The Lovely Suicide Children

Chapter 13: Inside the Unfinished Basement

My door creaked open, scaring the daylights out of me. Amber closed the door behind her then walked up to me. She studied the powder on my bed and around it. "Don't worry," she curled her lip. "She can't hurt you, so don't be afraid."

I glared at her. "I'm leaving this place. I don't know where I'll go, but I can't stay here," I said in a serious tone.

Amber sat on the bed next to me, but I pushed her off as gentle as I could. "Don't come near me. Get out of my room." I demanded.

"Are you sure that you want to be alone?" She asked in a quiet voice.

I let her sit next to me. "This is all too much for me to take in. School, the yearbook, Sunny, the powder," I pointed at the mess on the floor. "Why is this happening to me?"

Amber began playing with her hair. "I want to show you something. Sunny told-"

I whipped my hair around. "Please don't talk about Sunny, Amber. I'm not in the mood."

She grabbed my hand and smiled in front of my face. "Come on, just really quick. It'll be okay."

Sighing, I gave into her pleas. I let her take my hand and lead me out the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. She let go my hand and walked over to a door I had never seen that was to the left of the kitchen sink. Amber turned on the switch that was beside the door.

I took a step closer towards the door while Amber stood behind me. "What is this?"

"The basement, but it was never finished or even touched since your father bought it," Amber said. "So it's like an unfinished basement."

The basement was barely more than crawl space; you had to hang your head low just to walk down four steps. After that, there was nothing but a few old broken doors leaning against a moldy wall. The air inside smelled of must and decomposing animals. It was so bad that I tried to go back up the stairs, but Amber grabbed my arm.

"Wait, what about Sunny?" Amber begged.

Going back down two steps, I pointed at the garbage and broken doors standing against the wall. "There's nothing but trash down here."

Amber frowned, took a step back, then closed the door shut, leaving me alone in the dark. I ran up the stairs and reached for the doorknob. However, my hand recoiled in horror when I felt something other than the doorknob. What I touched was soft, smooth, and warm. It was also breathing. With no clue what was in front of me, I slowly inched my way back down the stairs.

"Amber," I whimpered, knowing there was no way possible that it was her. The darkness began taunting with my imagination, making up things I wished to never see in life. With each passing second, my heart seemed to beat faster and harder. The steps began to creak, indicating that someone was walking down them. I took another step back and my legs almost buckled underneath me from fear.

"In 1921, The Lovely Suicide Children took me away from my home and promised me a better life."

A little girl's voice filled the air. I knew it wasn't Amber because this voice sounded hoarser and strained as if the person had a terrible cold. At that moment, I didn't want to listen to what the girl, or what I assumed was a girl wanted to say. For some reason, my legs wouldn't listen to the command of my brain telling me to run upstairs. I was stuck, and no longer had my free will to escape.

"Before I left this world, my life was awful," the voice went on. I stood there and listened because it was the only thing that I could do. "I always knew there was more to life, but I couldn't have it here. I was stuck with my abusive father and a mother who didn't come home as often as she should have. The Lovely Suicide Children came to me at my weakest point and saved me from this cruel world."

Unsure if I could speak, I opened my mouth and tried. "Are you Sunny?" I asked through trembling lips.

"Sunny Averisky is my name," she said.

"Amber told me you didn't like it there and that they were evil. She stated that you weren't allowed to go back," I replied, remembering everything Amber said about Sunny.

There was a five-second pause, then a faint chuckle that sounded more like a cough. "That's not true. You should mind the things Amber says. She can get confused with the stories I tell her. She doesn't like the idea of how The Lovely Suicide Children, let's say, approach their targets."

"How do you approach people?"

"We tell them about our home. It's a beautiful place."

"Then why did you leave?"

I heard Sunny sigh. "I didn't leave. I came to help Amber. She's alone as you can see, so I told her I wouldn't go back."

"And why did Amber say that she's not herself sometimes?" I asked. "Do you," I paused, looking for the right word. "Control her?"

"I only use Amber's body when I feel she can't stick up for herself."

I found that odd. She wanted to stick up for Amber, but here she was telling me about how great The Lovely Suicide Children were. "Why don't you just take Amber to your home with the-"

"Once I choose Earth over their home, I'm no longer allowed back there," she said. "Amber's my friend anyways, and I need her here. I don't have any other friends. But you, you would make an excellent member to The Lovely Suicide Children."

I felt my body loosen and I had control once again. "One more question," I said, now scared I had control of my body and anything could happen. I didn't know if Sunny was dangerous or not, and from the sounds of her voice, she didn't sound friendly. She sounded scary. "How does one become a part of them?"

As soon as I asked, my eyes saw flashing white letters just like the first time I had come to the house. The letters all together formed two words: Kill, Suicide. I shook my head while closing my eyes, not wanting to see the words anymore. As much as I hated my life, I wasn't strong enough to face the afterlife or whatever came after that. Especially now that some girl with a hoarse voice was telling me to kill myself and that I would go to a better place if I had done so. I couldn't trust that, especially after what Amber had told me about her.

I took a step towards the door, then another until I was on the steps. I walked all the way up and nervously reached out my hand for the doorknob. Turning it, I was welcomed by the bright kitchen light. I was about to close the door without looking back, but I needed to. I knew Sunny was there, watching me as I started to leave. I gave in to my mind's desire to glance back. As soon as I looked back, I immediately regretted my action.

Even though she was visible for about two seconds, Sunny had looked as bad as she sounded. Her skin was light green with dark blue veins that appeared on her face. Her eyes were dark and cold like death itself. Her hair color resembled rusty water that hung unevenly down her face in strains of hair and stopped at her shoulders. Aside from her horrendous looks, her clothes were perfectly fine and fancy.

I closed the door, unsure of my emotions. I felt dizzy, but mostly from all the fear lingering inside of my heart. I never believed in paranormal stuff, but this was something beyond my comprehension. Amber was right about Sunny, for she did exist.

*Point out any mistakes*