The House
Glancing at the ancient grandfather-clock which has its hour-hand pointing at one, I took a deep breath as my three friends – Josh, Leah and Mike tagged along behind me, their faces white as sheets. Heaving a sigh, I asked them for the umpteenth time, “Did you really see Rachel walk past this way just now?”
“I’d be damned if I’m not sure”, replied Mike – he was the only one in our “gang” who did not miss a single chance to apply profanity in his speech.
“Fine then,” I sighed. “We’ll go through the next room and –”
“Dong! Dong! Dong!” I jumped as my words were cut off by the loud striking sound of the grandfather-clock that we passed by previously.
Checking her watch, Leah asked, “It’s only 1.13a.m. Aren’t those clocks supposed to strike only on every full hour?”
“Yeah right, so much to the perfect accuracy of ancient grandfather-clocks”, said Mike in a sarcastic voice.
I asked Josh, who remained silent since we entered the large mansion, “Josh, you’re the genius here. So what do you think about this?”
Josh pondered a while before answering, “I don’t know… If any of you had noticed, the clock just now struck for thirteen times, how many clocks have you heard like that?”
“Oookay Einstein, stop scaring the wits out of our Little Leah, she’s freaked out enough already”, chuckled Mike. Indeed, Leah was grabbing my arm tensely, her icy grasp tight upon my warm skin. Josh bit his lips agitatedly, an uncertain expression on his face.
“Well, let’s get a move on, then.” I said, and we started walking slowly towards the door that led to the next room. Taking a deep breath again, I opened the door, and we were immediately overwhelmed by a wave of nausea as the stench inside the room rushed towards us.
“God damn it, what the hell’s that smell?” said Mike, staggering backwards.
“I don’t know, but it sure smells like blood to me.” I replied.
“Blood? But doesn’t that mean…” Leah started, but stopped instantly as our eyes took in the scene in front of us.
Sofas were overturned, the grand piano in the corner wrecked, blood was splattered on the wall plasters, but most eerily – a lighted candle was standing on a dust-covered coffee table, the wax dripping bit by bit every few seconds, making the room look scarier than ever.
“Who lighted the candle there anyway? It seems new to m –“
“Bloody hell!” Mike exclaimed, after bending down for a closer look at the coffee table. There, upon the dusty surface, was a message – a simple handwritten-message written not using ink, but blood.
“Maybe… maybe we should… should leave, shouldn’t we?” Leah asked in a trembling voice.
“And leave Rachel alone in this freaking, crumbling mansion? No wa –”
CRASH.
Someone – or something, crashed through the living room’s windows, dashing towards us at inhuman speed.
“Shit!” Mike swore out loud, grabbing the nearest weapon he could find – a half-broken table lamp, and flung it towards the creature – whatever it is.
The good news – Mike’s throw hit its target.
The bad news – the table lamp did not hurt the creature – it only made the creature turn towards Mike with its teeth bared.
“Run!” Mike found his voice again, and we started sprinting towards the door where we came in through, with me pulling out an object in my pocket as I ran – a silver penknife.
***
“Ryu, keep this silver penknife… It might help you against… other-worldly creatures…”
My grandfather’s last words before he died. I disregarded what he said as I did not believe in supernatural elements that time, but I kept the penknife and brought it around me everyday – as a lucky charm, and as something to remember my grandfather by.
***
Glancing down at the silver penknife in my hand while I ran, I flipped open the blade – and at the same time, a hair-raising scream pierced the air – Mike’s scream.
The creature had pounced upon Mike’s back, slamming him face-down onto the floor, sending showers of dust floating. Mike struggled helplessly, trying his best to fend off the attack, but it was absolutely useless against the creature, which held Mike’s limbs in a vice-like grip using its four arms, leaving Mike vulnerable to the razor-sharp teeth that grew irregularly in the creature’s mouth.
Overcoming fear, Josh and I stopped running and started towards the creature instead. Josh body-slammed the creature with his bony, thin body, while I drove my silver penknife repeatedly into the creature’s chest – the place where I thought its heart would be. Every stab I made to the creature was greeted by a heart-curdling screech – obviously, my silver penknife was doing way more damage than Josh’s pitiful body-slam.
*** Scenes removed due to violence that I couldn’t describe ***
Heaving away the dead creature’s body, we saw Mike – or what was left of him. What used to be Mike’s stomach was now a large, gaping hole, with the remnants of his intestine dangling out. Nauseous, I tried to feel Mike’s carotid pulse, but there wasn’t any pulse – no sign of life.
