Masks

Chapter 37

"You sure you're up for this?" Tim glanced my way. "You haven't had much time to recover with all the traveling."

"I'll be fine." I kept staring out the passenger window. "Besides, we need answers- this is still our only lead."

"Just stay close to me."

I turned to look over at him. "Don't worry, if anything happens you'll totally just be a human shield... Honestly Tim, I'm not going to do anything stupid. If I was, I would've started out by stealing your keys and leaving you stranded at one of the hotels."

A familiar country road caught my attention and I leaned forward to read the sign. "Turn here, we're almost there."

Tim followed my instructions while taking a drag of his cigarette before speaking once again. "Didn't you say you moved? What makes you think this place will have anything left?"

"This is where everything started. My first time seeing that thing, my sister's disappearance, and things were just... not the best between my parents because of my father's obsession with it." I continued scanning along the road, anxious to find the house. "Trust me, I know there has to be something."

Tim seemed to contemplate it as he continued smoking. I watched as fields and patches of trees passed by outside before sitting up when a run down house came into view. "There."

Rocks crunched under the car tires as we pulled into the gravel drive and I got out immediately after the car was turned off. Most of the driveway was overgrown and the lawn was up to my waist after years of neglect. I heard Tim walk over to join me and looked over at him in time to watch as he put the cigarette out.

"Doesn't look like anyone's lived here for a while."

I nodded in agreement and began leading the way closer to the dilapidated building. "Doubt anyone's lived here since we moved out by my guess- everything looks like I remember, if that's anything to go by."

The porch creaked as we walked across it to the door. We hadn't considered how to get in if it was locked but given the condition of the house it wouldn't be too difficult to break it down if necessary. I paused before opening the door and looked at the splintered wood around the handle. The marks were clean and fresh, not marred by weather like the rest around it.

I moved to the side to let Tim see it. "Looks like someone was here recently."

"Stay behind me." He shifted in front of me and opened the door as little as possible to prevent the rusted hinges from squeaking and alerting anyone potentially inside.

I followed after him into the dark house and carefully shut the door behind me to avoid it slamming shut. A bad feeling was settling in my stomach as I looked around my old home. "You know... I know the layout better. I should lead the way."

"And I'm the one with a weapon if someone attacks us." He pulled out his folding knife and continued slowly moving forward. "Where are we checking first?"

"The bedrooms, I guess." The floorboards creaked loudly in the near empty house and I winced at their loud sound. If the demon or anyone else was here they'd probably heard that. "...After that... there's the basement."

"You don't sound happy about that." Tim barely glanced back at me as he headed down the hall.

"We basically live in a horror movie. Basements are practically death traps." I whispered harshly.

I looked at each closed door uneasily. If someone was still in the house they were surely hiding behind one of them... However, I didn't dare open any of them in fear of being jumped and merely continued on past while listening closely for any additional noises. When we got to the end of the hall, I slipped by Tim and stepped into the bedroom. The room was like the rest of the house, barren and mostly empty with only larger furniture left over from when we'd moved out. The carpet was covered in water stains from leaks in the roof and everything had faded from the light that streamed through the window. I walked over to the grimy glass and stared out at the forest in the backyard for a moment before turning back to Tim.