They made their way down the corridor, trying to keep their gazes pointed forward as not to see the horrors on either side of them. Dead bodies, rotting from the inside out, hung from the ceiling by old, rusted looking chains, and were illuminated by lanterns lying below them. The bodies were mutilated: missing arms and legs, and other various body parts. Some, on the other hand, had extra limbs that were crudely sewn on with what looked to be thick, metal wire. Eyes were missing, and teeth were sharpened into gruesome points. Any unsettling modification that could be mad, was.
"Who do you think did this?" Martin asked, still trying to keep the little content in his stomach down. The harsh smell of rot was attacking his nostrils, and the overall cause was disturbing him.
"Who knows. I've stopped questioning anything. Just don't look at them."
"Why would anyone do this? I didn't think people actually did this kind of stuff to dead bodies."
"How do you know they started out dead?" Susan dryly asked. Something told her they hadn't.
"Maybe they're fake." Martin pointed out, lying to himself. He knew that the bodies were as real as he was.
"Does it smell fake to you?"
The two fell into a silence, both trying to hold themselves together. They knew this could very well be their fate. Actually, it was very possible that their lives would end this way. They just... knew.
"This is what the House wants to do to us..." Susan said what was being waved around in their faces. "This is what those... Those things want to do to us. If we don't find a way out, that's what they're going to do."
This breakthrough of thoughts forced feelings of fear and panic to coarse through their bodies, making their hair stand on end and blood pressure rise. Tears came to Martin's eyes as he realized, finally and fully, that his life would probably end soon, and in this House.
He wasn't ready to die. After all of the doctor visits, medicines, and other expensive medical services he had spent money on to prolong his life, it couldn't just end now. He had worked too hard for it all to be over in an instant. But, at least, it would probably end there. He knew it. He was too out of shape to handle much of anything else. To old...
Susan, on the other hand, made up her mind that this wasn't where her life was going to end. She was too young. Her life had practically just begun. To die in this House would be a waste of a life. Of her life. It would be a shame. Even worse, her death would result in a mysterious disappearance, perhaps devastating her loved ones even more than it would if she died and they knew where and how. She was engaged. She had a two yer old at home. She had a mother waiting for her to call, who had probably been waiting by the phone, day and night, ever since she didn't call her back after the first day. How could she? Her cell phone had lost all signal as soon as she had entered the House, and had died several hours later after she had used it as a light.
A lot of people would be upset, and no one would truly know why. Therefor, she would simply keep herself from dying, which, in turn, would mean keeping herself live. Sadly, this wouldn't be as easy as saying it. She wasn't escaping without a fight, and chances were it wasn't going to be an easy one. She would have to abandon the old man in the process, as well. They had only been together a few hours, and she was already considering pushing him down and leaving him for those... those things. Maybe if they were appeased, then they would let her House.
That brought another, more important thought to her; what if those things were in charge of The House? They were keeping them there, and planning on using them for something. Entertainment, perhaps. What if they were watching them through this endeavor? Laughing at and mocking them? Or maybe the things wanted to hurt them, or kill them. They might want to eat them, devouring their bodies with the razor sharp teeth she imagined were behind those a-little-too-red mouths. Or, the last and most terrifying possibility, that they are doing a little of both; They were toying with them now, laughing at their naive notions that they were currently safe, and will later come out and do what ever they intended on doing.
