The Survivor Chronicles (Book 3): The Forsaken (27 page)

"Would you live with this nut job?" Josh inquired.

Mary Ellen didn't like calling anyone a nut job but she had to admit that, no she would
not
live with this person. She turned her head away from the eyes of a colorful pheasant and came face to face with the substantial fangs of a snarling wolf. There was no winning in this room, nowhere safe to look, even when she kept her head down she was still confronted with stuffed animal after stuffed animal lining the dark hardwood floor.

"I can't believe they were able to keep this place so clean," Mary Ellen said. "I can't even begin to imagine how much time it would take to dust this place without all this stuff in it, but at least there wasn't much vacuuming."

"That's looking on the bright side," Donald agreed.

Peter had made it to another set of sliding doors. Mary Ellen braced herself for whatever lay beyond but the doors slid open to reveal the cramped main hall. They shuffled back into the foyer and she slid the doors closed again.

"I don't see any reason to check upstairs," Peter said. "I imagine it's only more of the same."

"I certainly don't plan on spending the night here. If those things find us and decide to come in here we would be sitting ducks," Josh said. "It appears whoever lived here survived on take-out so I doubt there's any food up there anyway."

"What about weapons?" Mary Ellen suggested though the last thing she wanted was to spend another minute in this suffocating place. "Perhaps they have a room full of them stashed somewhere. Something had to kill all of those animals."

It wasn't an overwhelming possibility, but even still, she wouldn't feel right walking out of here without looking first. "Maybe they weren't the hunter," Josh suggested.

"Most likely they weren't," Mary Ellen agreed. "I doubt whoever lived here got out much, but we should still look."

"Let's go quickly," Peter said.

Mary Ellen wasn't going to argue with that. She found herself able to breathe easier as the clutter within the house eased by the time they hit the top of the stairs. They went through two bedrooms and two bathrooms rapidly. The rooms had little to nothing within them, including furniture.

"Strangest place I've ever been in," Donald muttered beside her as he ran a hand through his disordered hair.

She had to agree as they stopped in front of the last door. Peter grabbed hold of the handle and thrust it open. Mary Ellen's hand flew to her nose; she took an abrupt step back. The stench that wafted out of the room caused her eyes to water and her throat to burn. Josh turned and wretched in the hall but Mary Ellen found her gaze riveted upon the set of legs poking out from beneath the covers on the bed. The image of the wicked witch of the east's feet poking out from beneath Dorothy's house blazed through her mind at the sight of those legs.

She didn't know if it was the events that had just transpired that had killed the person within, or if they had passed away before the quakes had hit. She suspected they had died before the quakes but that no one had come looking for them. Her heart ached for the loneliness this house, and the body, represented as she hastily turned away from the room.

Peter's face was expressionless as he closed the door. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach at the hollow look within his eyes. There seemed to be nothing behind them, not anymore. She exchanged a pointed glance with Donald but Josh didn't seem to have noticed as he leaned against the wall and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.

"We should go," Mary Ellen said.

She was halfway down the stairs, almost caught up to Peter, when the first gunshot shattered the tranquil day.

Riley,

Riley found her feet planted in place as she gazed in awe at the books lining the shelves. Some of them were so old that she wouldn't dare touch them, even if she'd had gloves on. "I think that's a first edition Grapes of Wrath," she whispered. "And look at how old that Merchant of Venice appears to be. I don't even want to breathe on one of them."

"Well we can be concerned about breathing on them after we check the house," Xander said.

She couldn't turn her head to look at him as her gaze remained riveted upon the books before her. "I wonder if those Harry Potter books are signed," she pondered as her fingers twitched to take one of them down from the shelf. She'd spent hours with Carol reading through that series, discussing what was going to happen. They'd both spilled more than a few tears over those pages.

"We'll find out later," Xander assured her.

Al lingered beside her, his gaze traveled longingly over the spines as Bobby and Xander left the library and walked to the French doors on the other side of the cavernous front hall. Riley threw one last glance over her shoulder before hurrying to join the others.

Xander and Bobby got ready to open the other set of doors. Riley and Al lifted their guns and prepared to take on anything that might leap out at them. Bobby and Xander simultaneously pulled the doors open and stepped to the side. Nothing moved in the room beyond but they proceeded cautiously as they crept closer to the doors.

Riley poked her head in to find ten chairs set around a rectangular dining room table. Three white candles still sat in their silver candlesticks. Without thinking, she ran her hand over the oak table. It was grainy beneath her fingertips; she could feel the dips and swirls within the wood as she walked down the length of it.

"Beautiful home," she murmured as she glanced over the paintings hanging on the dark wood paneled walls. "Outdated, but beautiful."

A massive stone fireplace took up most of the right hand wall. She'd never seen one so big before and she could almost picture a woman standing over it, cooking dinner for her family. Riley tore her attention away from the beautiful room as they approached another room in the back. They stepped into a small den with a computer and papers scattered across the top of the desk. A telescope was set up in front of the bay window. Curiosity caused her to bend down and place her eyes against the eyepiece; she was greeted with a view of the reddened sky.

"At least they weren't spying on their neighbors," she said as she took a step back.

