"You don't have to do this." It was a last-ditch effort to keep her safe, but Wyatt knew she would never accept it. They were in this together until the bitter end. Some how Wyatt knew that Paul could really see the future and that this was what he saw. He wasn't around for long, but he made an impact that changed the outcome of their futures.
"You know I do." Sophie gave a reassuring smile before heading into battle. Wyatt watched for a moment. Admiration gleaming from his eyes as he watched the once sad girl go off to fight a war and stand up for a friend. There was no doubt in his mind, this is who they were meant to be.
"Tell me something. Did you actually think that you could win?" Charlie circled Karen as he taunted her with doubt.
Karen's eyes stayed focused on the shadow axe in his hands. "Did you?" Karen dove at Charlie's feet hoping for a surprise attack.
Charlie smirked at her childish advance and charged. He was ready for this to be over and for Karen to be dead. Boredom was licking at the edges of the dark smoke that encircled his being. With a quick adjustment, Karen narrowly missed the axe as it swung down towards her head.
Pushing herself up from her knees, Karen watched every move that her adversary made. She was going to make sure that he died the true death. There would be no power in the universe that could keep his ghost in such a state. No, Charlie would be dead, and he would never be able to show his ugly mug ever again.
"We're almost there!" Delphine called back to Joe. "It's just around this corner." Joe felt his body sigh. He knew that the battle was far from over, but at least they would be able to help the others now.
Joe was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice when Delphine stopped. Still running, Joe slammed into Delphine causing them both to land in a heap on the floor. "Why'd you stop?" Joe asked the question as he rubbed his head.
Delphine responded with a shh; her eyes fixed ahead. Joe peered around Delphine to see what had her so transfixed. Standing in front of the door was a boy covered in blood.
"Who is that?" It was a whispered question; fear had his mind racing.
"No one good." Determination molded her face. She needed to find a way past him. Delphine's eyes scanned the space in front of her, what could she use? The thought of fighting him seemed a little daunting.
"But who-" Delphine turned and placed her hand over Joe's mouth before he could finish the question. Her eyes burned intensity as she shook her head. This wasn't the time for a Q and A. They needed another way in that room. Delphine hadn't spent a lot of time in this house while she was alive, but after she died, she'd discovered a lot about this place. There weren't any secret passages, but there was a kitchen.
Delphine scanned the dark hallway for the door. It was a little way down the hall from where the boy stood. Eyes scrunched, Delphine observed as he would peak through the crack in the dining room door for a few moments before checking the hall and then looking down at his shoes. If they timed it perfectly, then they might be able to sneak past him.
Jason glanced through the opening in the door again. He didn't know why, but he wanted to go in. He felt pulled into that battle. However, he also felt like she should stay in the hallway guarding the door. When he'd first entered this house, he was led to wait in the dining room. It seemed oddly strange for that to be written off as coincidence.
Turning to check the hallway, Jason could have sworn he caught a glimpse of someone lurking behind the corner. It would be simple enough to check, though that would mean abandoning his post. He could holler at over in that direction and draw them out, but what would be the point? If they wanted to get into the dining room and join the battle, then they would have to get through him first and there was no way that he was going to let that happen.
John wanted nothing more than to tell his men to tear down the house, but the words wouldn't come. What if Bobby was right? What if those kids were still alive in there and by tearing the place down, he was sentencing them to death? Anger coursed through him at the sight of all his life's despair. John's body ached from the beating that Bobby gave him and the car accident that he caused earlier.
The sound of sirens rang in his ears at the memory of Joe's lifeless body lying in the street. That man wanted to help these kids, to save them. How could he turn his back on his dying aspirations? Bobby was right, no matter how much he believed that this place should be demolished, he needed to wait to find out whether or not those kids were still alive in there. Without waiting another second, John signaled his guys to wait as he ran after Bobby.
Karen could feel the blood caking on her face. Part of her wondered if it would scar while the other part studied Charlie's movements. He was moving without the worry of exhaustion weighing him down like it was her. So far all they'd managed to do to each other is cause a little blood loss.
With each pant from her tired body, Karen tried to come up with a plan that wouldn't result in her immediate death. So far all she had was running away, but even that only provided a temporary reprieve from the end that Charlie's axe promised her. It would be so easy to let death take her, but she made a vow to herself that she would never let someone she loved die, not when she could stop it.
As much as she hated it, she loved Wyatt and Sophie. They could be annoying and for most of her time in this place she didn't know them or trust them, but they were like family now. Karen didn't know Sophie all that well as she and Wyatt spent most of there getting to know each other time in search of her, but Sophie showed up when they needed her the most. She saved them from Charlie and now it was her turn to repay the debt.
"Use your power." The words were a whispered comfort from a ghost from her past. A ghost who promised to never leave her, and one Karen trusted more than she trusted herself. With hope of a better ending and faith in her friends, Karen found herself charging at Charlie once more. This time she would be sure to make every blow count.
