Sshh, Be Quiet

Lisa couldn’t help but shake as she gathered her bags and tossed them onto the bed before sitting down. All she wanted to do was to complain about something, anything. She wanted to rant and rave about everything that was going on. The only person that would hear her ranting would be Brian, and she knew it wouldn't be right. Glancing in his direction, she knew it definitely wasn't a good time. His head hung low as he stuffed his clothes into his bag.

Lisa sighed. “Hey, umm, I know it’s not much, but I’m really sorry about Jimmy,” she said softly.

Brian didn’t reply right away. He sat on his bed and sighed. Then he put his head in his hands. Lisa turned away, thinking he was going to cry. Also thinking that he didn’t want her to see him do so.

“One of the best friends that I could ask for. One of the best drummers to sit behind a kit. One of the nicest, most caring guys ever. How could this happen?” Brian said just above a whisper.

Wanting to comfort him somehow, Lisa slowly approached and sat next to him on his bed. She was unsure of how to actually approach him in the state of mind he was in. Biting her lip, she kept it simple and placed her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll figure this out,” she said.

“I hope we do. Seeing him like that, ugh. Something is seriously fucked up here.”

Lisa slowly rubbed her hand across his back. “Don’t worry, we’re leaving in a few anyways.”

“I just hope your friend is ok,” Brian said, following a shaky sigh.

“She’ll be fine. What about you guys though?”

“It’ll take a while, but we’ll get over it. Life is just fucked up like that. A couple months ago I catch my wife cheating on me, and now my best friend is dead. Life just seems to find ways to take a big shit on you.”

“Brian...you sho-” Lisa started to speak, but the words were cut off.

It was almost a full minute before Lisa realized what was going on. Brian's hands cradled her face and his lips were against hers. She thought about pulling away, but her instincts took over as she returned the kiss. She felt like she had no control over her body, because as she shifted into Brian's lap, the words 'what are you doing? You just met him three days ago!' flashed through her mind like they were on a neon sign.

Under different circumstances, this moment could've turned into something much more, but the shouting pulled them both back into reality. “Brian! Lisa! Get down here now!” Matt's voice effortlessly boomed through the house.

The shout caused Lisa to jump and nearly lose her balance from her position on Brian's lap as he still sat normally on the edge of the bed. Her heart was racing and she could hear Brian's soft panting as well as her own. “We need to get out of this house,” Brian said, barely above a whisper.

Speechless, Lisa nodded and grabbed her bags. The two of them headed out into the hallway. It was silent, leading them to assume everyone else was already outside waiting for them. Lisa watched Brian head down, and then her curiosity took over. She headed for the only closed door, and pushed it open. A stronger stench of blood quickly greeted her nose, and when she turned the light on, her stomach turned over as she regretted letting her curiosity take over.

Jimmy’s body lay across his bed, covered in stab wounds, throat slashed. His entire bed soaked in crimson. The sight mixed with the stench of fresh blood caused a violent wave of nausea to wash over Lisa. She thought she stepped out of the room as her vision blurred and her back hit a wall. She leaned over, wrapping her arms around her midsection.

“Lisa?” Voices called out to her as she continued to stare at the floor.

When it felt as though the wave of nausea had passed, Lisa turned towards the door and stood up straight, hearing the voices calling out to her. Lisa thought she stood up too quickly as she got a bit dizzy and was seeing spots, but she didn't even take a step before her stomach turned over again and her body lurched forward as she heaved and vomited. “Ungh...” she groaned as her outstretched hand found the doorway. A few steps into the hallway, she collapsed to her knees, trying to shake the images she had seen in the bedroom.

“Lis, snap out of it,” Stephanie's voice came out of nowhere as Lisa felt a hand on her back.

“Fuck...” Lisa groaned as she was able to bring herself back into reality. She looked over at Stephanie, then at Brian and Matt who were also gathered around. “Sorry guys. Curiosity got the best of me,” she said weakly.

Brian and Stephanie helped Lisa to her feet and the four of them headed for the stairs, joining the rest of the group in the foyer. Lisa, feeling better, noticed a very disturbed look on Emily's face. Disturbed and worried. Her attention went back to Matt who was trying to open the front door.

“It won't open...” Emily said quietly.

“What do you mean it won't open?” Matt said, pushing and pulling on the door.

“Break it down,” Jenna said. “You did it to the other door.”

“Bri, help me out here,” Matt said.

Brian and Matt both muscled the door, but it refused to budge. Zack had also joined in, but gained the same results. “I don't get it...” Zack mumbled.

“How about a window?” Korynn asked.

“Genius,” Zacky said, running for the nearest window.

He instantly elbowed the window, but nothing except a painful groan came from it. He picked up an ash tray, threw it at the window as hard as he could, but the only result was the ash tray cracking into three pieces. Johnny went into the kitchen and grabbed a tenderizer mallet. He then joined Zack in trying to break the window, but still nothing.

“Okay this is seriously beyond fucked up,” Johnny said. “Why won’t the windows break?”

“Someone doesn’t want us to leave,” Emily said quietly.

Everyone turned to her, waiting for an explanation. “What do you mean by that?” Matt asked.

“We’re all going to die in here. Every single one of us,” she said. “Don’t you get it? Do you guys even know what happened here?”

A collective silence filled the foyer as they all looked at Emily for the answer. “Years ago, some sick asshole would kidnap little girls. He'd bring them here where he would rape them and ultimately murder them. The police eventually figured it out, arrested him, and they cleaned out the house, but all the superstitious people say that the spirits of the girls are still here, and that they want revenge for what happened to them.”

“Wait, that was here?” Matt asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, but why can’t we get out? And what’s with the seven days thing?” Brian asked.

“Some say that he kept them here for a week before killing them. That’s my guess, because they said that police reports were saying that there was a new missing girl every week. Either way, we won’t make it till Sunday,” Emily continued on. “We’re all going to die in here.”

“Emily, no one else is going to die,” Lisa said. “We’re going to find a way out of here, even if we have to dig ourselves a tunnel.”

“None of the windows will break,” Zack said as he re-joined the group.

“Okay new plan, we’re all gonna camp out in the living room tonight, and figure this out in the morning,” Matt said. “We're all exhausted. It's the middle of the night. We're going to get out of here alive, okay guys?”

Notes