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Paranormal Paranoia
Kyle's father was dead, the skating farm boy wasn't really too annoyed by this (in fact he'd almost jumped for joy) but he'd been left the family farm. He planned to sell the dump the moment he knew about it, but he had to go up there to pick up some items and look over it to see if it was in selling conditions. It was miles from everywhere, cornfields on every side seperating the farm from civilisation; it was creepy at night, rusty farming instruments lined the yards since Kyle's father hadn't used them in ages. So Kyle and the others were surveying the farm house, staying a few nights and waiting for the contractor to turn up.
"I would kill for a Starbucks mocha right about now..."
Olivia muttered, not liking the country at all.
"We're in Iowa... you'll have to leave the state for a proper Starbucks coffee"
Kyle groaned, stretching out from the long cramped car ride.
Charles walked around tot he back of the car and retrieved his bag of various alcohols that he seemed to bring on every trip. "At least I can look forward to some corn-fed Iowa beef, right Kyle?"
"Dude!"
Max said bursting threw the door carrying all the luggage her arms could hold from the car. "I am so making a crop circle!" She dropped the luggage just short of the door way. The prospect of making a crop circle defused her irritation of carrying in the most bags.
"Look, NOTHING is at this place, my dad was the last person to live here and he's dead. Unless he's got some month old beef in the fridge, which is probably mouldy cause the electricity hasn't been paid in three months, I think we'll have to live on what we brought."
Kyle groaned, dumping his own bags inside "And Max, careful of those damn scarecrows, don't care who you are they'll scare you right out your skin."
"Whatever."
Max said digging threw the luggage for her's. "I might not be corn fed and farm bread but I think I can handel a corn field. I say we go to my hometown on our next trip if you want frightening."
Charles set his alcohol bag down on the table gently and sifted through it, trying to decide which one he should drink first. "Hmmmm....." he mumbled as he searched.
"This"
Kyle said firmly "Is not a field trip... okay there are fields but it's not a vacation; we're seeing if we can sell this dump, get some cash and then go wild or whatever..."
Olivia took out a can of bug spray and sprayed her arms and legs before her whole body. She hated bugs-
"I keep telling you."
Max began "Fix this place up a bit and rent it out. Deduct the cost of maintenance from the tennant's rent and live off a nice little check every month. You'd have more time to persue your career. And you won't have to get a part time job at The Bagle Hut in the off season."
"Perish the thought, Max!"
Chilla said, coming up behind Kyle and hugging his shoulder. "We all know how much Kyle loves his job at the Bagel Hut!" She glanced over at Charles and walked over, seeing him hunt through his liquor. "You know, if you stopped buying so much booze you might be able to pay your part of the rent once in a while."
Olivia had went into one of the bedrooms to change. When she came back out, she was wearing a red, plaid button-up shirt that was tied up to show her stomach. She was wearing jean shorts that were tethered at the bottom. Olivia held her hair in pigtails. "Is the hair too much?"
Kyle snorted slightly "You just want me to work there cause I steal the free bagels for you Chilla." He poked her softly in the stomach and grinned at her, then almost face planted into the floor when he saw Olivia.
"I pay my part just fine, Chilla. And you know that."
Charles told her with a sneer. He pulled out a bottle of good old fashioned Russian vodka and showed it to her. "Besides, if I didn't buy so much booze, how would you ever get
your fix?" He asked her with a smile
Max staired blankly at Olivia. "You expecting Bo and Duke any time soon?" She snatched up pne of her bags and sojurned to a vacent bedroom to change also. However when she emerged she was a bit less "Duke-ish" than Liv. A black t-shirt was tucked into a pair of good old fashioned wranglers (they looked as if they'd seen a farm once or twice) and she was wearing a pair of slightly scruffy cowboy boots. A black stetson cowboy hat was perched naturaly atop her head and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked more like a horsewoman than a farmer. You could see just a little bit of goth chick in her hair and the tattoo's partionaly hidden by a black, gray and blue plad shirt. "Ahh I'd almost forgotten how comfortable my run-a-rounds where." by run-a-rounds she meant her new cowgirl look.
"Isn't usually now the time where we all go out and get into mischief?"
Liv asked, ignoring the fact that death often followed
"Oh? What was last month, then?"
Chilla teased. "I had to pay double just to cover your ass." She snatched the vodka from him with a grin. She glanced between Liv and Max. "I don't have to dress up hick-town style, do I? This didn't
look like a theme park driving up here..."
