Eldritch

Chapter 9

'I don't know how to help you. You should never have laid foot in this house, any of you,' Kooky A snaps.

Daniel nods in understanding. 'We know,' he swallows. 'We're really sorry. But, we're trying to fix this. Do you know why we're having these dreams?'

'Maybe, because the lot of you need to get over yourselves,' Lisa scoffs.

'Lisa, enough,' Martin interjects. She throws him an exaggerated eye roll.

'Anyway,' Daniel continues. 'Do you know why most of us are having the same dreams?'

She shakes her head fervently. 'I already told you. That's what this game does. It gets inside your head and it destroys you. This is only the beginning.'

'What do you mean?' Martin implores.

She slams her fist off the cluttered kitchen table. Startled, Ella, Sophie and Sean jump backwards slightly. 'Don't you get it?' she shouts. 'That thing that you saw in that dream was real. It exists. And it's never going to stop until it gets what it wants.'

Daniel can feel his heart thumping. He senses another outburst soon coming from Kooky A, which he doesn't want to experience. So, to calm her down, he attempts to firstly stop her hands from trembling, by placing his over hers. 'Look, we're really sorry to bother you, but we really just want to understand what this means for us and for everyone else.'

She shakes her head and bows it. Lisa jolts upwards from her chair and stalks towards the woman. 'Oh my God, would you tell Daniel what he wants to know, so we can all leave, you stupid old bitch.'

'Lisa,' Sophie scolds. She ignores her and steps closer to Kooky A, her face threateningly close to her. 'You know, everyone in this town is right about you. You really are a deranged, senile old crone.'

Then, Kooky A does something she doesn't expect. She fights back. She rises from her seat and pushes her hands against her shoulder blades. Fury all over her withered face, she slams her against the wall. 'And you,' she hisses. 'Are a self absorbed, vulgar little runt who, one day, is going to come into contact with the wrong person. You're the little bitch who broke into my home and initiated this evil coming to the fore again.'

Daniel steps in between the two of them and gently pushes Kooky A away. 'Annie,' he says. 'Please calm down.'

As though transitioning to a sudden change in mood, she takes her hands away from Lisa and backs away to her chair. 'Lisa, go,' Daniel orders.

'What?' she demands. 'You--'

'Get out,' he tells her.

She clenches her fists and lets her hands drop to her sides. She storms out of the house. 'I'm so sorry about her,' Daniel says. 'But, please, can you please help us. I think you know a lot of information that could really help.'

Kooky A nods. 'I want to speak to Daniel alone,' she announces.

Sean and Martin eye their friend, who gives them a nod of approval. He's just glad of any information she'll give any of them. As the others shuffle into the hallway, Daniel creaks the kitchen door closed. He takes a seat before her again.

'Do you believe there's something sinister going on?' she asks him.

He pauses, draws in a deep breath, sighs, then nods. 'Yes, Annie. I do. But I need you to help me understand it.'

She nods. 'I thought you believed it. But, as far as I can tell, you're the only one of your friends who does truly believe it. You're the only person I've ever met that hasn't thought me to be insane. I'm not insane. I've witnessed and experienced things that I can't explain, things that seem impossible. But that makes them no less real.'

Daniel nods. 'I do believe it,' he affirms. 'And I really need your help.'

She nods. 'As far as I can tell, your dreams will remain just dreams as long as you follow the rules for the rest of your life. You and everybody who played the game. It may be hard, but you've got to do it. Do you trust me?'

Daniel looks her in the eye and nods. 'Yes,' he swallows.

'Then tell nobody about the game, ever. And make sure the others do the same. You don't want to know what will happen if you don't.'

He wants to probe for more information; to expand on her statement. There's an itching desire in him to uncover more, but there's also something in his gut telling him to trust her words. 'Okay,' he says. 'I'll do that.'

She nods. 'I think you'd better go now,' she smiles.

He rises from the table, opens the door and turns back to her. 'Thank you, Annie.'

As he steps into the hallway and closes the door over, Sean faces him, his eyes wide, a photo frame in his hand. 'What's up?' Daniel asks.

'You know when I said that, in my dream, a monster came out of a man?'

'Yeah?'

He nods and turns the photo around. 'Well, this is the man, here, in the photo.'

Daniel grabs it from him and narrows his eyes at the black and white photo. In it, sits a man in a shirt and tie, holding the hand of a little girl, whose hair is curled and pulled in at the sides of her face. 'You're sure?' Daniel asks.

Sean nods.

'I wonder who that is,' he says. 'And why there's a photo of him here.'

Kooky A steps into the hallway. 'Is it so strange for a woman to keep a photograph of her as a child with her father?'

Daniel stumbles. 'Um, no, not at all,' she says, placing the photograph down.

Together, the five teenagers leave the house together and seat themselves in Daniel's car.