Chapter 10: The Blood in the Walls
Lerato froze as the thick, red liquid dripped steadily from the walls. Her breath caught in her throat, and her instincts screamed at her to run but there was nowhere to go.
The door behind them was sealed. Locked. Possibly gone.Lerato… what is this?Thabo whispered, staring at the bleeding wall with wide eyes. The light flickered again longer this time. When it returned, Nia was gone.
Nia? Simo called out, voice tight with panic.No. No. No! Lerato spun around, searching every corner of the dim room. She was just here
She didn't leave, Thabo muttered. The house… it took her.A loud groan echoed from deep within the house, like old wood bending under pressure. Or a creature waking from a long slumber.
Simo stepped back, nearly slipping in the crimson liquid spreading across the floor. This is bad. This is really bad.
The chains binding the children in the center of the room rattled violently, but no one had touched them.The lights flickered again and when they came back, the second child was gone.
Gone.No! Lerato screamed.But only silence answered her.I SAID WE NEED TO GO! Simo shouted, pulling Lerato to her feet.
She clutched the one child tightly as they bolted toward the far end of the room. A second door previously unnoticed creaked open slowly, inviting them in.Do we… do we trust it? Thabo asked.No, Lerato growled. But it's the only way.
They ran through the door, into a narrow hallway filled with mirrors on both sides. But these weren't normal reflections.In each one, they saw versions of themselves crying, screaming, begging for help.This house is playing with our minds, Simo muttered, shielding the boy's eyes.
Then a voice whispered from the mirrors, all at once:
Only one of you will leave.Thabo punched one of the mirrors. It shattered but instead of glass, blood poured out.What the hell is this place... he whispered.
Lerato kept walking, refusing to look. The little boy trembled in her arms.At the end of the hallway, a staircase spiraled downward, seemingly endless.We go down? Simo asked.We go down,Lerato answered.
Lerato rushed forward and knelt beside the children. Hey. Hey! Look at me! she whispered urgently. We'll get you out.The girl with the hollow eyes slowly turned her head, whispering again, It feeds…
I know, Lerato said, heart pounding. But not tonight.She looked around the room for anything usefulold shelves, rusted tools, anything. She spotted a broken crowbar leaning in the corner, almost hidden in shadow.
Thabo helped her retrieve it. You think this'll break the chains?Let's hope,Lerato replied, gripping it tightly.Simo stayed near the door, eyes flicking nervously across the walls as the dripping thickened.Suddenly, a loud snap echoed through the room.Thabo spun. What was that?
A crack appeared in the floor. Then another. The wooden boards began to split, revealing dark, pulsing veins beneath. The house wasn't just alive it was changing.Lerato! The kids! Simo yelled.She swung the crowbar against the chains once, twice, and on the third hit, one of them snapped free. The little boy gasped and stumbled into her arms.
We need to go. Now, Thabo urged, voice shaking.As Lerato began to free the second child, the room shifted the walls pulsing like lungs, inhaling and exhaling in slow, sinister rhythm.
They descended one floor… two… three. With every level, the air grew colder. The house moaned around them. The stairs creaked like screams under their weight.And then, silence.
They reached a large underground room lit by candles floating in the air.In the center stood a tall, cloaked figure its face hidden by a cracked porcelain mask.Behind it, Nia hung in mid-air, suspended by invisible threads.
Nia! Lerato shouted.
The figure raised a hand, and Lerato felt her body freeze.You were warned, the figure said. Its voice was layered like hundreds speaking as one. This place belongs to the forgotten. The punished. The feared.
Let her go! Thabo shouted.The figure tilted its head. Fear is the currency. And you… are rich.The candles flared as shadows poured from the walls crawling, creeping, whispering names in the dark.
Lerato forced her body forward, resisting the fear. Why the children? Why Nia?They are offerings. it said. The house must eat. Or the forest will take more.Simo stepped forward. What do you want from us?!
The figure slowly turned to him. One must stay… to replace what you took.No, Lerato growled. We're taking everyone. Even Nia.She held up the crowbar like a weapon. It shook in her hands, but she stood firm.
You challenge the house? the figure hissed.No, she said. I challenge you and then chaos.The candles exploded. The shadows lunged. Screams filled the air real and imagined.
Lerato ran forward, swinging the crowbar at the figure, shattering its porcelain mask.Underneath was a reflection her own face, twisted in agony.She gasped as the room began to collapse.
RUN!Thabo yelled, grabbing Nia's hand as she fell from the air.They ran back through the hallway of mirrors, now shattering behind them back through the bleeding room toward the front door, which stood open at last, the forest visible beyond.
The house screamed.And the forest answered.As they leapt through the door, the house let out one final moan and crumbled behind them, disappearing into the earth.
Silence.The five of them Lerato, Thabo, Simo, Nia, and the rescued boy stood trembling in the clearing.We're out… Nia whispered. We made it.Lerato fell to her knees, shaking.But the forest was quiet.
For now.