Panic Room

Part five; the fifth

This chapter is so creepy. I've always loved this type of book, so I thought that I'd include elements of it in here.

Wednesday; 1998; The panic room; Luna; 23:00

Luna lay writhing in the middle of the floor of the Panic Room, too scared to make even the slightest movement. She lay on the floor, waiting for a new horror to arise. After nothing happened, she started to get some of her confidence back, and was just getting up when the floor was ripped from beneath her. Luna, who still had some of her sane thought left, realised what was happening and groped for something to hold onto.

Nothing came.

Luna fell and fell, and finally she saw some familiar shapes begin to form, but they were different. Her house materialised, but instead of cream panelling and white trim, it was dripping with a thick liquid and the trim was lying scattered around the lawn. Luna saw her garden, fire burning through it, and filled with the same goo. She looked up at the sky, and saw that it was a deep red, purple clouds hanging low and heavy over a ghost town. Fires raged on the streets, but there were no sirens blaring. As Luna watched, a cat ran across the road and she heard low voices. She made toward them, and saw two girls and a young boy hiding out in an alleyway. As they saw her, they gasped and the young boy began to cry. Luna began to ask what was wrong but her voice came out gruff and the boy began to cry even more. Luna turned and ran in the opposite direction, coming to an abandoned bakery. She looked into the window and cringed at what she saw. She was wearing a white hockey mask that was covered in dripping, splattered blood. She was wearing a completely black tunic that was also splattered with blood and ripped in several places. Her auburn hair was hanging down in a crazy mess of knots. No wonder those people had been terrified to see her. She went back to look in the alley and saw the three children still there. She kneeled down and spoke in her gruff voice, making herself cringe. "What. Is, Happening?" The three children gasped and the youngest girl screamed. "I...I'm sorry Arachna. Would you like us to leave? Please...Please don't kill us."

"Kill you? And why did you call me Arachna?"

"What do you mean? You killed everyone! You...You killed our parents." Here she was overcome by tears and her older sister took over.

"From what I understand, well, from what was on the news, you killed one girl, Claire Monte. Well, you tried. You snuck up on her, but her gang defended her. You stabbed them all. Then you killed her and all the policemen that tried to stop you. Everybody tried. They're all gone now." She was so blank, so husked, that her words scared Luna in a way she couldn't have even thought possible. She had thought that she would get revenge. This must have been how. "But wasn't I...Hit by a car?"

"No." The young boy took over. "Somebody pushed you out of the way. I think his name was Mathew or..or...Michael?" Luna's heart sunk. So she had been saved, and had killed everyone. She was a monster. "Where are my parents? Please! I don't remember any of that. Please tell me I didn't kill them! PLEASE!" The three children flinched at her yell and the youngest began to cry again. "I...I'm sorry Arachna-"

"Why are you calling me that?" Luna snapped. Don't you know my name's Luna?"

"Um...No...When the police asked your name...Well, when you attacked the station, you told the cameras, you told the world, that your name was Arachna. You said that you were the spider lord. That they were your subjects and everyone else were lesser mortals. Why-Why are you laughing?" Luna laughed and turned to face the sky.

"I see your game." She screamed to the clouds. "This is how you're trying to break me? By making me a murderer? Well you're going to have to do better than that! I know now. I know that this is all a dream! Soon I'll be back in your room and everything will be fine. The spider lord? Hosently? You couldn't have come up with anything better than the spider lord. I know your game Morfran. I KNOW!" Luna turned but the children had run. Good. Luna thought. Let them run. I'll find them. She ran into the alley and picked up a metal pipe, then ran down the alley and into the street.

Luna came across nobody as she ran, looking for the slightest sign of life. She finally came to the building she was looking for, her school, and ran through the double doors without hesitation. She sprinted down the once white hallways which were now splattered with thick red blood, looking for one person in particular. One that she wished to be alive. She passed classrooms, pushing and kicking doors open to stare into them. At first she saw nothing, but after a while she began to see bodies slumped against the walls and floor. Luna would not look at them but after a while she couldn't stop herself and walked into the cafeteria. She saw bodies piled on tables, floors and even behind the lunch counter. She tried to ignore them but eventually she came across the one body she was dreading to see. The one body that had begun this all. Claire Monty's. So, she thought. This is the famous Clair. The evil Clair. The monster of a woman, Clair. Now though, her body looked almost...peaceful. It was odd, seeing as she had stab wounds down her chest. She didn't look like a monster from here. Just like an innocent girl, a wronged girl. Suddenly, Claire's eyes flew open and she gave a wheezing gasp. Her arm flew forward and she grasped Luna by the front of her tunic. Luna screamed and tried to pull away but Claire was stronger than she was and pulled her so close that Luna could smell her dank breath. "You will never succeed." Claire breathed into Luna's petrified face. "They will break you, and I will be there to watch. You have no chance." With this, Claire kicked Luna's legs out from underneath her and Luna swung out with the pipe, but missed. Claire knocked it out of her hand and Luna responded with a kick to Claire's jaw. Apparently in this reality, Luna was quite the fighter. Claire leaped to her feet and swung a punch that Luna caught and used to force Claire backwards and against the opposing wall. Claire picked up the pipe and hurled it at Luna who took the blow and went down. She watched from the floor as Claire started toward her, but she stopped abruptly and froze. Claire stood perfectly still as a thick substance erupted from her wounds and began to cover them up. New skin was forming over her cuts and once they had been healed, Claire looked down at Luna with pity. "Did you really think you were responsible for this Luna? You couldn't harm a fly. I've been saving something special for you. Something that I think might push you over. She gave a high laugh and walked toward the food counter. From behind it, she dragged Luna's family. All of them were gagged and tied up and at the sight of Luna, they screamed in joy. "Silence!" Claire roared and suddenly, everything was still. "Ok. Now Luna, I'm going to show you real torture!" Claire raised her hand and Luna's family rose into the air. Luna screamed as Claire put her two hands together and stood to try to stop her from doing what Luna knew she would do. Claire ripped her hands apart and Luna's family fell to the floor, dead. Luna collapsed, a pure mess of grief, and suddenly the ground was tipping, and Luna was falling, falling, down.