You probably could've told Pop-pop that your friends were murderers. Scratch that, you should have told Pop-pop that your friends were murderers. That would've been the smart and responsible thing to do. But if the last few weeks had proven anything, it was that you were not smart, nor were you responsible.
As to say, you gave your poor grandpa no warning for such things. Luckily, that didn't seem to be an issue in the least.
Currently you were sitting in the living room while Pop-pop told you stories from his childhood. Gran-gran was sleeping now - it was pretty late, after all. You were getting tired, but the rest of the group was just as energetic as ever.
Diamond, after a heart-wrenchingly adorable reunion, was off playing with his dog Angel. Freddy and Chucky were having an odd debate about a Playboy magazine. You didn't really want to know where they got it. Bill and Stu were searching through the old horror novels on the bookshelf. The two Sawyer twins were laughing and following along with Pop-pop's stories.
The only two members of your group that were calm were Norman and Bubba. An unsurprising situation.
Currently, Bubba was sitting quietly on the couch on the side opposite you reading some sort of fashion magazine - likely Gran-gran's. Norman was simply sitting there next to you, quietly listening to the record that Pop-pop had playing in the background. It was a nice album of classical music. Who it was, you weren't sure.
You yawned a bit and stretched your arms, then stood up from the couch, "I'm off to bed now, okay?"
Your grandpa stood up from his recliner and grinned, giving you a tight bear hug.
"You sleep tight, kiddo! You can say hi to your grandma in the morning."
"You got it. Night, Pop-pop," you turned to the rest of the room, "and night to you guys too."
Norman stood up and gave you a small hug, whispering a goodnight in your ear. Bubba waved and blabbered what you were pretty sure was a goodnight of some kind. The Sawyer twins excitedly waved at you before returning their focus to the story your Pop-pop was telling. Freddy gave you an evil grin and a pair of finger-guns, and Chucky flipped you off with a rude, "Night."
Diamond fluffed your hair and grinned, "Night night, Gummy Bear! See you in the morning!" and went to sit down on the couch where you'd been sitting.
You nodded and went upstairs to take a shower and get some rest.
***
Diamond and Pop-pop sat in the basement over a table with evil grins across their faces. On the table in front of them was a list and a map of the house. Pop-pop pointed at the dining room.
"Here's where it begins. From there, we go to the garage. Then the upstairs bathroom."
Diamond nodded, "Yeah. Though, perhaps we should do the bathroom first, then the garage?"
Pop-pop nodded, "Good point. Alright. You know what to do."
"You got it."
***
You step over the log and trip. You stumble down, down, down a hill into a pit. It stinks of rotting flesh and molten beeswax. The scent of metallic red and dripping yellow-gold makes your stomach twist into knots. You feel your voice disappear from you - your lips won't separate. You can't speak.
Muffled screams escape your sealed palette. You scratch at the sides of the pit, only to feel it melt under you. You fall into blackness. A scream tries to escape your throat, but it's stuck.
You feel the sensation of hardwood against your back. Floorboards. Each one creaks with every shift. You hear the sound of rolling against wood. You slowly stand up to see an extravagant hotel in front of you. Light is blocked out by ice and snow. You hear a desperate scream.
You can't help. You can't move. Something is trapping you to the spot you're in.
The world dissolves into a darkness.
Sound fills your head. A heavy laughter.
One voice.
Two.
Then more.
You recognize some. Others you don't. All of them are a comfort to you. Voices you've never heard, but still hold a piece of your heart in their clutches. And the voices you do recognize. They bring you such a deep sense of comfort.
Something deep inside of you wants to reach for those voices. Hold them close. But something stops you. You can't quite reach them. You can't move from where you lay in the darkness.
The laughter gets louder. So loud it almost hurts.
Then nothing.
No sound.
No light.
Nothing.
You open your eyes.
[Words: 774]
(A/N - another short chapter :( sorry. But worry not. Tomorrow's chapter should be reasonably long, and full of shenanigans.]