Leave This House

Day 2- Plus 1

"You know," Becca said with a sigh, "I didn't really expect it to be an escape."

"I still got my hopes up," Corbin said. Becca gave a quiet laugh then said seriously, "Do you think she heard it open?" Corbin listened intently. "I think we're good."

A quiet snuffling noise made them both dive into the car. Corbin gripped the old seat, the top of it tearing out under his fingers. No one came down the stairs. "What was that?" Becca asked. Corbin shook his head. He leaned out of the car. The noise continued.

"I don't think that's Granny," Corbin whispered. Becca slid out of the car. She stood next to him. "It's coming from there," she said. She walked over to what looked like a closet. It had a board across the door, locking in whatever was inside.

Becca's hand gripped the board and Corbin grabbed her shoulder. "Wait," he said. "What if whatever is in there is locked for a reason?"

Becca rubbed the small window clear of dirt. "I can't see anything. It's probably just a mouse." Corbin let go of her shoulder and took a step back. She rolled her eyes and pulled up the board. She tugged at the handle on the door. The snuffling stopped. "Hello?" Becca said softly. A dark mass shot up at her. Becca screamed as it pushed her to the ground.

"I've got you!" the thing screamed. Its messy black hair fell down and covered Becca's face. "Get it off me!" Becca yelled. Corbin kicked the figure on her and it went sprawling. It was a person. A very dirty person. It reached out with it's long nails to Becca's throat then stopped suddenly. "You're not Granny," it said, cocking its head. It looked up and Corbin could see a girl's thin face. "Then she is coming." She dove back into the closet. "Come!"

Sure enough, Corbin could hear Granny coming down the basement stairs. He grabbed Becca's hand and pulled her into the closet with him. He pulled the door closed behind him.

The closet had a bench to sit on and that was where the girl was crouched. Corbin sat against the wall across the benches next to Becca, who was staring at the girl in mild fear.

Granny could be heard on the other side of the door, shuffling around the garage. Corbin heard her pull down the garage door with a chuckle. She went back up the stairs.

"What was that for?" Becca hissed at the girl. The dirty girl ducked her head. "I thought you were Granny," she said.

"How long have you been in the house?" Corbin asked, in a kinder tone than Becca. The girl held out her arm and looked. "I'm on day five," she said. "Other than that, I don't know how long it's been since I was free. A couple months at least."

"What's your name?" Becca asked.

"Miranda."

"How did you end up here?" Corbin asked. "Locked up in this closet I mean."

"This," Miranda said, stretching out her arms, "Is a sauna." She kicked at a metal vent. "I got locked in here by my own stupidity and was afraid Granny would come and boil me alive in here. Never happened. How long have you guys been here?"

"Well, I'm on Day 2 and she's on Day 3," Corbin said. "I think we're close to getting out."

Miranda's face lit up. "Really? I've been dreaming about getting on the outside for so long now. I had stopped considering the possibility of actually getting out."

"Do you have any keys or tools?" Becca asked. Miranda's head dropped. "No. I spent most of my time distracting Granny from the others, not actually trying to get out."

Becca reached out and touched her knee. "That's awfully brave of you. Who were you with?"

"Grady, Hadley, Karly and Des. Are any with you?"

Corbin scooted closer to the girl, finally convinced she wouldn't kill him. "I only saw Hadley for a second." He looked at Becca. "Do you recognize the names?"

"Grady was on his last day when I got here," she said. "Granny got him on the stairs later though."

Miranda leaned her head on the wall. "I liked Grady. He was very smart. Weird to think he's gone now." She said it in such a plain way, without any emotion. She had already guessed this and mourned his death long ago.

"I'm sorry," Becca said. Miranda shrugged her shoulders. "I am too." She jumped to her feet. "Let's not sit around and mope," she said. "Let's leave this old, wood dump."

They crept out of the sauna. They all realized a problem pretty quick: they had no way of knowing where Granny was. The garage was positioned where one wrong move would result in another Day.

"We could make a noise and get Granny to come here," Becca suggested. Corbin shook his head. "Then she would be closer and we still couldn't see her until we got out of the basement."

"But at least we'd know where she was," Becca said. Annoyance was beginning to creep into her voice. "What do you think, Miranda?" The girl thought a moment. "I would say to draw her here. Then follow her out."

"See?" Becca said. "I say we trust the opinion of the people who've been here the longest." She looked around the room in mock consideration. "Oh look! It's Miranda, then me, then you."

Becca's sudden attitude was beginning to irk Corbin. "You know what?" he said. "How about we do both. You two can wait down here for a few minutes while I get back upstairs and find where this key goes."

He turned around and walked up the stairs. "Have fun getting cornered down here." He came out into the skinny hallway in the basement. He turned right, avoiding the skinny post on the floor, most likely deliberately placed to cause noise. Turning out, he came into the main room of the basement. See, the girls were wrong, he thought. They would get things done faster if they weren't overly cautious.

The stairs were clear. His sneakers against the concrete steps made no noise.

SNAP!

Hot pain raced up Corbin's leg. He gasped and looked down. A metal trap with sharp jaws was wrapped around his foot.

Author's Notes

I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I would like to extend a big thank you to @MinFireBender for the character of Miranda. She suggested a new character and I think it's just what this story needed. So thank you so much again! Check out her profile and stories!