Chapter 008:... And In The House

***

Frozen.

That was how Emmy felt as she saw the monster prowl into the kitchen, growling lowly. Her eyes were trained on the pantry door, Quinn hidden behind it, and she could feel Ben trembling beside her—Emmy was certain she was shaking as well, the prickling feeling racing all over her body from the monster.

She prayed it didn't find Quinn. She prayed.

The floorboards creaked under the monster's weight as it walked around the kitchen before, suddenly, it grabbed the cabinet underneath the sink and ripped it open. When it didn't see either her, Ben or Quinn, it gave an angered shriek and slammed it closed before returning to its search. And coming closer to where Quinn was hiding.

"It's gonna find her. Ems, it's gonna find Quinn," Ben whispered, terror stark on his face—for himself, for Emmy, for Quinn. 

Emmy grabbed his shoulder with her free hand as she watched the monster circle closer to the pantry, knowing that Quinn would be as frozen in fear and just as desperately praying as Emmy was that it wouldn't find her, that it would walk past her.

"Emmy, we have to do something," Ben whispered.

He made to get up, and Emmy pulled him back down.

"No!" she whisper-yelled. "Are you crazy?!"

"It's gonna find her! It's gonna kill her!"

"And it will kill you too! We have to help Quinn without killing ourselves in the process!" Emmy hissed.

Ben glared at her, but got back to the ground—and just in time as the monster's head lifted, growling, as if it had heard them. Emmy and Ben grew very, very still, not even breathing, blood rushing in their ears, heartbeats pounding against their ribcages as the monster stood there, just as eerily still, before its head turned—right to the dining table.

Emmy clapped a hand over her mouth, fear pulsing a panicked drumbeat inside her as Ben seemed to stop breathing. The monster snarled, still staring at the table, and while Emmy tried to tell herself it could give Quinn a chance to escape if the monster was distracted she didn't want the monster to find them, she didn't want her and Ben to die, she didn't want any of them to die, oh God she might die right now, she didn't want to die—

A muffled noise came from the kitchen—from the pantry.

Immediately the monster's attention was attracted back to the kitchen as it let loose a shriek and rushed to the pantry, unnaturally fast. Emmy's heart skipped a beat, because she knew Quinn must have caused the distraction—accidentally or not, it didn't matter—but it would cost her life if the monster opened the door or turned to shadow and appeared in the pantry, Emmy couldn't let Quinn die when she'd saved them, she couldn't lose another friend, she needed to save Quinn!

The monster's head tilted down, clawed hand reaching for the handle, it's snarls almost sounding victorious, like it knew one of them would be behind there—

—She couldn't let it get Quinn, Emmy needed to save her, she needed to save Quinn—

—Her hand went into her pocket, intending to grab the switchblade but instead she grabbed the hair clip—

—An electric shock ratcheted up her arm as the monster grabbed the handle—

—And a bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the house.

The demon whirled, shrieking as it ran out of the kitchen to the scream, sliding up the wall and dissolving into shadows.

Ben let out a breath. "Thank God. It's gone. Emmy, we can get Quinn and go somewhere else. Emmy? Emmy?"

But Emmy was frozen, hand clutched around the hair clip, eyes rolled back into her head as she saw Morrow House.

But not Morrow House.

***

Running. She had to keep running.

Her heart was pounding, fear in her body, but she couldn't stop, she had to get away, it had killed everyone else, it had killed all her friends and she was the last one standing, oh God why did they accept the dare, why couldn't they have refused, the door was so close, she had to get out—

Pain flared across her back.

She screamed as she fell to the ground near the living room. Blood dripped down her back as she crawled into the living room, panting heavily, her skin itching. Her hair swung down, the hair clip keeping it in place falling out as she turned, eyes wide and large as she saw the monster above, claws outstretched as it lunged and she let out a bloodcurdling scream—

Blood splashed on the hair clip, nearly blending in with the red colour of the plastic, as she collapsed to the ground, and didn't get back up as her blood dripped onto the floorboards, another scream eternally frozen in her throat.

***

Emmy gasped, eyes rolled back now staring forward again, still holding the hair clip.

What the fuck was that?!

"Emmy!"

Emmy turned, seeing Ben, hand holding her shoulder. "Are you okay?!"

