Chapter Four: Elizabeth

Chapter Four: Elizabeth

A Chapter by Demi Marie

"Someone help me! Please!" There were people all around, they looked right at me. They watched as the locusts swarmed around me. I screamed as I felt my flesh being torn from my body little by little. The people stared, their eyes held no emotion. Snakes slithered around the bodies of some of the people, entering their mouths. The sky started to flip between daylight and moonlight, faster and faster. I started to run. I ran as far as I could, until I couldn't take the pain anymore. I collapsed onto the road beside me.

My eyes snapped open as I gasped for air, a scream caught in my throat. Small beads of perspiration lined my forehead. I was shaking and breathing heavily; I was terrified. Ever since I heard that voice warning me of the locusts that night, I'd had nightmares of being torn to pieces by them. The people were either watching silently, not bothering to engage in an attempt to help; or they screamed at me to leave them alone. I knew something wasn't right, something or someone was responsible for this and I needed to find out what.

I tossed and turn for what seemed like an eternity, I still couldn't fall back to sleep. It was as if the words I'd heard whispered in my ear were virtually etched into my mind. It wasn't a voice I recognized, the uncertainty disturbed me. Dahlia and I hadn't spoken with each other about that night since it happened. I did know she hadn't heard what I did, which was even more unsettling. I suspected she'd been having nightmares to, but I didn't want to trouble her with any questions yet. I wasn't exactly ready to sit down and revisit the events of that night yet myself.

I settled my cheeks inside the palms of my hands and took a deep breath in and out before gathering myself and stepping out of my bed. I rubbed my eyes before extending my arms above my head; stretching made me feel slightly better about being awake at this hour. I doubted anyone else would be awake, so I made my way into the living room to change my surroundings.

As I stepped out of my room, I heard the sound of rustling plastic and the hum of the refrigerator. I took a step forward before Dahlias head popped out around the corner.

"Oh, hey." She smiled nervously before disappearing into the kitchen again. I wasn't surprised to see that she was awake. She seemed anxious, I knew she had to have been having trouble sleeping too. It was no coincidence we were both up at this hour after what happened the other day.

"Nightmares?" I asked. She didn't answer right away. I waited for her to exit the kitchen before I pried for an answer to make sure she was alright. I heard the door to the refrigerator close before she walked out of the kitchen carrying a block of what appeared to be cheddar cheese.

"You too?" She asked. Her eyes appeared sad. When I nodded my head in response she sighed and sat down on the couch. I decided this was going to have to be when we talked about this and sat beside her. It was best to get it done and over with and find out if there was anything we could do about it.

"The voice was a man. He told me to 'watch out for the locusts.' He called me by my name. I've been having these dreams where I'm being torn apart by a swarm of them. People are all around me watching. It's awful." She began breaking pieces of cheese off of the block and eating at a pace that seemed to be too quick. I came to the conclusion that she was a stress eater like my mother was. "You really didn't hear anything when I did?" The apprehension in my voice was as evident as the color of the sky.

"Well, I didn't hear that exactly…I heard a woman's voice instead. She called me by name as well. She told me that she was going to burn me alive. I've had dreams about being burned at the stake and becoming trapped in a burning building. I haven't been able to sleep through the night since it happened." I reached out for her hand, placing mine on top of hers.

"We're safe here as far as we know. We should talk to Chase and Derrick in the morning." She sighed, still eating her cheese with her other hand. "If we have peace of mind we can focus on figuring out what the hell is going on. I'm not about to let someone mess with me like this. I don't think you are either." She nodded and took a deep breath.

"You're right. I just don't feel safe. If someone can mess with our heads like this…what else can they do?" She paused, starting to pick at her fingernails. "What if there's other people that can do things we don't know about? I can't stop thinking about it. I'm terrified." As she reached for more cheese I took it from her hand. She looked at me like she was about to cry, like a child who had their favorite toy taken away from them.

"Shoveling food in your face isn't going to fix the problem. You're just going to have an upset stomach in the morning from eating too much cheese." This was similar to a statement I'd repeat over and over to my mother every time she shoveled food in her face as a result of mental strain.

