Sophie could feel her friends close behind her, but she didn't want them to see what came next. Using her newfound abilities, Sophie manipulated the smoke that remained to block her trail and shroud her from their prying eyes. This wasn't their fight, it was hers and whether she won or lost, she didn't need to fight it under their watchful gaze.
When Sophie was sure that she was far enough away she halted her solemn footsteps. There was no way to determine the outcome of what was to come. How could one predict an end when even the beginning of this place seemed impossible? An image of Paul flashed through Sophie's mind. He claimed to be able to see the future. In the back of her mind, Sophie found herself wondering if he once saw this exact moment. Then again, she'd always imagined to future to be like a giant jigsaw puzzle, you never quite knew what the end picture would be until you got the last piece. Perhaps seeing the future was like that. You only got a few extra pieces before everyone else and then from there you had to make an educated guess.
A small chuckle pushed its way through Sophie's diaphragm. Paul was one that didn't quite make it to the end, but Sophie knew from the first moment she met him, he'd known all along. Peace was something she'd longed to achieve her entire life, but Paul did it by coming here. He had made the choice to accept his fate instead of running from it. In a way, he was kind of her hero.
"This is for you Paul." Sophie whispered the words under her breath as she braced herself for whatever the house had to throw at her. She had no way of knowing what was to come, but she had to face it for Paul and all the others who'd given their lives for this moment. This last chance to save the day.
Wyatt tried pushing through the smoke, but it was no use. The smoke seemed to become denser every time he tried to take a step forward. As much as he wished he could be by Sophie's side, Wyatt knew, deep down in his gut that that Sophie had to face this foe on her own.
"Feeling brave?" The words mocked Sophie with every syllable. She didn't need to turn around to know that the manifestation of the human house she'd made now lurked behind her.
"Funny. I mean coming from you." Sophie turned her head to the side and let her peripheral vision do the rest of the work.
"Awe, is that your idea of a comeback little girl?" The outline of the girl's image crossed its arms as it rocked its weight to one foot. The urge to whip around and smack her washed over Sophie, but she couldn't, no, she wouldn't give it the satisfaction.
Rolling her eyes and turning her vision back to the smoke in front of her, Sophie closed her eyes. This shadow was nothing. Just a canvas for her paint. "You don't scare me." The words sounded as though they could have come from a second grader gearing up to take on the fifth-grade bully for the first time, but they were filled with truth. The house didn't scare her. Truth is, it hadn't for a while. The only thing that scared her was the idea of losing another person that she loved.
"Is that so?" Soft footsteps inched closer as Sophie forced her eyes to stay focused. She couldn't risk showing anything but absolute resolve.
"Your nothing but a house, a poor pathetic excuse for one in fact. You can't even accomplish one simple thing. You had to hire out just to pile up the bodies. Your pathetic." A hint of laughter echoed in Sophie's voice as she spoke. The more she insulted the house the more amusement she found in the whole situation.
"I got you, didn't I?" Now it was the voices turn to mock her. Its comeback was quick and without hesitation, but the meaning lost on its target.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Fear built up in Sophie's chest like a runaway train. Did she somehow unwittingly play into its hands?
"Oh, come on, you don't remember?"
"Remember what?" Sophie's eyes darted back and forth as she searched through her memory bank. What could the house possibly be talking about?
"Don't tell me you've already forgotten our time together?" The house was like a cat toying with its prey, no mercy in sight.
"What the hell are you talking about!" The words came rampaging out of Sophie's mouth before she could hold them back. She thought she had the upper hand coming into this fight, but in the end, there was no way to prepare for something she didn't know about.
"Don't you remember how your heart raced as you ran through my empty hallways. Oh, you were so scared, it was almost endearing how you hid behind that crate. You thought you would be safe if you were quiet, but the pitter-patter of your heart gave you away." Sophie tuned out the voice as images pulled at her mind. The house was right, she was afraid. She'd been running from the ghosts, all she wanted to do was find her friends to be in their protective arms once more. Somehow, she'd found herself in the attic among dust bunnies and forgotten boxes when she heard the creaking of the floor. Then nothing. Somewhere in a time gap she'd gotten away. She wasn't worried about the house anymore or finding her friends, not until Greyson. What happened in the time she'd forgotten?
"Your lying. I've never spent a moment alone with you until now." No, she couldn't think about it right now. She'd come here for one reason and one reason only. To fight this house and save her friends.
"Don't be like that. You and I are friends don't you remember? Or I suppose you would call yourself hired help." A cackle escaped the girl's mouth. The house had the upper hand and it knew it.