Delphine gave Joe the signal to move the moment the boy started looking through the crack again. They needed to be as quiet as possible, while moving very quickly so that they weren't discovered. Lucky for them, they were ghosts so the whole moving in a silent manner was easy, but in this house, they were unable to walk through walls or use any of the other benefits.
Joe followed, his nerves causing his chest to tighten. In the back of his mind he wondered if this is what it felt like for a ghost whose heart was racing. Delphine stayed low to the ground as she moved. She didn't want to attract his attention, but at the same time she was wearing all white while Joe remained in his street clothes. When she'd first met Joe, she felt a throb of jealously that the house let him remain in his jeans and didn't force him into an all-white outfit. She really missed her pants.
They hugged the wall as they crept past the boy whose attention remained on the inside of the room he was peeking into. They were almost there. The taste of victory emerging on their lips, then he spoke.
"And who might you two be?"
Bobby charged at the door again. He knew that he would get sent flying again, but else was he supposed to do? He just hoped that if he kept hitting it that the house would eventually let him in, or at least when he died, he could tell Joe that he'd tried.
John bounded up the driveway and over to the porch steps where Bobby made yet another pointless attempt. Face scrunched in a cringe, John watched helpless as Bobby smacked into the house and was thrown away. Was this his plan? With a quick eye roll, John pushed his feet to carry him the rest of the way. As much as he loved watching karma enact its revenge, he couldn't stand by and let Bobby kill himself.
"You do realize that the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome, right?" John knew the glare was coming before Bobby offered it.
"And what? Tearing the house down while there are kids trapped inside is a much better idea?" Anger and sarcasm dripped from Bobby's mouth. The words stung, but John took each blow carried on the back of every syllable. Bobby was right, his plan hadn't been much better, but that was because they were both thinking independently. It was time to put their heads together and come up with a better plan. One that might actually work.
"Fair enough. What do you say that we scrap both of our ridiculous plans and come up with a better one?" It was an olive branch. A last-ditch effort to try and make up for a wrong that could never be unwritten.
Bobby looked at the house, his eyes scanning each crack and crevasse. He didn't want to have to work with John to find a solution, not after what he'd done to Joe, but those kids needed them and for that reason alone, he was willing to put his grudge aside. At least for the time being. "What do you have in mind?"
The house watched as alliances were forged and plans were made. The battle raged within its walls, ready for a conclusion. With each swing of Charlie's axe and footstep of the betrayers that lurked within, it could feel its rage building to a climax. It wanted this to be over and done. It wanted to be in possession of the thing it so longed for.
Charlie was given a mission, a quest, something that he seemed to forget about every time his blood lust was triggered. If the house could kill him again it would. Unable to hold its anger back any longer, the house began to shake and tremble with each passing spirt of hatred.
Panic overcame its guests as they looked for something to hold onto, this caused the house to shake with laughter. It may not have hands, but that didn't mean that it couldn't affect those it held captive within. Perhaps it could shake until they were all dead and it finally had what it craved.
"Shh, it's almost over." The woman patted the wall again as she trailed down its hallways. Her voice quenched the house's need to shake. She was like its snake charmer, always there to help subdue its murderous rage. The woman's hand ran over all the bumps and cracks in the plaster as she hummed a soft calming tune under her breath. The house was getting more and more out of control. The battle needed to be decided soon, otherwise there wouldn't be an escape to fight for.
Delphine's body stiffened with the boy's words. Her mind scrambling to find a solution to the problem that they were now faced with. She could hear his footsteps as they approached from behind, but before she could do anything, the house began to quake.
Joe didn't wait, with the shaking making it impossible to stand, he grabbed Delphine's hand and pulled her to the floor. They didn't have time to waste, they needed to get to the others. With a quick jerk of his head he motioned for Delphine to follow him.
Jason fell against the wall as he watched the two strangers crawl away on their hands and knees. Part of him wanted to follow, but he knew that the house wanted him to stay put. Then again, he was never one for following blindly. He could stop them if the house would give its incessant shaking a rest. Jason could feel the anger wash over him as his body slammed into the wall with a rhythmic beat. Once all of this was over, he still had plans to tear this place down to its studs.
"This door, right?" Joe whispered the question over his should at Delphine who seemed to be having a difficult time staying on all fours.
"That'd be the one." Without bothering to wait another second, Joe pushed the door open as the house's quaking slowed enough for them to crawl through the narrow opening. By the time they were both through the door, the shaking had stopped, and they were able to stand up.
"Well that was fun." It was more sarcasm than anything else. Joe was fed up with this house and all of its roadblocks. It was time for this all to be over.
Delphine stared intensely at the door that led into the dining room. Once they walked through that threshold they would be in for the fight of their lives. "Last chance to turn back." Her words were more for herself than they were for Joe, but she knew that there was no going back. She needed to get to them before the house declared its victory.
"I've already died to come this far, and you think a little war is going to scare me off? Bring it." Delphine smiled at the look of determination in Joe's eyes. He was right, they'd sacrificed more than most to get to this point, what was a little war?
"What are we waiting for then?" With that Delphine and Joe marched straight into battle.
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