"Well, yeah, but what else am I supposed to do to keep my mind off of it? It's not like we have much to do here besides read or sit around outside. There's not much to do other than think." She had a valid point, there really wasn't much at all. I'd appreciated all of the time to get lost in my own head before this happened. We both turned and looked towards Chase's bedroom door as we heard the knob click and turn. He poked his head out and looked perplexed when he saw us both sitting on the couch.

"What are you two doin' up at this hour? Everything alright?" He said as he stepped out of his room. Dahlia and I both looked at each other, silently waiting for the other to speak first.

"Well…" She started speaking first, but as she trailed off I knew I should be the one to say something.

"We've both been having awful nightmares since the other night. Do you remember when I told you I heard I heard a voice? What it said?" I didn't like talking about this at all but a fresh perspective always helps when you can't get something to quit bothering you.

"Yeah, I remember. Somethin' about locusts, right?" He shut his door behind him and walked over to the chair next to the couch and took a seat, listening intently.

"Well, yes. Since then I've been having nightmares of being torn apart by swarms of them. Dahlia said she heard a voice too, but it was different." I looked over to her, waiting for her to speak for herself instead of doing it for her.

"A woman told me she'd burn me alive. Ever since, I've been having dreams that I'm trapped inside of a burning building. Or being burned alive at the stake. They also called us by our names when we heard them." How nervous she was saying this all out loud for a second time was written all over her face. It was clear to me then that Chase was in love with her, the way he watched her as she spoke about these dreams with fear in her voice. He was standing in front of her in an instant, pulling her off of the couch and hugging her.

"Sweetheart, you should have told me sooner." I was happy that she had him, she seemed more shaken up by it then I was. Dahlia was quiet, holding onto him tightly as if she was afraid he might leave. "You can sleep in my room tonight if you don't want to be alone, alright?" He pulled away from her and held her face in his hands until she responded. She didn't speak, she nodded and pulled him back in for another hug, clutching him tightly. I couldn't help but smile, Chase was such a nice guy, I was genuinely happy for her. I knew I would be just fine on my own, especially since I had that large roll of paper and charcoal to keep my busy.

"Get her to bed, Chase. I'll be fine." I said. He nodded before leading her towards his bedroom.

"We'll talk tomorrow, ok Carissa?" The expression on his face matched the sincerity in his voice. I nodded and told them both goodnight as Chase led her into his room. I promptly retrieved my makeshift art supplies from the closet and tore a large piece of paper from the roll. Whenever I had terrible dreams that I couldn't seem to shake no matter how hard I tried, drawing the scene I remembered the most vividly helped. It was as if I was expelling the terrible memories onto the paper and out of my mind. I got to work without a second thought.

I woke up curled up under my blanket on the couch, realizing I'd fallen asleep before cleaning up my drawing. The smell of freshly brewed coffee told me it was morning already. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, wondering what time it was and if everyone had gone outside. I faintly remembered someone covering me with the blanket as my memory started to rekindle, though I couldn't tell who. I glanced at the floor, looking at my work with fresh eyes. This was one of the few times I was actually pleased with the work I'd done. I had drawn three figures, the one in the center was a woman with a snake encasing her torso and neck while its head was buried inside her wide open mouth, her eyes wide open. Her eyes held no emotion, as did the other two figures eyes. The man standing to her left was looking at the snake, his body language mirroring the expression in his eyes. The man to her right was facing forward, but peering down. The sun and the moon were side by side, surrounded by a ring of insects.

When I got up and cleaned up my charcoal, I rolled my sketch up and got my blanket folded up nicely and put both away in my room. Upon knocking on Chase's door, I realized they were probably outside when I was met with silence. I decided I might as well have a little coffee before setting out to find them and talk. Coffee always helped me clear my mind when I needed to have a serious discussion, my mother and I used to sit and talk over coffee early in the mornings before we had to go about the day. The smell of coffee always reminded me of sitting on the back porch with her while she smoked her first cigarette of the day and talking to her about my problems and sometimes even hers.

