Chapter 3

Daniel knelt down and looked Faith over after Tyler's legs gave out. He fell to his knees next to his sister with his eyes tearing up. "Hey...You didn't... have to..." He stammered shakily. With how many deep puncture's she had, there wasn't anything Daniel would be able to so to stop all the bleeding. He cursed a bit and flicked some of the goo from the creature off him, grimacing angrily.

Faith moved her hand to cover the top of her brother's. "If it wasn't for me then you wouldn't have had to move. Then you wouldn't be in this mess. Whatever you do.. Promise me if you go down you'll do so fighting. Don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you weak." She took a shallow breath and looked up at the ceiling. "I just want one more hug and for you to tell me everything is going to be alright. Just like you use to... Just one more time." Layla turned away from the saddening scene before her. It felt as if her heart was falling apart for the siblings.

Daniel got up and stepped back, giving them room as tears started falling from Tyler's eyes. "It... its gonna be ok.." Tyler managed through his clenching throat. "I've got you... you're gonna be ok..."  As he said it again, he squeezed his sister close to him, not really caring of her blood staining his clothes. "I love you, sis..."

As the words 'I love you' left his mouth Faith's eyes closed and her breathing stopped. Slowly the girl turned a bit pale and her skin started to lose its warmth. Layla put a hand on Tyler's shoulder hoping to give the boy a small amount of comfort. "We should get going. You heard her. She wants you to fight to live." She was never one much for being comforting but she tried.

As Layla spoke, he reluctantly put his sister down, staring st her sorrowfully for a moment before kissing her forehead and standing up. He picked up both of their pikes and sighed, trying to get a grip. Daniel watched him a moment and then motioned out. "We need to keep moving... getting pinned in here wasn't good..." He said, before grabbing Layla's hand and pulling her to come with him. Tyler shakily started to follow them, the shock keeping him from completely breaking down somehow.

Layla followed Daniel feeling bad for Tyler. She was an only child so she couldn't imagine the pain of losing a sibling especially since the two seemed so close. She looked up at her boyfriend. "Where should we go? No matter where in the house we hide something will eventually find us. We desperately need a way out." The girl sighed and bite her lower lip in thought. "One if we tried diving out of the broken window?"

"And if that hand thing shows back up?" He asked and then sighed. "Sorry... just don't see a whole lot of options..." He added apologetically.

Tyler tried to think past his trauma and then pointed to one of the rooms. "Maybe we should play it safe in here? And run when something shows up like last time... maybe not pigeon hole ourselves to get away from this one..."

Layla looked at the room in question and blinked. It looked normal enough from the outside. She took a tentive step forward putting her hand on the door knob. With an uneasy feeling in her chest she turned the knob opening the door. The door creeked as it opened to reveal a simple medium sized bedroom. Surveying the room slowly Layla so far didn't spot any danger as she stepped inside.

Daniel quickly followed her and looked around, holding his knife ready. He hated the tension, the not knowing what was out there. Tyler sheepishly followed and leaned against the wall next to the door. The kid was trying not to break down again about his sister.

Layla sighed softly and looked around cautiously still not trusting the room. "So what do we do? We obviously can't hide out in here.." She sat down on the floor not ready to trust the bed. Laying her face in her hands she peered up at her boyfriend with a look of hopelessness. "Faith said if one more person died we'd decide who lived... I'm not going with out you.. I have nothing to look forward to without you. You know what my home life is like.."

Daniel was silent, chewing his lips as he tried to think. Tyler quietly dealing with his thought. The older of the two, Daniel, suddenly kicked one of the bedside tables in frustration. "Man this is fucking bullshit..." He growled angrily. "Why the fuck would we want to play by their fucking rules?" He said hotly.

Layla jumped at his sudden outburst and sighed. "Oh great demonic one, can I open a window for air?" She said in a tone half joking half serious. Her reply came on the vanity mirror. It fogged up except for the word 'yes.' Layla's eyes widened and she got up opening the window. "At least it has its moments." She muttered leaning down to breath in the fresh night air.

Daniel paused a second, staring at the window and then at the mirror. "Hang on... why does it act so... 'normal'..." He asked quizzically.

Tyler looked at him and squirmed a brow. "What do you mean..?"

Daniel pointed at the window. "It answers us. It responded to her in the other room, it responded to us in the living room, it just answered her again," He explained and started thinking.

Layla looked back at him and then glanced down at her feet. "Perhaps they have a way of controlling it. And its simply doing what they want. I'm sure its bidding its time before it can unleash on them for controlling it." She looked back out the window. "Such a dark force isn't meant to be played with. It's not a play toy its a dangerous being."