"No, you don't have to dress up"
Kyle groaned slightly, checking his own old room carefully "Look, I'm gonna try and get some of the rusty old equipment out of the yard and into the barn; you guys can help, you can do whatever the hell you want or you can stand and drool."
"Last month was a slow month, it had nothing to do with my booze."
Charles defended as he selected a bottle for himself and zipped the bag shut. He really did enjoy a good argument and Chilla was always happy to oblidge it seemed.
"I kinda wanna check out that barn out back."
Olivia suggested, "Might find some gold or something..."
"I don;t consider this dresing up."
Max said in her own defence. "I figured Kyle might need help and ... these are my helping clothes." In all honesty she hadn't told any of them that she was raised on a horse ranch and she was just as comfortable in a pair of old ropers as she was in hr usual gothic aparel. "I'll be doing something efficient by helping Kyle."
Kyle laughed softly and opened the door for anyone wanting to leave to do so "Thanks Max, I kinda want some help putting the pieces in position; I bet they'd make a great rail trail if I get them right."
Seeing that no one really answered,
Liv put her hair up. She wandered around the house where they all were before getting bored, "Their aren't animals here, is there?"
"Only if you wonder into the surounding fields"
Kyle sighed, stretching slightly as he looked at the piles of old farm equipment "If you guys find an old tractor out there somewhere see if it works and bring it back."
"Oh what fun...farm equipment."
Charles said as he walked into the kitchen in search of a fridge.
"Oh! Can we go pet them?"
Olivia hopped. She thought all animals were cute and cuddly like the farm animals in picture books.
"The cows won't exactly be cuddly, the bulls might try and mount you for all I know and horses are always spooked around here."
Kyle sighed, looking around at the rusted farm implimants littering the floor.
Charles found the fridge and opened it slowly. The odor that removed itself the moment he opened the door was atrocious(sp?) "Holy shit, Kyle...did your old man ever clean this thing?"
Olivia shrugged and walked around the living room and stopped near a mantel. She reached out and grabbed a dusty picture frame. Using her wrist, she whipped the glass. "Is this your father?"
(i was going to say "...and mother" but i dont know his backstory. so if kyle had a mom add it? or let me know)
As
Max looked over Liv's shoulder to see the photo; she began inexplicably talking more to herself than to anyone else. "For centuries the behavior of animals, especially horses, has been linked to paranormal events. This could be a nexus of paranormal activity or possibly the signs of a witch. Do the horses sweat in the morning, or does fresh cream turn sour before midday?"
Olivia kept still as Max leaned over. Her eyes shifted to her though. "What the hell are you talking about?" she asked as if everyone else was thinking it.
Chilla swore in a couple of different languages. "You cannot be serious. Can we not just have one vacation where we don't have to fight ghosts or zombies or voodoo or whatever shit you have planned?" She said to Max.
Olivia's head turned like a robot at Chilla. In an honest tone, "I love you."
"I don;t have anything planned."
Max said defensivly "And I have never been responcible for any of the shit we've encountered."
Chilla gave Olivia an estranged look and muttered, "That's nice, dear." To Max, she said, "Well, excuse me if you
don't chase after any chance of some paranormal action that doesn't throw us in a load of trouble. Here's a thought--how about we leave the horses and the cream well enough alone and don't go poking around inviting things to come and ruin a perfectly good vacation?" She grabbed her bag from the car and shot raised eyebrows Max's way, as if to say
what a novel idea! before going into the house.
Kyle groaned slightly and rubbed his eyes "First of all, Charles, tell her if it looks like we've had ANY cream in that fridge that hasn't gone off over night. The horses I barely see cause they belong to other people. And yes" Kyle took the picture from Olivia and brushed thr dirt away with his sleeve "That's my dad, and my mom, and Billy my older brother." His face was slightly grey and set when he talked about his brother, putting the picture back at once and turning away from it.
Charles sat his alcohol bag on the counter and took a deep breath. "Alright, I am not putting my booze in that thing til it's cleaned out." He grabbed the trash can and started dumping stuff out of the fridge, praying it took care of the stench
"She is pretty."
Olivia said, regarding Kyle's Mom. She smiled before going to one of the duffel bags to assist in the unpacking. After a moment, a small boom box was pulled out, along with her sleeping bag.
"I am not inviting anything!"
Max said defensivly. "Kyle said wierd shit happened/s around here. I'm just offering my expertiese."
Olivia went over to the door and slipped her classy, outdoor boots on and opened the door. She looked so cute in her short short jeans and tied plaid shirt. "Anyone coming?"
