December 12-14, 2020
Edward and Jordan carried Mabel back to the house and rushed her to one of the bedrooms on the first floor. She was still breathing but, mentally, she wasn't doing well. Mabel was having frequent episodes of terror and kept trying to scratch at her forehead. Sarah was holding Lillian over in the corner, all the while Edward's daughter was balling her eyes out.
Soon, Gabriel and Rebecca were in the room and were also in shock. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dXIFFfM45
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"What happened?" Gabriel asked, rushing over to Edward's side.
"I..." Edward looked back to Sarah. "I don't know. Lillian hasn't said anything yet."
"Alright, I'll be back. We need to restrain her for the moment before she hurts herself anymore."
Edward noticed the deep cuts that were all around her head. It was like she was trying to tear her way in and, if allowed to, she just might.
"Edward..." Jordan said calmly. "Go talk to your daughter. We'll look after Mabel."
Edward looked to Sarah and then back to Jordan.
"Don't worry about Mabel. We won't let her claw out her eyes ," Jordan said.
"Okay," Edward said.
He walked over to Sarah and walked the two of them out of the door. Even in this moment, Edward couldn't help but notice how much more attractive his wife was looking. Ever since the storm hit, it seemed like she was getting hotter and hotter by the day.
Maybe she knows.
Edward shook the thought from his head. Nobody could know about the woman he saw in the attic. Unless Isaac somehow knew, there was no one that could know what he saw.
They stepped into the entry hall, where it was noticeably much more quiet. Even the wind wasn't howling as loud as it had been for the last two weeks.
Sarah sat Lillian down on a bench and sat next to her. Edward was standing in front of them and folded his arms. "Hey, Lily, are you okay?"
Lillian curled her hand up into a fist and wiped away the tears from her eyes. The best way to describe her face was one of a pouting baby.
"Lily?" Sarah said.
The little girl didn't talk though. Edward could hear her heavy, frantic breathing. Whatever she saw and attacked Mabel, obviously terrified her.
"Come on, Lily, you can talk to us," Edward said.
Lillian looked up to Edward. "They hurt Aunt Mabel. They hurt Aunt Mabel because of me."
"No, no honey. Shhh," Sarah said, holding Lillian close to her chest. "You did nothing wrong."
"Who attacked Aunt Mabel?" Edward asked.
His daughter had resumed her crying. "It was the bad men."
"The bad men...?" Edward asked.
"The bad men who have no face."
Sarah's face went pale, as Edward rubbed his face. A part of him wanted to yell. He wanted to yell because he was tired of his kids seeing things. There was no faceless man, there was no zombie kid, and there was no... Edward reflected on it for a moment before concluding that the woman Isaac thought he saw likely wasn't the woman that Edward saw.
"Edward," Sarah whispered. "They're here and they're attacking us again."63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3VYV1bZxY
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"No, no, no, no, no," Edward muttered to himself as he paced across the floor and clenched his hair.
"Edward?" Sarah said.
"No! They're not real, Sarah! The Faceless are not real!" Edward yelled.
Lillian cried even harder, filling Edward's ears with her sobbing and wailing.
"Are you kidding me?" Sarah said, gently leaning Lillian off of her. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
Edward knew he shouldn't have yelled but it was too late now. He wasn't going to apologize.
"No, I'm serious. I'm tired of everyone pretending to see something they didn't. There is no ghosts and there is no Faceless! Why can't you three just appreciate our new home and stop trying to take it away from us!"
"Your daughter and sister-in-law were attacked, Edward. Lillian is crying blood murder and Mabel is clawing into her skin inside of that room! You're meaning to tell me that you think that your daughter is lying? That I was lying? Go fuck yourself, Edward. I'll be home tomorrow."
Sarah stormed through the front doors with Edward following behind. "Sarah, wait. Sarah, I didn't mean it!"
It was too late. Sarah had already sped off down the driveway, leaving Edward alone with his balling daughter.
He sat by her and wrapped his arm around her. "I'm sorry Lily. Daddy's just upset, okay? I didn't mean to take it out on you. Can you forgive me."
Edward looked at her glossy eyes, as she nodded her head yes and wiped away snot from nose.
"Thank you my little flower. Tell me everything that happened."
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Isaac's mother had returned the following morning and he could hear her and his father in a yelling match with each other. Aunt Mabel was stabilizing and was even allowed to sleep in her own room now. Of course, someone had to check up on her every so often but it didn't appear that she was clawing at her face anymore, which definitely was an upside. Gabriel and Rebecca we're going about life as normal and the temperature was beginning to sink, with tomorrow supposing to be the coldest night in a very long time.
He couldn't help but feel paranoid, ever since that little girl was in his room. While he hadn't seen anything new in the last twelve days, he couldn't help but feel that something was about to happen. Sure, Aunt Mabel and Lillian were attacked but even that still felt miniscule compared to what was coming.
