Mermaids and Vampires

28: Questions and Answers

~~~~ DYLAN'S POV ~~~~

After almost an hour of talking, coaxing, and pleading with Lauren we still got nothing out of her. She was silent. It was clear she wasn't about to give anything away voluntarily. But we had to know. After being nice had failed us Dad tried threatening to take away the TV, toys, junk food. Nothing worked. Lauren wasn't talking.

She had a bath and was sent to bed.

Now dad and I sit in the living room perplexed.

"I don't get it. What could it possibly have been?" I ask.

"Why isn't she telling us? It's not like her. She's never kept secrets, never run off on her own."

"Dad, she was covered in blood." 

"I know. What do you think I can do about it? I can't make her talk. Maybe she'll come around in the morning..."

"But where did the blood come from? It wasn't hers." I say.

"Dylan, I wish I knew."

Just now a waft of the familiar fowl odor sweeps through the living room.

Dad starts coughing. He covers his mouth.

"What is that?" I question. "It's been here ever since we moved in. Keeps getting stronger."

Dad shakes his head and gets up.

"I've got to leave this room." He says.

I stand up, determined now, to find the source of the smell. At least that will be one mystery solved. It's so strong now, I can pronbably follow it back to the source. My nose leads me to the closed door behind the living room couch. It's been locked from the day we moved into the house.

"Whew," I cough as I sniff the air around the door. "It's got to be in here."

I start shifting the couch, moving it out of the way so that the door will be able swing open. Then I reef on the door. I pull as hard as I can but it's useless.

I move into the kitchen where Dad is now making coffee.

"Do you have a hammer or something?" I ask.

He raises an eyebrow. "I do..."

"The locked door. Whatever's been making that smell is trapped behind there. Probably a dead animal or something. I could smash the lock and get it out."

Dad contemplates as he pours his coffee.

"Alright, tools are in the back of the truck. Don't do too much damage."

"I won't." I head out of the kitchen to get the hammer.

Moments later I'm swinging it at the door's hard, metal handle.

It eventually gives way. I pull out the lock and shove my fingers into the hole, prepared to pull it open. I hold my breath and mentally ready myself for some sort of horrific sight.

The door swings open easily and a gust of cool air sweeps out around me.

Surprisingly, it doesn't open to an old closet, but a stairway leading down.

"Dad, looks like our house has a basement." I call. Then I begin to wretch as the smell overwhelms me. 

I run into the kitchen.

"I need a flashlight." I state, rifling through the cupboard.

"To the right." Dad says.

I pull out a bulky old flashlight and switch it on. A soft beam of light radiates through the kitchen.

"Perfect."

I race back into the living room, eager to solve this mystery.

Before entering, I take a deep, deep breath. Then I bolt into the basement.

The stairs are stone and the walls are covered in cobwebs.

I only catch flashes of imagery as I'm running down the stairs. I reach the bottom. I aim the flashlight at the ground. Seeing nothing, I slowly tilt it up.

What I see shakes me. Human corpses piled on top of one another lay rotting. The skin on them is wrinkled like a deflated balloon and their cheeks are pulled in, making the faces look like skeletons.

I stand frozen. For a moment I can do nothing but stare and take everything in.

Then I bolt upstairs.

As I reach the top my stomach begins to turn and I feel deeply unsettled. 

Suddenly this old, isolated house is the set to a horror movie and I'm the unsuspecting teenager who opened the closet while everyone watching was screaming at the TV "Don't do it!"

Then I remember what happened with Lauren. Everything seems twisted and conceived.

"... Dad?" I call. "There's something you need to see."