House Of Horrors

Chapter 17: Lies and Secrets

Chapter 17:

Tristan's POV:

This place was somehow even worse when it was just two of us. Especially since I was stuck with Kylie, the overly emotional airhead who knew absolutely nothing about this tricky, fucked up place.

We slowly shuffled through a narrow hallway, neither of us speaking. The eerie quietness was extra unsettling to me, especially since the only thing fresh on my mind was the fact that Emily was with shady ass Cameron right now.

I didn't trust that guy, he just seemed like bad news. That plus the irritating fact that he was all over Emily; whom I've secretly liked for years now.

We arrived at yet another narrow hallway, looking almost exactly the same as the previous one. The musty wallpaper was peeling off in pieces, the splintered wood squeaked with age and everything around them was completely dark.

"Fancy seeing you two here," A familiar voice called out from the looming darkness, making my heart pound erratically.

Quickly spinning on my heel, I came face to face with none other than the creepy ringleader: Ryan.

"It's been a while hasn't it Mr. Smith...and hello sweet Kylie," Ryan added, giving me a condescending smirk that made my blood boil.

"Who are you and how do you know my name...?" Kylie asked slowly, her small hands shaking uncontrollably.

Like I said before, she was obviously inexperienced.

"What do you want," I snapped at him rudely, earning an incredulous expression from the air-headed girl I was stuck with. Ryan made a 'tsk tsk' sound and smoothly stepped forward, causing Kylie to jump back.

"Now Tristan, no need to get hostile, I'm only here to help," Ryan explained, cocking his head to the side. My eyes narrowed, I was so ready to explode with anger and fear and frustration.

"Help? Really, you're here to help? Well you've been so much fucking help. Yeah, Brianna, Jacob, Hayley, Jeff, Lily, Nick... they are all dead. Obviously, you've fucking helped a lot," I counted off my dead friends on my fingers, feeling a fresh wave of depression as I truly realized the severity of everything. Kylie cringed while I spoke, obviously not knowing how many people I'd witnessed die in here.

Ryan never lost that annoying smirk though.

"Well, I guess I don't need to help point you in the right direction then," Ryan stated simply, gazing at me as though he expected me to beg for his help.

"Wait! Tristan didn't mean that... can you please help us?" Kylie begged, pushing me back a little so she could give her best puppy dog eyes to the ringleader. Ryan's smirk grew impossibly bigger, and he slowly raised his arm to point to a door on the left, making a dramatic show of it per usual.

"Have fun," He was all he said, before turning around swiftly and strutting down the hall.

It was silent again, neither Kylie or I wanted to be the first to open the door and peek inside.

Stepping forward, I turned the knob and opened the door. It looked like a classroom, the same one we were in previously when Hayley was still alive, and it had the same rusty chairs and overturned desks. The ceiling was leaking which I hadn't noticed before, but I did notice that it was darker than before: almost pitch black.

"How is this the right direction?" Kylie whispered in faint disbelief, stepping into the cold room, and gazing around curiously.

I knew that creepy fuck couldn't be trusted.

There was a messy chalkboard at the front of the room, and I made my way towards it curiously, remembering that it had our names on it before.

The names 'Brianna, Jacob, Lily, Jeff, Hayley, Nick, Quil and Jeremy' were crossed off with harsh scribbles.

"Jeremy's name is crossed off.... is he...? is he dead?" Kylie stuttered, shaking with terror. Fresh tears pricked the corners of her eyes and I could tell she was struggling to hold them in, like she had been the entire time I've been stuck with her.

I ignored her dumb question and continued reading from the board. My name, Emily's, Collin's, Jay's, and Kylie's were written there in scratchy writing; Kylie's name was circled with powdery yellowed chalk.

"Oh my god, am I next!?" Kylie exclaimed hysterically, taking a couple of steps back and tripping over an unsuspecting chair leg. She let the salty tears flow freely now, and I crotched down to pull her in for an awkward embrace. She held on tight and cried into my shoulder, probably having the same realization as me in that moment.

We really weren't getting out of here.

I narrowed my eyes at the chalkboard while Kylie cried, finding something that managed to pique my interest. Why wasn't Cameron or Camilla's names written up there? Camilla's name should be crossed off at the very least, considering she died a while ago. Had their names been on there before? I couldn't seem to recall.

I let go of Kylie and stood up to examine the board closer. It was big but there was no other writing, or at least, no other writing that I could clearly see. The only strange thing that I could point out was a little chip in the faded green chalkboard paint.

Picking at it, the board easily began to crumble and reveal something white underneath.

"Kylie, help me chip away this paint," I demanded, not taking my tired eyes off the board. She stood up and slowly walked over, scraping away the green chalk board without asking any questions.

That was a first.

Something was starting to appear as the paint crumbled to the floor; it almost looked like old newspapers. Kylie and I worked away the last of the chalk board to reveal layers and layers of dirty newspapers.

To make matters worse, it was our faces plastered on the newspapers. I saw my face and leaned in to inspect it closer.

'Six Local Teens Disappear Without A Trace' the first headline read in big bold printed letters. Another headline read, 'Local Kids That Vanished A Week Ago Are Still Missing'

A week ago? No way we've been stuck in here that long.... it had to be a day or two; how could we go without food and water for a whole damn week?

"Um Tristan, you might want to look at this..." Kylie said softly, pointing to a little yellowed piece of paper stuck to the board with small, scratchy writing.

I decided to read it out loud.

"Mutants will take care of Hayley and Jeff, parasites will take care of Quil, Clowns will take care of Lily and Brianna, spirits will take care of Collin and Jay, Cameron will take care of Emily and Tristan..." I stopped reading.

I knew that guy was trouble from the very start. I knew he couldn't be trusted; I just got that icky feeling from him. Sure, maybe a little of my resentment steamed from his fascination with Emily, but my gut was usually right about people.

"Tristan, Emily is with Cameron. If he's going to kill her.... wouldn't it probably be like... now?" Kylie mentioned, shaking still.

Fuck.

I had to find Emily, and fast.