Kyle slipped out beside her, cracking his knuckles as he walked out to the nearest horse drawn plow. He gripped the end which was usually hitched onto a beast of burden and began to pull it towards the rickety barn in the corner, leaving a deep furrow in the ground as he did.
Olivia followed next to the trail of pulled up soil. "Whatcha doin, Kyle?" Her head peeked into the barn and stepped in, "Ohh...how dirty."
Kyle stopped pulling plow when he got into the barn "I'm taking the stuff in here..." He straightened out and grinned at Olivia "Yeah, but what about the barn?"
"It's kinda creepy..."
Olivia put a finger on her lips, her eyes scanning the ceiling. "You grew up here, right?"
"Yeah I grew up here"
Kyle said, walking past Olivia and heading out towards the next small farm impliment rusting in the yard "It wasn't always creepy you know."
"What happened?"
Liv asked, leaning against the barn opening
"My brother fell in the wheat thrasher"
Kyle said airily as he passed Liv, still grey in the face.
Liv coughed loudly from chocking on her spit. "Wha-?!" She went to him and calmed herself, "Sorry Kyle..." she frowned.
Since Chilla wasn't offering any defence
Max decided she was of better use in the yard. She headed outside and up towards the barn where she opened the doors and pushed them wide. One became snagged in the over grown weeds and she squeezed threw the doors to find something to clear it with. She emerged with a wide smile carying a sithe. She swung it over her head and with a single slash cleared the weeds from the door. "Hey Kyle?" She said pushing the doors open as she had intended. "Can I keep this?"
Charles finished dumping the contents of the fridge and still looked at it with a foul look on his face. The odor was still there, but at least now the sources of the stench were removed, so it shouldn't really take long for the stink to get out. He started unpacking his booze and setting the bottles inside the fridge, toward the back where they would get cold much faster. When he was finished he stowed the bag on top of the fridge. Satisified with himself, he stretched a little and went to find Chilla, figuring the two of them could do something together.
Kyle grunted slightly and ignored Liv for now, he didn't want to talk about that... His mind flashed back to an image, a red hay bail dropping from the back of the cart, what used to be a finger sticking from between the dripping stalks. He shook his head and looked at Max, smiling with a grin that wasn't exactly normal "Sure, take what ever you want... No use here."
Olivia let Kyle be and walked around the inside barn. Nothing really appeared that it would sell well on the market. She found a large workshop area and started opening drawers.
The draws held rusty tools and some plastic bags filled with miscellensous items like photos and a few broken watches. The light flickered on and off for a few seconds, in a small moment between gaps of darkness the tools became coated in blood, dried and crusted over every edge. The photos became twisted, any picture of Billy suddenly showed him with flesh ripped open by a hundred blades and chunks missing from his side where organs flopped free. After a second of this ghastly scene the light flashed again and everything changed back to normal.
Max hadn't been privvy to what was going on inside the barn. She'd moved to the side to place the sithe against the door before checking for more Texas Chainsaw-like materials. Suddenly she felt very cold and overwhelmed. She tripped and fell on her hands and knees. The cold was gone but there was a pale expression on her face.
Immediately when
Olivia saw what was happening, she screamed. "KYLE!" Her arms jolted, slamming the drawers shut, bouncing them open a little. The whole contraption shook and almost fell over.
"Chilla?"
Charles asked as he walked out of the kitchen. They were the only two left in the house and she was being oddly quiet. To be honest, it was spooking him a little bit.
Kyle blinked a few times, a shiver ran through him slightly as he looked around; Max was almost slumping onto the floor and Olivia screamed from within the barn. He darted into the barn, the familiar chill that seemed to hang around the sodden air leaking into his bones. He groaned slightly "What is it Liv?" he asked, gripping her arms tightly in his strong fingers.
"There!"
Liv grabbed him back, shuffeling to her feet. She pointed a stiff finger at the tool box.
Kyle slid infront of her as if to protect her, reaching out and opening the tool box. He stared at the photos and tools, all looking perfectly natural "What was it? A gecko?"
"The pictures were all fleshy and bloody!"
Olivia tucked behind Kyle a bit, "The tools changed.....th
ey did!" she shouted frantically.
Kyle coughed softly and closed the box, sighing and turning to Olivia as he tried to ignore the gnawing cold in his bones "Come on Liv... must have been the light tricking your eyes... but lets get out of here huh? I think Max is a bit off her rocker..."