When I stepped outside, the smell of burning wood and smoke was thick. I looked around and didn't see any smoke, which was odd. I made my way to the clearing, the closer I got the stronger the smell became. When I got past the first layer of tree's I could hear Chase and Derrick speaking with one another. I knew I had to tread lightly so they weren't made aware of my presence. I was curious to see what they were talking about, especially since Derrick didn't seem to be able to decide between being friendly or being a total jerk to me.

"I don't know what to make of what happened. I've searched the library over dozens of times since." Derrick. I was surprised to learn he was that adamant about finding an answer.

"They're real scared. I don't blame em' either. Said they heard voices in their ears. We knew Carissa heard a man's voice. Turns out Dahlia heard a woman's. It doesn't make sense." The concern in Chase's voice was evident.

"I found Carissa passed out on the couch around four am. She was drawing something really odd. Did you happen to get a look at it when you two woke up?" Derrick was the one that covered me with my blanket in the middle of the night. I wished I'd have known he was awake, I could have had someone to talk to after Chase and Dahlia turned in for the night.

"Must have had something to do with that dream she said she's been havin'. She said it had something to do with locusts." I heard the crack of another piece of wood being tossed into a fire pit, the smell of embers touching fresh grass wafting into the air. "We should go see if she's gotten up yet." That was my cue to get moving before they realized I was there listening. I tip-toed away as quietly and as quickly as possible.

As soon as I made it beyond the trees I took off running towards the house. Derrick's snide comment about my 'lack of grace' wasn't too far from the truth, as I usually trip over my own feet if I try to run too fast. Unfortunately, this was the case when I tried to run this time as well. I flew into the ground and this time the only thing there was to catch me was the slab in front of the entrance to the tunnels that lead to the house. I was able to lighten the blow by throwing my arms straight out in front of me. The pain could have been worse, but my pain threshold had always been remarkably low. The sound of my head colliding with the concrete made my stomach turn. I wailed in pain and clutched the spot on my forehead that had been hit. I was on the verge of tears when I heard footsteps, they'd found me. The humiliation hit me even harder than my fall had.

"What am I gonna do with you?" I turned my head to see Derrick standing beside me. I covered my face with my hands, feeling the warmth of my blood trickling down my nose. "Here, let me help you." Derrick's arms were around me, helping me to my feet. I felt slightly dizzy but I felt confident that I could walk. "How hard did you fall?" He was inches away from my face, I felt my breath catch in my throat. His eyes were even more pleasant to look at up close, flecks of gold and amber peppering the hues of light brown and the occasional speck of leather brown. I didn't believe I could ever get tired of looking into them.

"Hard" was all I could manage to spit out. The corner of his mouth turned up a little, his expression conveying sympathy. Something other than the usual blank, cold poker face he wore at all times. Without another word he'd scooped me up into his arms and began carrying me inside. I opened my mouth to protest but he spoke before I had the chance. "You'll just fall again if you hit your head hard enough. Let me get you inside." Waves of pain continues crashing throughout my forehead, the weight of my head escalating. I must have struck it harder than I thought.

My eyelids fluttered open and closed as I saw the walls of the tunnels pass by me, the stagnant air making me feel ill. The sound of his shoes tapping the concrete in an undisturbed pattern made it clear that he had no trouble carrying me. I patted his shoulder as if to tell him to put me down when the thought crossed my mind that I might have been a heavy burden to him, but he didn't say a word and kept walking. I sighed and allowed my eyes to rest until he crossed the threshold of the house.

I never heard the sound of the door opening or closing, I opened my eyes and I was laying on the couch with my propped up on the armrest. The faucet in the kitchen was running, water sloshing through the pipes. The throbbing subsided enough for me to keep my eyes open and visualize everything before me correctly. I didn't see Derrick, I assumed he was in the kitchen given the sound of the flowing water. Moments later he appeared in the kitchen doorway, watching me. My eyes met his but he didn't speak, the way he was watching me suggested he was studying me. I wondered if it was because my head was still bleeding, I reached up to touch the spot that collided with the pavement.

"That bad?" I asked.

"Why were you running?" He wasted no time getting right to what he wanted to know.

