Death’s Child

by Autumn Rauscher

The babble around her was overwhelming. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, and it was impossible to identify one voice out of the shrieking others. It was all too loud. Why couldn’t they just be quiet, was that too much to ask?

“Megan, Megan! Listen to what Liz just said, listen!” She felt someone tugging on the back of her seatbelt, making it tighten around her waist and cut off some of her air. Megan gave a resigned sigh and squirmed until she could look over her shoulder to the group of babbling and squealing girls in the back. It was Ivy who had decided to threaten her flow of oxygen for gossip. Typical, she thought with a little crooked smile.

“Go on, Liz. Say it. Please? Come on. You know none of us will tell! Who would we tell, anyways? We’re going to be around each other for the weekend, after all.” Ivy thankfully let go of Megan’s seatbelt at this point, and Megan quietly readjusted to get comfortable as she looked to the hapless Liz. Ivy was often the one in the group who meant well, but was just a bit on the dull side.

“I... well... David... Oh, I can’t!”

“You know what?”

“W-what?”

“I feel a song coming on!”

“Oh, Ivy do-” “Ivy, cut it ou-” “Not righ-”

And, once again being typical of Ivy, she cut off everyone’s mixed complaints with the first note of a song. It was slightly off key and grating to Megan’s ears and Ivy was making it up as she went, but eventually she managed to make them laugh, even poor Liz. The song was about, of course, Liz and David.

As Ivy stumbled over the next verse, Megan turned and looked back out the car window. They were on a long road that seemed to stretch forever, running past the fringe of a forest. They had all gotten together and, because Halloween was on a Sunday this year, they’d decided to take a trip up to a cabin in the hills, and visit the supposedly haunted house that was an attraction nearby.

Megan glanced behind her again, and watched as Ivy managed to get both Liz and Dee to start hesitantly singing on, and adding a few lines. As they got more and more rowdy, Ivy’s illustrious father glanced into the rear view mirror. The corners of his eyes were crinkled from smiles as he said, “Ivy, cut that out. Soon people will think we’re a van of singers. Why, I bet they’d demand a show!” Chuckling to himself as if he’d made a good joke, he soon turned back and continued to drive them farther up through the light shrubbery. Ivy, of course, paid no attention to what her father said.

They eventually found the road through the forest, which now engulfed them on either side. The sunny day filtered down, casting vague shadows and soft light onto the ground below. The wind caused the branches to wave, which made the light and shadow below change constantly. Everything seemed peacefully quiet out there. A direct opposite of the van, Megan thought wryly. She found herself spacing out and blocking out the sound of the shrieking girls behind her and to her side, her mind now far out in that tranquil forest.

So Megan was surprised when someone was shaking her awake and saying excitedly, “We’re here, grab your stuff and get a bed!” Ivy bounced out of the van once she’d seen she got Megan up. Megan yawned and stretched, then unclipped herself and stepped out of the van. She looked around and saw before her the cabin that Ivy’s father owned. Describing it as a cabin was an understatement. It was made of wood, yes, but weren’t most large houses anyways? It would have been more correct to call it a summer home. The forest was on either side of it, adding a nice backdrop.

Megan smiled faintly to herself. This was going to be nice. She yawned one more time before walking around and grabbing her traveling pack, hauling it over her shoulder and walking up the few steps to the porch, and then into the house itself. Her footsteps echoed against the walls, creating the effect of many feet walking with her through the hallway. She peered through empty rooms, until she caught movement in one of them. She peered inside, looking for the source.

All of the other girls had gotten here first, and had claimed their beds. But, in a moment of sheer teenage brilliancy, they’d all seven of them decided to pile up on the last bed and stare at her inconspicuously. Then, when she appeared in the door, they all descended on her, giggling madly and managing to lift her and her pack, carrying her over to the bed. They tucked her in, and then stuffed her bag into the closet before all filing out, and going to their different rooms to get ready for dinner. Megan lay there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and comprehending the oddity that had just taken place, before sitting up and listening to the sounds of girls getting ready and calling to each other across the hall. She simply listened before she heard it was time for dinner, at which point she stood and opened her door, slipping into the crowd of girls and joining them on the way to the dining hall.