No creativity flowed out of him today. He couldn't pick up his guitar, he couldn't draw, and he couldn't even build with Legos if he so wished. The only thing he could feel was fear. Instead, he stepped out into the hallway and noticed that the ground was glowing red. He looked up above him and noticed that their were veins all across the ceiling, pulsating and glowing.
Isaac grabbed the knife he had from his drawer and followed the veins down the hallway, to the staircase, into the entry hall. The sound of his parents fighting were dissipating as he continued to follow the sound of flowing blood. A light from the right hallway was shining underneath one of the bedrooms and Isaac knew that Gabriel was in his office. Likewise, one of the first doors in the left hallway had a light underneath and Isaac could hear Rebecca humming as she was showering.
Nobody was coming to his help if he needed it. Yet, he pressed forward behind the staircases to the next set of halls. Both hallways had a staircase that led to the basement, which was where the veins were splitting into. Isaac flicked on a switch and slowly walked down the steps and came into the living room. Everything appeared to be normal, aside from the veins that stretched across the ceiling and led to the tunnel doors.
Behind the doors, the glow was bright red and seemed to be flickering on and off. Isaac put one foot in front of the other until he finally was able to touch the large wooden doors. He pressed his ear to it and could hear the sound of a heart beating and a faint whisper saying, "Release me..."
Isaac took several steps back and then the door exploded open. Several Faceless stood at its doorway and reached down for Isaac.
He tried to scream... but they sealed his mouth.
He tried to run... but they took hold of his legs.
He tried to crawl... but they dragged him back into the tunnels.
They clawed and shredded at his skin, with only the sound of blood gushing to fill his ears. He wanted to scream but couldn't. The only other thing he wished for was to die and let his agony be done. Fortunately, he woke up.
Isaac woke up, unable to scream and hardly able to breathe.
His parents were still arguing and Lillian was talking in the room next to him. Whether this dream was just a nightmare or some kind of prophecy, Isaac knew, something was going to happen tomorrow.
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It was now two days since the accident with Mabel.
Sarah had taken off for work, leaving Edward alone with his thoughts and anger. He still wasn't going to apologize for what he said. They were not going to move again, not unless Gabriel told them to leave. Even then, Edward wasn't sure how willing he would be to leave.
He rubbed at his face and tried to calm his thoughts but all he could think of was his next fight with Sarah. Edward didn't want to fight with her but he wasn't going to let her force them to move again. This house... it meant too much to him for it to be taken away. He clenched his fist, ready to pound it into the wall when he heard a little girl's sniffle at the door.
Edward let his body ease up and turned around to see Lillian at the door. She had been crying all morning and all of yesterday, because of what happened. Unquestionably, Mabel was attacked by someone or something but Edward wasn't about to admit to a mythical creature attacking her. She had bruises around her back, which didn't make sense to him. Why would their attacker attack Mabel from behind? As well, Lillian claimed she was being kidnapped until Mabel intervened. So then, why did the kidnapper give up on trying to kidnap Lillian? Why did Mabel go absolutely insane?
Then, it was like a light bulb went off in his mind. Mabel did this. Yes, she had had some kind of mental illness, which explains her psychotic break. She likely hurt herself, somehow, and passed out once her first episode was over. Edward rubbed his chin. So why did Lillian say there were Faceless? Well it only made sense that she was traumatized from her Aunt Mabel and coped with it by assuming that it was the Faceless. Yes, it made perfect sense. It was Mabel's fault.
Edward snapped back to reality and almost forgot Lillian was standing in the door. "Hi little Lily, what are you doing up so early?"
She was carrying her little wooden sheep, as always. Edward remembered that she used to have a normal stuffed one and found himself wondering whatever happened to that sheep. In fact, when did she get the wooden sheep? He would ask Sarah but she'd probably scold him for not knowing. Well, she's the one that abandoned her distressed daughter two days ago to go sleep god knows where. Thinking about it, she never did return that night. Where did she go? A hotel?
Edward found himself spacing again and looked back to Lily. She had said something but he didn't hear it.
"What was that Lily?"
"I couldn't sleep I said."
"Why not?" Edward asked.
Lillian held her sheep up to her chest. "Because Tabitha kept me up."
"Tabitha?" Edward said, puzzled.
"She's my friend. We play toys with each other."
Great, another imaginative figure that lives in the house with us. Perhaps there will be a unicorn next?
"Why did Tabitha keep you up?"
Lillian looked as if she was growing uncomfortable. Her body had a tiny tremble and she couldn't keep both feet on the ground. It was as if she was having a potty dance.
"She told me I have to tell you now, before it's too late," Lillian said.
Edward walked up to her and knelt in front of her.
"She wanted me to tell you that Mr. Matthews is a bad guy and not to trust him."
Edward laughed and rubbed the saliva that was building up on his lips. "You mean Gabriel? Why would she think Gabriel is a bad guy? He let us live here. He's a really nice guy."