"I was trying to find Chase and Dahlia." I paused when I realized I was having trouble speaking without slurring. It was a bit embarrassing. "I heard you and Chase. Didn't want you to think I was listening." I closed my eyes tight when another wave of pain coursed through my forehead. When I opened my eyes, he was stepping towards me with a small wet towel. I was stunned when he placed it on the spot I'd hurt and held it there for a moment before speaking.

"Hold this here." He took my hand and placed it over the rag. The heat was soothing, I sighed in relief. "I'll check for some ibuprofen, stay here." He stood up and walked back into the kitchen. I took a deep breath and allowed my eyes to remain closed.

When I woke, I realized I was in my room. I blinked and looked around, checking my forehead. I felt a knot beneath a Band-Aid that I had no recollection of being placed on my skin. I sat up, observing my open bedroom door. The chair in the living room was visible through the opening, Derrick sitting with his ankle resting on his other leg, an open book in his hand. He hadn't come off as the reading type to me, I stared perplexed for a moment. His head snapped up and his attention turned to me, a smile was barely visible before he called over to me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better, I think." I said before I slowly slid out from underneath the covers and off of my bed. I didn't feel dizzy anymore, but it still hurt some. A quick glance at the clock told me I'd been out for about an hour and a half. I saw Chase and Dahlia sitting on the loveseat opposite Derrick. Shame washed over me as I realized that they must have been informed of my most recent spill. Dahlia seemed surprised to see me up and was eager to speak.

"Are you alright? I saw blood outside." She was clearly worried.

"I'm fine. Just a scratch." I said as I tapped the bandage on my forehead. I sat down on the larger couch, assuming they wanted to talk to Dahlia and I about our dreams. They all eyed me as if they were still concerned. "I promise I'm fine, we need to talk about this and get it out of the way." I wasn't going to let this get put off anymore. It was enough that I was forced away from everything I cared about in my life to come here, I wasn't going to allow someone or something I couldn't even see have any sort of control over me. Apparently Dahlia felt the same way.

"Yeah, she's right. I wanna be able to sleep again." Her expression was serious, unsmiling. Chase reached for her hand and took it inside of his before he spoke.

"How are we supposed to know what this is? We have nothin' to go on." He squeezed Dahlias hand tightly. "There is one thing I was thinking." He spoke reluctantly. "What if there's other people like us?" The thought had crossed my mind before, but that was when I first arrived here. I hadn't thought about it since, but it made perfect sense, even though I prayed he was wrong.

"If there are, why didn't they wind up here?" I asked.

"I wouldn't doubt that there's others. You guys haven't noticed the only element missing is fire?" Derrick was right. A chill trickled down my spine as I realized there could be no other possible explanation.

"That makes sense, the woman I heard said she was going to burn me alive." Dahlia said, covering her mouth in shock. What didn't make sense was the mans voice that I heard. If we were right, I wasn't going to stop until I figured out who these people could be, or what rather. It was unsettling to think that there were others like us that would trifle with us in such a way to express intent on harming Dahlia or I.

"If this is true, there's something…missing. What purpose do we have here?" I began trying to piece what little we knew together. "Why are we here? Why would there be others?"

"And what could they want?" Derrick added. "I haven't found any useful intel in the library. There has to be something here that we're missing." I remembered hearing Derrick mention that he'd gone over the library countless times searching for something, anything, that would point us in the right direction and coming up emptyhanded. I refused to give up hope that something was missed though.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea for all of us to search through there with fresh eyes. It's all we can do at this point." I pointed out. "Besides, if there really is nothing, we can search elsewhere." Chase seemed to agree, he nodded and looked over to Dahlia.

"Sweetheart, do you remember seeing anything strange in the storage closet?" He made a good point, I remembered the picture I came across of the priest and the young boy standing in front of the gate. I wasn't sure it meant anything, but I wasn't going to leave any stone unturned or any questions unanswered.

"I found pictures in there when we were searching for clothes." Everyone's attention turned to me. "I set them aside because I didn't think they meant anything. It's worth taking a second look at."