_~*~_~*~_~*~_

They all approached the ‘haunted’ house together (with Ivy’s father trailing behind, of course). It was trussed up with everything. Fake cobwebs, paper ghosts hanging from the trees, even a plastic jack-o’-lantern sat next to the old, predictably creaky door. It was a bit of a letdown for everybody. They all wanted a real haunted house, but this just seemed to be an attraction for kiddies.

“Well, ladies, this is where I leave you!” They all turned to look at Ivy’s father, who was attempting to smile mysteriously as he backed away. Ivy rolled her eyes, then smiled and waved.

“Bye daddy!” she said shrilly, a forming idea glistening in her eyes. She turned back to the group.

“Okay. Daddy’s giving us free roam of this place. Let’s try and find an actually haunted part, okay?” With that, she ushered the group of girls through the doors and into the house. They heard a faint scream from somewhere upstairs. Megan was fairly sure that it was recorded. They all split up, promising each other that they’d call when they found something. Every girl had to show that her phone was on, and charged. With that, they departed.

Megan wandered the hallways, looking into rooms and spotting the typical setup for a haunted house. Every once in a while she’d pass a mirror that showed ghostly figures wandering along with her, or passed old pictures that watched her as she passed. What a load of crap. The farther in she went, the darker the hallway became, until it was merely dim light, the bulbs above either used up or intentionally not turned on beneath their rusty decorative shells.

Once or twice Megan passed areas she suspected she wasn’t supposed to wander into, the faint murmuring of staff just audible to her sensitive ears.

“... caught her...”

“Not yet... but...”

“... still searching...” She wasn’t able to pick up enough to keep her interest, and so continued on her way until she found herself in a dusty hallway, a window at the end covered by old, used lace. Dust motes could just be seen in the musty light filtering through, suspended in air before slowly floating to the ground.

The sound of faint chiming startled Megan, breaking the silence and causing her to look around for the source. Only then did she realize to check her pocket, reaching in and pulling out her phone. She flipped it open.

“Yes?”

“Oh, shush. I’m talking to her right now.” The bicker of excited girls could be heard over the phone as Dee chided them. Megan rolled her eyes and stopped walking, waiting for Dee to realize that she was waiting to finish talking.

“Listen, Meg. Liz found a woman all dressed up like a gypsy or something, and she said that we were all supposed to meet up outside her room. Where are you right now? And have you seen Ivy? None of us can get a hold of her.” Megan told Dee that no, she hadn’t seen Ivy. They’d been headed in opposite directions. She turned around and began to walk back the way she came, retracing her steps and following Dee’s direction. She hung up when she heard the group ahead of her, walking quickly forward. She smiled and waved to them, and they in turn waved back. Amidst them, standing before a closed door, stood a gaunt woman who was dressed in heavy shawls, looking stereotypically like a gypsy. She eyed Megan from beneath lidded eyes, a slow smile curling over her face. Once Megan arrived, she turned around and unlocked the door, opening it and ushering the others in.

“Wait, we have one more friend waiting.” Dee glanced down the hallway, then back to the gypsy woman. She kept that demure smile on her face.

“The lost ones return to us soon enough, and will be fine with the guiding lights.” They all took that as a translation that Ivy had gotten lost, and was now being led back to the entrance by staff. All the girls filed in, the woman waiting until the last one had stepped through before closing the door. Dee called Ivy and quickly left a message explaining where they were, and how to get there. The woman stared at her, waiting for her to finish. Dee smiled sheepishly and ducked her head down, feeling embarrassed.

The room was different from the others. This one was almost completely bare, the walls, ceiling, and floor the same dark purple color mixed with gray. In the corner across from where they’d entered was a large counter with a low sink, a bar of soap on either side of the rim of the sink. Then, about a third of the way into the long room, a window pane (glass still intact) hung suspended from two thin wires. The window was open, and swung gently in the air. Centered in the middle of the room was a single chair, which the gypsy woman walked over to and sat down.

