Scott held the knife in a firm position to pierce through her chest. Rachel knew she had nowhere else to go. Her heart pounded fast as she thought of her family. She would never see them again. Rachel lifted her hands in fear as she saw him raise his knife in the air. As the knife came down full-bore, she screamed, "I know where the password is!" Scott halted his knife from Rachel's chest in the nick of time.
"What?" Jay said as he looked at her.
"I know where the password could be!" Rachel panted, staring at Scott. He came closer to her, so close that Rachel smelled his sweaty armpit and his thin spearmint breath.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
"He told me that it's in Alicia's room," she said.
"How did you know?" Jay questioned her.
"He thought that I could make it to her room and go downstairs then open it but you guys were coming upstairs so I ran into the music room," she said. She hoped that this time she was more convincing to them.
"The kids might be there too," Jay said looking at Scott.
"Okay, to her room we go," Scott said as he seized Rachel's arm, forcing her to go along with him. Occasionally, she cried in pain as he wrenched her arms. Jay seemed to know where he was going as he went upstairs, and took to the left side of the hallway. They passed two doors that were opposite to each other, which Rachel remembered as the music room. When they reached the next two opposite doors, she didn't know what rooms they were. Jay took the door to the right and opened it. He flipped the switch on.
The room presented itself as a typical teenage girl's room. Around the wall were posters plastered with boy bands, male models, and rock stars. Her waterbed had a Victorian-like headboard, and it was covered with a purplish sheet. A little bit of her childhood memorabilia was on her dresser. Four or more stuffed teddy bears perched on it and each bear threw a threatening gaze at the three individuals that had trespassed into the room. Scott thrust Rachel against the bed and pointed at her with his knife,
"You better not get out of this room," he said, "Jay, make sure she doesn't, and keep watch of the door."
He turned to her. "Where is the password?"
Rachel, still by the bed said, "He told me that it's in her bedroom, she wrote it somewhere."
"You will help me look for it," he commanded.
"Watch for the kids too," Jay said.
They first searched for the kids in the room but didn't find them. Then they focused on searching for the password. They searched every book and everywhere that one would write something on.
"Maybe she hid it in her teddy bears," Jay suggested. Scott went to a Cabbage Patch Kid doll, tore the head out and sliced out the body with his knife. The manner in which Scott ripped open each of the teddy bears made Rachel flinch. He flung each of them to the floor after he was done with it. Rachel went toward the restroom and was surprised to see that the kids weren't in there. She thought by this time, they would be at the safest place upstairs—as Rachel recalled Nathan telling her so. This was the only place that the button worked even if the system was shut down.
"Hey, get out of there and search the room," Jay yelled at her as he saw her taking another peek at the restroom. She backed away and decided to search the bed while Scott went into Alicia's drawer, flinging her folded clothes to the floor.
Rachel noticed that Jay flashed a suspicious glance at her and then at the restroom. He knew something was fishy about her peeking into the restroom. Hence he left Scott and inspected the restroom. Her heart skipped a beat as Jay disappeared inside. He might find the button and report it to Scott, Rachel thought. Would he know that it still work even if the system were shut down? She couldn't keep her eyes off the restroom as she prayed that he would soon come out without noticing anything. As soon as she thought that, Jay came out with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Rachel sighed in relief that he didn't discover anything. She continued her search so that they wouldn't suspect that she had lied. Rachel kneeled down and dug in between the mattress and then felt something, something hard. She raised the bed a little higher and there was a small, brown-covered notebook. As she brought it closer, the letter D was emblazoned on it. She knew it was a diary. She veered as she peeked at Jay, who was now with Scott checking out the lingerie in the drawer. Rachel quickly tucked the diary underneath her jeans. She peeked again at them, Scott and Jay remained consumed with Alicia's lingerie. This is my chance to run into the restroom, Rachel thought. Rachel rose from her kneeling position and without hesitating dashed to her destination. But all of a sudden she tripped on a Cabbage Patch doll. Both Jay and Scott swerved and discovered Rachel jetting up to run again.
