by Kevin Ryan
Isabel continued down the stairs and into a corridor brightly lit with long, fluorescent lights. Then there it was: At the end of the corridor, the figure was standing, facing her. No, it wasn't a figure. Isabel could see that it was a person. It was wearing some kind of an old-fashioned cloak. The person was small and stooped, his face covered by a hood.
He looked solid and real, and he was right in front of her. For a moment, Isabel just stared, not wanting to speak.
The figure spoke first: "Isabel." The voice was male and vaguely familiar.
"Yes," she said, keeping her voice firm only with effort.
"Isabel," the figure repeated, lifting its head. Slowly, he pulled away the hood, revealing a decayed face… gray and sick… rotting.
A scream escaped her lips as she stood, transfixed, by the horror in front of her.
Suddenly Isabel understood everything. She only hoped she had time to warn the others. Foolishly, she had walked into this, but they still had a chance. "Max!" she screamed as loudly as she could, turning to run.
Something grabbed her from behind. An invisible hand held her for a moment and then pulled her back away from the door and the stairs.
She tried to scream again, but found that her wind was gone. She heard the door slam, behind her. It was heavy and would drown out any further sounds she made.
"Isabel, you only just got here. I insist you stay a while," the voice behind her said.
13
The first scream jolted Kyle awake.
"Max!" he heard. The voice was dim, and sounded like it was coming from downstairs.
Isabel, his mind roared as he began climbing to his feet. He immediately saw that the door to her room was half open. He had a feeling that she was not inside, but he stepped through quickly to make sure. Seconds later, he had checked the bathroom and the walk-in closet. Nothing. That made sense… the scream sounded like it had come from far away.
From downstairs, he realized.
Kyle started moving. He had to get the others. Since no one else had come out of their rooms, he realized he had been the only one to hear her scream. The others couldn't hear through the heavy doors. His sleeping in the hallway had given Isabel a chance. He wouldn't blow it.
Running down the hallway, he stopped and banged his fists on Max and Liz's door, then on Michael and Maria's.
"It's Isabel! She's in trouble, I think she's downstairs!" he
called out. Then he didn't wait another second. He took the stairs two at a time, thankful for his football training and his naturally good balance. He jumped the last five feet to the floor, calling, "Isabel!" at the top of his voice. For a moment he indulged in the hope that she had wandered downstairs to get something to eat and had gotten frightened. But she had screamed, and he knew Isabel wouldn't scream because she heard a noise or saw a cat. Something was wrong.
Kyle called out for her again. Though he was worried about Isabel, he felt the focus and concentration he had on the football field come to him. Even in the high-pressure games, Kyle had always kept his cool. Now, he was grateful for whatever his dad had passed on to him that let him keep his head.
He was trying to decide where to search first when he heard a squeak. He saw a doorway hanging slightly open near the pantry. Throwing the door open, he looked down an old staircase, into what he guessed was the basement.
He raced down the stairs, guessing that Isabel had come this way because the lights were on both in the basement and in the stairwell itself.
Maybe she just got locked in down there somewhere, he thought. Maybe they would be able to laugh about this in a few minutes, when he got her out. It was a possibility, but not a good one, because it didn't explain the scream.
Isabel would call out if she were trapped, but she had screamed.
His feet hit the basement floor, and he heard the door at the top of the stairs slam shut behind him. He ignored it.
"Isabel, are you here?" he called out, racing around the
basement, dodging furniture as he went.
"Kyle," he heard, but the sound was remote. Then he saw another open door with another well-lit staircase. He was sure that Isabel was down there. With any luck, she had just locked herself into a room in a sub-basement. He reminded himself to prop open any doors so the same thing didn't happen to him.
Kyle headed down the stairs and saw they were cut out of the bedrock. At the bottom of the stairs was a small landing, and a closed door. "Isabel?" he called out.
The reply was immediate and so clear that it surprised him. "Kyle, run! Stay away from him. Get the others and get out of here!"
She sounded scared, desperate. It must be the Special Unit, he thought. It was the only thing he could imagine evoking that kind of response from her.
"Noooo!" he heard Isabel scream, and he rushed for the door and yanked it open, surprised that it opened easily in his hand.
Game on, he thought as he raced into the room. Maybe he could rush whoever was there and catch them off guard. He saw two people at the end of the hallway. One was Isabel. She was just standing there. She looked scared, but unhurt. "Kyle, stop!" she yelled.
He came to a stop just a few steps away from Isabel and…
A thing.
No, he realized, it was a hunched-over… person, but there was something wrong…
"Kyle, get out," Isabel said, and her voice immediately drew his attention back to her. She was very still, as if she couldn't move.
"No, please stay," the thing said. Its voice was male, but it didn't look human. Correction: It looked like a human who had lived hard, and then died a while ago.
He took a step toward Isabel and said, "Come on, we're getting you out of here."
"You aren't going anywhere," the stranger said.
"Let him go, he has nothing to do with this," Isabel said.
"Step away from her, creep," he said, wondering how the figure could even be alive.
Then he realized that maybe it wasn't. Either way, he and Isabel were getting out of here now.