Closing her eyes once again Sophie tried topicture herself back in the attic. The footsteps were growing closer by thesecond. Sophie searched the room for a quick escape only to spot a familiarimage covered in a lace cloth. Without thinking, Sophie brought the polaroid toher face. It was the same one. With that new realization, Sophie watched as theimage crumbled to dust in her hand. It was a clue from her past. An Easter eggto lead her to this moment. With tears welling up in her eyes, Sophie's mindunlocked the past.
It's a strange thing to remember one's past and yet have no true memory of living it. It's like watching a film reel from when you are a baby. You know that you were a part of those moments, your image clearly depicted on the screen, but you are unable to recall the real time events as they played out before you. All thoughts and feelings from that exact moment are gone, now you must cherish the ones you've gained from watching this relic of the past. This was how Sophie felt as the memories of what came before rushed through her mind.
She had been so scared that the house or whatever was lurking in it was going to kill her. Her mind was focused on staying safe and protecting herself. Past Sophie lived in the moment. Each breath that escaped her lungs was another one that she was still alive. Somehow, in all her running and fleeing, Sophie had found herself in the attic. It was strange as she hadn't seen or remembered climbing any stairs, but there she was.
It was among those dusty crates and forgotten photographs that she found a place to hide. The footsteps were growing closer by the second. Deep down Sophie knew that there was no hiding from the supernatural. You couldn't duck behind a crate and be safe from a ghost. The whole concept was a bit ludicrous, but what was she to do? She didn't have time to keep going and there seemed to be only one way in and one way out of the room, the place where the footsteps now echoed off the walls. No escape.
Sophie had never really been a God worshiping person, but in that moment, she'd sent out a prayer to anyone who would listen. She wanted to be safe, to turn back the clock and stop herself from choosing to come to this wretched place, but none listened. From the corner of her eye, Sophie thought she spotted a mirror, but when she turned her head, she found that it was an old framed photo half covered in lace. It was then that she first saw the depiction of the girl who looked just like her.
Before Sophie could scrutinize the image further, the crate she'd been leaning against shot away. Unable to stop herself, Sophie let out a blood curdling scream as she whipped to her feet to face the demon, she'd been afraid to know.
From the moment she was forced to face her foe, time seemed to move in slow motion. Sophie's eyes darted around the room but landed on nothing. There was no one there, yet the crate had moved. Fear overwhelmed her system as the footsteps echoed off the walls with no source to locate. With fear and adrenaline rushing through her veins, Sophie did the only logical thing she could thing of, she ran.
It's an odd thing to see oneself so fearful of the unknown, so unsure of their abilities, yet this was put on display for her. Sophie darted through the room as she made a clear line to the stairs. Her feet were carrying her without the use of her minds prodding. It was on this first step that everything changed. Sophie's foot hung midair as she lowered it to the next step, but at the same time the feeling of pressure and ice washed over her back as a hand emerged from nowhere and sent her cascading down the long narrow stairwell.
Pain erupted from everywhere in Sophie's body as it broke on each step. She could taste the metallic blood as it made its presence known in her mouth. It was only when her body hit the floor at the bottom that Sophie knew the truth. She could see everything. Every moment she'd spent in this house, the time she'd spent with Charlie in her room, and most importantly how she came to be. She knew it all, her whole history in that moment, but how had she forgotten it between then and now?
Sophie's story began with this house, just as it would end with it. The house wished to control and manipulate her as it did with Charlie and Jason. It whispered in her ear as the life in her lungs dissipated. It whispered to her in the attic where she watched out the window as her friends searched the house. It called to her and used her like a trained dog leading her to the places it wanted her to go. The true essence of her nature forced to twist and writhe under its brainwashing only for the truth to be revealed in this moment.
The house led her to Charlie so that she would kill him. It needed a general for its army of slaves, one that was unconfined by the suit of life and most importantly under its complete control. It tricked her into bringing her friends to the dining room where Jason was to be waiting to snuff them out, but he'd strayed. The house used its slaves to beat them back until he was to arrive, tricking Sophie and her friends into believing that they stood a chance, when really the house had the upper hand the entire time.
Every moment was calculated and every backup plan at the ready. Yet, here she stood. She'd left her friends who remained with breath in their lungs to face the house alone. Had it calculated this as well? Did it know that she would fight back and that the will to protect her friends and those she loved was stronger than any brainwashing it could perform on her? As much as Sophie wanted to believe that her mind was more powerful than this house, she knew that a much darker plan lurked within its shadows.