"You..." Jay didn't finish his sentence as he hopped on the water bed and rushed toward the main door of the room while Scott went after her. Scott dove and captured her left leg. With fury, Rachel kicked his face. He screamed, cursing profusely as he rubbed his face in pain. Meanwhile from the bed, Jay leapt toward the door and made it in time, blocking Rachel from ever escaping from it. To his surprise Rachel wasn't heading to the door but to the restroom. His face cast a perplexed gaze at her. He wondered why she did this but he chased after her, thinking that she probably made a stupid mistake.
Scott— happy to see she didn't make it to the main door— hurried after Rachel to the restroom. Rachel dived into the restroom, spun around and finally pressed the reddish button beside the threshold of the restroom. Jay and Scott's face flashed a mixture of shock and bewilderment as they couldn't get into the restroom. A thin glass substance, similar to a glass partition, blocked the entrance. They both could see Rachel but couldn't get to her. They struck the glass. Rachel flinched, backing away but her distressed gaze was on them. After a while they stopped their attempt, they knew they couldn't break the impervious glass. Rachel couldn't hear what they said but she knew that they cursed at her. They were pumping their fist in a threatening manner. Rachel, still feeling tense, now felt somewhat safe. Then Rachel noticed Jay whispering something into Scott's ear and an eerie smirk flourished from the corner of his lips as his diabolic stare caught her attention. They both walked away with a satisfying glow on their faces as Rachel witnessed them leaving the room.
"What could have made Scott smirk like that at me?" Rachel said, scared, doubts budded into her mind; maybe there was a way they could get inside the restroom. But she quickly shook this thought off, she knew, somehow, that they couldn't possibly get inside. She pressed her heart gently, trying to calm herself down. Terrifying yourself isn't going to help, she mouthed to herself.
Rachel removed the diary from beneath her jeans and sat down on the toilet. The diary now lay on the palm of her hands, she felt like she held something special; her eyes twinkled at the sight of it. A new sense of hope grew within her. Alicia might have written something critical, like the password to unlock House Trap. "The best place to hide that would be in a diary," she thought. This concluding thought calmed her down, removing the tension away from her head. This feeling was followed by curiosity. She wondered what Alicia wrote in her diary. She didn't feel the rush to find the password due to the fact she was hundred percent sure she was safe. She flipped the pages and began to read the most recent diary entry.
Friday
Dear Diary,
I can't believe I'm spending my Friday night doing schoolwork. Damn it, if Mrs. Toussaint haven't had called my dad and told him about my grades then I wouldn't be cooped in this house. Geez, I'm supposed to go to the mall with Violet, and now I will be stuck with a nerd named Reva, or Rae or Raquel, I can't remember. Good thing is that at least I have tomorrow to enjoy with Jay, I can't wait.
I've just found out an hour ago my parents are taking a vacation (I, too, agree they need to). My parents work so hard, traveling around the nation on business. I agreed to baby-sit my sister and brother for today (since I'm already staying at home anyway) but tomorrow they will spend the day and night at a family friend's house. My God, when is that tutor girl coming? Well, gotta go, mom's calling me.
"Typical, someone tries to help you and you don't even appreciate it," Rachel said, not the least bit surprised by what she'd read. She began to read the second to the last diary entry.
Thursday
Dear Diary,
This is my last day before I've to go back to school. I don't want to but my parents will find out if I don't end it now. I had such a great time with Jay, and he understood that this couldn't continue. We decided to see each other again on Saturday...
"No password, so far," Rachel said to herself. Rachel didn't give much thought on what she had read. She went to the previous entry.
Wednesday
Dear Diary,
...I feel so sad for what I'm doing. My brother has a karate competition and I promise to take Amy out but they still think that something's wrong with me. I will make it up to them... I really love spending time with my brother and sister. I hear my friends talking about how they hate their siblings but it's quite the opposite for me...
Rachel's brother immediately came to her mind as she read this. It stunned Rachel to read that Alicia liked to spend time with her brother and sister. Rachel felt sad she had been treating her own brother like a pest. She ached to be home, wanting to be bugged by him. She would do anything to have that this very moment. Without her realizing it, her eyes became watery. She dabbed it with tissue paper beside her. She truly didn't know if she would ever see him or her parents again. She leafed onward to the previous entry from Wednesday.
