Hush Little Baby

Chapter 10: This Wont Hurt A Bit

Barely able to move, Reggie struggled to lift his pain filled body up off the floor. His memory of what happened was Hazey. While a part of him remembered hearing Anna's voice but now as he looked around there was no trace of life anywhere.

Using every last bit of strength he had, he managed to get himself up onto his knees, staring out at the crowd of faceless mannequins. Only this time there wasn't a single dummy out in the crowd. Reggie was completely alone.

Again he had found himself at a dead end, as he struggled to get his legs out from underneath him. Moved his one leg a sharp pain fired itself through his abdominal region. Looking down at what was causing the pain he saw the pool of blood that surrounded him on the wooden stage, as well as all the blood that covered his waist and the majority of his legs.

His top half, on the other hand, was still dry and had no trace of blood what so ever. Not even sure if the blood actually belonged to him, he lifted up his shirt and almost vomited. On his abdomen someone had carved out the word Liar. It was still fresh, and streaks of blood were running out of the cuts.

Afraid to touch it Reggie dabbed the wound with his index finger as another surge of pain shot through his nerves. He gasped in pain as his hand began to shake as he moved it away from the wound. Running out of options now he knew he had to get out of this maze-like hell, that was the ghost towns Inn. Still struggling to get to his feet, Reggie finally managed to stand up and gets his first view of the awaiting darkness.

Limping to the podium, he placed both of his hands on either side of it and looked out at the crowd. Still, no one was there in the audience, that's when his hand brushed up on a cylindrical object on the podium. The flashlight.

Clicking it on he could finally see more than a few feet into the darkness, the room itself had been entirely cleaned up. The chairs, mannequins, everything had disappeared. The room was now spotless, not a single thing out of place. Yet Reggie knew he couldn't take any chances, reaching behind him to grab one of the guns. His hands turned up nothing, and he realized that he was unarmed now, only having the flashlight to guide him.

"Seriously. This just can't be real."

Checking one last time for the gun anywhere in his pants. There was still nothing. He was alone, no security, no hope, he was completely isolated. Reggie couldn't wait any longer, he was bleeding too much now, and needed to find something to bandage it up. Making his way down the stairs of the stage, he limped up the aisle until finally reaching the double doors of the auditorium. Pushing open the door, he looked out at the hallway that he had entered from.

Again the layout of the Inn should have been obvious, but it had shifted yet again. Creating a whole new mess of passageways throughout the building. Reggie didn't care he was approaching the brink of death like a speeding train with each step he took.

Forcing himself into the hallway, he moved the flashlight around the walls scanning for signs of anything, but it was dead silent for the first time ever. There was no more chilling moans, or deranged spirits trying to get his attention, it was oddly...peaceful.


Making his way through the decrepit halls, he turned a corner as a metallic door now stood in front of him.

"I can't be back at the auditorium."

The metallic door looked identical to the one he exited from only minutes prior. I don't remember closing it or even hearing it close. He thought as he went to tug on the doors handle. Locked. Now he knew this wasn't the door. A black ooze started seeping out from the top of it, and slowly covered the door, Reggie tried to avoid touching it as he grabbed the handle and shock it again, this time with more force than the first time.

The sound of wood creaking came from the other side of the door, someone was there.

"HEY! OPEN UP!"

Reggie removed his hand that was wrapped around his waist and moved it to the door handle. Every time he shook it, a piercing pain raced up through his muscles, but he knew someone was on the other side.

"PLEASE, I NEED HELP, OPEN UP I'M BEGGING YOU."

That's when he heard something scrape across the ground, as a rusted bronze key slid underneath the door. Reggie noticed the little piece of metal, and quickly bent over, fighting through the pain, he picked it up just before the black ooze consumed it and pushed it into the keyhole. He turned it quickly, unlocking the door and carefully grabbed the handle again, doing his best to avoid the black slime.

Pushing the door open, he got his head around the other side and saw that the room was completely covered in the mysterious black substance. In the middle though was none other than Emily sitting in a wheelchair, looking out the windows at the town below.

Her head slowly turned to face him as the side with the exposed skull became visible, she smiled at him happily and got up from the wheelchair, before slowly walking toward him.

"Hello Reggie."

"Help me."

"Why?"

"Because-"

Reggie stopped himself, he knew how little kids played this game. He had no more sympathy for her as he picked her up initially surprising her before throwing her across the room. He walked up to her menacingly as she begged not to be hit as he raised a fist to her.

Ready to attack the little girl. His fist was already headed right for her skull, only he was stopped in a heartbeat. The little girls once hazel eyes had now become jet black as she raised a hand to him, and forced his fist to stop in midair.

"What the hell?"

"You want my help? I'll give you help."

An invisible force started to crush Reggie's hand, as the sound of bones snapping begun to fill the room. He screamed out in pain as he stumbled back against the wall. His shoulders bouncing off, as the black slime started to wrap around him, but left his stomach exposed.

Emily walked up to him menacingly and lifted his shirt. Reggie's lungs were being crushed by the black slime now, and he couldn't force a word out as he watched the little girl trace the cuts, until stopping on the dot over the I in the world Liar

"I'll help you, only if you answer one question for me."

Reggie's breath escaped his mouth as the pain continued to dig in, Emily accepted his struggle as an okay and proceeded to trace the I before placing a finger over the dot again. The slime extended from the wall and revealed the rusty knife that Anna had tried to use on Emily earlier as she looked up at Reggie.

"This won't hurt a bit."

Reggie's eye's lit up as she took the blade from the slime, and placed the blade's tip on the dot of the eye. In the blink of an eye, she extended the cut to either side until she could get her little fingers into the wound and extracted a small piece of paper that was rolled up.

Unrolling it before him, his eyes scanned the note realizing what it was.

"Good you remember this. So why didn't you tell Scott?"