"What kind of pictures are we talkin' about here?" Chase asked.

"The only one I remember clearly was a man standing with a boy outside the gate. He looked like a preacher. " disbelief tore into Chases eyes before he spoke again.

"Pardon, but did you say preacher?" He asked. He seemed to be the type to talk with his hands when he got nervous. "Because I don't know if you noticed, but this ain't no normal church." It was the first time I heard any of them speak about the strange paintings and statues thought the church, such as the strange portrayal of the demon in the fountain and the pictures hanging in the sanctuary and library.

"Of course I noticed. I was afraid to ask." I said. Derek smirked.

"Afraid of what you've seen here after what you drew last night?" He had a valid point and I wasn't in the mood snap back at him. I ignored his comment and moved on.

"I think revisiting that storage room is worth our time." I said. I stood up first, I was more than eager to get this done and nobody was going to get in my way. "We need to search the library again. Maybe we should split up." As uncomfortable as I was in doing do, it made the most sense for us to get as much sorted as quickly as possible so we could review what information we had and decide which direction to go afterwards. The look on Derricks face when I said this had 'you're an idiot' written all over it.

"You do realize everyone in the movie dies when they split up?" he said in a condescending manner. "I'm sure we won't die per say, I'm simply pointing out that you and Dahlia are not to go off alone." He stood up and turned towards the others. "If we do any splitting up, you two stay together" he pointed to Chase and Dahlia before turning to face me. "You are to stay with me. Got it?" The thought of being alone with him made my stomach twist. I couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"Alright." I said. I knew I'd be able to talk to him and learn more about him if I was alone with him. I found out more about Chase and Dahlia the first day I was here than id found out about him the whole time I'd been there so far. "Who's going where, then?" Derrick was quick to speak up.

"I've gone through the library enough times. I remember where most of the books are. How about you and I take the library?" he asked. "The two rooms are close anyway. Everything will be fine." He seemed to be reassuring me more than he was Dahlia. I nodded in agreement. Without another word we all left the house together.

Derrick was all the way across the library from me, which made sense so we could cover more ground in a shorter amount of time, but it was hardly a good way to have any sort of conversation. I was a bit disappointed, but I knew once we got closer to the center I'd be able to speak with him some. I pulled book after book out and flipped through countless dusty old pages, finding nothing useful. After passing through two entire shelves, the first book on the next shelf caught my eye. It was a history of what appeared to be a different church that looked strikingly similar to the one we were standing in. I began to pass over the pages more slowly, scanning them for anything that stood out.

I stopped when I came across a hand drawn depiction of a sanctuary that looked identical to ours. There wasn't a lot I was able to understand written in this book. It was all in another language.

"Derrick! I've got something!" he dropped what he was doing and rushed right over to me. He stood over my shoulder and observed the photo.

"This looks exactly like the sanctuary here. Is any of this book in English?" I shook my head, flipping through a few more pages trying to find anything written in English. There was nothing, but to my surprise there was more than one language used in the book. I recognized German and Italian, the other I wasn't so sure of.

"It's strange that there's more than one language used here, isn't it? Do you think it means something?" I looked up to him to see his reaction. "See? Look at the difference." I pointed out the first portion of the book which was German, and then the second part that was written in Italian. When I got to the third language I paused. "I don't recognize this language, do you?" He gently took the book out of hands and brought it closer to his face, pulling a small pair reading glasses out of his shirt pocket. I couldn't help but snicker under my breath. He was even more pleasing to look at with them on, I caught myself staring and jerked my head away hoping he didn't notice.

"Strange. Keep this to the side. We'll go over it with those two later." He handed it back to me and took a few steps back towards where he was searching before he stopped and turned back around to look in my direction. "Don't tell anyone I wear these." He said as he took the glasses off and stuffed them back into his pocket, patting it to emphasize his point.

"Why? You look good in them." I said with a meager grin. He mirrored my expression and turned back around to continue on his half of the bookshelves. The sound of a bloodcurdling scream caused us to turn fast on the balls of our feet and face the hallway where Chase and Dahlia were located. Silence followed, we stood perfectly still. Waiting. Footsteps coming from the hallway was the only sound that followed. Derrick was in front of me in mere seconds, his breathing hitched in his throat when it was apparent they were getting closer. I held my breath and closed my eyes as I gripped the back of Derricks shirt.

