My breath freezes in my throat and my heart starts hammering so loudly that I can hear each beat clearly in my ears. “What’s wrong?” Mason asks when he realises I haven't moved. I gulp, staring straight at the small translucent figure.
“Do you see that?” I whisper, so softly I’m surprised he heard it. “No, what do you see?” He says. What? He doesn’t see her? No, he will. He just needs to look up, I hope she doesn’t hurt him, what was it that he said earlier?
It could be the demon tricking them into believing it’s a little girl. I saw what that thing did to the priest, I try warning him but no sound comes out as I open my mouth, so instead I lift my shaky hand and point to where the little girl is standing, dripping water onto the floor.
Mason follows my finger until his eyes settle on the same spot. I wait for his eyes to widen in surprise, for him to fall over or take off down the stairs, but instead his eyebrows knit together in confusion.
He looks from where I’m pointing to where I’m standing and back again. Instead of being terrified and running out like any sane person would do, he walks over to where she's standing and bends down, letting one hand hover above the floor before running his finger along the droplets that have started forming there.
He is literally inches away from the little girl’s leg as he brings his fingers up to his face and rubs them together, examining it closely. “Yeah that’s weird, where’d this water come from all of a sudden? We were up here a few moments ago, it isn’t raining or anything either. Maybe a leak?”
He carries on mumbling to himself, oblivious to my stunned state and the spirit next to him. He bends down, placing his face closer to the water which by now has formed into a puddle.
All the while the little girl studies him with her matted hair, gaping eyes and blood stained cheeks. For some reason, my body won’t follow any instructions my brain gives it. My legs feel heavy and my arms begin to tingle as the little girl tears her gaze away from Mason and looks straight at me.
Feelings of anger, confusion and sadness rush through me the moment she does. I fight as darkness threatens to consume my vision. My body feels heavy and my tongue thick in my mouth, but I need to warn him. I look at him with pleading eyes and he eventually notices my discomfort.
His features twist into something that looks like concern? But surely he’s not concerned for me? Just a few hours ago he was the biggest asshole under the sun. Shut up, Brain! This is not the time to contemplate whether or not he’s concerned, who cares anyway?
Just warn him about that thing next to him! With every ounce of energy I have left, I push the words out, hoping they’re coherent enough for him to make out my whispered warning. “Mason, th-the little girl. She’s ri-right there.” I say in a voice that sounds so far away and not at all like my own.
He looks down to where the puddle of water continues to grow slowly, running along the floor in individual streams, each rushing off in opposite directions as if even they were eager to escape the presence of whatever it is standing there. Mason looks up at me and whispers. “You see her?”
I try my best to stay up right, but even though all the strength seems to be drained from each of my limbs and all I want to do is crash to the floor and welcome the release the darkness is offering, somehow the little girl’s gaze keeps me standing.
Before I know what’s happening, Mason stretches an arm out and reaches towards her. I gasp as I watch his hand rush right through her leg. As soon as he makes contact, the girl’s head snaps down and she swats at Mason.
I see his lips moving, but can't hear a sound as she angrily looks back at me and her jaw drops. It stretches wide as she throws her head back and black smoke pours out from the back of her throat. My eyes widen as the black cloud starts to engulf the ceiling, blocking out the light above her and causing the lights close by to flicker uncontrollably.
I try to let my knees give in, but when I stop supporting my weight, instead of falling to my knees I feel a sharp tug on my hair and I quickly push myself up again in an automatic attempt to ease the pain. The familiar burning feeling I felt the day I was scratched returns and I know something has a hold of me.
It disappears quickly and I look up, trying to find the little girl. Is she behind me? Is that even a little girl or was I just attacked by a demon? I look to where I last saw her, next to Mason and see that she’s still in the same position; palms out and face up.
Her jaw slowly opens and twists at an unnatural angle as the black cloud continues to pour out of her like water flooding through a burst dam wall. In a split second her mouth snaps shut, ceasing to exist at all as a thick sheet of white skin creeps up her neck and over her mouth and nose, covering them completely.
I watch in horror as the figure twists and shakes, the sound of bones cracking and breaking fills the air as it appears inches away from Mason’s face. He stands there, staring through the monster at me as it opens it’s barely visible mouth and lets out an almighty scream that pierces my ears.
It’s ten times worse than any nails dragging along a chalkboard or any cat fighting in an alley somewhere. Just when I think it can't get any worse, the noise intensifies, bouncing off the walls, making it sound like it’s coming from every direction at once.
I instinctively clasp both of my hands over my ears, but somehow it seems like the scream is pushing its way through my hands and into my brain as the sound gets even louder, almost like it’s fighting back, wanting to cause pain.
Mason’s face appears in front of me but I can’t focus, whatever strength I had left, keeping me upright, disappears and I fall to the ground. Pain erupts from the back of my head but I ignore it, keeping both hands over my ears.
The next thing I know, a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist and the back of my legs. A second later I feel weightless as I’m lifted up and the smell of lime and spicy caramel fill my nose. I try opening my eyes, but the distant sound of Mason trying to shout over the intense screaming is enough to convince me not to do anything until we’re safely in the van.
