It isn’t as if we’re dumb,were quite smart,or at least Sam is.
We tried everything, breaking the windows, going up to her widows Walk, nothing.
We’re stuck.
I cuddled Cam until he fell asleep. And now we’re sitting on the stairway,hopeless, Mike’s body staring at us below. It feels almost accusing.
“Who’s terrible idea was this?”, Maria asks,close to tears. I almost feel sorry for her. Really. Here we are. Stuck. Stuck in the scariest house in the universe. Stuck,with our friend dead.
And lying there,for us to see. Blood still gushing out. Some of it has dried. And it’s turned black.
And the scent is still heavy in the air,it’s horrible.
Stuck,we are, with a baby.
***
“I can help”
A voice says. Small,hardly a whisper. I try shrugging it off. I want to pretend I didn’t hear a voice in the scariest house available.
“Come. Come with me”
“Is it just me?”
Maria shakes her head,” I heard it too”
“Guys,I didn’t want to die”, X-toes says,”I’m too young”
“Young people die all the time. Mike died. What makes you so special?” She’s heartless. Sometimes she’s heartless,I think,but I know better. She just lost her brother,her twin at that,it’s not something I’d want to experience.
A small child appears. Just like that. She’s wearing a white rob,ragged and smeared with blood.
She has long black hair,wet and slimy.
And she’s standing there,arms hanging on her side.
A terrible smile on her face.
I can’t breathe. Time slows down and I hold Cam close to me,his rhythmic breathing enough to calm me.
“You want to get out?”
Her voice is thin and scrawny. It’s more of a statement than a question.
“You have to do a ritual”
“A ritual?”,I finally manage.
We all share a glance. I gulp.
“Hmh. You’ll need just two things. A strand of your hair and your nails”
“And how do we know we can trust you?”,Sam stands up defiantly and walks towards her,arms crossed.
She stands on the last stair,so she’s almost taller than the girl, looking directly into the girl’s eyes.
She’s dumb.
The girl smiles,”You want to get out don’t you?”
We share a look.