“So, I ran. Just… fucking hightailed it out of there. It didn’t feel...right. I didn’t know where I was going. I don’t even know how I ended up here but when I looked… like, really looked, I saw I had arrived back here,” the detective finished. 

We all looked at him for a few minutes, unsure of what to say. Well, I was. I couldn't tell what the others were thinking, their faces hidden behind their respective masks. My eyes went down to the axe by my feet and I grabbed it without thinking. 

The weapon weighed heavy in my hands as I lifted it up to inspect. It felt deadly, like I was grasping with Death and expecting it to obey me whenever I choose to swing it. Detective Wells’ description of the monster reminded me of the two that had chased me down the hallway some moments ago. 

Fuckin’ moments ago. 

There was a ringing, the sound of steel on concrete as the axe's head hit the ground. Anger welled up inside me. I was pissed. More than I ever have in my entire life. Pissed enough to want to hurt something. Except, I wasn’t a violent person. Never have been. 

The dichotomy of what I felt like I wanted to do and the kind I person I knew I was, for lack of a better word, was numbing. The silence in the room wrapped itself around me and I shivered from its touch. I wondered what was going to happen next. 

A sudden movement caught my attention as Blank, I mean, Blake got to his feet. He glanced at the door before looking at Sophia. 

“We need to go. We need to go now!” he said, directing the last sentence to me. 

At once, Mark darted towards the detective, grabbing his arm and dragging him to his feet. Blake rushed past me, towards the house door and I glanced at his back before facing the only other normal person in the room. 

“Wha… What’s going on?” Detective Wells asked, confused at the sudden urgency. 

“They’re here,” I replied, absentmindedly. 

For the briefest moment, Sophia and Mark’s masked face turned to face me and I alternated my gaze between them both. I knew in my heart that I had hit the mark. I couldn’t place how I knew but I was certain it was the only reason Blake would have moved the way he did. 

They broke their gaze with me as Sophia rushed to Blake’s side. I turned to see what they were doing. Somehow, Blake was trying to barricade the door, the legs of a wooden chair clattering against the door handle. When did we get those?. 

My gaze fell to the axe in my hand and I remembered that the three masked people in the house had been drawing random objects out of thin air like it was a fucking magical show and the chairs suddenly made sense. Well, relatively speaking. 

The barricade grew as Blake and Sophia stacked them against the door in a way that meant whoever was on the other side would have a bad time trying to get in. Once Blake was satisfied, he signalled to Mark, the detective and I to follow him upstairs. 

He bounded up the stairs with Sophia closely on his heels. I allowed Mark and Detective Wells to follow after them before pulling up the rear. Once we were on the top floor, Blake had closed all the doors to the rooms while Sophia began knocking on them gently. This was confusing to watch. 

She knocked and rested her ear on the door as if listening for something important. And after a few seconds, she’d move away from the door and repeat the action on another bedroom door. 

My eyes took in the scene in front of me. Sophia was doing the door ritual while Blake watched silently. Mark was standing next to the police officer and I noticed that all their weapons were gone. 

Sophia gave a small cheer of relief as she spoke. 

“I’ve got it!” 

Her hands closed around the handle of the door leading to my sister’s room and she opened it. Bright white light shone out into the hallway, similar to the door that had led us home. I frowned, watching as Sophia stepped through, disappearing in a flash of light. Blake beckoned to the police officer who hesitated for a brief moment. 

Before the man could speak, there was a loud bang on the door downstairs, causing everyone to jump. I glanced back down the corridor and towards the direction of the stairs as my heart began to beat fast. I turned to see Mark holding a metal bat whilst Blake was holding a gun. Detective Wells’ hands went for his holster by his side only to remember that his gun wasn’t there anymore. 

“Come on!” Blake said, urging the man to go through the door. 

The officer frowned at Blake and then glanced at me before steeling his face. His hands balled into fists and he ran into the glowing doorway. There was another loud slam on the front door and something broke, the noise of shattering wood echoing through the house. 

“Will, your turn,” Blake said. 

I took a step forward before stopping. 

“No,” I said, shakily. My eyes were to the floor as the bang on the door repeated itself over and over. 

“What?” Blake said. 

“I said, '’No.’. I’m not taking another step until I get some answers,” I said, my voice getting steadier. 

The crash downstairs was sounding worse and I expected the monsters to be inside the house by now. 

“This is not the fucking…” Mark began, taking a step towards me and I raised the axe at him. 

“I’m willing to die, mate. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know who you all are. And I keep getting half-truths or fucking… I don’t know… shit answers,” I said, swallowing. 

Sweat ran down my face as the axe trembled in my hand. I was terrified out of my mind but I was done running. I needed to know what and why. What and why for all the questions I didn’t even think to ask. I needed to know what the point was. 

Suddenly, there was a loud crash coming from the front door, followed by a voice that echoed through the house. 

“Will!” the voice croaked and I could feel my hairs stand on end. 

I glanced back at the sound of my name, surprised that it was even called. Before I could react, I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head and everything when dark. 

---

When I woke up, I was a small bed in a small room. Dimmed fluorescent light hung above me and my head throbbed with a small ache. Gently, I sat on the bed as I tried to remember what happened last. 

I remembered the crash at the front door and then my name being called. Which meant, Mark had knocked me out while I was distracted. My body shook as a cold chill ran down my spine. 

“Will!”

I shivered as I remembered the voice that had croaked at the bottom of the stairs. I gripped the bed frame as I tried to calm myself down. I was still alive. And regardless of whether or not I liked the method, I had been saved by the masked guys. 

I looked up to take in the room I was in. Parallel to the bed I sat on, was a wash-hand basin with a small mirror above it. Ahead of me was a single window that showed me nothing but darkness. Next to the window was a door and that was it. 

I got to my feet and moved to the basin. In the mirror, it looked like I had age years in weeks. I had bags under my eyes, my hair was unkempt and my eyes looked red. I splashed some water on my face before cupping some in my hand to drink. 

The water had barely touched my lips when the door opened and Sophia walked in, with two brutish looking men following behind her. Her mask was nowhere to be seen but her hair covered the left side of her face, obscuring her burn marks. 

“Sit down, Will. It’s about time you get the full gist,” she said as sat on a chair that wasn’t there before.