Haunting of Superior

Chapter 10

Silence fell over the room at the woman's declaration. The kids stared at her for a long moment, disbelief showing on their shocked faces. All of their jaws were dropped open, and Margie still had a random piece of junk in her hand that she was going to use to hit anyone who came through the door. The woman half-smiled nervously, wondering why the kids hadn't done anything yet. This was quite unlike them. Stress and anxiety had tired them out, and they had no idea how to respond to someone they thought was an enemy walking through the door and announcing that they were going to help the prisoners escape.

Margie recovered quicker than the others. She set the object she was holding down on the floor and eyed the woman, Jamie, distrustfully. "Are you joking?" she scoffed, crossing her arms. "Do you seriously think we'd trust you? How do we know you aren't trying to trick us?"

Jamie closed the door behind her as she fully entered the room. "I know you think I'm bad," she began. She rummaged around in her pocket as she spoke. "But I really do want to help. He tortured me and my brother and kept us prisoners, and I don't want you guys to suffer like we did."

"Yeah, right," Jacob said skeptically. "Got any proof?"

Frustration passed through Jamie's eyes, but she quickly went back to a neutral expression and finally pulled something out of her pocket. "You see this chip?" she asked them, holding it up high. It was a thin metal square covered in wires and looking like it had been freshly created. "Antonio is using this chip to control all of the creatures out there, and he's going to out it into yiur friend Malcolm."

Jacob angrily walked over to Jamie and grabbed the chip out of her hand. "Yeah, well, you won't get the chance! Tell us where he is now! You're outnumbered," he threatened. The kids lined up behind Jacob, looking at Jamie suspiciously.

Jamie had never felt so annoyed. "I was literally just going to tell you where he is!" she snapped, even more frustrated. All the kids took a step away from her, a bit nervous about her anger. "I'm not kidding when I say that there is nothing more that I want than to force Antonio to watch his plots burn around him!" Jamie continued, her face red and hot. "I am here to help you!"

Margie whispered something to Amethyst that nobody could hear, and Amethyst's face twisted in doubt. She whispered something back. Yana and Ed were giving Jamie disgruntled looks; they were nowhere near convinced that she was trustworthy. To be fair, Jamie reasoned with herself, trying to calm down, they didn't have a reason to trust her since they didn't actually know her. She decided to take another approach.

"Fine." Jamie sighed and spun her keyring around her finger. "If you won't come with me, then you'll just stay in here until Antonio comes to kill you or turn you into monsters." She turned to walk out of the door.

Yana tried to see how Jacob reacted to that statement, but his expression remained in his now normal, scrunched up, furious look. Margie and Amethyst hadn't heard Jamie's attempt to bribe them into following her. Jamie was offering them an easy way out and had even said something against Antonio, which none of his employees ever did for fear of getting overheard and killed. Maybe she was being truthful? Yana shifted nervously on her feet, wondering if she should share her thoughts as Jacob started yelling at Jamie.

"Do you think she's trustworthy?" she asked Ed, who would know the most about Antonio's employees. Ed squinted at Jamie, trying to figure out whether or not he had seen her before. He had never seen any employees with red dyed braided hair before, and he was certain he would remember if he did. He shrugged, leaving Yana to make a conclusion by herself.

"Guys, I think we should let her guide us out," Yana shouted over Jacob's yells. One would assume Jacob had the greater yelling power, but Yana could be louder than Isaac, which was quite an impressive feat.

Jacob gave her a baffled look, eyebrow raised in confusion, and his mouth dropprd open. He mouthed an infuriated remark at Yana, but she ignored it or didn't see it. Margie and Amethyst stopped whispering and watched Yana step into the middle of the room.

"She's offering us a way out," Yana said. "This may be our only chance of escaping easily. We can't risk it!" She looked pointedly at Jacob as she said that last sentence. "And if she does take us to Malcolm and my parents, all the better! Do you guys agree?"

Jacob angrily shook his head. Ed nodded and gave Yana a thumbs up, signifying that he agreed with her.

"We agree." Margie spoke for both her and Amethyst. "But if she tries to trick us and lead us into danger, we're ditching and jumping out a window. Is that okay?"

"Margie, we're not jumping out of windows," Amethyst quickly corrected, giving her a sharp glare.

"Just a concept idea," Margie replied with an innocent face.

Jamie shoved her keyring back into her pockets, and the kids' sharp eyes rushed over to her at the jingle. However, Jamie hadn't even touched the door handle. She raised her hands, suddenly feeling very nervous. This group of kids was somehow incredibly intimidating. Their decision was made at last, and she was not going to risk their "trust" by saying anything. They were, understandably, very jittery, especially Jacob. He was fuming as Jamie opened the door.

