. "That's new."

Maybe, she thought, ripping herself gave her the ability to feel things. It was then that she noticed something was missing, "Mother!" she shouted.

"She's gone," she heard someone say. Spinning around she saw Nick, standing in archway of the front room. "Nick, you're here?"

"This is where you ripped me," he told her.

"Oh, this is getting good," she heard another voice declare. She immediately knew who it was.

"Danny," she hissed.

"Yeah, you ripped me here too, remember?" He was standing next to the couch, his grin so large it went from ear to ear.

"Sally, what are you doing here?" Nick asked her.

"Don't ask, enjoy," Danny said.

"I came to help you," she told Nick.

Danny began to laugh, it was small at first but then it bordered on maniacal. "You're going to help us. You put us in here, you bitch!" he angrily spat out.

"I didn't do it," Sally quickly returned. "Scott did."

"Sally," Nick said. "You know Scott was you."

Sally saw a shift in the house, the color of the couch changed to a deep purple. Sally fisted her hands on her head and screamed, "No, you're not coming back. I ripped you out." She felt a wind rush though the house, and the purple was gone.

"Oh god," Nick gasped. "You think they heard her?"

"You stupid bitch," Danny angrily hissed.

"What's wrong?" Sally asked Nick.

"Sally, I told you, here there is pain and agony." He pointed to the windows. "It comes from them."

She saw a thick fog floating in front of the house. Danny actually began to cry, "Why can't they leave us alone?" he sobbed.

Sally saw the fog moving towards them. Nick ran to the door, grabbing the curtain he stuffed it at the bottom of the door. Sally could see wisps of fog working through the hinges and keyhole of the door.

"That never works, why do you keep trying?" Danny shouted. "We need to hide."

Suddenly the house changed, Sally saw it growing bigger. Nick ran to her side, grabbing her hand he screamed, "We got to get out of here before they find us."

He pulled her up the staircase. As she climbed up the staircase grew longer under her feet. Sally looked down, it seemed to go down forever. Their feet pounded on the stairs what seemed like hours, finally they reached the top of the stairs. Sally saw the hallway begin to split until there were multiply ones. They then began to stretch longer for what looked like miles, hundreds of doors appeared. Danny ran down a hallway to the left. Nick choose one on the right.

"We got to get away from them," he told Sally. "We can't let them get us." Looking at Sally he cried, "I can't take that pain anymore."

He pulled Sally past many doors. They were all different looks, and colors. Stopping at a pink door he pulled her into a room that was filled with dolls, hundreds and hundreds of dolls. Some were covered in dust and cobwebs, other's were sparkling new. Nick pulled her to a corner. They waited in silence.

Sally slapped her hand over her mouth when she heard Danny faintly screaming. It was somewhere in the house. Whatever was in there found him. Nick was rocking back and forth, whispering, "Please don't find us, please don't find us."

Sally stared at the door, she froze when she saw small wisps of fog snaking under the door. Nick scrambled to the other side of the room. He clawed at the dolls, throwing them at the fog. Sally saw the fog began to change into creatures she could not have imagined in her worst nightmares. To her they appeared to be two red eyes with claws. Several of them ran to Nick, the others lunged at her.

She was thrown back as the creatures landed on her. She lay on the floor and heard someone screaming. It was a scream that tore at her soul, it was so sad, so heart rending. She soon realized it was her screaming. The creatures tore into her, she could feel them ripping into every muscle, every nerve every cell of her body. She screamed for it to stop, but it just grew worse.

She heard voices coming from the creatures. "You killed my boyfriend…Sally, what are you doing?...I'm your friend, not them…I can stop."

Hearing the voices, the reality of what she did was more painful than the creatures tearing into her. She tried to scream louder, to block out the voices but it would not work. The attack seemed to last for hours…days. Then they suddenly stopped. The creatures, they thankfully, blessedly stopped.

Sally looked up, the creatures were gone. She realized she was back in the front room of her home. Sitting up she could see her body and clothes ripped to shreds. She dropped her head forward, trying to block out the pain. Glancing to the side, she saw Nick lying on the floor, covered in blood.

"I'm…sorry," she panted. Closing her eyes in shame she said, "I am so sorry."

As she sat there, waiting for the pain to go away she could swear she heard someone calling her name. It was not Nick, or Danny. Looking up she faintly saw someone running through the house. He would blink out, then faintly appear again. As he passed by her, she recognized him.

"Cecil," she sobbed. She jumped up, waving her hands in the air, but afraid to shout. She didn't want the creatures to hear her. "I'm here, can't you see me, I'm here." But he did not hear her, he passed right through her as he searched the house.

Cecil moved through the entire house, but he could not find Sally. Stopping in the front room, he shouted her name one more time. "Sally, Aidan and Josh are in trouble, where the hell are you?" Getting no response he decided to leave. He needed to let Aidan know what happened to Josh, and then return to Randal.

Tears flowed down Sally's cheeks as she watched the faint figure of Cecil leave the house. "Aidan, Josh, they're in trouble, and I'm stuck here."

Nick slowly sat up, "He a friend of yours?"

"Yes," Sally softly said. "I just met him." Sally held her stomach, she could feel the wounds closing. She saw the rips in her clothes mending. Minutes later there was not even a bloodstain left on her clothes. Standing up, she saw Danny lying in the fetal position next to the fireplace. Hugging his knees, he was crying like a baby. They all appeared where she had ripped them.

"What were they?" Sally asked Nick.

It was Danny who answered her question. "Rippers," he sobbed. He used his hands to wipe the tears from his face. "They come in here and rip you to shreds over and over again until nothing is left." Danny began to cry again, he hugged his stomach. "They cut into you, mentally… physically." He shook his head. "I don't know how much longer I can take it. Don't know how much longer."
Sally sat down on the stairs she realized she had made a horrible mistake. She came here to help Nick. How could she be so foolish? She was trapped, trapped in a world where there was no escape. She faced an eternity in pain and agony, and she didn't even have the option of dying to escape.