Lillian glanced around, struggling to look into Edward's eyes. "She said that he's been keeping secrets in his office."
"What secrets?" Edward asked.
"I... I don't know," Lillian answered. "Tabitha didn't tell me."
Edward chuckled and stood back up. "Well you tell Tabitha that everything is okay, okay? Gabriel is a nice guy and wouldn't harm a hair on yours or my head." He rubbed her head and smiled. "Now go get some sleep. It's really early and you wouldn't want to waste all this extra sleeping in time, would you?"
Lillian gave a hint of a smile and shook her head no.
"Good." Edward kissed her on the forehead. "Now go get some sleep and I'll see you in a few hours, okay?"
She nodded her head and ran back to her room on the other side of the hall.
Edward laughed to himself once more before deciding to go downstairs to see if he could find Gabriel. This was normally the time that Gabriel would be in his office but he would walk downstairs to make sure.
Why would Lillian think that Gabriel is a bad guy? Edward started thinking of all the encounters between Gabriel and Lillian and could only remember positive ones. Gabriel was very kind to his daughter and even went as far as to get her candy from time to time. Then Edward began to wonder, who was Tabitha? Why was his children beginning to make up all these fake persons? He felt a little bit of the anger return to him, the same anger that was building up from his fight with Sarah.
But, before his anger could manifest any further, he was in front of Gabriel's office, the office that nobody was allowed to go into except Gabriel himself. He looked behind him and wondered how he got there. He couldn't remember going down the stairs and walking down the hallway. Nevertheless, he was here and he noticed the door was open.
Even though Edward had no reason to distrust Gabriel, even he found it a little strange how Gabriel never wanted anyone in his office, including Rebecca. Of course, it was probably full of sensitive documents and the such. After all, he was the boss of the sawmill and was in the process of reopening all of his father's hotels and motels around the northern forests. Or hell, maybe the man just simply wanted a place to be alone. Perhaps it was his own little mancave.
Edward knocked on the door and stepped back as it seemingly opened itself.
"Gabriel?" He said. "Are you in there?"
He stepped inside and noticed an absurd amount of monitors and other machines around the room. There were multiple pictures hung around the room of Gabriel and some kid that he recognized from that portrait in the entry hall. In the center of room was a large, circular table with numerous photos and papers on them.
Edward knew he should leave but found that curiosity was getting the better of him. He looked down both sides of the hallway and saw that no one was coming. Then, he slowly walked in and felt a little wave of heat hit him. How could Gabriel sit in the room for hours on end? It felt like a sweatbox.
He looked over to the monitors and saw that they were actually cameras looking in the various rooms of the manor. In one, he saw Mabel sleeping on her bed and, on the other, he saw Jordan and Dana folding their clothes.
"What the fuck?" Edward muttered. He peered his head to the right to more monitors and saw a camera in his son's room, a camera into his daughter's room, and a camera into Edward and Sarah's room.
In one of the bottom cameras, Edward saw that Gabriel was in the dining room with Rebecca, eating breakfast. Finally, he looked to a camera that was on in the attic and saw a single twin size bed with numerous toys all over the ground. Lillian must have been in there because that's not how it looked two nights ago.
He kept watching, occasionally thinking he was seeing shadows move in some of the rooms before he had enough. Edward turned around to the table in the center of the room where the photos and documents were.
The first picture was of Gabriel's father and Gabriel. They were standing side by side and a baseball stadium. It looked like a Mariner's game.
The first several photos were just your normal photos but it was after the seventh that he revealed the horror. The first picture was one of Mabel and Lillian standing outside on the pathway leading to the hiking trail, the night they were attacked. Another one was a picture of Sarah getting out of the shower and, the further Edward flipped, the worst they became. There were various pictures of Edward and his family all the way to back to when they lived at Waterworth Drive.
He threw pictures on the ground, horrified, before flipping to the letters and documents. One letter talked about Edward's family and how they would be moving to Waterworth Drive. It displayed a detailed plan of how to get Edward to work at the Hallington Sawmill as well as floor plans for his old house. Another document revealed how to create a hallucinogenic drug which could be put into a cigarette. Edward felt his blood boil when he remembered how Isaac was drugged multiple months ago.
More documents revealed more and more details of everything that happened to the Porter family over the last few months. He came onto a newspaper from about twelve years ago, talking about the disappearance of Jacob Matthews. He flipped through the newspaper when a little piece of paper fell out that sketched out the tunnels. Edward rubbed his forehead, not able to understand all the information that was being presented before him.
It didn't make sense. Why was Gabriel doing all of this? How did Lillian know that Gabriel was keeping a secret? What...
He looked at one more photo. It was a photo of Sarah and Ethan, before Lillian was even born.
Edward slammed his fist into the table, feeling even more enraged than he was earlier. He had some many questions but he wasn't going to find the answers here. There was only one man, now, who could give him those answers.
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