Chapter 5

MY INSIDES CHURNED and I'm beginning to feel that pancakes. I could taste a hint of fluid on the tip of my tongue, nausea formed in the pit of my stomach. I fought it but failed. I hurled and ejected my breakfast on the bloodstained tiled floor.

Leon patted me on the back as I did it twice, an arm covered his mouth and nose to ease the pungent smell circulating in the air. However, I don't think it worked as he too made a sick noise in his throat.

Terrence led a trembling Elli out of the room to calm her down.

"Shit! We just discovered a fucking crime scene?!" Leon blurted huskily.

I wiped my mouth on my sleeve. "We should call the police."

I was still eyeing the bloody scene from a distance. This is much too real to be a prank. If it was, it's a good one. Though, there's no one popping out of their hiding places to confirm it was. Thus, eliminating the possibility that someone might just be messing with us.

The metallic smell, the dark blood and someone's greenish gray chopped arm laying on the floor. Blood spatters everywhere. On the sink, on the walls and even on the ceiling. I just can't handle it. So imagine my surprise when Leon bent over to examine the sticky substance, his arm still covered his face.

I fought another wave of nausea. This time, I won.

"Disgusting." He muttered.

"No shit." I said with sarcasm.

Leon stepped away and stood beside me. His hand now covered with a hanky he produced from his pocket to remove the, probably a-day-old, blood coating his fingers.

"We should find out what's really happening here--"

We both jumped in alarm at the sudden clanging noise. It came from the back part of the kitchen where the walk-in refrigerator was.

"Hello?" I called out. "Is someone there?"

No answer.

I grabbed the switch and light flooded in every part of the room. We carefully treaded our way towards the fridge and found nothing except for a few pots and pans clamoring on the floor in decrescendo.

That's odd. What could've caused them to fall--

"It might just be a rat." Leon offered. "Or a cat. Or a dog--"

"A dog?"

"Hey, it could be a poss--"

"Shut it!"

He zipped his lips and rose both hands in the air.

I shook my head. So annoying.

Once we were fully convinced no one's in here, Leon and I finally decided to leave. Carefully walking past the bloody crime scene with averting gaze, my hands covering my nose to avoid getting whiffed at the awful smell of dried blood and dead flesh.

We found Elli and Terrence seated in one of the benches near the fountain, on the same place where they forced me to do the Cupid dance trend which now seemed ages ago.

Elli's head was resting on Terrence's chest. She finally calmed down, her tears ceased and her breathing relaxed.

"How are you holding up?" I took a seat beside Elli.

"Just a little bit shaken off but I'm fine now, Kris." She smiled weakly.

"Was that really. . . ?" Terrence voice trailed off.

Leon nodded. "Yeah. And it's the real deal, too. Some crazy shit in there. And based from the tinge of green on the flesh, and the color and texture of the blood on the floor, it appears to have been hours after it happened. I'd say 12 hours or so, give or take."

My forehead creased. "How are you able to know that?"

Leon eyed me as if I've just grown another head or something. "Crime documentaries, duh."

I rolled my eyes. Right.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Ellie asked.

Well, it's not like we can do much. With no teachers or any other authoritarian figure that can deal with this situation, I guess there's one thing left to do.

"We should call the police. Let them take it from here." I said.

"We already tried that but it didn't work." Terrence shook his head.

"What do you mean?"

"I tried contacting the local police but no one answered."

That got me confused.

So for demonstration, Terrence took out his phone and dialled 911. It kept ringing for almost a minute or so before we heard the dial tone. We tried again, but the outcome was the same. No answer.

How can that be? Emergency hotlines are always active 24/7 for emergencies (duh!) and they never missed a call from someone who is in need. They can't just ignore a call like that!

A few moments of pondering on what our next move will be, we all decided to visit the local town nearby just to get information on what's happening right now.

However, it created more questions than answers.

I stepped on the breaks at the sight of a familiar house we passed by. A two-storey, red-roofed house with a porch, rose bushes and a freshly mowed lawn. It was a beautiful house in the suburbs. The only concerning thing I spotted in this picture is that the front door was left wide open.

"Uh, why did we stop?" Leon asked.

"That's Helga's house." I muttered before going out of the car.

I stood on the front porch. One hand holding the door frame. I tried calling out to Helga but as it had been for the past 7 hours, there was no one. No answer. Not even an indication of life inside this house.

"Should we just barge in or. . ." Terrence said. Leon and Elliana was behind him.

"Wouldn't it be rude?" Elli surmised.

Leon rolled his eyes. "Damn it."

Leon walked inside the house and we followed behind him.

The lights are out and it's almost dark in here except for the small rays of sunlight penetrating through the clefts of the closed curtains in the living room.

"How did you know this is that grumpy old bat's house anyway?" Leon grumbled.

"Oh, well," my lips pursed. "There was this one time when I was on my way to town that afternoon, I saw her in the middle of the highway. Her car broke down so I offered to give her a lift home. After that, I had a few occasional visits ever since I began dating her granddaughter two months back."

"You dated her granddaughter?!" Elliana snarled.

I bit my tongue. Damn. I may have over shared a little bit.

"And that's your business because of what exactly. . . ?" Leon smirked when Elli recoiled with a hmp beside Terrence. Her arms crossed and a sour look on her face.

Leon winked at me. I could only sigh.

Now back to the house, I remember vividly during my visits here how big Helga's family was. Her only daughter, Corrine's mother which the granddaughter I dated, lived here with her four children. Corrine is the eldest at age 16 followed by Elliot and Carlo - two 6-year-olds, they're twins and her baby sister Mia - age three. Helga's youngest sister also resides in this house along with her family. With so many residents in one house, it makes it fairly impossible for this home to be empty. Having such a big household does not decline the thought of living in peace. Toddlers in tantrums, wailing and squirming if their wants and needs aren't met. All the nagging and shirt pulling. It's normal to witness such an occurrence here in this house. What's not normal is that, for the first time I've visited, the house was lifeless and filled with dead silence.

I turned on the lights and the living room instantly lit up. Terrence went upstairs to check the rooms and Leon went outside to check the garage.

“I need a drink.” Eli said. I gestured her to where the kitchen was and asked if she wanted me to go with her. She replied a flat no before disappearing through the kitchen doorway leaving me in the living room by my lonesome.

I regarded the whole room. The living room was surprisingly neat and clean. Not in its usual state like the time when I had my occasional visits in Helga's place. The pillows on the couch were neatly arranged, the books on the shelves were properly in order, even the remote controls on the coffee table are perfectly organized by color and length. There was a play pen in front of the television, little kids' toys were inside the toy box totally untouched. I took the tv's remote control and pressed the power button to see what's on the afternoon news – maybe I can find something that explains what's happening right now.

Another question added to mind when everything in the television was in static. I checked every channel and they were all the same.

"Kris." I jumped in surprise.

"Damn it, Leon, don't scare me like that."

"Sorry." He replied in a serious voice. "We should leave."

"Why?"

He gave me a stern look before leading me outside. Specifically, to the garage.

My heart was pounding inside my chest, disturbed and nauseated. We found another scene like before but less gory, less brutal and less. . . bloody.