“Welcome. Thank you all for arriving.” The gypsy looked at the six girls in turn, and Megan felt a chill as her eyes met the gypsy’s. The room wasn’t lit at all; the only light was daylight seeping out from underneath a door that she just noticed, set in the wall behind the gypsy. The door was made of wood, so she was unable to see what was past it. She had the feeling it was that tranquil forest, though. It’d make sense.

Her attention returned to the gypsy, who was talking about fate and the duties they all carried. Megan began to think that maybe this gypsy was real, until she paused, thought for a while, then smiled and motioned out to the room.

“Since duty is so important, I’d like you all to spread out and act out what you would like to do when you grow up. Show me your desired duty.” They shuffled uncertainly across the room, filling it out. At this point Megan was sure this was fake, just like the gypsy. Act out their desired duties? Megan sighed, but watched as the girls began to pantomime out what they wanted to do. Megan eventually joined in.

The gypsy woman watched them for a while, murmuring her approval when a girl did particularly well. Megan watched her, but always looked away when the gypsy’s eyes came her way. She felt ridiculous. Soon enough the gypsy motioned them all together again as she said quietly, forcing them all to listen, “Good job. You all truly know what you would like to do. Now...” At this she cast them all an almost devilish smile as she said, “Just as we all live with our destined duties, we also have our destined deaths. The first girl to show me six ways to die will receive a prize.” Oh, the haunted house staff was trying to be spooky now.

However, some of the girls giggled and rushed back to their spots, beginning to act out ways of dying. The gypsy called out to them, “Do not just flop about. Show me an act that convinces me of death, and only then will that count towards your total of six.” Megan moved back into her spot and looked around. Since that hanging window was being unused by any of the other girls, she walked forwards and grasped the frame, poking her head through and then looking down as though she were peering out of a tall building window. Then she paused.

“Umm...” Megan pulled her head back from the window frame and stood, facing the gypsy. She turned her head and looked at Megan with a hidden agenda written all over her face.

“Yes, my dear?”

“Well... do you mean death of self, or death of others?” Megan glanced around the room. Some of the girls had stopped their acting in order to look curiously at them. The gypsy smiled broadly, as though Megan was a baby who had just figured out how to put a simple puzzle together.

“Both, my dear. Either one will be fine, as long as you convince me.” Megan nodded a few times, then turned and walked around the window, past the other girls, and to the back of the room. There she forced the door open, casting the faint light from the surrounding forest into the room as she took a single step out and reached, grabbing a crawling bug from one of the leaves nearby. She turned and faced the gypsy, then crushed the bug between her fingers.

The gypsy slowly nodded. She had returned to smiling demurely as she murmured, “One.” One death, Megan thought. Five more to go. She stood on the threshold, looking around. There were a lot more bugs in the air, and they were beginning to fly inside. So Megan shut the door just as some of the girls shrieked and began chasing after the bugs, trying to catch them in order to get more points. Megan wiped her fingers off on her shirt before chasing after Dee, and grabbing her. Dee looked surprised, but Megan winked and then mimed stabbing her in the heart. The gypsy shook her head. Megan frowned, and then let Dee go. The others were catching on, now turning on each other and pretending to kill each other. They yelled and squealed, creating a riot of sound that filled the room and rushed into Megan’s head, making her sway a moment.

Megan rushed over to the sink and grabbed one of the bars of soap, turning the sink on and rushing water over it to get it sudsy before running after one of the giggling girls. She grabbed the girl, accidentally tugging on her hair in order to whip her around. The girl was surprised, and looked shocked when Megan forced the bubbly soap into her mouth, then wrapped her fingers around her neck and began to choke her.

The girl hacked, spitting out the soap before reaching up and scratching against Megan’s fingers. Megan looked over to the gypsy, and then around to the other girls, who were doing similar things. She didn’t pay attention to the girl, who eventually stopped scratching, then moving as Megan waited for the gypsy’s approval. The woman watched them both, and when the girl finally stopped moving and closed her eyes, she smiled and nodded her head, saying quietly, “Two.”

Megan let the girl fall to recover.

She never got up.

The sudden babble around her was overwhelming. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, and it was impossible to identify one voice out of the shrieking others. It was all too loud. Why couldn’t they just be quiet, was that too much to ask?

