Sharing Nightmares

Jesse Sprague || Unclean

He'd have red marks from where the straps rubbed him.

Alice was worth it. Even if she hadn't offered to help. He probably wouldn't have let her anyhow.

He hopped up the steps as her black curls disappeared into the dark house. He ducked under the broken board partially covering the doorway and stepped to the left to avoid a hole in the floor. He didn't know how Alice missed it with the lights off.

"Alice?"

The moonlight through the windows showed her kneeling facing the far wall.Her slumped form didn't move except for jerky movements of her arms.

Then lights flared on, not one but many candles lit, making Alice's curls dance with the light. She stood, holding a candelabra high. Yellow flickered, licking at her skin, until it looked like the flame caressed her.

"Alice?" He glanced behind him. Where were the others?

Nick heard a shout. Hashim? Was he hurt? The door was shut. Nick was certain he hadn't shut it himself.

"Let's go upstairs," Alice said. Her profile glowed as she turned to the carpeted half of the room toward the stairwell.

Nick paused, torn between his friends who should have entered already and the pretty girl. Getting her alone had been the goal for the night, but none of his imagined scenarios looked like this.

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Nick asked.

Alice shrugged. "You can."

Why had they thought it smart to come here? Where Alice's mother's murderer was rumored to have stayed? Nick said, "There's no proof he squatted here."

"It drove him crazy, the voices from the graveyard." Alice stood at the foot of the stairs and looked back at him, between the mass of eyeliner and mascara and the natural dark color of her eyes they might have been black pits. But her lips were redand drawn slightly upward.

If he kissed her, would she let him? Would those cherry lips part. Her eyes dared him.

"I'll meet you upstairs." Alice took the first squeaky step and flung one more comment over her shoulder. "I'm not scared to go alone."

The light retreated, threatening to leave him in the dark.

He followed her and the light. The musty stink of the house grew the closer he got, and he held a hand over his nose. This wasn't just must and mildew...something was rotting up there.

Alice continued to climb.Her oversized cloak rubbed against skinny jeans, only the edge of a bright red skirt peeking out.

***

Sarah bumped into the gate, knocking it shut behind her. Hashim had reached the porch.

She crossed herself.They said that eight people had been murdered here. But it had never been proved that even one of the victims of Simon Douglas had actually been in this house. Still the very fact that Alice wanted to come here made Sarah's skin crawl.

"I can't leave her alone. Ever since her mom died, she's been a wreck but the past month...Something's wrong." Sarah took a few steps closer to the house. "You go in first? Okay? I know it's stupid, but I'm a bit scared."

Hashim shrugged and turned back to the boarded door. Two strides forward and he was nearly at the door."It's just a—" Crack!

The board under his foot split, sending up a shower of most covered splinters and plunging his leg into the dark crevasse. Sarah froze, and the door behind Hashim slammed shut, locking them both outside.