December 14, 2020
Edward breathed several deep breaths, feeling every ounce of rage in his body build up. He couldn't comprehend what he was looking at, yet knew it was sinister. Gabriel had been the reason for everything that had happened to them. He didn't know if he should knock the man out or call the police. Either way, something had to be done.
The photo slid from his fingers and swayed across the table to the floor. Sweat was beading across his forehead as his hand started shaking. They had been living with Gabriel for months now and, yet, they didn't know the man at all.
Edward picked up another photo and put it into his back pocket and then stormed out of the room to the main staircase. He could hear voices coming from the dining room down the hallway, where Gabriel and Rebecca were. He didn't even consider Rebecca. Was she apart of this too?
He slowed down as he got closer to the dining room. He peered around the corner and saw the two sitting at the table. Edward took a deep breath and spun across the corner.
"Edward!" Gabriel said happily. "I thought you might have been still sleeping."
Every ounce of his body wanted him to lunge at Gabriel. He wanted to wrap his hands around the man's neck and squeeze until the last of the air left his lungs. Instead, he remained silent and only continued to look into the eyes of Gabriel. Pass those deep blue eyes was something else, something more sinister. Edward could hardly believe it himself. How could Gabriel - kind and friendly Gabriel - be the man that had orchestrated everything that had been happening? The crazed fuck even, somehow, made the manor haunted.
"Is everything alright, Edward?" Rebecca asked.
He looked into her eyes now, feeling his heart waver. He remembered how bad he wanted to kiss her, to take her... but he couldn't. She was with Gabriel and Gabriel had harassed Edward's family. Therefore, he couldn't trust Rebecca either.
"No," Edward said.
Gabriel slowly stood up from his chair and slid it back under the table. "Hey buddy, you can talk to us." He said as he flashed a large smile.
Everything about this man was so fake. Edward couldn't even trust the smile. Why... Why had Gabriel done this? What was going on inside that man's brain to make him do this?
Edward took several steps back, feeling like Gabriel could pull out a knife and kill Edward at any moment. He felt the energy of the entire mansion shift. The lights seemed to dim, the house went quiet as the storm raged on outside, and the veins of the house began to pulse. Chants and whispers seemed to echo inside the wall.
"Kill him Edward. Kill him," They repeated.
It would be so easy. It would be so easy to tackle Gabriel, get the advantage, and just... push. He could already hear the sound of cracking. Just the thought of it filled him with joy. Then, he shook his head and came back to reality.
"Edward?" Gabriel said once more.
Edward took a deep breath and stepped back into the room. "You fucking bastard."
Gabriel looked to Rebecca and exchanged confused looks with each other. "Edward, is everything alright? Talk to me buddy."
He pulled the photo out of his back pocket, walked over to the dining room table, and slammed it to the table, making Rebecca jump from her chair. Her eyes looked at it, curiously, and then back to Edward.
"What is this?" Gabriel asked.
"You know damn well. You know damn fucking well what this is!" Edward yelled.
Gabriel remained true to his lie. He shrugged it off and acted oblivious.
"You've been spying on me and my family for months, no... years. You're the one that attacked us at our house. You're the one who drugged my son. You're the reason that my daughter was almost kidnapped. You're the fucking reason for everything!"
Rebecca let out a small gasp as she put a hand to her mouth. "Gabriel, is this true?"
Gabriel's wide smile finally began to dim as he walked to the other side of the table. He let out a small laugh as he looked over the photo. "I hadn't anticipated you snooping around in my office, Edward."
"So you admit it then, you admit what you've done?" Edward asked, his face a hot red.
Gabriel sat down in a chair and looked up to Edward, his smile widening once more. The two exchanged looks for several moments before Gabriel looked back down to the photo. "Yes, it was me," Gabriel said.
Feeling adrenaline surge through him, Edward lifted the very heavy table and lunged it over at Gabriel. The table missed the man as he only laughed at Edward.
Rebecca shrieked and ran out of the dining room, leaving Edward alone with Gabriel.
Kill him Edward. Kill him.
He felt his body twitch as if possessed.
"It's interesting to see how the house turns one insane. It works in different ways every time. My dad began hearing voices in the floor and his solution was to dig a gigantic tunnel, while almost never sleeping. You began seeing things and now you act as if they are possessing you. I wonder, Edward, do you even know what reality is?"
Edward felt his body return to him and returned his focus to Gabriel. "I know enough to know what you did. Why Gabriel? Why would you do this to us?"
Gabriel chuckled. "Perhaps this house has had its own effect on me?"
"Bullshit," Edward said. "This house is nothing more than one of your props to mess with us."
Gabriel lifted his hands and shrugged. "I just thought it would be funny."
Edward slowly walked to the other side of the table, eyes never wavering from Gabriel's. The man remained still as Edward closed the distance between them.
"Funny? What's so funny about this?" Edward asked.
Gabriel laughed even harder. "Really, I don't know Edward. I just find all of this to be hilarious. You're so concerned with figuring out why I did this when you should be concerned with where your wife is right now."
Edward gave him a puzzled look and noticed that Gabriel was now taking tiny steps backwards. "She's at work," Edward said.
Gabriel laughed more and Edward could feel it penetrating his body. It wasn't Gabriel's normal laugh. It was a laugh that was mocking and maniacal.
"Is she?" Gabriel asked. "Because according to my good friend, Aaron, the daycare has been closed since the storm came around. Makes you wonder, where could be she spending all that free time, if not here?"
Edward felt his entire body tense up at the revelation. "No..." He whispered.
"Yes," Gabriel said. "Yes, indeed. In fact, I think, according to the time, they might have just started. Perhaps you'll grow to love the next child your wife has with another man, as you have with Lillian?"
Edward felt his breathing become panicky. She couldn't have done this, not again. It had to be a lie. After all, Gabriel had been lying this entire time. The way Gabriel smiled at Edward, however, suggested he wasn't actually lying. Edward felt his heart beat loudly against his chest and he took off in the opposite direction, hearing Gabriel's laughter echo through the hallways as he came to the front door.
"You took the only thing I cared about in life away from me, Edward," Gabriel said from the hallway. "Now it seems only fair that I do the same to you."66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLgkWqyBjY
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cHDa9iWWy
He looked back to Gabriel, whose expression had turned to one of hate. Edward held his hand to the door but couldn't quite open it yet. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Gabriel walked closer to him. "You killed the only person I ever loved."
Edward's eyes flickered to different shadows across the room and then back to Gabriel. The man truly was insane. "Again, what the fuck are you talking about?"
Gabriel slammed his fist into the wall. "Don't play fucking stupid to me Edward. You killed him. You killed Ethan!"
Edward's eyes widened at the sound of the name. Is that why he was spying on Sarah all those years ago?
"How do you know Ethan?" Edward asked.
"He was my friend and I..." A tear slid down Gabriel's cheek. "I loved him. And you took took him away from me."
Gabriel loved Ethan? The same man that Sarah was having an affair with?
"I never killed Ethan. I don't know where the fuck you got that from."
Gabriel turned around and made his way to the stairs. "I know what you did Edward and, mark my words, I will continue to make you suffer for it."
Edward wanted, so desperately, to go after the man but, first, he had to go after his wife. He pulled open the door and rushed down the stairs over to his car. He started the ignition and sped down the driveway to the highway. He looked to his left and veered his car out. Snow pelted the windshield almost as quickly as he brushed it off. Then, off to the side of the highway was It. The man without a face watched as he sped down the highway.
He didn't feel the fear he thought he would have. Perhaps it was going to be his Guardian Angel.
END of Part 466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh45pjCctAk