A pressure built inside Megan’s head. She’d felt it, before. It always slowly built during the day, and she’d always calmed and recovered just before bed, when all was silent. As it should be. The girl became disoriented, her too-quick pulse throbbing in her head until it was almost all she could hear, the terrified screams becoming the jarring background to that steady, continuous drum. She ran.

Two of the girls who weren’t busy trying to ‘kill’ each other saw Megan coming, and began to run. They led a chase around the room, and as Megan passed by the suspended window, she reached out and smashed the glass, grabbing a piece in her hand. She didn’t even care that she was bleeding... she was winning! Except everything was getting so loud again, too loud again. She jumped as one of the girls slowed, arms looping around her. She pulled the glass up, cutting against the girl’s throat. Dee kept running, heading towards the door. Megan straightened and looked over to the gypsy as she got her third kill, the girl crumpling on the floor.

“Three.” Megan was doing much better than the other girls. She continued to chase after them. Dee found the door locked from the inside. She screamed as Megan came after her, the glass glinting dully and colored with blood. Just as she unlatched the door, Megan got her and silenced the girl mid-scream.

“Four.”

“Five.” Soon there was only Megan and Liz left in the room. Liz was scratching at the door leading to the outside, fumbling for the knob in the quickly fading light. It was becoming night. Megan had dropped the glass shard on her way there, so instead grabbed Liz’s head, snapping it quickly to the side. Her chest rose and fell as the last of the screaming died away, leaving her in a quiet solitude. Only her thudding heartbeat could be heard in her head, leaving her rather dizzy and confused.

“All done, my dear.” The gypsy interrupted, smiling. “Now it is time to receive your prize. Come here, girl.” Megan first walked over to that swinging window, staring at the broken glass shards. She began pulling on the wooden frame as the gypsy continued, “There has been a tradition... necessary... you must... death...” Megan wasn’t paying attention to the babbling. When she heard the crack of the bottom part of the frame, she pushed down hard and broke off the long stick of wood and began to walk back to the gypsy, stepping over her fallen friends as she did so. She knew now that they wouldn’t speak again.

“Did you hear me?” The gypsy lifted a brow, wondering what Megan was doing. Megan walked until she was standing before the woman, just holding the wood. As the gypsy woman opened her mouth to speak again, Megan shoved the wood hard into her mouth, and then pushed it past. The gypsy gagged, eyes widening.

“One more, for good luck.” Megan smiled demurely, eyelids lowering as she continued to push against the wood. The gypsy reached up and began clawing at Megan’s hands, then the wood. She soon couldn’t contain herself, her gag reflex making a mess around the wood. She gurgled disgustingly, and then blacked out, body going limp in her chair. Megan remained there a moment, then let go of the wood and straightened.

She looked around. No movement besides the swinging and broken window, no sound besides her heavy breathing and her heart in her ears. Everything else was quiet. She let out a little sigh, and then caught some movement in the corner of her eye. She turned and watched as a skeletal apparition shot out of an old pipe in the wall, and seemed to hang there, arms stretched out towards her, jaw gaping. She stepped forward and reached out to wipe the steam away, but encountered hard bone. All those deaths must have gotten to her.

She tried to move away, but the arms reached out and wrapped around her. The spine of the skeleton looked so solid, yet faded into mist that was feeding from that little pipe in the wall. Megan didn’t make a sound. Not when everything was finally silent. She felt hard, rotted teeth against her lips, then against her head. The smell of death hit her then, and she was unable to stay awake.

She heard someone walk through the door that Dee had unlocked. Megan was surrounded by dark, and couldn’t see who gasped when they saw the massacre. Then a flash of movement appeared before her as she slowly opened her eyes. She recognized Ivy. She stood, reaching out to try and grab a hold of Ivy.

Ivy turned and saw the gore covering her once-friend, the madness in her eyes, and screamed, soon dashing right back out of the room and yelling for help, somebody. Anybody. Megan hung suspended in time for a moment, and then felt herself slowly slip back onto the dirt and blood slick floor.

It was quiet, at least.