Tuesday
Dear Diary,
...We got so drugged up that we decided not to go out. No one is at my house, so we spent the whole morning and afternoon there. Then after-ward, we got drunk and I showed him the whole area of the house. After school was over, he left and we decided to go out tomorrow. My mom came and checked on me when I was in bed. Man, I should win an Oscar for best actress. Maybe that's what I'm gonna do with my life: be an actress, no, modeling sounds good, or maybe fashion designer, or maybe....
Rachel stopped reading, rolling her eyes. She got upset at Alicia for showing Jay the whole area of the house. Maybe that's how he knew how to shut the system down, she thought. She flipped a page.
Monday
Dear diary,
... I'm sick of going to school... it's been three days since I decided to skip school and spend time with Jay. I pretended to be sick and my parents really believed me. I can't believe this is going smoothly. From the start I was nervous for two days straight. Jay kept on saying everything would be all right... cheating on Christopher with Jay was the best thing I've ever done. Christopher is just a meathead or rather a Neanderthal while Jay...
Rachel's mouth opened in shock as she read this. She recalled seeing Christopher, the comely football player, at the school hallway after speaking to Kristen this morning. Alicia clung on to him like she was in love with him, all the while cheating on him with Jay, who seemed to be the outskirt of their clique. Rachel, at that time, thought that Jay was just one of her male acquaintances.
... I don't know how I'm going to break up with him. At first Jay pressured me to dump him but later he didn't care at all, he tells me that he loves me. He even thought of registering to attend my school this coming Friday, I'm so excited but at the same time it will be harder for me to tell Christopher... I don't need a crystal ball to see that there will be a fight if he sees me with him in the school hallway.
Rachel read this in pity. The person that Alicia likes so much was now the person that murdered her. It's truly sad someone could do that to another person, especially someone you thought you knew and liked a lot. Rachel decided not to read anymore and skipped each page quickly while watching for numbers that could be the password. She couldn't find anything as she skimmed through the pages again. When she didn't find it, she threw the diary at the ground in frustration. She covered her entire face with her hand. She felt helpless; she didn't know what else to do. She didn't even know how long it has been since all this has happened. She removed her hand from her drained face and glanced at the distant diary. It was split open with writing on both sides. As she glared at it, Rachel noticed something at the corner of the right side of the page. It had the date and something that says "Jay's Secret." Rachel quickly reached for the diary, sat back at the toilet and began to read it.
Dear diary,
Jay told me not to tell anyone this, not even to my closest friend. I have never kept a secret about anyone from my closest friends, especially Violet, Marge, Angelina, Tersha and Brittany, so this was gonna be hard for me. It was a time at the beach party on a Friday night. There was a bonfire and everyone was playing around when Jay secretly got me out of the group to spend time alone with me. We strolled away from the group, which didn't seem to take notice at all, I guess beer and horse-playing was more important than knowing where your friend is. We sat down close to the ocean on a lone, thick log. We stared at the silver moonlight. Somehow our conversation came to be about our past when he suddenly began to cry. I was confused and felt weird to see him cry so I asked him what was the matter. He didn't answer at all, so I went close to him and gave him a hug. I pleaded for him to tell me why he cried, and then he told me. He said...
Rachel kept reading it as disbelief flooded her thoughts then a sudden sadness for Jay brewed inside her. A person that she hated was now, before her very eyes, someone she sympathized with. She didn't know how to cope with what she had just read. She didn't read anymore because it began to upset her. She couldn't believe that Alicia actually kept this from her friends. Alicia wasn't known to keep things from her closest friends and she loved to spread secrets among them and in turn they would tell the entire school.
She must have really liked him . Rachel thought after closing her diary. She couldn't read Alicia's diary anymore. She felt kind of bad after reading it. I mean I can't imagine someone reading my own thoughts, Rachel thought. Some of the entries that Rachel flipped have some indecent things that she herself didn't want to read in respect of Alicia's privacy. In Rachel's mind she could hear a little voice telling her to destroy the diary. It felt as if Alicia spoke to her at that moment. Rachel felt that she knew why she would want it to be destroyed: if Alicia's parents read what she had just read, it will break their hearts. They would forever blame themselves for her death, and so Rachel ripped up the diary's pages, piece by piece and flushed them down the toilet. As she flushed the final pieces of paper, she somehow felt that Alicia thanked her. Rachel couldn't help but lament that her life was cut so short.
