3. House of Horrors

THREE

house of horrors

A little before midnight, the five of us load into a black SUV. Topher climbs in the front next to Micah, while Thorne, Amelia, and I slide into the back. "The house is about twenty minutes from here," Micah announces, speeding away from the front of the lycan bar.

"What are we looking for?" Amelia asks.

"Honestly, I don't know. I hope with our heightened senses, we might pick up on something the humans couldn't," he answers.

Twenty minutes later, Micah turns onto a long driveway surrounded by overgrown bushes and stops in front of the house I recognize from the news broadcast. Bright yellow police tape is still wrapped around the porch, blowing in the Atlantic winds.

"It looks haunted," Amelia announces, climbing out of the back seat .

"We don't need any other mythological creatures to join this shit show," Topher adds with a laugh.

The faint smell of sulfur hits me the instant I step out of the SUV. "Does anyone else smell that?"

"That depends on what you're talking about. I smell a plethora of odors." Amelia holds her head high in the air.

"It smells like Kragen," I answer.

"Or Marnie," Thorne adds.

We follow Topher to the back of the ranch-style home. What was once a screened-in porch is nothing more than framing and torn screen blowing in the breeze. A broken sliding glass door sits on its rails, leaving a three-foot gap to enter. "Look. Someone left it unlocked for us," he says, leading us inside.

The smell of sulfur grows as we enter the dark home. Remnants of what was once nice furniture are scattered around the living room, and a large stone fireplace covers the back wall. Dark blood splatters the floors, and from the smell of it, it's human.

"This looks like a Halloween attraction, only it's real," Micah says, staring at the bloodstains.

"We should split up," Amelia announces, looking around the room. "We'll cover more ground that way. I'll take this level."

"Elsie and I will go to the basement." Thorne moves to my side.

"I'll go to the second floor," Micah says, moving toward the base of the stairwell. "Unless anyone else would care to take it." Seeing the future Alpha of Charleston anxious about exploring a murder house strikes me as funny.

"I'll check the yard and outlying buildings," Topher adds.

We split, going our separate ways. I follow Thorne down the squeaky stairs that lead from the kitchen to the basement below. The smell of sulfur is replaced with rotting blood, making my stomach gurgle with memories.

Lining the cinderblock walls are chains. The scene reminds me of my time on Kragen's ship. The ends of the chains have heavy latches made to be attached to a person's arms and legs. "This is a torture chamber for something that wasn't human," I whisper. Why am I whispering?

"Aye."

The faint sounds of animals scurrying through the room bring back memories of the rats I ate to stay alive while on Kragen's ship. "Do you think this was where they found the bodies?" I ask questions, hoping to thwart the memories.

"From the look of the main floor, I think they found the bodies everywhere." Thorne moves past me toward a door on the opposite wall. A heavy logging chain is wrapped several times through the handles and secured with a matching lock.

"Why is this door still locked?" he asks, rattling the metal .

"Maybe the police locked it before they left?" Scuffling from the other side of the door makes the hairs on my arm stand at attention. "Did you hear that?" The sound of something sliding across gritty concrete rings through my ears again.

"Aye. It came from behind the door."

I don't hesitate. Pulling the chain with my hands, I break the lock open easily, letting the metal clatter to the ground.

"Wait." Thorne places his hand protectively over my chest. "We don't know what's in there."

"It could be nothing," I answer.

"Or it could be something."

"Amelia!" I call through the house. She's by our side seconds later.

"It stinks down here," she says, looking around the room.

"I think we found something." The scraping sound echoes once more.

Amelia grabs the handle without hesitation, pulling the heavy door off its rusty hinges. "Hello?" she says into the room.

"Help me," a young voice whispers.

The three of us rush into the room, finding what looks like a child chained to the back wall. Her clothes remind me of a time long ago. Blood covers her face and hands, and tiny fangs protrude from her mouth. "Oh, my God," Amelia says, stepping away from the girl. "An immortal child. "

"What's an immortal child?" I ask.

"A child that was turned into a vampire," Thorne answers.

"My maker was an immortal child." Amelia squats in front of the girl, not adding anything extra to her revelation. "What's your name, little one?"

"Gretchen," the young girl answers.

"Why are you tied up, Gretchen?"

"Because I was hungry." She growls slightly. "There wasn't enough food for everyone."

I reach for the silver cuffs wrapped around the young vampire's ankles and wrists. "No!" Amelia touches my shoulder. "You can't free her."

"What the hell kind of logic is that?" Anger fills my voice.

"Immortal children are…unpredictable," Thorne fills in the blank. "They're capable of unsurmountable destruction."

I look between the two vampires. "You…you don't think she did this, do you? She's nothing more than a child."

"She is more than capable," Amelia answers. "Topher's coming." Seconds later, heavy boots make their way downstairs.

"Amelia?" he asks into the darkness.

"In here."

Topher stops at the door we're staring through. "Oh, my God. Is she?"

"Yes," she answers. Sadness fills her voice.

"What is the big deal about an immortal child?" I ask for the second time.

"Because they're young, most lack the ability to control their behavior. They have the same strength and ability as you or I do, but they're children. Most aren't able to control their power. Imagine a four-year-old human having a temper tantrum about something a typical four-year-old does. When an immortal child has a temper tantrum, they can destroy an entire neighborhood, leaving no one alive. They're not only dangerous, they're against the council's rules."

"There is a council and rules?" I ask, generally confused.

"You have much to learn." Amelia turns back to the young girl. "Who is your maker, Gretchen?"

"Mother," the young girl answers, pulling at her bindings.

"Where is Mother ?"

"They're gone. They left me here."

"Who's gone?" I take over questioning.

"My brothers and sisters."

The four of us share a look. "How many brothers and sisters do you have, Gretchen?" Amelia asks.