"Do you understand now?" The house's voice broke through Sophie's thoughts. It was a call back to her new reality. A place where she wasn't herself and life would never touch her skin again. This was the truth of her, of this house. Life was meaningless in these walls. The dead could speak and be heard just like the living, but beyond the doorway, there was nothing. An open ether of nothingness waiting to consume all those who dared venture it.
"More than you know." It was a whispered response coated in defeat. Everything in Sophie's brain screamed at her to throw in the towel, wave the white flag and surrender, but her heart sang a different song. If she let the house win, then Wyatt and Karen would die. She would release this house onto an unsuspecting world where it would rein with chaos and hatred.
"So, you get it, why I did all of this? And why you can't get in my way." The last part was a threat. It wasn't hard to surmise that the house would do everything that it could to get what it wanted in the end. It didn't care about life or those who carried beating hearts within their chests. How could a house with no soul ever understand the gravity of what it means to live, to love, and to sacrifice? The truth was laid out before Sophie on a silver platter, the world wanted to live, those she loved wanted to thrive. The irony of the dead fighting for the living well placed within her being. Even with an unbeating heart, Sophie knew what she must do, the choice was made before she took her first or her last breath.
"Do you know what the hardest part about living is?" Sophie asked the question as she turned to face the manifestation of the house.
"Dying." It was a quick answer, one given through the folding of arms and a sneering face. Arrogance radiated from the girl standing before Sophie.
"One would think, but the hardest part about living is watching those you love get hurt. It's those moments when you are going about your day and you get a call that a person, maybe even the love of your life, has perished. I was never afraid of dying, not once. In fact, my whole life was encased in death. The promise of it lingered on every sunset and sunrise, but the one thing I never feared was my own demise. You see I would rather throw myself off a cliff, get run over by a train, or get struck by a meteor than see another person in my life die." Tears flooded Sophie's eyes and ran down her colorless cheeks as she forced her feet to carry her closer to the being that had tormented her for so long.
"What's your point?" It was a snark filled question, but even through her tears, Sophie could see the fear clearly displayed in the house's eyes.
"The point is that this is nothing for me." With a small smile, Sophie grabbed the house by its arms and pulled it into her chest. "You may just be a manifestation, but you're still the house, a house in desperate need of a soul."
"Wyatt, stop!" Karen shouted the words at the boy who persisted in his futile attempts to break through the smoke. There was nothing that they could do to help their friend. Sophie was gone. Deep down Karen had known that the final attack, the final battle, it would all be up to Sophie. Even if she had the ability to be by Sophie's side as she fought, that was all she would be able to do.
With tears running down his face, Wyatt charged the darkness once again. "I love her!" His words were shouted more for the universe or really anyone who would listen. He loved her, more than anyone. As much as he or anyone else tried to convince him, he couldn't just stand there and wait for her to return. He'd waited for his mother to come back, but she never did. He waited for the nurse to wake up, but she never did. Wyatt had been waiting his whole life on those he loved to return, but he was done waiting for the universe to be kind. Now was the time to push back no matter how futile it turned out to be.
Karen turned away from her friend as he slammed into the wall of smoke and darkness once again. She couldn't watch him hurt himself trying to save someone who was meant to save them. No matter how much she wanted to help.
"What are we going to do?" It was Joe's question. A question of uncertainty and hopelessness.
"I don't know." No matter how much Delphine wanted to have the answers that they so desperately craved, she was devoid of anything except longing. All they could do now was watch, with their backs pressed firmly against the wooden doors that held them confined in a place of death.
"Do you think he can do it?" Joe watched, his eyes filled with sadness, as Wyatt thrust his body once more at the wall of smoke only to get sent flying back.
"No."
Choice. Agency. Whatever you wish to call it. This is a word that gets us through our day. From every moment and every second, we are able to decide the what, where, who, when, or how for ourselves. It is those decisions that help formulate who we are or become. From the day that Sophie was born she was stripped of her agency when it came to her destination. Every moment, every choice led her to where she stood now.
The house was created without a soul. It was a living creature without the ability to love or feel anything at all. It saw the world as imperfect and was never able to understand what it truly meant to live. In a way, they were the perfect pair. Sophie had known love. She knew what it meant to be in love and how it felt. Nothing and no one can survive for long without the ability to know love. This is what Sophie gave the house. This is how she claimed it.
Light radiated off the two girls as they stood. Sophie knew what it meant to give the house a soul. To sacrifice for those, she loved and soon the house would too.
SORRY FOR THE WAIT. I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER. I CRIED A SURPISING AMOUNT WHEN WRITING IT. ANY WAY, THERE ARE ONLY TWO CHAPTERS LEFT IN THIS STORY SO STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE: FUTURE AND THE EPILOGUE THAT WILL FOLLOW.
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