Leave This House

Day 5 - Unwilling Tears

By now, Corbin knew the drill. He felt the thin mattress under his shoulders, the throbbing in his head and the sting on his arm. His eyes opened and he could see the bleak ceiling. He sat up and looked around the room with a slight smile. Solomon was sprawled out underneath the the table, a large goose egg visible on his hair line. Good for him, Corbin thought. 

There was a deep breath from under the bed and Corbin swung down to look. Elvyne was asleep. But something was off. Blood was seeping from a wound on her forehead. Corbin knew that head injuries could bleed a lot but this one looked dangerous. He knelt down on the ground and reached a hand under the bead and shook her shoulder.

"Elvyne?" he whispered. He shook her again. She didn't move. Corbin grabbed under her arms and dragged her out from under the bed. He touched her face lightly.

"She's drugged," came a voice behind him. Corbin whirled around. Iris was standing in the doorway, staring at him. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes were sunken in, like she hadn't gotten any rest in weeks. She was wearing a white nightgown, matching Granny's except cleaner. Corbin stood up slowly, making sure he didn't take his eyes off of Iris.

"How do you know?" he asked. Iris took a step forward. "I watched her do it."

"Her? Granny?"

Iris nodded grimly. "How else would they stay asleep so long?" Her usually startling light hair was short and thin now. It was matted with what looked like mud. "What happened to you?" Corbin said.

"I found my place," she said in a quiet voice. She took another step forward. Corbin stepped back, accidentally treading on Elvyne's hand. "Do you need something?" Corbin said, concerned now. What was she doing? Was she trying to kill him?

"I don't need anything," she said. "Do you?"

"I need you to leave," Corbin said, trying for a firm tone but his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "You need to leave," he said again.

Iris laughed. "Why should I? Come with me Corbin. Granny trusts me now. We're friends." She looked at Elvyne and then at Solomon. She walked quickly to the wardrobe and opened it. Becca had been propped up in it and fell out. Iris caught her with ease and lifted her. She carried her to the table and laid her on it. Corbin pulled Elvyne in these moments into the corner and stood in front of her.

"Such a pretty girl," Iris said, fingering Becca's dark hair. "Even in this state. Very pretty."

Corbin stared, not sure what to make of the situation. Iris examined Becca's arm and laughed. "Day five! Thanks to me."

"Thanks to you?" Corbin said.

"Of course. After Solomon pushed you down the stairs, and yes I saw that, I see everything, I got into the room. Elvyne was able to get passed me to follow you because Solomon caught me. Becca hid like a coward under the bed. Solomon got away after he locked me in the wardrobe. He ran after Elvyne. They were both caught by precious Granny.

"I waited for Becca to come out. After she did, she tried to talk some reason into me. Whatever for, I don't know. I listened for a bit. Oh, how I wanted to kill her there! But that's not how Granny's game works, now is it?"

"No," Corbin said at her pause. She continued. "But now she's at Day five. The game is mine." She reached into the pocket of her gown and pulled out a knife. It was long, sharp and thin. Iris lightly touched the end of the knife on Becca's temple. Corbin lurched forward. "Stop," he said. He reached out to grab the knife and she hissed and hit him with the knife. Corbin pulled back. Blood dripped off his fingers.

Iris returned to her task at hand. "Maybe she needs a bigger smile." She traced the knife near the corners of Becca's mouth. "I know. Tears." She began to carve tear drop shapes on the unconscious girl's cheeks. 

"Iris, stop!" Corbin grabbed her wrist. Iris slapped him with her other hand right on the ear. Corbin gasped as his ears began to ring. Iris snickered and made another cut. Corbin lunged at her again.

"Leave me alone!" she roared. With inhuman strength, she grabbed his arms and pushed him into the wardrobe. She slammed the door shut.

Granny appeared in the doorway of the bedroom. Corbin stayed silent in the wardrobe and watched through the holes on the small door.

Granny saw Iris and smiled. Iris continued to cut Becca. Blood began to drip like real tears from her cheeks. Granny just stood and watched. After several minutes, Iris stood back and let Granny examine her work.

Granny gave a satisfied grunt and patted Iris's head awkwardly. She waved for Iris to follow her. They left.

Corbin opened the wardrobe and closed the bedroom door. He ran to Becca, who was beginning to stir.

She moaned and ran a hand down her face and winced. "Becca?" Corbin whispered. She gasped in pain and opened her eyes.

"I feel worse than I ever have," she croaked. She ran her hand down her face again. "Don't-" Corbin said, too late. Becca gasped again and sat up. She looked at her hands. "What happened?" 

"Iris," Corbin said, sitting on the bed. He saw Elvyne and pulled beside him. He cradled her head in his lap, her auburn hair spilling over his knees. "She... cut your face." Corbin was having a hard time looking at Becca. Iris had cut very good tears and they would most definitely scar. If they had the time to heal.

Blood was dripping off her chin and falling to the floor. Becca reached up and tenderly felt around. She hicupped and real tears began to mix with the red ones. She turned and walked to the door.

"What are you doing?" Corbin asked. She held up a hand and looked out the door. She slipped out, closing it behind her. Corbin heard the bathroom door open. He knew what she was doing and he didn't want her to see.

"Becca, stop!" he called. He pushed Elvyne off his lap and dashed towards the door. He wrenched it open and then the bathroom one. He grabbed Becca,  who was staring at the mirror and pulled her away. "Don't look," he said. 

"Too late," she whispered. She broke down and began to cry. Corbin hugged her and she winced as her face touched his shirt. "Sorry," he said. She lifted her head and laid her chin on his shoulder.

It was strange for Corbin to see the ever strong Becca cry. Most of the time, she reminded him of a drill sergeant, always knowing what to do and a leader to others.

He told her to sit down. He tore the sleeve of his t-shirt off and wet with water from the sink. He knelt next to Becca and cleaned her face. He avoided the cuts for as long as he could before he could no longer ignore them. He wrung out the cloth of blood, soaked it in water, then tenderly cleaned out the cuts, apologizing at Becca's every sharp intake of breath.

It was like he could see her resolve chipping off, revealing a vulnerable girl full of hopelessness. 

But Corbin was feeling it himself. The feeling of giving up. He wanted to roll over and die. Yes, he knew how Becca was feeling. There was something about Day Five.

Author's Notes

Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you can see, our characters are near the end of captivity, being on the last day. But will they make it out alive? Comment your ideas below!

While I am writing this, there are 801 reads! While this is not a crazy amount for other authors, it is exciting for me. This is my most popular story and I really, really hope you like it! I appreciate every single person who reads this story.

This story is kind of grim, because it's supposed to be! So, to lighten the mood, everyone comment the best (CLEAN) joke you know. The best one will get a dedication in the next chapter!

Until next week!