"I... I don't know," Emmy said as she looked at the hair clip. She quickly put it back in her pocket as she looked over to where the monster was still gone, heading to that scream—and giving them time to get out.

"Come on, let's go," she whispered as they crawled out from under the dining table and heading to the kitchen, trying to ignore what she'd seen, and focus on just surviving.

"Quinn," she whispered. "Quinn. Quinn!"

***

Quinn was terrified.

She was pressed as far back as possible in the dark pantry, her heartbeat the only thing she could hear aside from the growling of the monster. By her feet were the shattered remains of a jar she'd accidentally knocked over, and for what felt like minutes, all she could hear was the monster coming closer and closer, to hear it stand right in front of the door, to know if it opened the door, it would see her and kill her.

Quinn didn't want to die—as shitty as life could be, she didn't want to die, she wanted to live, she wanted to experience it all, she wanted to spite death and keep living with a big middle finger and loud "Fuck you", she wanted to escape a house full of monsters she didn't want to think were real, that the haunting was real, that her life and her friends' lives had become a horror movie, that Sasha was gone, that she could be next, she didn't want to die.

Then the monster let out a shriek and ran away.

Quinn didn't want to believe it—maybe it was faking her out, to have her believe it was gone, then it would rip her throat out. Her heart was pounding loudly and God, she was so freaking scared.

"Quinn."

That voice...

"Quinn. Quinn!"

Heart pounding a furious beat against her ribcage, Quinn whispered, "Em... Emmy?"

"It's me. It's gone, Quinn. For now. We can get to somewhere else."

Quinn swallowed, fear pulsing through her, before she opened the door and saw Emmy and Ben.

A sob slipped out of her as she grabbed Ben and Emmy, hugging them tightly.

"It's okay. It's okay, Quinn," Ben assured, and Quinn hugged them tighter.

"We're gonna be okay. We're gonna get out of here," Emmy assured.

Quinn choked out a bitter noise. "How? There's no fucking way out."

"We're gonna find it. I'm not gonna let that thing get any of us," Emmy said, her voice determined as they pulled away. "And we're gonna find Sasha."

Quinn tensed as she and Ben looked at Emmy, Ben saying softly, "Emmy, Sasha might be..."

"I know. But... but we still have to try to find her," Emmy said. "And then we figure a way out."

The trio looked at each other, and nodded.

The Scooby Gang was going to find their fourth member.

***

After making the decision, Emmy crept forward, relying on her strange sixth sense. Ben and Quinn were behind her, their footsteps creaking behind her. They hadn't asked her  again about how she could sense the monsters, but Emmy knew they must have questions—questions Emmy didn't know if she could entirely answer. 

All she knew was that so far, it was keeping them all alive—and might help them find Sasha.

So far, no monsters seemed to be visible as they walked down the hallway, but Emmy kept a watchful eye out as they crept down the hallway, as well keeping an eye out for Sasha.

Where was she? She couldn't be... she couldn't be gone. Emmy couldn't live in a world where one of her best friends was gone, was dead. She had to be okay, had to be hiding from the monsters like they were, she—

"Guys."

Emmy turned to see Ben standing there, flashlight on something on the floor.

And every drop of blood in Emmy's body froze.

Because on the floor... was Sasha's camera and the second camcorder. Blood was on both of them.

They all looked at each other before Quinn picked up the camcorder and Emmy picked up the camera.

The minute she did, the same shock she felt from the hair clip ricocheted through her and she gasped as she heard Sasha's pants, felt her fear, saw the monster as it—

Emmy dropped the camera, squeezing her eyes shut, the ring of Sasha's screams in her ears. 

"Emmy?" Ben asked, voice soft.

"She... Sasha, she's..." Emmy tried to say, but she couldn't say it, eyes open again as she pressed a hand to her mouth, the ghost of sobs in her, the beginnings of grief forming.

"Ems, Ben, this... this has a recording," Quinn murmured, pulling Emmy's and Ben's attention to her as she turned on the camcorder and played it's most recent recording.

It glitched before clearing out, revealing Sasha's face as she started speaking.

***

Close call, but our trio survived! And yeah, with what Emmy saw...

But now, you'll know Sasha's fate—and I'm sorry for the pain and tears you'll experience

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!