I mean, if this is what it sounds like with my hands over my ears, imagine what it’d sound like without it! Why is this happening to me? Please, God, let this stop! My head keeps banging into something solid as my body moves up and down violently, are we even going outside? Please let us be going outside!
As soon as we get outside the screaming immediately stops. I allow my hands to fall away from my ears as whoever was carrying me lays me down on the cool, dewy grass. I try to catch my breath, not daring to open my eyes.
After my breathing evens out and my heart rate slows a little, I feel a pair of warm hands gently cup my face. I force my eyes open to find Mason leaning over me, the smell of spicy sweetness gets stronger the closer he gets.
Huh, he really is beautiful. Even when he looks worried. Wait. Why would he be worried? What just happened? Didn’t I get a jacket? I’m so cold. Why am I laying on the grass? I open my mouth to ask but Mason speaks over me, his face still distractingly close to mine.
I wonder what he’d do if I just leaned a little closer and.. “Kayla! Are you okay? What happened? Why were you screaming?” Huh? I move my head slightly to the side to find everyone standing over Mason and I, curiosity evident in their expressions.
I squint my eyes, trying to remember something. What was it? I’m sure there was something important I needed to say. Mason’s face blocks theirs from view as he leans even closer. I blink a few times, trying to make sense of the jumbled thoughts in my head. What was it they said about screaming?
Was I screaming? No, surely not. I just went upstairs to get a jacket. Yes, that’s right. I wet my lips and look up into his big eyes, ready to reassure them all that I'm fine, just cold. But get distracted as my eyes travel down to his soft, red lips. “I, uh.. was getting a jacket. We went upstairs and…and…” Hmmm, I wonder if he’d kiss me back if I just did it right now, what would his girlfriend say to that.
I lift my arm and run my fingers through his thick, soft hair. He looks down, surprised as he gasps softly and bites down on his lower lip, his eyes darting from side to side, studying my face with an unreadable expression. I push my fingers down along the base of his neck and up, gently tugging. As soon as I do this, a low growl sounds from his throat.
He looks down at me for a second before turning his head up and looking at the girl standing next to him with a sour expression on her face. Oh yeah, her. He pushes himself up and away from me before standing in front of her.
“I think she’s in shock. Let’s get her into the van and talk there.” A few moments later I feel the same strong arms lock around my body again, lifting me up. I try to lift my head but my ears start ringing the moment I try, so I let it fall back down.
Why am I so tired all of a sudden? I rub my eyes and look up at Mason’s face, admiring his strong jawline and high cheek bones as I allow my eyes to close.
Eventually we come to a stop and I hear Mason ask Danny to open the passenger side door before gently sliding me into the warm seat. I snuggle into a warm blanket that’s just been placed over me. Mason closes the door and the car moves as everyone else piles into the back.
A few seconds later I hear his voice from the back where all the others are sitting. I try turning my head to see all of them but my body feels so weak, to even try sends a pain from my neck straight to my head. Quickly abandoning that idea, I strain my ears to hear what they’re saying. Mason’s voice is the first I hear, whispering to the others.
“It’s clear she’s extremely sensitive, she saw whatever was up there, water was literally bubbling up from the floorboards. I’ve decided to scrap the ‘more than one entity’ theory. I think that there is only one, and whatever it is, it was never human to begin with. For some reason, it’s drawn to her specifically. When we went in without her, all we heard was a soft voice. When we went in with her, well, all hell broke loose.”
“But what happened back there? If she saw it, why wasn’t she able to overcome it or block it out.” I hear Felicia say in a tone dripping with acid. “I say she was just looking for attention, you get those girls who..”
But Danny interrupts her. Her usual bubbly tone now replaced by a stern, sure voice. “No, I don’t think she would do that just for attention, you shouldn’t assume she’s the same as other girls.”
“Well if she isn’t looking for attention and she wasn’t blocking the girl out, what other explanation do you have for her reaction to the spirit she’s been living with for months? She never mentioned screaming her nut off before? You said it yourself, nothing much happened until she set foot into that house, who’s to say she isn’t faking it?”
“Well…” Danny says. “Maybe she doesn’t know that she’s psychic? That's a possibility, right? She mentioned blacking out before, when she saw the shadow creature in the mirror. I think she’s extremely sensitive, and given her combination of abilities, her mind can’t process what’s in front of her. It tries to find a logical explanation for what’s in front of her but when it can’t come up with anything, it shuts down. Couple that with the paralyzing fear, it’s no wonder she freaked out, if you were in her position, you’d probably be in shock too.”
“Let’s leave the stuff here overnight, get my mom’s car back to her and review everything in the morning. It’s been a long day and everyone deserves some much needed rest. We need to learn more about this place before we go back in there.” Mason says in a tired voice.
Felicia drops her voice to a whisper once more as she asks Mason. “What about her? Is she seriously coming with us?” “Yes. Right now she’s the only one who can tell us exactly what happened up there. We might also need her to draw the demon out when we decide to go back. For now, she can stay at my mom’s place or in my room. I’ll take the couch.”
Relief rushes through me as I give into exhaustion and drift off to sleep, leaving the sound of whispers to drift off into the background as the sound of a car door opens and closes, bringing with it the hypnotic scent of lime and salted caramel.
