Survive the Night

24

*I just wanted to say thank you to all the fans that stuck through the end of this story. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. I'm already at work writing the sequel book, "The House Always Wins". Anyway, this last chapter is for all of you. I pray you each find the courage inside of you like Victoria did to push through any troubled times you're going through. Love you all.*

Winston and Geo carried Kevin's body out through the kitchen and left him on the soil just off the porch. It was too risky to bury him properly; they had no idea where Icarus was waiting and the graveyard corpses might come out if they stayed out there long enough.

The girls and Mr. Habernal waited in the hall. Nobody spoke. Sasha had stopped crying, but she was still nervously sobbing, though her tears were wasted. Victoria sat in the corner of the room closest to the door, only a few feet away from the spot where Kevin had been stabbed. The sloppy puddle of blood was evidence of the precise location. She stared on blankly, numbly, and heard the unnatural sounds of the Ashmore house sway around her mind.

Ashley was watching her from a distance, and Victoria felt her eyes on her. But she didn't care. Nothing felt real anymore; whether they lived or died. She just wanted it to be over.

"We have to kill the boy," Habernal said timidly.

Geo and Winston stepped in from the kitchen. The door swung shut.

"What's that?" Geo asked.

"The boy," Habernal said. "We have to take him out."

Everyone knew that 'the boy' was Icarus. And nobody dispelled his idea. He was right. If Icarus was such an easy target for Abner, he had to be eliminated. Otherwise...

Otherwise, Victoria thought. What? They'd all be killed. Sure--but how long could they last here regardless. This was a hopeless place, and everyone in this house was going to die at some point or another.

"Then what?" Victoria said.

They were surprised to hear her voice so soon. And so composed.

"Then..." Habernal started, shaking his head slowly. "I don't know. But it must be done."

Victoria stared at the blood. "Why don't we all take each other out?"

"What?" Ashley said.

"Why don't we use that gun Habernal has? Or hang ourselves one by one?"

Habernal blinked distortedly, fingering the cold metal barrel of his gun. "I'm sure there's another way."

"You haven't been here long enough," Victoria said. "We know there isn't any other way. I mean, you said it yourself. We're too fucked up in the mind to even leave the house. All we'll ever see is darkness." She looked at the fresh blood stains on her pajamas, from when she was kneeling.

No, she thought. She couldn't let her innocent friends die. Not until she confronted Abner herself. Standing up was an effort for Victoria, but as she rose, she was already formulating a plan in her mind. The first of which: to get everyone safely in their rooms. Or, at least, in a safer place than the main hall.

"I want you all to go upstairs," she said. "I'm going to deal with this myself."

"We have to deal with this together, Vicky," Ashley said. "We need a plan."

Victoria raised a gesturing hand to stop her. "He wants me, Ashley. I'll lead him to me and deal with him."

"No offense," Geo started. "But I don't think you're strong enough to kill him. Icarus is small, but that demon inside him ain't. He'll take you down in a fight. You're gonna need me and-"