House of Scales

Chapter 16: Cold blood

Without looking back, our breath lost, we left behind that menacing orange glow that filled the interior of the cave and the dangerous masked man. We advanced through the woods away from the danger from which, with luck, we had managed to escape. Our minds were flying as our footsteps did. They were lost in the dizzying speed with which doubts clouded our judgement.

"Where did we go out? Do you know the area?"

"What was that?"

"Did you bring a gun?"

The three of us just stood there. Charles looked at us reluctantly while Luanne kept her eyes wide open.

"You brought the bow," he excused himself. "We're also facing a murderer. Didn't you see the masked man?"

"Because I can shoot him in the leg!" she yelled. "I'm not going to kill anybody with an arrow!"

"Where did you get it?" I asked.

"My dad's wardrobe," he replied, showing us the short revolver and reloading it. "I thought we could need it."

"This is the reason there need to be stronger gun regulations," stated Luanne, shutting us up and urging us to go back to the path. "Careful of that thing or we'll blame you for friendly fire."

"I've shot before," he excused himself.

"And yet you shot inside of a cave, in irregular terrain and not in a straight line. If the bullet had ricocheted, you could have blown our heads, but yeah, sure," she reprimanded. "Thank God you've shot before."

"I'll be careful," he promised, putting the gun away.

All this meant a turn of a hundred and eighty degrees for us, used to peace and tranquillity in our lives. That we had to run from monsters and flame-throwing killers was something that we couldn't comprehend, and we didn't understand how so many things had ended up happening all at once in Lacerty Hills.

"We still don't know where we are, but the path is going up," she said, looking into the distance. "We could have gone out near another town or be near our own. We have been going round and round in that labyrinth."

The terrain didn't seem far too different from the path we had taken to the well of bones. The vegetation was very similar, and the same type of tree prevailed in the area. We couldn't be that far away, and so I said aloud as we looked for some road to take us back to civilisation. That would be the first step.

"We have to find our way back and warn the police, tell them about this killer," said Luanne. "Your sister's life depends on how quickly we can send someone prepared to look for her."

"Let's go up this slope," I said, trying to trust my sense of direction. "We won't be far from a road."

We climbed the slope and found a dirt road halfway up. I'd never been this far down that area before, but I recognised the path. It had been many years since I had gone through it.

"Up here!" I screamed, running up. "This ends in the hill. My uncle's house is up there. We'll be able to call the police!"

The slope was steep enough to make our legs suffer. It was full of weeds wherever it reached the eye, and the trees made it difficult to climb. We followed the improvised path until the esplanade overlooking the hill house appeared before us. None of us could focus our attention on the back garden of the building, for a bright red colour on the ground took our breath away.

"Sasha!" I ran up to her and held her in my arms. "Sasha, please, say something!"

She was unconscious. I shook her in vain as I pulled her hair out of her face and checked for a pulse. After a few seconds, when my heart didn't seem to beat, I noticed the life inside her. She had only fainted and, although very slowly; she was breathing.