Seven Deadly Sins

Chapter Thirty Six: Runaway

Obviously, she couldn't say such a thing. She didn't want to lie either, because it would hurt her only more.

"You're trembling," he noticed it right away.

And when he said it with his voice so caring and worried, she couldn't hold it any longer. She hugged into him and cried aloud. There was no point in pretending to be strong. She was just tired of all those lies and mysteries, and problems.

"I'm sorry, I just can't go back there, not tonight."

He instantly embraced her tightly and patted on the back, trying to calm her down. She wished to have an evening of relaxation. Watch a movie and eat sweets, while not thinking about demons, who might have been right beside her, invisible. She had no privacy in the house.

"You can stay here for as long as you want, Hailie," he said, wondering if he has a spare quilt and pillows. His heart beat suddenly became faster, now that he knew Hailie would be staying in the living room.

"It won't be a problem?" She wasn't sure if that was the right idea but coming back home was the last thing she wanted to do.

"How can you even think so? Of course, it won't be a problem. You're always welcomed here, Hailie." She was keeping her face hidden in his t-shirt, while all he wanted was to make her feel better. "Please, tell me what happened. Has Lucien hurt you?"

She shook her head, wiping tears into his shirt.

"It's the house," she mumbled and raised her chin. Shane noticed that her eyes seemed absent, like she was lost and troubled. "I can't go back there, I can't."

He slowly took her by the arm and led to the couch. She sat down, but her hands were still trembling out of nervousness.

"What about the house?" Shane took her hands into his. Hailie looked at him.

"It's haunted," she had to say it, even if he wouldn't believe her. "It really is."

He didn't try to make fun out of her. Deeply down he knew that she wasn't lying. Everybody in the town believed that this house was haunted by evil. Nobody could prove it, but people knew that the amount of death around there wasn't coincidental.

"Haunted as closing doors, creepy footsteps, shadows in the room and all that?"

"No," she laughed at his words, knowing that was the purpose of them. Shane knew that this house was haunted in a very different way than ghostly things shown in the movies. After this short moment of amusement, her face became serious again. "It's more than this. It's the aura of this house. It's making you do things, influencing your thoughts and changing you. You can't feel it, until it's too late. Until it's done."

What was true? She knew that demons wanted to help her that way, but she preferred not knowing about this. Otherwise, it became too horrible. Because if they could change her for better, could they also change her for worse? How much of it was actually her thoughts and emotions? She wanted to believe that something has changed in her life and that she managed to do it.

"I felt it too. This house, it's something else, isn't it? Honestly, I don't like being there. You can stay here as long as you want, until we figure out what to do next"

Her eyes got wider.

"It's only for this night," she said into the space, but that wasn't true. Once again, she looked like she was far away from here, buried deep down in her mind. "There's nothing to do next. This house, as much as it scares me... I cannot stay away from it for too long. It's like I was already bound to it, like I was a part of it. I don't think I could move out. Actually, I know I couldn't."