"Do not take another step," it said.
"Look, I don't like to pick on… whatever the hell you are, but you're scaring my friend here," Kyle said. He tensed his body, already planning his move. He would knock the thing down, then grab Isabel.
He bent his knees, pushed off with both feet, and tried to rush the creature only to find himself frozen in place.
"What the…?" he said.
"Like I said, you're not going anywhere," the creature said.
Something had grabbed Kyle's feet and was holding him to the floor.
I'm caught, his mind supplied. Caught.
There was a tightness in his chest. This thing was doing something to him. It had him, the same way it had Isabel.
"Isabel, I'm sorry," he said. He had blown it. He should have waited for Max or Michael. They would have been able to handle this better than him.
"Oh, Kyle," she said, fighting back tears and looking miserable due to her uncharacteristic helplessness.
"Kyle," the creature said, looking him over. There was something in its gaze that bothered Kyle, scared him more than the ruined and rotting flesh of its face. Was this a monster? A ghost?
He looked at Isabel, and it angered him to see her so scared. Whatever it was, what right did this thing have to do this to her? To her of all people? Kyle met the creature's gaze and when he spoke, he was surprised to hear his voice firm.
"I have to say, you don't look so good. I mean, you really look like hell," Kyle said. For a second, the creature seemed to be taken aback. Kyle continued, feeling his defiance rising. "I mean, you might really want to get that rash checked out."
Then the creature did something that surprised him. It smiled, with the side of its mouth that still had lips… the other was just teeth showing through ragged flesh.
"That was funny, Kyle. Go ahead and laugh, because I don't think you will find anything that happens from here on to be very funny," it said.
Max raced ou
t into the hallway in bare feet. Michael was out an instant later.
"You heard it too?" Michael said.
Max nodded, and then he saw that Isabel's door was open. He was aware that Liz was behind him, but he was already racing down the hallway to his sister's room. He saw a pillow and blanket on the floor outside her door and ran inside with Michael behind him. They searched the room quickly.
When they came back out, Liz and Maria were waiting.
"No sign of Kyle or Isabel," Michael said.
Then Max noticed that Liz was holding out his sneakers, jeans, and a T-shirt. Maria was holding out Michael's clothes as well. Max realized he was only in his sleeping shorts. He quickly threw on the clothes, as Michael did the same.
"Something's wrong," Michael said. "Kyle said that something happened to Isabel. He must have gone after her."
"I think he was standing guard," Liz said, pointing to the pillow and blanket on the floor. Max nodded. That explained why they hadn't heard whatever happened to her, but Kyle did. He cursed himself for not following his instincts. They should have all stayed together tonight. Isabel had insisted on sleeping by herself, and now something had happened to her.
"You girls stay together, and Michael and I will…," Max began.
"No way," Maria said.
"Max, we can't;" Liz said, her voice tight.
Max thought quickly… taking them would be dangerous. And so would leaving them. Better to stay together. And there was no time to argue.
"Michael and Maria, you head down these stairs," Max said, pointing to the rear stairs near Isabel's door. "We'll head down the front stairs and meet you in the middle. Call out if you see anything."
As they raced down the hallway, Max kept Liz in his peripheral vision. He saw that she had put on jeans and a T-shirt… one that he had never seen before. That was sensible, like bringing his shoes. They opened each of the
bedroom doors and gave the rooms a quick scan. Nothing.
They hit the stairs, Max making sure that he was in the lead. He was especially wary because this was the place in Liz's vision where Maria had gone over the railing. But they made it down the stairs without incident and were in the front of the house. Keeping close together, they searched the front rooms. Then they moved to the center of the house, through the ballroom, and into the dining room, where Michael and Maria were waiting.
"Nothing," Michael reported.
Max nodded. They could not have gotten far. Kyle had been knocking at their door maybe three minutes ago. They could search the house more carefully, checking every closet and looking under every bed, but that would cost them precious time if Isabel and Kyle were outside. Still, they didn't have much choice.
"We'll start in the kitchen," Max said, realizing that he had fallen into his old habit of taking charge. Well, there was no time for long discussions and voting. Isabel might not have that time. For now, she'd be depending on him to do the right thing. Like she depended on me once before, Max thought. It had been another time on another world, and he had failed her then. He had failed her, and Michael, and himself.
He pushed those doubts out of his mind as they reached the kitchen. He looked around. Nothing was out of place. Then the door to the walk-in freezer caught his eye, and he raced over to it. Pulling it open, he looked inside. Nothing.
"Start trying doors," Max said.
He saw Liz open the pantry and head to the mini-hospital
they had found earlier. It was empty. He had just turned back when Michael called him over to the open door next to the pantry. Max could see the light from inside and immediately knew what he was looking at. Of course. How could he have missed it before, when they had first arrived and were searching the house?
Sloppy. Foolish and sloppy, he thought. And Isabel might pay for his mistake now. "Let's go," he said.
They all raced down the basement stairs. Before he could take another step, however, the light in the kitchen went out. Then the basement light went out as well. Max spun around and saw the light in the hallway go out as well. He grabbed Liz's hand. Then the rooms beyond went dark one by one.
