Welcome to Nightmare Land |Complete|

Chapter twelve

"So." Dylan begins after the few minutes of silent walking. "Are we going to talk about how Dem became a raging lunatic?"

"Shh. . ." I say to him, cautiously eyeing Dem, who was a fair distance away alongside Markus "His sister is missing. I can't even begin to imagine what he's going through."

"He beat up a man for Christ's sake." He mutters anyway, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

We continue walk and the silence is thick with so much emotion floating around. My head is pounding and I'm drained. I just want this all to end. I wish we never stumbled across Nightmare Land.

"She's not stable." Markus speaks up, as we turn a corner.  "She might not be much help."

"We'll see about that." Dem says, unfazed. 

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Markus's house is small and seems to be falling apart. The paint outside is chipped and peeling. The grass is way overgrown and littered with weeds and waste. Huge trees seem to loom ominously over the old house. The stairs make eerie creakings upon us stepping on them.

Once inside, the smell of mold and mildew fill my nose. I try to cough slyly into my arm, to be polite. The lighting is dimmed, making me squint my eyes to see what's around me. I see a few pictures of a young Emily and her family, they look joyful. Most likely they were taken before their trip to Nightmare Land, I assume.

"She's upstairs." Markus says, hanging up his jacket. "I'll bring her down."

He offers us a seat in the kitchen and heads up the stairs. I sit an old wooden chair; it's really uncomfortable and wobbly. I sigh and look around. Mad is hunched over resting her head on her arms with her eyes closed. Dylan is sitting down playing with his sleeves and Kellan is just standing looking paranoid. I look over to Dem as he suspiciously walks out the room. I let out a small groan and follow him out.

Practically blind, I amble through the hallway trying to find him.

"Dem?" I hiss into the hallway."Dem."

There is no answer. I rub my temples in stress. I lean against the wall to calm myself down. I slip my body down into a sitting position. I stay there for a few minutes just taking deep breaths. I'm interrupted when I hear a shuffling from next to me. My eyes snap open and I nearly scream in surprise when I see Dem sitting next to me.

"How long have you been sitting there?" I ask, marginally breathless.

"Only a few minutes." He says, leafing through a book. "I didn't want interrupt your weird little breathing process."

"I was just trying to relax." I inform him, slightly embarrassed. "What is that?"

"A book I found." He tells me.  "It's about Emily."