Heather shot up from the floor.
Alex’s face appeared in front of her own. “Whoa, settle down. It’s me.” He squeezed her hand.
She sighed and leaned back into the wall.
“I just…” She shook her head. “I had a wicked bad dream.”
“About the house? And the man? And the creature?” Reid stood up and moved to the hatch. Placed a hand on it.
Alex scrambled to the door. “Whoa, what’re you doing? Don’t open that door.”
Reid dropped his hand off the handle but didn’t step back. “We gotta get outta here. And soon.”
Heather cringed.
He remained facing the hatch, his back to them. “Got a better idea? I’m all ears.”
“Okay, we will, but hang on.” Alex stepped between Reid and the door. “We all had the same dream, didn’t we?”
The fear crawled up Heather’s skin, like ants raiding a picnic.
“It wasn’t a dream, was it?” She began twirling one of her curls. “Do you think…” She whispered, “Do you think Danny and Clint are here? Stuck here with them, forever?” Her voice grew frantic, and so did her hair twisting. “I know it. They are. It’s bad enough they’re dead, but this is worse. So much worse.” The feeling of defeat washed over her and she flopped to the floor. She pulled her knees into her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and began rocking. “And who’s next? Me? You?” She shook her head. “What if I’m last? I don’t wanna be alone.”
A stony silence followed.
The silence made her anxious. “Why did the house show us all that?” she asked. “Why did we dream all of it together? The man, the baby, the creature.”
The fear gripped her and wouldn’t let go. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and tried to get it under control. Except she couldn’t stop shaking and her teeth chattered.
“I-s-is-it-co-cold in here?”
Alex’s gaze drifted toward the window, to her right. It had been so dark before that no one had noticed. Heather followed his gaze until she saw what he was looking at. Her fear dissipated with the discovery and her heart leapt with hope as she squinted at the brilliant daylight. It cast twinkling rays of sunshine through the frosted pane. Alex moved closer to it and set his palm against the glass, tossing a shadow across the floor.
It made Heather think of when she was very young and her mother would play hand-shadow games with her at night. Once Heather was tucked snug as a bug in bed, her mother would put her hand in front of Heather’s bedroom light and contort her fingers to shape all sorts of animals which sprung to life in the shadows.
“Look, it’s a dog,” her mother would say. Heather could hear her mother laugh with delight at Heather’s rapt entertainment
, and she could feel her soft blanket tucked under her chin. Snug-bug.
“It’s an alligator. Snap, snap, snap go the jaws.” Heather’s eyes always grew wide at that one, as she was tickled, yet afraid. She’d pull her blanket up higher, covering one eye and squinting the other.
“Now a bird.” That always made Heather toss her blanket back and fling her hands up to clap with delight.
Heather smiled at the memory.
But her smile melted and she jumped as the bird in her memories contorted and turned into one of those evil fairies with the ratty wings.
Her mother was gone. Then the fairy was gone.
Even her memories weren’t safe.
“It’s cold,” Alex said. “Really cold.”
He moved closer to the window and exhaled onto the pane. Then he wiped it with his hand to clear the foggy smear he’d created. With his nose pressed to the glass, his words came out in puffs, clouding it back over.
“Snow. On the ground.” He tilted his head, peering outside. “The trees. Every-fucking-where.” He wiped his forearm over the window.
“That can’t be.” Heather scrambled to her feet. “It’s summer.”
She pushed her brother aside and pressed her face into the glass. Her mouth formed an “O” but she made no sound.
“Maybe break the window?” Alex said. “Wait. There’s a breeze, a draft coming from…”
“Maybe it is winter,” Reid said.
Heather jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Maybe we’ve been in here that long.” Reid swallowed, audibly. “Who knows?”
With daggers in her eyes, Heather swung around to face him. “Don’t be stupid. They’d have found us. Mom, Dad, Mike. They’d have been here by now. They’d look for us.” She pointed to herself and then Alex. “Even if no one would come for you.” She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.
“But how do you know?” Reid said. “How do you know anything? Since we got here, it’s been day, it’s been night. Light, dark. Basement, attic. Rooms this house doesn’t even have. It could’ve been a goddamned year ago, or a minute since we first walked through that door. You don’t know! We could already be dead.”
The last words felt like a fist upside Heather’s head, and fire burned inside her belly.
“I know you’re a wicked jerk!” She slugged Reid in the stomach.
He took a deep breath and stepped back, his eyes wide.
“Alex, get a hold of your crazy sister. Even I have my limits.”
There was no response.
He glanced around the room. “Alex?”
Heather and Reid looked around, shouting Alex’s name, but there was nothing.
“Where did he go?” Heather asked. “Where could he go? He wouldn’t leave me. Something bad just happened and we didn’t even see it. He’s gone.”
“We can’t sit here and panic. It’s not gonna get us outta—”
Heather pointed at Reid. “We’re not getting out! Don’t you get it? There’s no way out. We’re dead. We’re all dead!” She struggled to hold back the tears but lost the battle. “I want to go home. I want Mom.”
“We’ll get you home. I’ll get—”
“Don’t you understand, Reid? This is all your fault. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. You’re such a big bullying jerk. No one wanted to come, and now everyone’s dying and it’s all on you!
I want to go home!” She balled up her fists and pounded on his chest. “I want to go home!”
“We will. I’ll get you out. First, we gotta find Alex.” Reid pulled her into him and held her tight.
“He killed his wife,” Heather whispered into his chest. “His little baby. What’s gonna stop him from killing us? We’re screwed.”
“No, we’re not.”
Heather stopped blathering and looked up into his eyes.
“Before Clint died, he told me to get you guys out and that’s what I’m gonna do. There’s no other option. So stop crying right now. Pull it together and let’s go.”
That was what she needed to hear whether it was true or not.
She nodded. “But why is the house doing this?”
Reid let her go and shifted his weight from one foot to another. “Why does the house do anything? To scare us? Who knows?” He bit his lip. “All I know is I’ve had enough.”