A moment later, the light in the kitchen popped back on. Maria gave a startled cry, and Max could see Michael standing by the light switch.
"I don't like this," Michael said.
Max nodded. He didn't either.
Then there was a loud crashing sound from upstairs. Max felt Liz tense up, and then Maria let out a scream. The noise was followed by a loud banging sound that seemed to start from directly above them and travel toward the front of the house.
"Come on," Max said, already heading for the house's back stairs. This was the first definite sign of someone else being in the house. Someone, or something, he thought. Either way, Max decided he was ready; whoever was making that noise was no doubt involved with whatever had happened to Isabel and Kyle.
Racing up the stairs, Max immediately saw all doors
were closed, even though he and Liz had thrown all the doors open when they did their quick search on the way downstairs. Someone must have run through the hall, slamming the doors.
"Someone closed them," Max said, when the others had gathered next to him. Motioning his friends to stay back, he tried the first door, turning the knob and throwing it open. The room was empty.
He heard Michael and Maria try one across the hall. He grabbed Liz's hand again, and then went down the hallway, opening doors as the other two did the same on their side. At the end, Max threw open Isabel's room, which was also empty.
"Someone's playing with us," Michael said, echoing Max's own thoughts.
"Someone?" Maria said.
"What?" Michael said.
"Do I have to spell it out? Do I have to be the only one who's willing to consider the obvious?" Maria said.
"You mean ghosts," Liz said.
"Well, big spooky house, missing people, loud noises. This is not brain surgery," Maria said.
"Maria…," Michael began.
"No, listen to me. Is it really any stranger than half-alien teenagers with cosmic powers?" she said.
Michael didn't look convinced, and neither did Max. There had to be a logical explanation.
"Whoever it is, it isn't the Special Unit," Liz said.
"Whoever it is, we need to find them, and find Isabel and Kyle," Michael said.
"And what about Liz's vision?" Maria asked.
"We are not defenseless," Michael said, confidence in his voice.
"Well, neither was Isabel, but…," Maria said.
Before Michael could respond, Max raised his hand and said, "We need to be very careful. Whatever or whoever it is, we'll deal with it. The most important thing now is to find Isabel and Kyle…" Before it's too late, he finished silently. He saw that he didn't have to say it. Everyone was thinking the same thing.
"Maria is right about one thing," Michael said. "Something got Isabel, in spite of her powers."
"They may have caught her by surprise, and there are more of us," Max added. "Whatever happens, we have to stay together, or at least in pairs. No one goes anywhere alone."
A loud crash downstairs broke his train of thought. "Michael, you and Maria… " Max hesitated for a moment, remembering Liz's vision. They needed to keep Maria away from the top of the front stairs. "You take the back stairs, Liz and I will take the front," Max said. He would have rather kept the four of them together, but they had come up that way and had given whoever it was a chance to disappear down the opposite staircase.
There was more noise downstairs, and when Max and Liz hit the great room, they saw furniture lying everywhere. Someone had turned over chairs and tables, and had done it quickly.
"Max, look," Liz said.
He turned to see a blazing fire in the fireplace, where moments ago the fire was almost out. "Michael!" he called out.
"No one here!" came the muffled reply from the other end of the house.
"Wait there!" Max said, heading back through the house. There was some more
overturned furniture in the dining room. Michael and Maria were waiting at the bottom of the back stairs, just outside the kitchen.
"Whoever it is, they're gone," Michael said. "What now?"
There was something bugging Max. There was one part of the house they hadn't checked. "Back to the kitchen," he ordered.
A few seconds later, they were in the kitchen, and Max sensed that something was wrong. "Max, look," Liz said, pointing to the plastic that had covered the back door to the house. Someone had re-sealed it. No, more than that: It looked like it had never been torn. It was odd. If someone, or something, is trying to scare us, why bother with the plastic? Max wondered.
There was another loud crash, this time from below them, followed by a loud banging sound.
"The basement," Max said, spying the open door near the pantry. He couldn't remember whether they had shut it before, but it didn't matter… he had the feeling that the answer was down there. "Come on," he said, taking the lead.
Before he took the first step, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wait a minute, Max, I don't like this," Michael said.
Max thought about it for a moment. Something did feel wrong here, but Isabel was in trouble. He turned to Michael and said, "Neither do I."
Then he started down the stairs.
14
The basement was so full of junk that Max couldn't tell if anything had been disturbed, but this had been the source of the noise. And who or whatever had been making a racket in the house, had come down here… he was nearly sure of that.
"Let's all stay together," Max said, leading the group around the basement. Old bicycles, furniture, a boiler… but no Isabel and no Kyle. "I think we've been led down here," he said.
"I think you're right, Max," Liz said.
"1 have the same feeling, but why lead us around?" Michael said.
"That's what ghosts do, they try to scare you," Maria said.
"Okay, let's say it's a ghost… a big, mean, nasty ghost. Why the wild goose chase? Why not just strike us down with its ghostly powers?" Michael asked.
"A trap," Liz said.
"Or it's trying to separate us," Maria said.