Olivia frowned, "R-right..." She couldn't shake how real everything seemed just now. Her eyes watched the tool box as she walked away with Kyle. Liv had a twisting feeling in her stomach that things were going to get a lot worse from now on. She was just crossing her fingers that she wouldn't get possessed...again.
Kyle sighed softly and held Liv close agaisnt him as he walked, he seemed the only warmth in the entire building "It's ok Liv... It'll be ok, Max just got you spooked with what she was saying before."
"I get attacked by an ectoplasmic surge and I'm off my rocker?" Max stood upright. She was holding her stomach and looked like she was about to wretch. Her eyes where distinctly bloodshot but then again she had smoked on the car ride. "This place is cursed." She said defiantly.
Olivia shuddered a little. She stayed close to Kyle still, "Your joking right?! Ugh... It's only been about a month since the last little adventure we went on." She rested her head in her hand and closed her eyes. "Damnit..."
"I don't intend to frighten you Liv." Max said "But what I felt... it felt... Lets just get out of the barn..."
"Scared? Pff...no. He's not scared, your not scared- why the hell should I be?" Liv leaned on one leg and crossed her arms.
"Liv... I'm scared" Kyle said softly in her ear so only she could hear "Everyone in my family died here... Why do you think I'm selling it? So I don't have to see it again..." His grip on her shoulders tightened slightly "Lets just get out of here ok? I'm sure it's nothing, just a bit of a creepy feeling that we've all still got."
Max stomped out of the barn grumbeling something about people not beleving her and what true fear was.
His voice gave her chills. "Can we....go inside now." Liv said quickly. It suddenly was starting to feel quite cold in the barn and she was in short shorts.
Kyle nodded and followed Liv out of the barn. He pulled at his collar slightly as if he was overheating "Alright... I'm going to keep with the farm equipment, if you guys want to go for a walk or anything be my guest."
Chilla heard people noises from the barn and rolled her eyes. "More drama," She said to Charles. "I swear, it's like a badly written B horror movie with us. Maybe we should stop vacationing in cliche's." She gestured to the old, abandoned, 'haunted' farmhouse that was rotting around her, her fingers wrapped around the neck of a glass Coke-a-Cola.
"Well, how about next vacation, you and I go to Aruba?" Charles offered her with a smile. He was secretly picturing her in a string bikini with a bottle of vodka.
"It's a date," Chilla grinned, raising a toast to the proposal and drinking a swig of brown soda. She started to walk away from him, exploring the house. "Sheizeh, you know how long we have to stay here?" She called back to him.
Charles was jumping for joy inside his mind, he barely even caught what she had asked him. "Ummm....until Kyle gets everything together I think. Who knows how long that'll take." He repliedwith a roll of his eyes as he walked over to join her. "You know, since this is all very B horror movie cliche...maybe we should stick to the buddy system?"
Chilla chuckled. "Sure," She said amiably, and stretched out an arm to beckon him. She always felt very comfortable around Charles.
Charles smiled and extended his arm, taking her hand in a soft grasp as he walked up to her. He bowed dramatically, and kissed the backside of her hand.
Chilla blushed and laughed. "Dork," She called him fondly. "C'mon, I wanna see if this place has an attic with junk in it."
"Well, isn't that cliche-speaking, where one would generally find the ghosts?" Charles pointed out a little warrily. He really hadn't much of a desire to go ghost hunting, but he really enjoyed being with Chilla.
Max burst threw the door in an angry huff. She saw Charles and Chilla "Don't blame me when your spleen goes missing in the night." She said, then grabbed her bags and lugged them back towards one of the empty bedrooms. She then removed from it a pair of garlic clove earrings, a crucifix and a bottle of holy water. She put on the earrings and crucifix and stuffed the holy water in her right pocket. An E-Bible then got shoved in her back pocket opposite her wallet. She then emerged to the front room to point at Chilla and add "I didn't do it and I won't take the blame."
Charles looked back at Max as she went on about their spleens going missing. "Uhhh...bad news I take it?" he asked, knowing full well now that something was going to happen. He sighed and shook his head. He really hated how they always ended up getting into shit. He just wanted a normal life...
"I'm so sick of this bullshit," Chilla said, letting go of Charles. She stormed past Max. "I'm not going to spend a perfectly good weekend with you freaking the fuck out over the littlest shit and blaming it all on paranormal bullshit so that you can get all excited with your stupid stageprops." She grabbed her bag and stormed outside to find Kyle.
Kyle and Olivia were on their way inside when Chilla came out. Liv's arms were crossed on her stomach and one could just tell that she felt uneasy as if she had seen a ghost.