The kids clustered together like chicks as they left the room after Jamie. She glanced around the hallway, making sure nothing or no one was around to catch her in her traitorous act. The halls were empty; there wasn't a single sound other than the air coming in through the vents. Jamie led the way through the still air, keeping a careful eye on any doors they passed. Anything could jump out and attack them. Antonio had ordered his little army of monsters to kill the prisoners if they escaped. They had to be as careful as possible in order to get to Malcolm alive.

Malcolm was being held in a cage in one of the many bedrooms on the second floor in the mayor's house. The mayor had made his house as big as possible, but that meant most of the rooms were empty as the city wasn't huge. Jamie breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when she and the kids reached a staircase safely. Thank goodness there were no cameras in the mansion. Antonio had only bothered putting cameras in the prisoners' rooms.

The stairs were covered in a soft light blue carpet that had flowers decorated on it. The staircase would look pretty if it weren't for the scratches on the polished wood banister. Something had used this staircase since Jamie had last gone upstairs. She didn't remember seeing them earlier. She took a cautious glance up at the ceiling, recalling that one of the creatures was like a spider and could climb walls. She had spotted it going around the second floor. Definitely not something they wanted to encounter.

"Are we going?" Jacob angrily whispered. His voice was quiet, but to everyone else it seemed like it was as loud as an ambulance siren.

"Quiet!" Jamie snapped as softly as she could. Jacob glared at her and huffed, crossing his arms sulkily.

Yana was already climbing the staircase, looking around warily. Jamie held back an annoyed sigh that Yana hadn't waited for her to go up first. They all followed her, everyone keeping an eye out for signs of danger. The second floor was empty. Jamie took the lead again, immediately recognizing that this was floor where Malcolm was. The kids' knew it immediately, too.

Something was yelling behind a door across the hall. The voice was unmistakeable; it was Malcolm. Abandoning all thoughts of caution, Yana, Jacob, and Ed raced over to the door. Yana grabbed the doorknob and threw the door open. Jamie had left it unlocked for them.

The trio temporarily froze at at the sight of the bathroom. It was humongous. The bathtub was giant and painted gold, and it looked like the mayor had been trying to put a pool in there. Their distraction only lasted so long because Malcolm immediately noticed them.

"GUYS!" he shouted, leaping up from where he was sitting inside the typical barred cage. "GUYS, LET ME OUT! IT'S COLD AND MY BONES ARE ACHING!" He was so desperate he started pawing at the bars like a dog.

"Jeez, man, why are you always yelling about your bones?" Margie asked, coming inside with Amethyst.

Jamie came in and pulled a key out of her pocket. The kids huddled around her as she began to unlock the cage. Malcolm stared at her with absolute confusion in his eyes.

"Uh, why is one of Antonio's minions here?" he asked, truly flummoxed.

"Apparently she hates him and wants to ruin his plans," Jacob said, still giving Jamie suspicious looks. "Though I'm not sure we should believe her."

Jamie paused in her work and slowly made an exasperated face at Jacob. "I'm letting your friend out," she pointed out. "Why would I free him and all of you just to give you back to Antonio?"

Jacob's expression twisted into anger as he realized that Jamie had a good point which meant he had lost that argument. Grumpily, he turned away to look at the door, deciding someone needed to look out for anything that could come in.

Jamie pulled the lock open, and Malcolm eagerly rushed out. He jumped off the counter he was on and sat on Ed's foot; his tail was wagging eagerly. Ed picked Malcolm up and gave him a hug. Malcolm, unable to hold back his canine-like urgings, started to pant in happiness; his tongue flopped out of the side of his mouth. Yana gave him an affectionate scratch behind one of his ears, and his tail instinctively wanted in joy. Jamie couldn't help but smile at the sight. A pang of sadness hit her as she remembered when she and Jack played together before getting taken. She shook her. Don't think about it.

Unfortunately, their excitement about freeing Malcolm made them forget that they weren't the only ones in the mansion. As the kids huddled around Malcolm, Jacob heard a suspicious sound. There was a pitter-patter of something like feet, followed by a very sharp scratching sound. His heart started to race. Slowly, Jacob peered out if the bathroom, fear replacing his anger at Jamie. Another horrible scratching sound came from the right. Jacob gulped and turned back inside to warn the others.

"Guys, there's something-" he started to say. Something grabbed his shirt and yanked him backwards, and he hit himself off with a scream.

Immediately the kids and Jamie spun around. They watched in horror as Jacob was dragged through the door, screaming his face off.

"Jacob!" Yana shouted, darting for the door. Ed followed her. Jamie watched in frustration as the kids rushed into danger without thinking. Still, she didn't seem to have a choice. They needed an adult to look after them as they tried to save Jacob. So, Jamie reluctantly decided to follow something blindly without a plan.

