Chapter 11: Something In The Attic
Taylor, Jen, and Eric rushed down the creaking wooden stairs, their steps echoing through the old house. At the bottom, Wes was wrestling with Ashley, her hands pushing against his arms as she tried to break free from his hold.
"Let me go, Wes!" she demanded, her voice sharp with frustration.
Wes tightened his grip, his face lined with deep concern. "You can't run in there, Ashley. The same thing could happen to you!" His voice cracked as he spoke.
Eric came to an abrupt halt as they reached the hallway, his chest heaving as his weapon lowered in confusion. "What's going on?" His voice was sharp, cutting through the tension, as Taylor and Jen stepped up behind him, their eyes focused on Wes.
Wes' face darkened as he spoke, his voice low. "They… it got Andros. The spiders —" His voice faltered as he continued to struggle with Ashley. A sharp elbow to his sternum had him stepping back with a grunt, allowing Ashley to break free. She took a step toward the door but hesitated and turned back to her friends.
"The spiders…. they came to life… crawled all over him and... pulled him into the floor. He's gone. Andros is gone. I'm sorry Wes but I have to find him."
The words hung in the air as the others could only look at each other. Ashley threw her hands in the air and stomped into the kitchen. They heard the sound of rustling and things being moved around until she stomped back out, her hair sticking out at odd angles and her face pale.
"There's no door to the basement in there. How do we get down there?"
Eric and Wes shared a grim look but their inaction did not sit well with Ashley. "Stop standing around. We need to get to Andros. Help me find the door to the damn basement!"
"There is no basement," Wes grunted. "Just a tunnel that loops back to the kitchen."
"What do you mean? They pulled him through the floor, there has to be some kind of trap door or something."
As Taylor stepped between Ashley and Wes, trying to get her friend to focus on her, Jen stepped into the room with the spiders. She immediately clocked the fake spiders that covered the floor and hesitantly stepped forward, brushing them aside with her foot. She took a deep breath and stared at the floorboards. "Please don't be a one-time thing," she whispered.
She focused on the floor and almost instantly felt that tickling sensation behind her eyes. Her vision flashed green and the wood began to pull away to almost a blueprint-like view of the floor beneath her, allowing her to see through it. She scanned the floor and stepped into the other room, keeping her eyes trained on the floor.
Back outside, Taylor managed to calm Ashely down. "We're going to find him," she assured her.
"Taylor… he can't just disappear."
"He's not under the house. There's nothing under the house," Jen stated as she re-joined them, a flicker of green light, trailing away from her eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
Wes and Ashley stared at her. Jen met Wes' eyes and pressed her lips together. "We don't have time for this. There's something upstairs, we should check it out," she stated as she made her way to the door.
"Hold on," Wes said, stepping forward as his eyes darted from Eric to Taylor and then back to Jen. "You can't just blow past us like that. How… what…. What is going on?"
"I'm with Wes on this," said Ashely as she stepped away from Taylor. "How do you know there's nothing under the house? How do you explain Andros just vanishing like that."
"The same way a horseman carrying Alyssa did. Magic," Jen shot back, before turning back to the stairs. "Are you guys coming or not?"
Wes turned to Eric who watched Jen carefully before shooting a look at Taylor, who just shook her head. "Trust her," said the blonde as she squeezed Ashley's shoulder. "Jen can…hmmm… she can see through things or see magical things or something like that, we're not really sure…."
"Ho…"
"We don't know how. It just happened," Eric interrupted Wes' question. "What we do know is that she saw something upstairs, possibly whoever or whatever is behind all this. So let's take care of that, we'll talk later."
"Do you hear yourself?"
Eric scoffed and fiddled with the controls on his blaster. "Believe me. I know what it sounds like. But our choices are limited here." He followed Jen and stopped her, silently asking her to let him go first. As she stepped aside he looked back at his partner.
"This might be our chance," said Taylor as she placed a hand on Wes' shoulder. "Find the perp, find Andros and Alyssa. And hopefully, put an end to all this. Then we talk."
She stepped forward, rolling her shoulders as she fell into place behind Jen. Wes and Ashley shared a look before she took a deep breath. "This is what we do, right?"
