The Quietus

Chapter Sixteen

  Each of them sat in a defined circle, staring back at each other anxiously. Even Hope was apart of the 'fun' game of truth or dare. But now, it was Nova's turn. And she already knew what they'd dare her to do.

  "Nova," Tristan smirked, "You've been waiting for this moment, and I can tell. I dare you to make out with Damian."

Nova felt my heart fall into the pit of her stomach, although she saw it coming. "Um, I don't know if that's a good idea," she gulped, "I shouldn't get caught up in love, especially when these murderers keep happening."

Damian awkwardly stared down at his hands, disappointed that she disagreed. But a couple minutes later she stood up, stumbling towards him. She was standing, he was sitting. Staring up at her in 'aw'

"What are you—" she leaned down and kissed him, sitting down on his lap.

"EW!" River shook his head repeatedly, letting his head fall into his hands.

"Now this is adorable," Liberty chuckled, looking over at Jax who was staring at her. But of course, quickly looked away, "But of course, being in this house... that couldn't happen to me."

"You can't be so sure," Jax mumbles, propping his feet up on the table, "Anything is possible. Damian's a jerk, he ended up the gorgeous Nova."

Damian stopped kissing Nova, "Okay," he chuckled, "Time to get down to business. I dare River to be locked in that nursery room, with the pictures of us. Which happens to be one of the only rooms with a closet. The light has to be turned off. And you must stay inside for 30 minutes."

River let out the most disturbed gasp, "NO! NO! I AM NOT! IT'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

"River calm down," Nova blinked a couple of times, "Whoever the killer is, isn't going to be hiding in that room."

He shook in fright, "N-No, you don't understand. I'm going to die! It's going to kill me!"

  Nova examined him closely, and quite frankly understood why he wouldn't want to do so, "It's a dare...." she mumbled, "You should do it for fun."

  He glared at her and Damian, "It's not fun if I'm terrified doing so. Y-You all want me to die anyways. All you care about is yourself."

  "Come on, you know that's not true," Damian uttered, folding his arms, "None of us deserves to die. The people who died didn't deserve to die. Now are you going to do the dare, or not?"

  He hesitated, clasping his hands together as sweat dropped down his forehead, "Come on River," he spoke to himself quietly, "I-It can't be too bad, can it?"

  They all watched closely as he stood up, and walked up the stairs. "Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about this?" Damian gulped, "I feel like an awful person."

  "Relax," Tristan casually propped his feet up on the table, "Nothing is going to happen."

  Hope anxiously fidgeted with her fingers, "D-Do you see the ghosts?"

  Nova rose her eyebrow, "No honey, we're people. Not ghosts."

  "Not you guys, I can clearly see you," She took a deep breath, "Y-You don't understand me. And I guess that's okay."

  They all raised their eyebrow at her, trying to understand, but not succeeding. "Anyways, does anyone want to go up with River? I have a bad feeling like I said," Damian fidgeted with his fingers.

  "I'll go," Tristan groaned, standing up and crossing his arms, "Since I'm the tough one, and am clearly not afraid to hurt anyone. And let's just say River... he's fragile."

  "Okay, hurry before he locks himself in there," Nova said, plopping back down on the couch and watching him race up the stairs.

  "Why would you give him that dare? Especially in this terrifying house?" Preston cocked his head, "It just doesn't make sense."

  Damian squinted, and gave him a sly grin, "It's entertaining to watch timid people scream."

  Preston examined Damian's expression carefully, before jumping towards him, "You're the killer! You must be! Just look at his expression everybody!"

  "Preston! Get off of him! Just because he's ignorant like half of the people in this room, doesn't make him the killer," Nova spoke, attempting to tear Preston off of Damian along with the others, "In fact, we've been hanging out with the killer."

  The room became silent, as they eyed each other, "How do we know you aren't the killer Nova? The killer is usually the one no one would expect."

  "G-Guys, c-can I put in my input?" Hope rose her hand, looking terrified, "I believe it's one of the people watching us. The people who have us locked in this house."

  Nova nodded her head, "Yeah, maybe it is! But whoever it is. We need to stop blaming each other, until we gather real evidence."

  Damian slowly looked up, "We have plenty of evidence. Nobody is paying attention though."

  "And you are?" Nova put her hands on her hips.

  "Not really. But we should start."

  On the other hand, Tristan and River were locked in the nursery. Hearing the terrifying music, but seeing absolutely nothing. River, he was already in tears, while Tristan tried to calm him down.

  "Stop, you're making this room even more creepy," he groaned.

  "I-I'm Sorry. You're paying attention to the time, right?"

  "They should come get us after 30 minutes," Tristan sat on the bed, trying to make the best out of the darkness by taking a nap.

  "What are you doing?" River cuddled up next to him.

  "Napping. Shush."

  "No! Please wake u—"

  "Oh my gosh, I'm up! Please stop whining, it's make this even worse than it has to be. If you stay calm, we'll be fine," he secretly rolled his eyes, sitting straight up.

  BANG BANG

  "WHAT WAS THAT!" River screeched, "I KNEW IT! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"

  "I'm sure there's a rational explanation," Tristan forced a smile, although they couldn't see each other, "It'll be fine."

BANG BANG

  "THERE IT GOES AGAIN! IT MUST BE THE CLOSET!" Tristan smacked River's shoulder, because he was clearly drawing attention to them if anything.

  "If it is something, you aren't helping!"