Kyle carefully brushed Chilla aside as he walked inside with Olivia, an arm wrapped around Olivia to comfort her "Look, you don't have to go back into the barn anymore if you don't like it."
"I swear that I saw something. I swear it!" Olivia groaned, "Why does crap like this always happen to us?" she asked, not expecting an answer. She noticed Chilla, "Don't go in the barn alright?" Liv said quickly as they passed.
Without so much as a word tot he others, Charles ran after Chilla. If something weird really was happening around here, he'd be damned if he let her be the first one killed. Besides, the buddy system usually always worked for a little while in the movies.
Kyle steered Olivia to the old sofa, laying her down carefully; it was so soft and broken now that she almost sank into it. "Thank god for Charles" he muttered, going over to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of vodka. He ignored the dirty glasses and offered Liv the entire bottle "Here..."
"Get me drunk in a freakin' death farm? Good idea." Liv said with sarcasm, grabbing the bottle. She opened the top and took a large gulp. After swallowing her face twisted and she bit her lip. The taste was so bitter and sharp.
"Just calming your nerves down" Kyle said, sitting down beside Liv and carefully laying an arm around her "Also I think alcohol will make the visions a bit happier this time." He kissed her cheek softly and pulled her closer "I think Max has the keys... you guys can go home, I'll do this alone."
Liv took another large swig. She winced again and exhaled. "Shut up Kyle. Don't be such a drama whore. As if we would bail on you and leave you to this place all alone....especially with all of our booze." Olivia winked.
"Take the booze" Kyle sighed, gently hugging Liv one armed "Just get out of here ok? Don't want you to start bleeding again do we? I hated watching you get possessed..." He resisted the urge to take a long drink himself "I'll even go with you if that's what it'll take."
"Ok- just so we are clear. I'm not leaving. They are leaving either." Liv gestured to where their other friends were. "No one is going anywhere unless we are all together. Duh-" she poked his head.
"I'm going home unless you assholes knock off all this paranormal paranoia bullshit," Chilla snapped. She looked at Kyle and sighed, calming down a little. "Look, if this place holds such bad memories for you, and you think it's going to affect this place for the rest of its existence, I would suggest burning it down, clearing it out, and selling the property without it, just to get it's bad mojo off the land."
"I'm totally up for that!" Olivia raised her bottle. It would be nice to relax with one another, at least for a little while.
"I kind of have to agree with Chilla on this one, Kyle." Charles said, nodding to Chilla. She had a great point. "Why don't we just demolish this place and sell the land?"
"I'm planning to, that's what this is all about!" Kyle sighed, rubbing his eyes slowly "But it'd cost a lot to demolish this place legaly and I've asked, I set this on fire or break it up with a hammer I can get arrested. All I have to do is come here and gets this place assessed, if it fails then it'll be taken down for free because it's a 'public hazard'."
"Alright, then let's trash the place?" Charles asked, hoping they could get out of here quickly. The place gave him some seriously bad vibes.
"A-RREST-ED!" Kyle said loudly "And just being a tip won't change it much... As if it isn't one already. Look, you guys can just go. I'll be ok here..."
"Quit being a drama queen, Kyle. It's not like there's anything weird going on yet. Right?" Charles asked, he and Chilla hadn't seen anything other than Max suiting up to deal with some paranormal stuff. But that was starting to become rather normal anyway.
Kyle looked over at Olivia at this point, leaning back slightly and rubbing his hands together nervously. He hated this house, he really did. He just hoped it didn't come to him telling them all about his brother.
"Look," Chilla said, "There's gotta be a better way of doing this. I know some shady characters at the coffee shop, I can probably arrange somebody to come down here and demolish the place for you, no ties, and if they get arrested, it's their fall, not yours. Let's just go home."
"But this place is so rural. I haven't seen a hotel in hours." Olivia explained, meaning the trip down here. "What if we leave first thing in the morning?"
Kyle was rocking back and forth, clutching at his knees as he stared at the fireplace "Fine, what ever Chilla." He stood up at once "Let's just get out of here ok? NOW!" He grabbed his bag from the side of the chair and stormed purposefully out of the house, the door slamming with enough force that it was surprising it was still in one piece.
Chilla jumped at his response, displeased with his flippant response to her plan. She chalked it up to the place they were in and brushed it off as best she could. "Great," She said. "Some good news."
"Okkk....that was weird." Charles said outloud. Something bad really must have happened around here if Kyle was getting snippy like that. The guy was usually so laid back.
