A Horrible Dream (Post Nine)

Sam was soaked and had a glassy, blank look in her eyes.  She stared straight past the two of them and into the distance.  Then, slowly, she swung her gaze to each of them, but it was hard to tell if she actually saw those in front of her.  Then she blinked and the glaze was gone.  She swayed on her feet for a moment but it lasted a heartbeat.  "I... I just needed air.  There were... memories... in there that I didn't expect."  She closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose between two fingers with a sigh.  "It had been a long time since I was in there.  My grandpa used to 'hide' in there from grandma with me.  We would play hide 'n seek."

"I guess that is understandable."  Her grandparents had passed away a couple years ago already but the past always has a tendency to sneak up at unexpected times.  "You could have at least told us where you were.  I mean, there's some strange stuff going on and you had us worried."

She cocked her head at him with a confused stare.  "What's going on?"  She stepped past them when he indicated the doorway to the kitchen.  "Oh, my..."  It was a strange response.  "Where is Jack?"

"Huh?  He's upstairs with Marla... Why?"  It was odd how she jumped straight to Jack.

Before Sam could answer, Beth chimed in; "He went to go look for you.  After a while we had to go look for him too.  He was in the crawlspace.  He said something came after him... I don't know if I believe him.  He does seem rather off, though.  Really scared of something."

Sam was poking around the debris strewn about the kitchen floor, not really focusing on anything in particular.  "But there is nothing to be afraid of."  Suddenly the power went out.  Beth jumped a little and gave a start.  The sun had already set so the cabin took on a dark, gloomy cast.  The rain had picked up again outside.  Sam slowly rose from her crouching position, looking around in the dark.  "Nothing to fear."  She seemed to be talking to herself, her voice quiet.  Her words dwindled to little more than a murmur before she finally went silent.

"What did you say?  It almost sounded like--" There was a loud thump from upstairs.  By now Beth had a death grip on his hand and she clung to his arm.  Sam hadn't moved from her spot in the middle of the kitchen.  Instead her shadowy form was looking up towards the ceiling.  Her head slowly swiveled down to look towards him.  "What was that?"  There was a hushed calm in her voice.

If it wasn't too dark to see for sure, he could have sworn that there was a smirk on her face.  He blamed it on the shadows.  It had to be the shadows.

Suddenly she began to move towards the door.  Her pace was slow and unrushed, like she was lost in thought.  The wet slap of her bare feet on the linoleum floor was the only sound above the renewed drone of the rain.  She didn't slow as she neared them, not even pausing for them to step out of the way before continuing through.  "It sounded like it came from upstairs..."  She was on the landing before either of them moved.

"Beth.  Beth, does she seem alright?  It's not just me, is it?"  He looked at her in the dark.  Her eyes were wide, obviously scared.  Probably as wide as his.  She slowly shook her head, watching the dark landing where Sam had disappeared moments ago.  "We should probably follow her."  Beth slowly nodded, obviously unsure about going towards those stairs.

Suddenly they could hear the sound of feet from above them.  The two of them made their way to the stairs and found Jack and Marla on their way down.  Jack still seemed a bit shaky but Marla was more than enough support for him.  They were talking quietly and laughing softly together.  There was no sign of Sam.  Suddenly Marla noticed them standing in the dark at the bottom of the staircase.  "You two look like you've seen a ghost."

He glanced at Beth, more visible now that his eyes were adjusted to the dark, but still hazy in the gloom.  "Did you see Sam?"  Marla's confused expression was more than enough answer.  "She just walked up the stairs a few seconds before you came down them.  You would have had to pass her.  You had to."

Jack looked up at the mention of Sam, his eyes wide.  He licked his lips like they were dry but said not a word.  Marla spoke up instead: "Sam was down here?  Huh.  I wonder how she got down here without anyone noticing."

"She was outside. I have no idea when or how she got out there.  Then after the power went out we heard a thump from upstairs... And she went up there to check it out.  We were just about to follow her up when you two came down."  He swallowed nervously.  Beth was still clinging to him, doing her best not to look up the stairs or into the kitchen.

Marla scratched her head and then continued helping Jack down the stairs.  "Well, she must have slipped into one of the other rooms just before we came out.  We didn't see her."  Jack was glancing nervously back up the stairs, making it that much more difficult for Marla to help him down.  "That thump was us tripping over some bags when the power went out.  We were making our way out of the room when everything went dark.  We're good though.  Nothing to worry about."  She smiled at them as they parted to allow space.

Jack was still very obviously shaken up from whatever had happened and wanted to sit down on the couch.  He let go of Marla soon after they left the landing and shuffled his way towards his seat.  The others followed him.  Marla wandered over to the kitchen, gasping a bit when she saw the mess covering the floor.  "What the heck happened?"  She looked back at them, crowding around Jack in the dark.

"I have no idea.  Obviously that was the crashing noise we heard when we found Jack in the crawlspace.  Beyond that I have no idea how it all fell out like that... It's... creepy.  This is all kind of creepy right now."  He was man enough to admit that there was an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.  Sam was acting strange and some unusual stuff had been happening in the cabin.  The lack of power and the constant drum of the heavy rain weren't helping matters.

While he was talking he noticed that Beth's eyes were locked on the stairs.  Her hand, still gripped tightly around his arm, was beginning to shake.  He became aware of Jack trying to get his attention, his barely audible words getting louder until a whisper could be made out: "I think we need to leave.  I think we need to leave now."  Marla, standing in the kitchen doorway and unable to see the stairs, shrugged and looked confused but her uneasiness was not very well hidden.

He took a breath and slowly turned around to face the darkness that lead up to the second story.  At first he noticed nothing.  It was dark.  Since he was standing in what little glow the rainy night threw in the sitting room window the shadows on the stairs just seemed that much darker.  As he waited he realized that he could hear his heart thumping in his chest.  His arm was starting to tingle where Beth was holding on and a fine bead of sweat was on his brow.

His eyes slowly took in more detail.  Slowly adjusted.  Something was wrong.  There was someone watching them from the stairs.  "Sam?"  His voice seemed loud in the sudden quiet.  The shadow didn't move.  He almost thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.  He was about to call again but when he blinked the shadow was gone.  "Sam?"  Almost no sound left his lips.  His mouth was suddenly very dry.