Sshh, Be Quiet

Lisa came back into consciousness, groaning in pain as she woke up. She couldn’t recall what happened, but something else was on her mind. She opened her eyes and didn't see anybody in the room. Their voices were heard from the kitchen. Matt was talking about how they needed to be extra careful now. She scoffed as she painfully got to her feet and limped towards the stairs.

“Something is going on here. I’ve got to figure it out,” she said to herself.

In her mind, she went over the two deaths she witnessed in some way. Emily's was the only one she hadn't seen, so she couldn’t quite figure out a link between the three deaths, other than the fact that someone else had been in the same room as them. She opened the only door that was closed and the foul smell of death had rushed into her nostrils. The smell of blood was now mixed with the stench of decomposing flesh. Nothing in the room had been touched since they were last in there.

She limped over to Jimmy's bed as a million thoughts and images raced through her mind. Emily's story, how she mentioned the spirits of the little girls. Korynn's eyes as she stared Lisa down from the shower. She shuddered at the chilling image in her mind. The dark eyes and the growling voice, both not belonging to Korynn. Like she was possessed.

“Lisa, you don't believe in ghosts,” she said to herself. “Yet it has to be the only logical reason. Whoever is here is making us kill each other, or ourselves,” she murmured as pain shot up her leg and into her shoulder, causing her to groan.

She looked down at Jimmy's lifeless body, gingerly reaching towards his face. Her fingertips grazed his eyelids and Lisa shivered. Even barely touching him, she felt the chill in his flesh. She opened his eyes, wanting to see if they were the same blue that he had. They were, though now dull. They weren't the dark eyes that she had seen on Korynn.

“Lisa!? Where are you?” Brian's voice shouted from the stairs.

Her shoulder and leg were now throbbing in unbearable pain as she leaned against a wall, sliding down to sit. As pain was about to overtake her again, she heard footsteps coming down the hallway and into the room. She turned her head, looking up at a worried Brian.

“Lisa what are you doing up here?”

“I had to see something.”

“Come on, come back downstairs.” He held out his hand to help her up.

“I can’t stand. It hurts too much.” She turned her head away and leaned it against the wall.

With no hesitation, Brian leaned down and once again scooped her up in his arms with no effort at all, carrying her downstairs, setting her back on the couch.

“What did you have to see?”

“I think it’s something possessing us. Either making a person kill someone, or themselves.”

“That's ridiculous, Lisa.”

“Say that this thing took over Stephanie, and made her subconsciously kill Jimmy. Or it got Matt and made him kill Emily. Or perhaps it got to both Emily and Jimmy, making them kill themselves?”

“Well, we can’t pass over any possible thing that could be causing all of this until we know for sure. You make sense, but at the same time, it’s just hard to believe.”

“I know. I know. I don't believe in ghosts and spirits either but this place is haunted right? Emily said that the spirits of those poor girls still live in here. I don’t know much about the supernatural, and ghosts, but it’s not that hard to put two and two together.”

“You could be onto something, but until we know for sure, we have to keep our minds open to any possibility.”

“I know. The only other logical explanation would be that somebody here really is a killer, but it wouldn't explain the windows and doors that we can't break through.”

“Alright, alright. We'll talk about it later. How do you feel?”

“I hurt, what do you expect? But thank you. For coming after me, for helping after we were attacked. Just for everything.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I’ve never had anyone so concerned about me before.”

“Like I said, it’s nothing. Just rest now. You’re injured, and you don’t need to make it worse.”
Lisa nodded and laid back down. She tried to get comfortable, but her mind was racing, and the pain throbbing through her body had made it nearly impossible to relax. Brian sat nearby, keeping a close eye on her. He became suddenly worried when he noticed that her bandages were starting to tint a light red. There wasn't much gauze left, but he tried to hide his worry the best that he could, for his own sake, and Lisa's. She needed to stay calm so she wouldn't keep aggravating her wounds and bleed more.

As he watched her, he began to let his mind wander. Why am I acting like this towards her? He wondered if he was in denial about liking her. How could it be possible though? Only knowing her for a few days and having just met her, he couldn’t have feelings that fast. Then he thought about his soon-to-be ex wife and how he fell out of love with her quite suddenly. Feelings can come and go like that, and he felt beyond obligated to make sure Lisa got out of this alive, as well as her friends and of course, his own.

“Feeling okay?” he asked when he noticed that she had relaxed a bit.

“A little better. Guess that’ll teach me to walk around after being stabbed.” Lisa laughed.

“We’ll get you to a hospital when we get out of here, don’t worry.”

Lisa nodded as Matt entered the room, a nervous look on his face.

“Johnny got a message on his laptop,” Matt said. He took a short breath like he was going to say something else, but he didn’t. He just sat on the couch, staring down at his hands for a moment. Then he sighed. “And…I got one on my phone.”

Notes