A Horrible Dream (Post Ten)

Jack was starting to stand, "We need to go.  We have to get out of here.  Now.  Right now."  His voice was quiet and strained.  He nearly tripped over the rug in the middle of the floor in his urgency to get out of the house.  Beth was just as ready to go, moving to help steady Jack.

"What?  What was it?"  Marla hadn't been able to see the stairs but it wasn't hard for her to pick up that the others were very deeply shaken.  Jack clung to her when she came near.

"There was... Something... On the stairs."

Jack suddenly interrupted, "I'm going to the car.  I don't care.  I need out of here.  We should all go to the car and just get the hell out of here."  He was edging towards the door, pulling Marla a little off balance in the process.

"But Sam is still up there."  Beth chimed in, almost starling them with how quiet she had been.  She looked nervous and almost as ready to run as Jack.  They all were scared.  "We can't just leave here.  We can't."

"The three of you go to the car.  Get Jack out of here before he dies of fright... I'll see about Sam."  He looked at the stairs, afraid that he might see the shadow again.  It was hard to swallow around the lump in his throat and his brow was beading up with sweat despite the coolness of the air.  Jack started to protest and he waived him away.  "Just get to the car and we'll meet you there."

He watched them cautiously make their way to the door, eyes on the stairs the entire time.  It almost felt like the house was holding its breath, waiting for them to do something.  The tension in the air was thick like a dense fog.  He shivered, now realizing that the room seemed to be getting colder.  Jack shuffled eagerly out the door, nearly dragging Marla along behind him.  Beth turned for a moment, looking back into the room with desperation on her face, before turning and slipping out of the house.

As the door clicked shut he realized that he had been holding his breath too.  He forced himself to slowly breath out and then in again.  The walls seemed like they were moving, the shadows crawling up and down them like snakes or tendrils of ink suspended in water.  Yet every time he tried to focus on any of it, it all vanished, leaving nothing but a normal wall or piece of furniture.  It was making his head spin.  It almost felt like the floor was trembling under his feet.  Everything seemed to be waiting.

He looked away from the door and to the stairs, steeling himself for the task ahead.  It might have been his imagination, but he could almost hear voices whispering to him.  Calling him.  Begging him to go on.  It didn't make him any more eager.  With one more deep breath and some more mental steeling, he finally forced his feet to move and made his way slowly towards the stairs.