CLARIFICATION

CHAPTER 19

"I-Is it here?" the girl said as she sat on the bed cowering in fear.

"shhhhhh. We can't make a lot of noise. It has very keen hearing. You don't want us to get caught, now do you?"

She shook her head in response.

"Now stay here and don't move no matter what. You got that Stacy?"

"Yes grand father."

The old man smiled and gave her a light pat on her head. Picking up his rifle and some ammo, he headed out of the bedroom. Sitting in the dark and cold room all alone, Stacy could only pray that her Grand father would come back safely. The wind blew, rustling the trees nearby. The sound gave the atmosphere an eerie feeling. The old man walk carefully, taking each step with precision. The floor boards were really old and they make a lot of creaking sounds. 'Should've changed these damn floors a long time ago.' The old man thought. He held his rifle with both hands in a defensive position, prepared to aim and shoot at any given time. Tap tap tap tap. It was faint, but the old man could pick up the sound of wet footsteps. He found it difficult to pin point the exact location the foot steps were coming from. 'Shit, it's already in the house. I need to be very careful' the old man thought. He swallowed hard and kept walking. He passed each room carefully, listening for the footsteps as he went by. Tap tap tap tap . Beads of sweat trickled down the old man's face as the foot steps got louder. His instincts told him to run, as far away are possible, but he couldn't do that. He had to protect his little girl. The old man got to the entrance of the living room. He walked in slowly, his eyes darting around every corner. The full bright moon produced light which seeped into the living room through the window. Goosebumps began to form on the old man's skin when he heard the high pitched shriek coming from the kitchen. He braced himself and made his way back to the entrance of the living room. The sound of rapid footsteps was heard at the passage way. The old man backed away from the entrance back into the room. It sounded like the monster was running. He held up his gun, his heart beat accelerating by the minute. 'You can do this Joey' he thought. The living room door was broken down by the creature's large hands. It twisted it's neck in an attempt to pass through the door. Joey stood there, his eyes growing wider. The creature went on all fours and crawled into the living room. Joey didn't hesitate. He fired his gun immediately the monster got in. The bullet hit it in the shoulder. The creature let out a ghastly cry that gave Joey goosebumps. It stood up on its feet and ran straight towards Joey. He fired his gun again. The creature stretch out its hand and hit the gun away from Joey's hands making him miss the shot. Shit that was the only word that came to Joey's mind. He picked up a wooden stool and threw it at the creature. It landed on its head, making the it stumble back a bit. Joey moved to the other side of the sofa and ran as fast as he could to the door. He felt a cold hand wrap around his leg. It pulled him down to the floor harshly. He groaned out in pain as the creature increased it's grip on his ankle. Joey watched as the living room entrance got farther and farther away from him. The creature was pulling him closer and closer to itself. It raised him up very high. Joey could see everything, but it was upside down. The creature drove it's large hand through Joey's back. An earsplitting scream escaped his lips and blood dripped from his mouth. He looked at his stomach and saw a hand sticking out of it. 'Stacy, I'm so sorry' Joey coughed violently as the creature released him. He dropped to the ground firmly. Blood gushed out of his body as he lay on the cold floor.

Stacy couldn't take it anymore. She needed to know what exactly was happening. 'God, please let him be okay' Stacy thought. Deep down within her, she knew that her Grand father was far from okay. The horrifying scream that erupted through the whole house was enough to give her confirmation.

"grand Father...."

Her vision became blurry as tears came sliding down her cheeks. She sat on the bed, trembling with both fear and sadness. After the gunshots and screams, the house got dead quiet. Tap tap tap tap. The silence was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Stacy's eyes went wide with pure terror. 'no, no, no it's still here' she thought. Getting off the bed slowly, she walked over to the drawers in search of a weapon. Tap tap tap tap. The footsteps were getting closer. Stacy picked up her pace. She began to open the drawer faster, disregarding the amount of noise she was making. On the last drawer, she found a bug spray. 'Ugh there's nothing useful here' Stacy was getting disoriented. Panic was setting in slowly. After seconds of staring blankly at the bug spray in her hands, Stacy's eyes lit up like she had just remembered something. She ran to the bedside table and picked up a lighter. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. The monster had picked up it's speed. Stacy stood directly in front of the door. She held the bug spray and lighter right in front of her. Her hands and legs were shaking so much. She could barely stand straight. 'You can do this' Stacy thought as she let out a harsh, shaky breath. The monster slammed the door gratingly, making it fly off from its hinges. The impact pushed Stacy to the wall. Her back landed on the wall violently which made her yelp. She quickly regained her posture and turned on the lighter. The monster shrieked and ran towards her. 'Die, you hideous freak' flames flared up from the bug spray, illuminating the whole bed room, making it look bright red. The monster let out a large screeching cry and staggered back a little. "Die!" Stacy screamed. The flames stopped abruptly, causing Stacy a lot of shock. She shook the can of bug spray vigorously. It's contents had been exhausted and now, it was empty. Stacy swallowed hard as she slowly fixed her eyes on the creature. It had burnt black, patches on its slimy looking skin. Having nowhere else to run, Stacy scurried back until she felt the wall behind her. She slumped to the ground as urine flowed from between her legs. The monster launched at her as it let out a thundering shriek. The last thing Stacy saw was the monster's huge foot hovering above her.