She followed the others, leaving Wes on his own, shaking his head. Ashley, looking more nervous than ever, gave him a small nod. The last of his resistance was broken and he dropped his head but followed after. "I'm seriously rethinking Halloween."
The group ascended the staircase, all the way to the top, moving cautiously and deftly. They hunched as they touched the landing. Jen grabbed Eric's elbow, stopping him from moving forward as she focused on the door. She felt the tickle creep across her eyes as her vision flashed green, and just barely heard a gasp before the world around her dulled. The space flickered and the colour faded as the walls lit up with what appeared to be green veins, converging in the room before them. The door and walls pulled away to a skeletal form, allowing her to see through. Inside, the light grew brighter and all she could make out were basic shapes and a bright green light in the centre of the room.
She turned away and blinked, taking a step back until a hand gently pressed against her back.
"You okay?"
She nodded but turned her head forward to meet Eric's eyes. "Dead centre of the room. I can't tell what it is, it's surrounded by something… magic maybe. But it's there."
Eric nodded and positioned himself on one side of the door, Quantum Defender ready in his grip. Jen pressed up against the opposite side, her gaze fixed on the door, as she rested her hand on the morpher strapped to her wrist.
Eric shot her a look. "What's the plan?"
"Improvise," she said, her voice low but steady.
Eric turned to Wes who pulled up his sleeve, revealing his morpher, and stepped up behind Jen. He nodded as one hand fell to his belt before he clenched his fingers realising he didn't have his weapon with him. Taylor and Ashely hung back, just out of sight. They nodded.
Eric reeled back and kicked down the door, allowing a thick cloud of smoke to flow out, and swirl around their feet. He stepped into the room, Wes and Jen right behind him, positioning themselves on either side of the door as Taylor and Ashley moved up, hovering just beyond the doorframe. As the air cleared, they saw it — a small creature, no taller than a foot and a half, hovering in mid-air, a smug grin stretched across its red, leathery face; an orb, glowing with a vibrant green light, floating before it. Long horns rose into the air from the top of a small face, framed by long, pointed ears. A long, hooked tail swung beneath it while, leathery wings, almost as long as its body beat in sync. In its clawed hands, it clutched a scroll, while its eyes glowed green as it focused on the orb. The moment the group barged in, the creature's attention snapped toward them. The light in the orb faded and it fell to the floor with a dull thud, rolling to one side.
The creature let out a low hiss and its beady eyes glinted with malice. As it opened its mouth, it began to speak in a guttural, otherworldly tongue. Eric squinted, trying to make sense of the sounds, but all he heard was gibberish.
"What do you mean we're too late?" Jen shouted, as she stepped forward.
Quantum Defender trained on the creature, Eric whipped his head to the side to find Jen glaring at it.
"What have you done with our friends?" Wes asked as he stepped up as well.
The creature hissed and spoke again, waving its hands as it turned its eyes on Wes. Eric's eyes shifted to his partner, watching the frown deepen on his face.
"What do you…"
"Hold on, do you understand that thing?"
Wes turned to Eric with raised eyebrows and in that split second the creature shot upward, slamming its hands against the ceiling. A ripple ran through the space, undulating like the surface of a disturbed pond. The floor beneath their feet shifted, rising and falling, forcing them to spread their limbs to retain their balance.
"Woah… What is going on?" Wes shouted as he stumbled forward, hands flailing as he tried to keep his balance. Jen and Eric were no better as they teetered to one side of the room.
Taylor and Ashley stood by the door watching as their friends engaged in a ridiculous dance as they struggled to stay upright while the space they were in did a dance of its own, keeping them on their toes. The creature cackled as it zipped around the room, swerving just out of reach.
"What do we do?" asked Ashley, wincing as she watched Jen stumble over a crate and fall back behind it.
A large bowling pin that was standing in the corner, beside a large clown doll, tipped over and rolled on the floor, heading straight for Eric. He jumped to avoid it, but the floor moved just as he landed, making him lose his balance and fall on his back.
