What Lies Beneath

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Bittersweet Sorrows Part Three

Watching her friends take over the battle for her was like a stab to the gut. She didn't want this for them, she didn't want them to die for a cause that not even she could anymore. There was no hope left to enforce her swinging fists. No chance of tomorrow, but this voice offered a promise of all that she'd lost.

Noting Wyatt's distance from her as he neared the battle raging between Karen and Jason, Sophie ventured a soft whispered response. "Take what?"

The voice was slow to respond, but its answer was not what she'd expected. "Take the house." How could anyone take a house? How would one even do that? It was in those questions that Sophie found her true answer. To take a house is to lay claim to it. To declare ownership. Could it really have been so simple? All this time she'd fought with her friends and without, was forced to witness the demise of so many, yet this voice was saying that all she needed to do to stop it was claim the house as her own? No, it couldn't be so easy.

"It's not mine to claim." The fire that had burned so intently in Sophie throughout this whole ordeal was growing dimmer with each passing breath. She had no right to claim this house as hers. This house belonged to someone who could control it, force it into submission. She would never be that person.

"Stand tall, speak with confidence, and claim what is yours." The voice was louder this time. Sophie looked around to her friends and companions faces. None of them seemed to notice or even hear the voice. Though Joe's eyes were fixed on hers. No matter how much she wanted to trust the voice, the shadows played through her mind. This house was full of secrets. It buried the truths beneath all of its deceit, how could she trust the voice knowing all that she knew? What if this was what the house wanted all along?

The fog that surrounded them from all sides began to attack Sophie's mind as she tried to find the answer. Why was this happening? What would the house have to gain by her taking ownership of it? In the midst of her jumble of questions Sophie noticed a small white triangle poking up from the floorboards in front of her. Without taking time to overthink it, Sophie placed her hands in front of her and forced her knees to move as she crawled the short distance to what she hoped was her answer.

The triangle was so small that she had to use her fingernails to grab hold of it. As Sophie pulled what felt like paper out of the floor, she found that it grew into the shape of an old polaroid photograph. The image was of a smiling girl who looked like she could be her twin. Standing next to her was a boy with a crooked grin and caring eyes as he stared down at the girl's pregnant belly. The image was worn and crumpled, but it was enough for her to see the truth. Behind them was the house.

The truth was obvious yet so easily dismissed. The world wasn't as big as she once thought it to be. She was meant for this house. This photograph proved it. It was clear that she'd belonged to this place even before she took her first breath. She wasn't deluded enough to believe that the couple in the photograph were her parents, Sophie knew who her parents were, but that still didn't mean she could ignore the truth. No one else could hear the voice, only her. The girl in image looked exactly like her, minus the pregnant belly and smile. The image held so many secrets yet to be revealed, but most importantly it held her answer. She was the only one who could claim this house.

Rising to her feet, photograph grasped firmly in her hand, Sophie stood. The world around her was filled with so much hatred and violence. The house would have never given her an image of love, it was about hate. Evil resonated from its walls as it used the souls of the departed to get what it wanted. The house didn't want her to win, but the voice did.

Taking a deep breath, Sophie gathered her courage and all the strength she had left. Shoulders back and feet firmly placed the words built up inside her ready to be released. "Enough already!"

Karen dodged another attack by Jason. Anger was causing his swings to become wilder with each passing second. Blood coated the bottom half of his face. He looked like a demon, unrecognizable as ever being a human being. She could feel Wyatt as he grew closer. He wanted to fight as much as she did, but at the end of the day what they wanted didn't really matter. The house forced them into these roles, and they weren't about to let it pull the curtain on their lives just yet.

"Enough already!" Sophie's sudden outburst caused Karen to turn away from the battle at hand long enough for Jason to gain the opportunity for a surprise attack.

Without waiting for Karen to regain her focus, Jason formed a fist and swung it as hard as he could. His aim for her lower back where her spine would be the most susceptible to such an attack. This was his last chance to kill her before she could use her powers on him.

Just as Jason's fist was about to connect, he felt as if a hand wrapped its gnarled fingers around his fist stopping it before it could land the devastating blow. Looking up, Jason found that standing behind him was a man shrouded in darkness and fog. His face was covered, but Jason knew that whoever it was, they were smiling. Without any warning, the shadow man wrenched Jason's arm back and twisted it up behind his shoulder blades. Fighting the urge to scream out in pain, Jason clamped his teeth into his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

 Light began to emanate from Sophie as she stood before her friends and the shadows. She'd had enough of this house and all it stood for. It was time to end this battle once and for all.

"This is my house! Do you hear me? I CLAIM YOU!" Sophie screamed the words at every nail that held the walls and floors in place, each crack that'd made its appearance and all the silenced wood and distant rooms.

"What are you-" Wyatt stepped toward her, his question cut off as the house began to tremble and quake beneath their feet.

"From the day I stepped foot through your doorway you have chipped away at me. Killed those I would call friends and sent killers after me, but you could never beat me. I am the one you fear, the one who controls you now and forever." Sophie didn't look at her friends as the shaking intensified, but instead her eyes skipped around the ceiling. Even though the house didn't have a face to address, she still talked to it as if it did. "I CLAIM YOU! You cannot hurt me or those I love! I OWN YOU! NOW LET US GO!"

THIS WILL BE THE LAST PART OF CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT: BITTERSWEET SORROWS. STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE: COUNTDOWN WHICH WILL BE COMING AT Y'ALL NEXT SUNDAY. 

I HOPE THAT YOU ALL ARE BEING SAFE DURING THESE TRYING TIMES AND THAT IF YOU ARE ILL THAT YOU WILL INDEED GET WELL SOON. MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH ALL OF YOU!

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