To seek and to find

Chaos part 1

Mix heard a lot of ghost stories from his father back when he was a child, many of them about houses that were haunted, he watched movies too with his friends going to the cinema. The houses inside were either depicted as normal and unsuspecting or else as looking from a century ago with cobwebs covering the white covers of furniture, a dramatic staircase in the middle with grand chandeliers lighted with candles. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined the inside of the house to look like this. Red. So much red, like a bull, was butchered and left to bleed onto the floor, panicking as it was being ripped open causing it to stain the walls with red too. The smell of blood both old and new mingled in the air almost causing you to choke and gag. Almost no light was inside, the windows were open, but it looked as if the sun itself didn't want to enter and shine a light on what was inside. Mix had to bring an arm up to shield his nose, the wretched smell turning his stomach upside down. The furniture, what little there was, was all pushed towards one side clearly planned, to make the entire floor they were on completely bare. Now that they were taking a closer look Mix realised that it wasn't just random splatters of blood lining the walls, but rather there were other markings too. Claw and hand marks smudged on some of the surfaces, looking like someone was gripping the corners of the wall so tight and holding on until they were yanked out leaving behind indents and a crack in the stone. Whatever happened here was bad, really bad. The others were clearly on the same plane as him as they looked around bewildered too.

Besides the door opening nothing else happened, nothing to confirm that the spirit heard them entering. Neo whispered to keep close and not to get distracted and wander off, leaving a vulnerable space between them. Milliseconds, seconds, turning to minutes and the house remained still. Earth signalling to the others, showing the number three with his fingers. If it didn't want to show itself then they'll make it. Mix nodded going dead in the centre with the others surrounding him, never looking away from Earth's gaze as he made to remove his amulet. Here we go he thought.

Wind. The strongest gust of wind, feeling like the blast of a bomb. Mix looked on shocked as everyone was thrown feet away from him landing on their backs. Phuwin hitting the side of the stairs affecting him more than the others as he cried out. Earth immediately gets back to his feet before the others follow suit, looking at Mix with shock and an expression of fear. He winces as he steps, almost breaking into a run to get close to Mix again. Mix sees him approach him and he feels a gust of cold wind over his shoulder again. He looks behind him and sees nothing, the screams of the others making him turn quickly around again. They are being dragged, Mix thought horrified, dragged by their legs and their arms across the floor, all of them Boom, Phuwin, Luke, Neo and Earth. Even Jan with her eyes glowing is powerless to stop from being almost smashed against one of the wall pillars. Earth grunting and holding on with all his might with one arm against the staircase railing, almost tearing him in half. Mix screams, almost tearing his vocal cords out, he stands rooted to the ground petrified, his legs won't move. He hears the sound of smashing hoping it's not them, please not them. Why aren't his legs moving, why isn't the spirit targeting him? Why? Why? Why?

He needs to get a hold of himself, he needs to move, he needs to do something. Why won't his legs move!!! He screams again in frustration looking down at the ground, it's getting hard to see clearly with all the tears in his eyes. He kooks down gasping in shock. His amulet. His amulet is glowing so brightly it's practically glowing. Of course, Mix realises, his amulet!!! The spirit can't feel him or do anything to him while he is wearing it, that's why he is the only one not affected. While he remains wearing it, he goes unnoticed. He looks at Earth still holding on to one of the railings, his knuckles are dripping with blood from how tightly he is gripping it. Mix looks at him and shouts his name, willing him to look at him. Earth knows what Mix is about to do now, he feels it, he's terrified but this is their only chance. He just hopes that the spirit would be distracted enough to allow them to gather again. He doesn't want to think about how the others are doing, he hopes that they are still alive.
Taking a deep breath in, Mix closes his eyes, hands coming up to his neck. He unclasps the lock sure in his movements, this is the only way to stop this running through his mind. The amulet falls landing hard on the ground, the impact of it still heard even through all the chaos. And then the wind stops.

Everything stops. Earth landing on his knees, their impact heard as the wind stopped. He rises immediately, wincing in pain and limping all the way next to Mix waiting. The others gather slowly, Phuwin and Boom the ones affected the most, fresh blood oozing from their scalp unable to stand up from the pain. Jan was the first one to get to them and try to stop the bleeding. On the other hand, Luke and Neo join next to Earth and Mix, the former holding his arm tightly to his chest after it had slammed hard into one of the walls. While Neo wasn't any better, cuts on his forehead still bleeding and getting into his eye. He blinks rapidly in an effort to dislodge some of the clots clinging to the bottom of his lashes, on high alert for anything coming. Mix looks around him, confused, why is nothing happening now? Did it leave?

Earth feels it then. A change in the air, he has never felt this before at the house, he hears steps, heavy and loud as well as the sound of droplets as they splatter on the ground. He turns to the others, nodding his head to alert them and sees Mix looking at a particular door, the one right in front of them under the staircase. Earth noticed that Mix hadn't blinked even once since he looked at him, staring fixedly at that door. He must feel its presence too. It's coming.