The young girl fights against her chains. "He smells good. I'm hungry," she growls, lunging toward Topher. Silver chains attached to the wall are the only thing holding her in place.

"How many brothers and sisters?" Amelia repeats.

"Ten," she answers .

"Are they like you?"

"Yesss." Her words are slurred as she lunges toward the Alpha lycanthrope once more.

"Did Mother put you down here, Gretchen?"

The immortal child lunges towards Topher once more. Perfectly styled blonde curls bounce with her movement as she growls once more, and chill bumps cover my skin with the sound. "No, the other one did."

"The other one? Someone other than your maker?" Amelia asks, kneeling closer to the girl. Gretchen lunges once more, biting the air as she moves and coming remarkably close to Amelia's hand. "Who put you down here?"

"I smell his blood. Set me free."

"I'm sorry, Gretchen. We can't do that," Amelia answers.

"Like hell, we can't," I retort. "She's nothing more than a child."

"Look at her, Elsbeth. She's wearing clothes from another century. She's not a child. She's a killer, trapped in the body of a child for all eternity." Amelia steps between me and the young girl, blocking my view.

"Help me," Gretchen whines. Her voice takes on the timbre of her appearance. "I won't hurt anyone. Please, help me. I'm scared. They…they hurt me." She begins to cry, reminding me of my sister Bonnie from so many years ago .

"Move, Amelia," I demand. "I will not let that child suffer."

Amelia's eyes turn black in an instant. "Elsbeth, I will not set this creature free. Do you understand me?"

"The woman smelled funny," Gretchen says from behind Amelia's legs. "She smelled like fire." She looks at me with her answer. "Hot fire," she adds.

Amelia turns back to the girl. "The one who put you down here smelled like fire?"

"Someone who smells like fire has to be Marnie or Kragen, except Gretchen says it's a woman, which only leaves one of the people in the equation. Am I the only one who knows what that means?" I raise my voice louder than needed.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Topher says, closing the gap between the child and his wife.

"Jump to conclusions? I spent a hundred years being held captive by that asshole. I know what he smells like. His daughter smells just like him." I don't know why I'm taking my anger out on the only friends I've ever known.

"So do you!" Amelia matches my energy. " You smell like sulfur. You smell like Kragen and Marnie."

I take a step backward. "You don't think I…"

"No," she interrupts. "I don't think you had anything to do with this. I'm simply stating the fact that you smell like Kragen because he was your maker. There are others out there that would carry his smell. Hell, it wouldn't even have to be someone he turned. It could be an old lover. Kragen and Marnie don't hold the patent for smelling like fire." I stare at the hybrid, not sure how to respond. The thought of me carrying around Kragen's smell for three hundred years never even occurred to me.

"What the hell is that?" Micah interrupts the insanity from the bottom of the stairs.

With the combination of Topher and Micah's blood, Gretchen's face transforms from the sweet child she was moments earlier into a monster equal to Kragen in its appearance. "I'm hungry!" she screams. She fights against the chains, pulling with all of her strength. The chains rattle and shake, refusing to give way.

When Gretchen realizes the silver isn't giving way, she begins chewing at her wrist, biting hunks of flesh away, and spitting them across the room.

"Gretchen?" I focus on keeping my voice as calm as possible. "What are you doing?"

"She's doing the only thing she knows," Amelia answers. "She's an animal trying to get her next meal."

"We can't just leave her here." My voice cracks at the realization that it leaves us only one other option.

"We won't," Amelia says. The timbre of her voice tells me what she's going to do without saying the words. "She'll be out of her misery."

I back away from the beautiful girl. "I can't watch," I whisper.

"Take her upstairs," Topher barks an order. Thorne wraps his arms around my shoulders, leading me away from the immortal child. Micah joins us as the three of us leave the basement and the young girl who never had a chance to live.

"Did you find anything?" Thorne asks Micah, trying to distract my thoughts. I appreciate the effort.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Three bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms. There was definitely evidence of a massive party, but nothing stood out as unusual," he answers.

"Gretchen said she had ten brothers and sisters. Do you think that means there are ten other immortal children out there?" I ask the two of them. Both men look at the stained flooring, answering with their actions instead of words.

Images of my brothers and sisters sailing across the Atlantic in hopes of a better life flash through my mind. These children were like us—like me.

"It's done," Amelia says, coming up the stairs.

I wipe the tears silently streaming down my cheek. "We can't leave her here. We can't leave her in that…that dungeon."

Amelia sighs. "She was already returning to dust. There's nothing of her left to take."

"Did she feel anything?" I ask, not sure I want to know the answer.

"No. I made sure she didn't." Amelia's eyes are glassy, telling me she's not the big bad wolf she makes herself out to be.

"Thank you. "

Topher clears his throat, moving to the center of the room. "I think it's safe to say that Gretchen's brothers and sisters are like her, immortal children."

"That's an army of insanity." Amelia moves to his side, and he wraps an arm around her short frame.

"What would be the purpose for ten immortal children, and why would they leave that one here?" Thorne asks, nudging his head toward the basement door.

"Gretchen. Her name was Gretchen," I interrupt. "She was a real person with feelings and emotions who wanted nothing more than to be normal—marry a nice man and have children of her own. Her hopes and dreams were taken away from her. She had no choice but to become the creature that she was. It was forced on her." Everyone in the room is staring at me, clearly aware that I'm no longer talking about Gretchen.

"It's time to leave," Amelia announces after several awkwardly quiet moments. We load into the SUV in silence, and Micah leads us away from the house of horrors. Thorne's arm stays wrapped protectively around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side. No doubt, he's afraid I'm going to lose my shit and try to kill someone. Truthfully, the only thing I'm on the brink of losing is my sanity.