Daniel, for the first time since arriving, smiled a little. "Maybe that's just it... maybe they found some way to anchor it here... if we can figure it out and let it loose, maybe we can get out of here with our lives intact..." he started think more as he spoke.

Tyler winced. "Don't you think its gonna think we're trying to destroy us and try to kill us though?"

Layla swallowed hard. "Daniel the only way to set it loose is to either open a gate and unleash its full potential or to kill those who control it.. Seeing as those three idiots left outside we can't kill them." She sighed and looked at him. "Its hopeless.. We can try to survive but ultimately either one or none of us make it out of this alive."

The two men looked at each other and sighed as she spoke. Daniel wrapped his arms around her and held Layla close as Tyler started looking around the room. "There's gotta be some catch though," he said slowly.

Layla looked up at them. "I'm sure there is. They'll be sure to pay some kind of price after we are dead." She buried her face in Daniel's chest sighing softly. The night was beginning to look a lot bleaker by the second. She was sure if she asked the time it would only be a minute despite how long it seemed to have really gone on.

"We aren't dying." Daniel stated firmly. "We're gonna get out of here so I can put those assholes in the ground themselves." As he spoke he tightened his grip on Layla. Tyler fished around in a draw, trying to distract himself from the eminent panic in his head.

Layla allowed herself the moment of weakness as tears trailed down her face. "How?" She asked looking up at him. "We can't escape without dying and if we don't escape we are as good as dead. Faith was right, only one of us can make it out."

"According to them, only one of us will make it out... but I don't by it." He said softly and caressed the back of her head softly. "There's got to be some way out of here..."

Tyler managed to pull a few moderately useful items from the drawers and looked at the pair. He was glad they had each other, he just needed to figure out what he was doing.

Layla sighed and looked away. Her eyes seem to show her unhappiness. "Daniel we already tried the whole let's all get out of here thing. Look what happened. Faith died." She bit her lip realizing that the girl's brother was right there. "Sorry Tyler.." Layla said softly looking back up to Daniel.

"Its.... fine..." Tyler responded slowly, his eyes tearing up a bit. His sister had meant the world to him. "M- maybe I can help you guys get out somehow?" He suggested after wiping his eyes.

Daniel looked over at him and held Layla tightly. "We'll figure something out... no way I'm giving up. If I've learned anything it's that there's always a way to win..."

Layla looked down. "Daniel this is useless. Not all of us are getting out the sooner we accept it the sooner we can move on." She looked around in anger and back up and walked straight to the vanity. She took it and pulled it down when it fell the mirror shattered. Suddenly the snarling from Kya's death sounded from under the bed. "Oh that's just wonderful."

"Dammit..." He quickly went over and stood in between Layla and the bed. He held his knife ready and braced a bit. Tyler glanced between the bed and Daniel. He quickly ran over and grabbed the door handle, ready to open it.

The snarling creature crawled out from under the bed. It had the facial features of a wolf, but everything below the neck was just a human covered in hair. It snapped it jaw at the three of them as it glanced between each of them. The creature stood on all fours and stepped closer each step agonizingly slow.

Daniel hesitated, the last person to lunge at one of the creatures here was hurt so bad there was no saving them. His eyes shifted, looking from the creature to Layla. Suddenly Tyler ripped the door open, but instead of making a mad dash out, he lunged at the thing. The young boy had a large pair of scissors and swung to try and stab the monster in the eye.

The monster roared as the scissors cut over one of its eyes making black goo leak out. It immediately lengthened its claws and threw Tyler off of it scratching his torso. Layla screamed in horror and went to step foreward to help the injured boy.

"Just get the fuck out of here!" Tyler yelled, forcing himself back up. Daniel instantly grabbed Layla's wrist and pulled her with him as he headed for the door. He wasn't happy Tyler had thrown himself at the creature, but if he had to pick someone it would be Layla.

Layla struggled a bit. "No we can't just leave him here. You said it yourself." She began crying as she looked back at the door hearing the creatures roars of pain and anger. Not to mention the boy's pain as well. "Fuck them... Fuck all of them." She said softly as the tears rolled down her cheeks. The normally calm and collected girl could feel her mind going insane.

Daniel paused as he pulled Layla out of the room. He looked at Tyler, and the younger male sighed a bit, holding the scissors like how Daniel held his knife. "Not my best idea, but too late to think about it now..." He muttered as he shirt stained more and more with his own blood. He lunged again at the monster, and Daniel turned to continue his escape with his girlfriend.

Layla shook her head as the ran back to the living room. "What do we do...? She asked looking back at him. "I say we risk diving out the window. We stay here any longer and we'll die anyways so fuck it. We either die escaping or we die never knowing. I don't know about you but I'm not going without trying."