Rachel didn't know how long she had spent in the restroom and she didn't care because she knew she was safe. If she weren't, Jay and Scott would have already been back and most likely would have killed her for the stunt she pulled. Although she felt safe, she didn't know how the kids were doing. She knew they were safe in the small pit, but how long could they stay in there? The smell inside the pit wasn't pleasant. She felt guilty that she was in a more secure and comfortable place than they were. She didn't know what else to do but hope things were alright with them.
Rachel went to the sink and bent forward. She put her lips underneath the faucet spout. She turned the tap and gulped the crystal-clear water like she hasn't had it in weeks. She removed her scratched eyeglasses as she mopped her sweaty, tear-stained face with tap water. She grabbed the white cotton towel by the towel rack and dried her face. She decided to walked up to the glass door to scan Alicia's room, to see if they might be present. As she approached the entrance, she saw something stuck on the glass blockage. It was a taped, piece of paper with red-ink handwriting that stated,
We've got the kids,
So you better be out or else.
Rachel's heart thumped. "Oh no, what have they done to those kids?" she said, frightened. She didn't know how long the note had been posted on the glass. She couldn't even imagine what those two guys were doing with them after what she had been through. She felt guilty, several scenarios played in her head in how she could've prevented this from happening, how she could've avoided their capture. She didn't know what to do, she knew she needed to act quickly or else they might die. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing those kids' dead. She knew what she had to do. She had to leave her safe haven. She couldn't live with herself if she had just stayed in the restroom while there might be a chance to still save them. So Rachel did what she had to do; she pressed the reddish button and the glass blockage lifted up, clearing the path. She felt as if she was returning to hell. All her gruesome feelings that she shoved aside came flooding back at her like someone had poured a bucket of icy-cold water on top of her head. With caution, she entered Alicia's room. She arrived into Alicia's room. The mute sound of the room made the atmosphere very eerie, the torn teddy bears and clothes were all over the floor, the bed that was once tidy was now scattered on the floor along with all the bed toppings. It seemed like a small tornado went by it. She felt for a second that Jay and Scott would pop out from nowhere and attack her. She took every step with great caution, skimming around her surroundings. Then a thought intruded into her mind, she knew was wasting time walking so cautiously. Time might be against her and the children so she picked up the pace and jetted out of the room and shut the door. She breathed heavily, glad that she wasn't captured and nothing bad happened.
She was now at the second landing and it was also quiet. She didn't like it at all as she crept on the hallway. She was close to the stairs and cautiously went down it. She was kind of surprised that nothing had happened yet. Where could they be? Why wasn't she hearing any voices like screams or yelling? Everywhere appeared as if no one was inside the house at all. When she finally got off the stairs she didn't know where to go next. Rachel thought for a second and realized she could go to the kitchen and get a knife. Without thinking, she went straight to the kitchen, which felt as eerie as the rest of the house. Rachel noticed a red gas container on the countertop island. She wondered what it was doing there but swept her curiosity away. She opened and searched the kitchen drawers, and with trembling fingers seized the only knife available or the one that she could only find in the darkness: a bread knife. She stared at it, satisfied with what she had found when suddenly she heard mumbling noises that seemed to come from the door she recalled seeing Mr. and Mrs. Hausefalle leaving from to get to their car. It might be a trap, Rachel thought to herself. They could be making that sound and then kill me as soon as I open the door. Rachel held a tight grip to the haft of the knife as she tiptoed onward. At least I got a knife. She gingerly walked toward the door. She twisted the doorknob and peeked inside. What Rachel saw at that moment made her drop the bread knife and stare in horror.
A brief message from Mike Mauthor: just a small reminder that if you like what you read don't forget to vote. I really appreciate each and everyone of your comments!!! They truly inspire me to keep doing what I'm doing. Keep them coming. Invite someone that might enjoy House Trap to check it out here. Have a great day:) Question of the Day: Do you think House Trap would make a great movie? give your opinion.