"MAX! GET IN THE CAR!" Kyle shouted as he stormed towards the car; laid back or not he hated this place, hated seeing his friends hurt and hated just sitting around waiting for something to happen. He spun the keys in his hand but with the force he ripped the door open it looked as if he didn't need any damn keys.
Olivia took one last swig of the vodka before popping the top back on quickly. "Maybe we should at least stay here for the night? There isn't a hotel for miles.... We could just leave in the morning?" she asked Chilla and Charles.
"Hey you are all the people who saw stuff. I haven't seen a damn thing yet. Maybe the three of you are just crazy?" Charles offered. It sure would fit the bill if they were.
Olivia's eyes locked on Charles. She didn't need to say it- he could tell form the fire in her eyes to shut the fuck up.
Kyle sat down behind the wheel of the car and slammed his hand against the horn, letting out a loud whinning "BEEEEEEEEEP!" He hunched over in his seat, hitting his fist against the horn again and again to try and get his friends out of danger. They didn't understand, they didn't NEED to understand, they needed to GET OUT OF THERE!
Olivia gasped and jumped a bit from the sudden horn. She lost her balance a little and had to grab onto a table. She was starting to feel the effects of the vodka she had chugged earlier. "What is his problem so suddenly?" she asked.
"Finally," Chilla said, running back inside for her bag.
Max was no where to be seen. Chilla and Charles had been the last to see her.
"Max!" Chilla yelled into the empty house, grabbing her bag. "Come on, we're going home. Get yer ass in gear, Kyle's super spooked about this shit," She said, walking out and trusting Max would follow her out shortly.
Tipsily, Olivia down the hall towards one of the spare bedrooms where she had left her boom box and duffle bag or clothing.
"Max?" Kyle called out, though there was no bravery or optimism in his voice now. He hit the horn again and again "Max?" His voice actually quivered and broke then, terror seizing him as he looked around at the empty yard "Where are you Max?" He shouldn't have let them go out alone, he shouldn't have let them COME here...
Charles went to the kitchen and took his bag down from atop the fridge. He opened the door and started repacking his booze. This was the first time he had ever had to do that.
Chilla stopped walking and turned around to look at the house, annoyed that Max wasn't following. She sighed and rolled her eyes, going back inside. "Max, come on. Stop fucking around."
Olivia was in the back room alone and gathering her things. She was a little tipsy but still functioned fine.
"Olivia!" Chilla said, seeing her as she walked through the house. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Hurry up, let's go," She said.
"Why is everyone yelling?!" Olivia called back as she walked back from the bedroom with her arms full of her stuff. "Just getting my things, jeez..."
Somewhere, deep in the bowels of the house Max's voice came as a blood curdeling scream. It was far too close for comfort.
The partially severed head dangled from the rafters of the basement, it was only partially severed because the spine has been ripped bodily from the person's back as the head came off. The pointed end of the spine had been driven inches into the age old oak beams, only clumps of nerves and dried blood held the spine together. The man's face was made unrecognisable by the blood coating it, the only way Max was able to recognise it as a head and not a demented piniata was the fact an eye stared blankly at her. The white eye stared through the red veil of blood, the other eye and mash of metal, glass and goo as it looked like the man's glasses had been punched into his own eye.
Olivia jumped up and ran into the living room, "She's below us. How do you get into the basement?" she asked quickly.
"Um," Chilla checked the nearby doors. One of them opened to a staircase below. "Here," she said, dropping her bag and fumbling through it for a moment to bring out Gandhi, a .44 Magnum she'd bought in the months prior. "Come on," She left her bag on the staircase and the safety on, running downstairs. "Max?!" She yelled.
"What the HELL are you doing down there?!" Liv said, stumbling behind Chilla.
Charles slung the bag of liquor over his shoulder and fished the lighter from his pocket. He kept a small roll of paper in the bag in case they ever needed a light. He'd seen it done enough times to know how to make an effective alcoholic fire-bomb. He took a bottle of vodka out of the bag and a piece of paper, holding both in one hand as he moved up behind Chilla.
Olivia was knocked down by Charles since she was initially behind Chilla, "Damnit Charles!" she yelled, trying to get back to her feet.
Charles rolled his eyes. "Think of it this way, Liv. You're drunk off your ass, you really want to take the stairs?"
"I'm not that bad!" Liv shouted. She perked her nose up at him and ran clumsily to the door. "KYLE!" she called out to the car.