"Hey did you guys-" it was Chase. He stopped speaking when he saw our obvious display of fear. "Whoa what's wrong? Y'all hear that snake too?" A snake. This was no coincidence. I spoke up immediately after stepping out from behind Derrick.

"We heard Dahlia scream, and you heard a snake?" I saw Dahlias eyes widen, she knew this was no mistake either. She knew all about the nightmares. "Listen, something is wrong here. Something is terribly wrong." My voice was shaking, the panic I felt seeping down to my very core. I was afraid that before I knew it my nightmares would be appearing in broad daylight before my eyes. As grateful as I was for not hearing the snakes personally, I didn't want to think I was hearing my friend screaming in terror.

"Please, calm down." Derrick placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." His voice was sincere and soothing. However, I wasn't going to feel safe simply because someone claimed they could make an attempt to ward off something none of us could see. "Where are the pictures? Did you happen to find anything else?" Derrick seemed as focused as I was now that he experienced this insanity for himself.

"Yes, I found the picture she mentioned. I put aside a few more even though they may not mean anything." Dahlia reached into the back pocket of her dark wash jeans and pulled out a small stack of photos and stepped gracefully over to Derrick, placing the small pile in his eagerly outstretched hands. He brought them up close to his face, squinting.

"Here, let me see." I knew he'd appreciate me covering for him since he asked not to reveal the fact that he needed glasses to see up close. He handed them to me without hesitation. The picture of the priest and the boy was at the top. I flipped it to the back to view the next photo. This was of the front of the church, and it was clear this picture was newer than the rest. The edged weren't worn, they were still crisp. The glossy texture also confirmed this. There was a girl sitting with her back to the camera, she had long brown curly hair and resembled someone I hadn't expected to see any likeness of in years. I felt my heart quicken in my chest as I looked more closely at her attire. She always wore at least one piece of jewelry if not more than one. She always wore a pair of earrings that our grandmother gave her as a reward for winning a gymnastics competition when she was just eight years old.

There was no mistaking that the girl depicted was wearing those earrings. The closer I looked, I noticed the back of one ear had no earring back sticking out. When I looked closer at the other ear, I swallowed hard. There was a small piece sticking through her skin, as if the skin closed around it.

"Elizabeth." My cousin. She went missing when she was nine, she was never found. My family went on believing she was dead, the memory of the funeral that was held for her with no body tore through my mind in an instant. It was a very hard time for my family. She and I were the same age; we were close as children. I cried every night for months.

"You know this girl?" I looked up to Chase, who seemed rightfully confused. I felt tears well up in my eyes.

"My cousin. She's alive after all this time." I tried to regain my composure so we could figure this mess out. We were right that there were others, my cousin apparently being one of those. "She went missing when she was nine years old, the police never found her. She was presumed dead." I flipped to the picture behind it, it was another very old photo with two little girls swimming in a kiddie pool. It was unclear where the pool was, so I flipped through the rest of the stack, nothing else caught my eye so I handed them back to Dahlia. "I need a moment to process this, I'm sorry."

"Why don't you come with me? We can go sit by the trees." Derrick surprised me with his offer. I was relieved he had offered, I didn't really want to be alone and this gave me a good opportunity to do what I had intended to do before we were interrupted.

"Ok. That sounds nice." Chase turned to Dahlia, motioning for her to let him see the photo of my cousin.

"That is rather strange. Well, we'll regroup a little later. Dahlia and I are gonna see what else we can find. Anything weird happens you know where we are." Dahlia nodded in agreement. I looked up at Derrick, waiting for him to lead the way. He surprised me by taking my hand in his and leading the way without another word.

The flood of excitement that rushed to my cheeks made me hope I wasn't reading too much into his behavior, because he didn't seem like such a bad guy after all.



© 2017 Demi Marie


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Added on February 14, 2017
Last Updated on February 14, 2017