Taylor's eyes searched the room, as other things began to fall and dance along with the room. Her eyes fell on the orb. "Grab that. I'll distract it."
She backed up, and ran for the door, awkwardly leaping from the doorframe toward the creature that was hovering over the centre of the room, with her arm outstretched. It saw her and flapped its wings pulling away. Her fingers grasped the scroll and she pulled it, tearing it in half as she crashed to the floor.
Ashley darted into the room but almost immediately felt her foot give way as something round and hard rolled under her boot. She hopped on one foot arms flying out to steady herself, but unknowingly moved right into a stretch of cobwebs and tripped over a box. "Woah…. Wahhh… Oof."
The creature held up the torn scroll and glared at Taylor but didn't move. It tossed the torn scroll over its shoulder and it scattered to dust. As she grunted and started to push herself up, the fragment in Taylor's hand met the same fate. The creature beat its wings and scanned the room, the grin on its face giving way to a thoughtful pout. As Taylor stood on shaky legs, it flared its wings and flipped in the air darting toward the circular, glass window.
"Don't you dare," Wes declared as he moved in front of the window, grabbing the frame to steady himself. "You're not going anywhere until you fix everything."
The creature stopped beating its wings to keep it from crashing into Wes and hovered for a moment. It turned its head slightly. While Jen was still behind the crate she fell over, Ashley was extricating herself from the webs, Eric had rolled onto his knees and Taylor was already back on her feet. It turned back to Wes and let out a loud cackle as green energy crept over its hands, licking at them and rising like flames. He raised his hands and snapped his fingers.
"Wes" Eric grunted, as the energy leapt off the creature's hands and shot toward him. Unable to move he stared wide-eyed as it hit him in the chest. The others watched as it spread across his body, covering it in a faint green shimmer. He looked up and locked eyes with Taylor as his body quivered then went very still.
"Wes!" Taylor called out as she watched her friend's body contort and shrink down to the size of a doll before falling back helplessly against the wall.
Cackling filled the room followed by the sound of crashing glass. Eric still on his knees called out to Taylor and tossed her the Quantum Defender. She stumbled as she grabbed it but found her footing and fired through the hole in the glass. A loud screech filtered through the window followed by a crash.
The room stopped moving. Taylor closed her eyes and shook her head for a second before stumbling toward the window. She peered through and could barely make out a writing figure amongst the pumpkins on the lawn.
"I'm going after it. Grab Wes," she shouted as she turned and bolted out the door.
"Tay wait," Eric called as he pushed himself to his feet, one hand holding his head. He met Ashley's eyes as she also got to her feet.
"Go," she said. "I got Wes and Jen."
He stumbled but pulled himself together, following Taylor out the door. Ashley watched him go as she pulled cobwebs off her jacket and then turned to the window. Where once was Wes, lay a stuffed doll - unmoving. She walked over and carefully picked it up. It was light in her hand and a perfect plushie replica of her friend. "Oh, Wes."
A groan from behind the large crate drew her attention to Jen and she scrambled toward her, just as the brunette was sitting up, rubbing her head as she pushed an oversized clown doll off of her. "What happened?"
"Magic happened."
"God, I think that knocked me out for a second."
Ashley leaned forward and ran her hand across the back of her head. "It doesn't look like you've got a bump. How do you feel?"
"Okay," she said with a wince. "Mostly embarrassed."
"Don't be," Ashley insisted as he stood up and held out her hands. "That thing took us all by surprise. Really turned us into clowns."
Jen placed her hands in hers and allowed her to pull her up. She looked around, noting the dishevelled room and the emptiness of it. "Where are the others?"
"The thing went out the window. Taylor may have hit it, she and Eric went after it."
"What about Wes?" she asked, eyes darting around the small space.
"About that…."
"Ashley."
"Whatever that was got him…"
"What do you mean? He disappeared?! Like Andros?"
"No. He's still around. He's just… just not himself at the moment."
"Ashley, what happened? Where is he?"
Ashley took a deep breath and picked up the plushie from where she laid it on the floor and carefully held it out to Jen. "Here you go."
Thanks for reading.
Till next time...