“Mike’s gone… There’s nothing we could do to help him anymore.” I told my other two companions – Josh, who was sitting speechless on the dusty floor, examining his wounded shoulder, which was slashed by the monster moments ago, and Leah, who was leaning against the wall, sobbing uncontrollably. “We’d better get a move on, and continue searching for Rachel – while she’s still alive.”
Leah gave a teary nod, while Josh still stayed where he sat, still silent and trembling.
“Josh, do you feel okay?” I asked, concerned.
“You… you go on without me. I think I’d be more of a liability if I tag along with you.” He replied in a shaky voice.
“But Josh, I –”
“Just GO! Didn’t you see that – that monster slashed me just now? Who knows, the wound might be infected, I could turn into a monster myself and attack you instead if I come along! For god’s sake, just go on and don’t worry about me!” Tears flowed from Josh’s eyes when he shouted the last six syllables.
I understood the reason for Josh’s actions – he was making a sacrifice by distancing himself from us. I was deeply moved by his sensibility.
“Tha… Thanks a lot, Josh. I wouldn’t ever forget everything you did to help me.” I gave Josh a brief, one-armed hug and continued, “Do what your heart guides you to.”
Josh did not reply.
Somewhere on the upper floor, a girl’s voice screamed.
“Rachel,” I said simply to Leah, running up the creaky wooden staircase, beckoning for her to follow me. However frightened she was, Leah walked behind me as though she was being hypnotized. The living room was already out of our sight.
CRASH.
A crash reverberated in the silent mansion, followed by the familiar scream again – Rachel’s shriek.
Following the sound of the shriek, Leah and I ran along the upper-floor corridor, eventually coming outside a door with a brass name-plate on it:
I nearly laughed out loud, but fear stopped me from laughing. Inhaling deeply, I looked at Leah and nodded – our final nod, before I kicked the door open.
I entered the room just to see Rachel being grabbed by another monster – but this monster seemed more familiar to me. I darted forward, holding my silver penknife in front of me, while Leah closed in from the other side, trying to corner the monster.
In an agile movement, the monster swept one of its mutated arms towards Leah with utmost force, and sent her flying across the room and into a gaping hole – a hole that looked directly upon the living room just now. A loud crack; and Leah lay spread-eagled, motionless on the bottom floor. She was dead.
Adrenaline coursing through my veins, I tightened my grip upon my silver knife, and shouted at the monster to grab its attention – I decided that this would be a one-on-one battle between me and the awful creature.
In the split-second when the creature turned to face me, I noticed two things:
One, that Rachel was still alive, injury-free, only terrified; and
Two, that the monster looking back at me wasn’t only familiar. I actually knew the monster.
It was Josh.
Face contorted in pain and agony, Josh’s body seemed to have mutated – he had a body which was at least twice the size of mine, and extra hands that sprouted from his torso. I felt queasy – my friend, Josh, killed Leah without any mercy?
I have no doubt that I was next to die if I continue doing nothing.
The most basic decision of human instinct naturally kicked into my mind: “Fight or flight?”
If I try to flee, I might be safe from any of these dangers that I am about to face.
But if I try to flee, I would be indirectly ending the life of my friend Rachel.
No other choice remained to me.
I propelled myself forward with my powerful legs, but Monster-Josh was expecting me – out of nowhere, a clawed hand slashed past my face, leaving a deep gash on my cheek. I was knocked backwards by the blow. Frantically planning a strategy in my mind, I retreated a few steps backwards and dived forwards again, catching the creature off-guard while stabbing it in its unguarded chest.
A scream of anguish, and the fight was over – Monster-Josh crumpled to the floor, while Josh’s face looked at me as though he had something left to say to me.
I felt no sympathy, no remorse.
Rachel, free from the monster’s grasp at last, ran up to me with outstretched hands – ready to embrace me. Slowly I walked towards her, and i stabbed her in the stomach.
Yes, I stabbed her.
For what reason, I do not know myself. Perhaps I just hate her after all.
Or perhaps, it’s the small part of me that starts to feel inhuman already.
Thanks to the gash on my cheek.
*****
The end. Thanks for reading.
Comments, and most importantly, a suitable title please! I can't think of any! Lol..
Oh ya, a lot of scenes have been deleted, because i'm not really a violent-essay writer, yet. But oh yeah, i have a lot of monsters in my mind's eye, as my brother's been playing Dead Space and Left 4 Dead these few days ^^.
Chao. Going to Gua Kelam tomor- no, i mean, today morning.
