Jessie observed a puddle of a crimson-colored liquid.
Please don't be blood.
Please don't be blood.
Please don't be blood.
The four words kept repeating in her head. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing, but her hopes were crushed when her eyes shifted to the left. There, about three and a half inches from the puddle of blood, was a tongue.
Damien bent down to touch the blood and was absolutely horrified. It was still warm; the blood was fresh from a wound. A tongue was just cut off-possibly cut off their good friend, Sarah. She was nowhere in sight and they'd just heard her scream from the basement not one minute ago. There were no possible ways of escape from the basement but going upstairs to the main floor. "I need you to put your flashlight on and hand me your phone," his demand was directed at Jessie, who obliged with no questions asked.
Elijah finally spoke up, "should I go call the police while you go check out whatever is behind that door?" He only got a few nods by the group in response.
He rushed upstairs to find the telephone while his friends went in search of Sarah. He searched and searched, but could not find the thing he and his friends needed most at the moment. He shoved his hand in between two couch cushions. "Bingo," he smirked triumphantly as he pulled it out of the deep couch.
Back downstairs, Jessie was trying so hard to contain her panic. There were hooks hanging from the ceiling, saws around the room, broken baseball bats, and various other weapons around the rather large space. Walking over to a table at the far left side of the room, she picked up a picture in a broken frame.
In the picture was a large family, possibly around thirty people. Some of them appeared to have physical deformities, but other than that, the picture appeared normal. As soon as she laid the picture back down, she heard a faint noise from another room. Jessica could feel her heart skip a few beats as she searched for her knife, but realized she dropped it upon seeing the blood and severed tongue. Before she could even think to grab one of the many weapons around her, a man burst into the room.
He was the very definition of terrifying, looking like one of the hillbillies out of the Wrong Turn movies. It almost looked as if he was burned alive, because his rough skin was gray and scarred. The hair on his head was almost non-existent and what was left of his teeth were yellow and chipped. Everything about him was repulsive.
Jessie screamed in terror, causing the man to direct his attention to her. He advanced towards her, ready to attack. He knew exactly who she was and he wanted her dead. He didn't care who he had to get rid of in order to get to his target. He had a medium-sized knife in his hand, which he clutched tighter.
"No!" Justin screamed at the deformed creature as he jumped in front of him, pushed him back, then started punching the unknown man in the stomach. The man quickly gained dominance and grabbed Justin in a chokehold.
Damien tried to help his friend, and almost got him free, but another man came out to hold Damien back. He didn't harm the black-haired young adult, he simply held him back from helping his friend.
Jessie was in shock from all of this happening so quickly. She didn't know what else to do, so she acted on instinct and grabbed a crowbar and hit the man with all her strength. She wasn't very strong, so now she was regretting never working out.
The man laughed and threw an unconscious Justin to the ground by his feet. "You stupid little bitch," he took a step towards Jessie, and she took two back. This was it: she was about to be murdered at the age of 23. She never thought she would be the victim of a murderer.
Damien freaked. His sister was about to get killed and here he was, being held away, when he could be helping her. He elbowed the man holding him in the solar plexus, broke free of his hold, and kneed him in the groin. Grabbing a nearby broken bat, he swung it at his sister's attacker, successfully hitting him in the head and knocking him to the ground.
"Run! Get out of here, now! I'll be right behind you!" He shouted at Jessica as he repeatedly hit that man with a metal bat he swapped for the broken one he previously held.
She didn't need to be told twice. She ran up a short set of stairs and into the main basement, then up to the main floor and out the front door.
True to his words, Damien was right behind her, only by twenty feet or so, shouting for her to run faster; there were more of the deformed creatures and they were angry. Jessie turned her body, while running, to see her brother running with a limp. He must've been hurt when she ran away. The city was just behind the woods, so they could get help soon.
A sudden thump was heard, causing Jessie to turn around and stop in her tracks. "Damien!" She screamed. There, laying on the ground, was her baby brother, clutching his leg in pain.
"Don't stop! Just keep running and don't look back! I'll be fine!"
"No," she wailed, "I can't leave you!"
"Yes," he whisper-shouted, "you can! Go get help! I'll drag myself somewhere and hide. Now, go!"
Bound and determined to save her baby brother and friends, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Her lungs burned, her stomach ached, and her legs hurt with every step she took, but she never gave up. She had to save the ones she loves.
As soon as she made it out of the woods and into the city, she ran in the direction of the police station. Suddenly, a car stopped by her and the horn was honked, along with a familiar voice.
"Get in, quickly!" It was Elijah, there to save her and the others.
She got in, panting for air, and thanked him. "Where did you go? What happened?"
Elijah answered her questions as he drove off. "Well, as I was about to dial the police, the phone was grabbed from me and broken. There was this hideous man standing there smirking at me. Then he attacked me, knocked me unconscious for a few minutes, I got away, stole a car, then here I am."
Jessie was still breathing heavily, "Wow. Damien got hurt, Sarah is nowhere to be seen, so she is probably dead, and Justin is either dead or knocked out. We have to go to the police and get help!"
Elijah sped up the car, "I know. I'll get there eventually."
Jessica was confused, "you mean 'we'?" She noticed him smirk in amusement. "Um, Elijah? Police station is the other way." Elijah only locked the doors and held his finger on the lock button. Realization dawned on Jessica and and feeling of horror washed over her entire body.
"No," she almost screamed, "you can't do this!"
"Shut up!" Elijah yelled at her in annoyance.
"Stop the car! Stop it right now!" She tried to open the door and tried unlocking it, but it did not work. Elijah momentarily lost control of the wheel, causing him to grab it with both hands and slow the car down. Jessica took this moment as her time to escape. She could not - would not - go back there; at least not without help for her brother.
She unlocked and opened the door and jumped out onto the grass beside the road. Pushing aside all the pain that was caused from the jump, she pushes herself up and runs. Noticing she's now closer to her parents' house than the police station, she picks up her speed, just wanting to get away from the man whom she had thought was a caring friend.