Kyle stepped out of the car slowly and stared sadly up at Olivia "Has something happened to Max?" he said once he got to her side.
Olivia nodded, "Come on!" She gestured, holding the door open.
Kyle swore as he swept past, stone faced and steely gripped as he walked towards the open basement door. Why did this always have to happen?
Chilla felt the walls for the lightswitch and flipped it when she found it. "Max, where are you? Come on, chica, we gotta go."
The powerswitch sparked violently in Chilla's hand, as did the bulb. Blood had been splattered across wire and glass and the moment the light was switched on red light burnt the image of the guant swinging head into Chilla and Charles' memories. It was over in a second though, the darkness closing in around them like a vice and smothering them in fear.
Chilla shrieked in horror, covering her face with her hands, the cold metal of the side of the gun pressed against her forehead.
In the basement Max's screams became clearer and more defined. She felt the darkness pressing in on her and could feel something cold and sludge-like enveloping her body slowly. She felt as if she was stuck in the mud and it was sucking her deeper into it. She clawed fervently at that which incased her but could not find anything that could aid her. If anything her struggeling caused her to sink deeper into the sludge.
Charles couldn't help but choke back vomit as the swinging head burned into his memories.
Olivia led Kyle to where the group was, "What's going on?!" she shouted down into the dark basement.
Kyle's hand found a torch at once, flicking it on and quickly scanning the basement; the head stayed free from the ray of light but it found Max after the second swing. She was covered from head to toe in sludgey damp wheat; it looked as if it had been fermenting for years and it was slowly dripping down from the ceiling to coat Max.
Whatever it was had also started sucking Max into the earthen floor of the basement. When the light hit her it was blinding and contained withinthe sludge she couldn't hear their voices. She screamed at the sight of the blinding light. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed and started clawing more fervently, only causing her to sink quicker. "NO NO!!!!"
"MAX!" Kyle yelled at the top of his voice "DON'T MOVE! WE WILL GET YOU OUT!" He skidded down the worn banister as he kept the light vaguely pointed in Max's direction, clearing the people crowding the way and stopping at the end as thought of what he could do...
Max heard kyle's voice and caught a glimpse of them as his light wavered on and off of her. "Kyle! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
Olivia scampered after Kyle. When she saw what was happening, she grabbed Kyle's arm tightly when he was in range of Max. "We can start a chain!" she turned to Charles and Chilla and offered her hand. "Last person hold onto something!"
Chilla nodded to Olivia, shoving Gandhi into her waistband. She grabbed Olivia's hand and snatched up Charles's, too, trying not to hyperventilate.
Kyle leant over the sloppy pit as best he could, reaching out a hand to Max as he carefully placed his weight on the sodden ground; the sucking, almost endless muck was pulling at his shoes, trying to claim him too.
Olivia held tightly to both Kyle and Chilla. She could the ground under her own feet soften on Kyle's side. "Ew ew ew ew...."
Max grasped desperatly for Kyle's hand as the muck pulled her head under with an otherworldy jerk.
Charles grabbed onto the doorframe(?), hoping that would be enough to hang onto everyone
"PULL!" Liv shouted as the muck sucked at her ankles.
Kyle caught Max's hand as he flexed his muscles hard, pulling at Max as the slop claimed her head. With each minute the ground was claming his shoes but he would not let go, not until Max was above the surface and safe again.
As the muck and mire restricted her breathing she felt Kyle's voice get farther and farther away. There was a mad cackeling echoing threw her head but it too was growing dim. She realized, as her body gave a few desperate tries for air, that she was dying. Then just as the darkness claimed her for good it sudenly let go.
As if Max had been lowered into an air cannon by the mud her limp and lifeless body came shooting up from it towards the rest of the group. She wasn;t breathing.
Kyle stumbled and twitched suddenly as his own feet were shot up into the air by the sudden release. He landed heavily beside Max on his knees, but he didn't stop. He was probably the only one here with a hint of a medical background and it was time to use it. Pushing Max into the recovery position he leant down and blocked her nose while opening her mouth; he breathed hard into her mouth, performing CPR as best he could.
Max bucked, her eyes opened and she roled over, hacking up a blood colored mud like substance. She sat on her knees, breathing heavily. "I'm ok... get me out of here." She continued to cough as she tried to breath normaly.
Olivia grabbed ahold of Max's arm and assisted her to towards the staircase. "Come on guys.." she asked the others, not able to support Max alone.
Chilla moved to the other side of Max wordlessly, slinging her muddy arm around her shoulders and helping her up the stairs.