The thing that had grabbed him was fast, though. All they could see of it was a shadow as it crawled down the stairs to the first floor. Amethyst suddenly halted at the top of staits. She looked nervous as she gazed down the flight of steps. Everyone else went around her, except Margie, who helped Amethyst go down the stairs faster.

The thing had already disappeared into the maze of halls. Yana let out a frustrated shriek as she kicked the wall with her shoe. Ed placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture, but she shrugged him off.

Malcolm looked up at Jamie as Margie and Amethyst finally made it down the stairs. "Do you know where that thing took Jacob?" he asked.

Jamie shook her head. "No, I'm not psychic."

They all stood in silence for a bit. No one knew what to do. The mansion was not a safe place, not with the creatures roaming around. Jamie was getting more anxious by the second, knowing that every minute they spent inside increased their chances of getting caught. She paced around the hall, her mind starting to spiral. What were they going to do? She unconsciously started biting her nails.

A shrill alarm started to blare. The group jumped; Amethyst let out a shriek. Everyone glared at her, reminding her to keep her voice down. Amethyst clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing how loud she'd been.

"Sorry," she whispered, blushing in embarassment.

Jamie ceased her pacing and tried to calm herself. Panic was starting to rise in her, and she knew she couldn't lose her head. Not when the kids still needed to get out.

"He knows we're here," she said to the kids, ignoring the panic in their eyes. If she ignored it, she wouldn't feel it. "We have to go."

"What about Jacob?" Amethyst protested. She didn't want to leave her cousin behind in the hands of a monster. "We can't leave him here alone!"

"If we get captured, there's no hope in freeing him either," Jamie pointed out, trying not to snap. The last thing she wanted was to insult the kids.

Amethyst pursed her lips, thinking. Jamie refused to give her another moment to protest and shoved Yana and Ed forward. The alarms continued to blare, and in the distance they could hear a mixture of different footsteps. There was no more hesitation from any of the kids. They all ran to the front door, Jamie taking the lead again. The sounds behind them were increasing in volume which meant whatever was chasing them was getting closer. No one looked over their shoulder. Fear pushed them on, and they got to the front door in only two minutes. To them, though, it had seemed like ten.

Fortunately, the door was unlocked, and the group moved as fast they could to get out and close the door. The sky was cloudy outside, reflecting the chaotic swirl of emotions going on in their heads. But they weren't done running. Jamie led them to a hiding spot she had prepared in case they had to flee, and they collapsed there, gasping for breath. Malcolm, who hadn't exerted an ounce of energy, hopped out of Ed's arms and checked to see if anything had followed them outside. He sighed in relief as he saw nothing.

They sat behind the boxes and trashcans Jamie had lined up for a long time. They wanted to make sure nothing was watching out for them. Jamie kept an eye on the stage Antonio had killed the mayor on. She noticed his body was gone; Antonio must have moved it while she was preoccupied betraying him.

"Where were you guys staying?" she asked the kids quietly, not taking her eyes off the mansion.

"In a house near the lake," Yana replied.

"We'll go there first, get your guys' stuff, and find another place to camp out."

"Find another place?" Malcolm looked confused. "Why?"

"How do you think you got captured?"

Malcolm mentally face palmed himself. But no one argued. They were all just grateful that someone had an idea of what to do. Jamie gave one final look around the empty, quiet block and silently crept out from behind her carefully made pile of trash. A harsh wind blew through the area, making the leaves on the trees in front of the mansion rustle loudly. Apart from that, though, nothing moved or made a sound. Jamie, satisfied, gave the kids a nod to tell them that they could get away from the mansion. As they got up, Jamie noticed that Amethyst was gazing at the mansion with hesitation written clearly on her face. Jamie's heart squeezed in pain. She wished they could have gone after Jacob, but it was too dangerous.

They crept through the city as quietly as they possibly could. Even though all the houses were like miniature ghost towns, they tried to be as discreet as possible. Antonio had become even more unpredictable, and they refused to get captured again.

As they walked farther and farther away from the mansion, which was at the center of the city, rain started to fall from the sky. They kept moving regardless, even when the rain began to dump and soak them to their bones. The kids were leading the way now, but Jamie was fine hanging back.

It took a long time to reach the woods and the house. The ground in the woods was muddy, and at that point all of them were shivering badly.

"C-can we stay in the house until the r-rain s-stops?" Margie asked, her teeth chattering.

"Absolutely." Jamie was shaking worse than the kids. She wasn't wearing long-sleeves, unlike all the kids except Ed.

"There's a fireplace and matches," Malcolm revealed. "We can use that to get warm."

When they came to the house, they discovered that the front hall was, thankfully, empty. Desperate to get dry and warm, the group immediately went to the living room to get a fire going. Yana flipped the lights on, and they all froze.

Lying stretched out and comfortable, without any care in the world and chewing on a fried chicken wing, was the creature they were all familiar with, Claudia.