Oliver swirled his glass of whiskey slowly. He never thought that drinking in his house would feel this lonely. Oliver had asked Maria if they could go out for drinks tonight but she declined, saying something about having another appointment this evening. Oliver was shocked and disappointed. He had known Maria since she first moved to town and he knew very well that she had no friends. Maybe she met some new people and made friends. Or maybe she met a guy…. Oliver felt a small pang in his chest. He couldn't understand why he felt like this at the thought of Maria meeting a guy. He exhaled heavily through his nostrils as he took a sip of his drink. He definitely didn't want to question these strange feelings. It was better if they were left unattended to. I wish Kenna was here, Oliver thought. He didn't like how quiet and lonely the house felt. He placed his glass cup down on the table and threw himself backwards on the sofa. He closed his eyes, trying to relax and stop himself from over thinking. The sound of his cell phone ringing caught his attention. He picked it up at stared at the screen. It was an unknown number. He was skeptical as to whether or not he should answer. He stared at the screen deep in thought. Let's just see who it is, Oliver thought. He tapped on the green button lightly and placed the phone gently on his ear.

"Hello? Is this Oliver? Please tell me I didn't get a wrong number."

The voice sounded awfully familiar but Oliver was having a hard time remembering the face associated with the voice.

"Ah! Daisy?" he said, finally recalling the voice.

"Yes! It's daisy. So it's Oliver, thank goodness."

"You've never called me before. Is there a problem?" the other end of the line got silent for a few seconds. "Did Kenna tell you were she was going today?"

"Yeah, she said you guys are having a sleepover." Oliver could hear daisy sigh. His anxiety levels were rising.

"Why? Did something happen? Is Kenna okay?"

"Whoa, slow down lover boy, don't bombard me with all these questions. Kenna's fine, well physically. But I don't think you will be."

Oliver was getting very confused and curious.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

daisy let out a nervous laugh.

"You'll just have to see it for yourself. Do you know hotel McGuire?"

The word hotel made Oliver's heart sink.

"Yes, I do."

"Good, meet me there in 5. I'll be waiting. And believe me when I say this... you definitely don't want to miss out on this. Trust me."

Click.

Oliver grabbed his car keys quickly and breezed out of the house without hesitation.

Hotel McGuire was one of those cheap run down motels. Only travelers who needed a place to stay for the night and hitch a ride the next day would get a room here. That begged the question as to why daisy would ask him to meet her here. Oliver parked his car and got down hastily. He eyes instantly found daisy, who was standing in the distance. She stood in front of the hotel, smoking a cigarette. Her face beamed as she saw Oliver walking towards her.

"Hey lover boy. You got her in 3 minutes. Did you fly or something?"

Oliver chuckled despite being an anxious mess. He hadn't seen daisy in months but she still looked radiant as ever. Her dark skinned glowed in the street lights making her look very beautiful. She threw her cigarette to the ground and stomped on it.

"How have Ya been?"

"Did you call me here so that we just catch up?"

daisy let out a wholesome laughter.

"You're literally shaking like a wet dog." She said, laughing uncontrollably.

Oliver sighed feeling a bit embarrassed at his current state.

"Yes, yes I'll admit that I am very nervous right now. So it'll be better if you go straight to the point."

Daisy used a finger to swat a tear drop from the corner of her eye.

"you're right. I was just trying to lighten the mood, because what you're about to see isn't going to be very nice."

Oliver swallowed hard. His mind was a train of thoughts. He couldn't stop himself from creating different scenarios in his head.

"So what's the situation. Why did you call me out here?"

daisy looked at him for a long moment before sliding out a cigarette from the pouch of her brown hoodie. "You want one?"

Oliver nodded. She brought out another one and handed it over to him. She pulled out her Stainless Steel lighter and lit her cigarette before handing it over to him. She took several puffs of it before speaking. "Just how much do you trust your girlfriend?"

Oliver exhaled his smoke. The question lingered in his mind for a while.

" I trust Kenna very much. I love her after all."

Daisy exhaled the smoke through her nose and looked up at the starry sky.

"For an adult you're way to naïve. This is why I call you lover boy."

Daisy turned her gaze to Oliver, Her expression was solemn.

"Room 245. Go there and you'll understand what I'm saying."