Max did her best to move in the direction Liv and Chilla where pulling her. She was covered from head to tow in thick orange clay-like mud, it weighted her down and made it dificult to move.
Liv's cute little farmgirl outfit was covered in the mud and getting worse with helping Max up the stairwell. She ignored that for now and kept moving with Chilla.
Charles decided that since the girls had each other, he would tend to the "owner" of the house. "Kyle, you alright man?"
AS Max, Liv and Chilla left the cellar Max staggered "Shower." She said "I-I-I'm cold... I-I want this shit off of me..."
"Stop her" Kyle said, getting to his feet carefully; they were aching from his sudden landing "Can't stay here any longer... No showers. In the car. Now."
Max Dropped to her knees in the living room. Suddenly the thick, orange mud began to harden around her. She was quickly becoming incased, all except for her face, which had been wiped relitivly clean when Kyle had performed cpr. It only took moments for the rest of Max's body to become imobile.
Liv's arms were getting stuck with the mud as well, "What the?! Get it off!"
"Won't let us leave." Max said softly. "It wont let us leave!"
"Yeah right. It won't let you leave is more like it." Charles told Max, he wasn't about to admit that the house or whatever wasn't going to let him leave. He hadn't really done anything
"I'm going to hit you, Max, and see if it doesn't crack this open any," Chilla said calmly, pulling out Gandhi again. Holding it by the barrel, she struck her with the butt of her pistol in the middle of her back, hoping it wouldn't hurt her too much.
"Ahhh!!" Max screamed as the mud seemed to squeeze her tighter. "DON'T!" She shouted "Don't do that again!."
Liv's arms were stuck in the mud that dripped down from Max. "Damnit! I don't want to be the center of attention right now. Max can have it!" she shouted. Bringing her foot up, she planted it on Max's side to try and pry her arms out about around her shoulders.
"STOP!!" Max screamed as the mud tightened around her again "Don't touch it!" She was breathing shalowly "If you hit it again I won;t be able to breath."
Olivia ceased immediately and brought down her leg. "Any suggestions?" she asked aloud to the group. Olivia had no clue where to go from here.
Kyle's head whipped up as he heard the yells of pain and terror "No... not yet." He began to run, though he kept stumbling and wincing with every few steps; he had to get them all out... He burst through the door and moved quickly towards the three girls "Dammit..."
"Fuck you Kyle!" Max shouted seeing the expression on his face. "And you WILL NOT blame this on me!" She made sure to add to Chilla. "Now can someone figure a way to get me out of this SHIT withouth it KILLING ME!"
"Well..why don't we add water? It's mud right?" Olivia suggested, having a somewhat decent idea that didn't involve boobs or alcohol.
"That's what I said before it hardened." Max snapped "But someone didn't listen to me." the last bit she had added at Kyle.
"You trust this place to have water in the pipes?" Kyle growled, running to Max's side and wrapping his arms around her. With a deep breath he tried to pick her up, if she was attatched to Olivia then they'd have to sit next to each other. He just hoped that she wasn't stuck to the floor and that he could actually lift her.
With a crusty POP Max's solidified form broke free from the floor "Thank god!" She exclaimed.
"Just cuz there's no water, doesn't mean there's not liquids." Charles told them, kind of smuggly. It seemed he reallyw as the smart one. "I've got a suitcase full of liquid."
"When why the fuck are you talking?! Go get it!" Olivia shouted, not enjoying being stuck in the mess by her arms.
"OMG Chilla!" MAx shouted "Has anyone seen Chilla?"
Most of Kyle's view was obscured by Max right now so he couldn't see around him. "I just hope she's in the car" he mumbled as he stood there, clutching Max tight.
"I'm right here!" Chilla yelled. "I'm right fucking here! Scheisse, will you stop flipping the fuck out?"
"Do I look like I can turn my head?!" Max shouted "Excuse the fuck out of me for being worried. For all I knew you where being eaten alive by a garden hose."
"You know, just because I have all that liquid, doesn't mean I want to just dump it out. What a waste of good booze. Seriously." Charles told Liv as he went to retrieve the bag from where he had dropped it earlier. He couldn't believe he was about to dump out his assorted vodkas, although the thought of drenching Max and Liv with vodka was a bit of a turn on for him. Maybe if he got lucky, they'd be wearing white shirts under all that mud-stuff
"He did not just say that." Max said in disbeliefe. "We are in a crisis man! Just pretend it's prohibition!"
Stumble!