She followed the others into the dining room and through another set of open doors. They stepped into a yellow kitchen that was so cheerful she was certain Big Bird would blend in with the background. "It looks like a daisy threw up in here," Bobby muttered and Riley couldn't help but agree.

Riley studied the ceiling but there was nowhere someone could be lurking above them. She leaned over the black marble countertop and opened one of the white cabinets. She'd been hoping for some food, instead she was greeted with shelves full of cookbooks. She closed the cabinet and moved on to the next one. There were even more cookbooks in that one.

"What is going on?" she muttered but as she focused on the spines, she realized they were all written by a Darla Bates. Riley had never heard of the author before but judging by the sheer number of books, she'd been popular.

"Apparently she only wrote the recipes but didn't practice cooking them," Xander said.

Most of the cookbooks were for baking and as Riley closed the cabinet doors, she understood what was going on. "She most likely had her own bakery somewhere else where she tested the recipes and sold them. Is there a pantry?"

"I don't see one," Bobby answered from the other side of the kitchen. "But we do have some boxes of spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, canned veggies, and potato chips."

She turned to find Bobby standing in front of a floor to ceiling cabinet with Lazy Susan-like shelves inside. "We also have some flour, sugar, vanilla, and anything else you need to bake with," Xander said as he shut a cabinet like Bobby's but on the opposite side of the fridge.

"We'll grab the spaghetti and stuff later," Al said as he moved on toward a room off of the kitchen.

Riley followed behind him and wasn't at all surprised to find a few tables pushed against the walls and covered with assorted pots and pans. The small rectangular room ran across the back of the library but there was no doorway to get into the library from here.
It's an addition
, she realized as Xander walked to the glass door at the end of the room. He peered through the door before pulling it open.

She stepped into the greenhouse behind him. It had once been a thriving world of plants, and judging by the scent that was causing her stomach to rumble, herbs. Her nose twitched at the scent of chives as she was drawn to one of the brown plants dangling over the sides of their pots. She lifted the wilted chive and let it drop down before turning to inspect the rest of the ruined plants. A few cactuses were still alive but for the most part everything within the room was dead.

Beyond the glass was a garden with even more flowers and plants wilting along the white seashell pathways. For one brief second she was back on her porch as her mother sang while deadheading her roses and weeding her perennials. Her mother had possessed an amazing green thumb; she probably could have even saved these plants if she'd been given enough time. The memory was so intense that Riley could almost feel the mug of coffee in her hands and smell the heady scent of the roses. Her mother may have had a way with plants but her singing could scare away even the bravest of people, it had never scared Riley or her father away though. It had been their joke that her mother was tone deaf but they were going to go deaf after years of listening to her.

Riley hadn't realized her fingers were pressed against the glass of the building until the memory full of color and love faded away and she was left with the brownness of the plants surrounding her. She dropped her hand away before the tears burning her eyes could fall. Turning away from the garden, she stepped out of the greenhouse and back into the room with all the pots and pans.

Leaning against one of the tables, she tapped her foot as she waited for the others to join her. Xander stepped beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist; she went willingly into his arms and rested her head against his chest. Inhaling deeply, she took in the scent of sweat, dirt, and earth that clung to him. Just a short time ago it wouldn't have been a pleasant scent, but right now she thought it was the best one in the world.

"I love you," she whispered.

His hands tightened on her arms, his breath tickled her ear as his lips brushed against her skin. "I love you too."

Her fingers curled into his back before she took a step away from him and examined the room again. Xander's hand slid into hers as he walked with her through the kitchen, dining room, and into the main hallway once more. She released his hand as he approached the door tucked against the side of the staircase. He opened the door and peered inside the closet before closing it again.

Riley adjusted her hold on her gun and kept her back against the railing as they made their way cautiously up the stairs to the second floor. Xander stayed in front of her while Al and Bobby brought up the rear.

The sun was sinking lower in the sky when they stepped off the stairs and into the hallway that ran the length of the second floor. Three of the seven doors were open and across the way she could see a bubblegum colored bathroom that made her nose wrinkle. The woman may have been a successful baker but she'd had
no
taste in colors.

Xander nudged the door open with the toe of his shoe; it didn't get any better when the nearly neon pink shower curtain, and watermelon colored toilet seat cover, were exposed. "Dear Lord," Bobby muttered and shook his head. "I don't want to know what this woman's bedroom looks like."

Riley wholeheartedly agreed as she turned away from the room and looked up and down the hall. She moved onto the next room and pushed the door open. The walls of the room beyond were lined with mirrors that reflected the exercise bike, elliptical machine, yoga mat, and weights lined against the back wall.

"Wow," Al said in a low whisper.

That about summed it up, Riley decided as she closed the door. Bobby stopped in front of the next room; it was the first closed door that they had come across. He took hold of the knob and pushed the door open. At first Riley thought the room had been painted robin's egg blue and then splashed with red and black paint, and then the smell hit her. She took a step back as her gag reflex kicked in.

Her brain was still trying to process what it was that she was seeing, when something burst from the room with a shrieking sound that could have shattered glass. Riley already had her gun raised but she didn't have time to pull the trigger before the screeching thing slammed into her and knocked her into the railing. Shouts filled the hall but Riley barely heard them as she battled to keep the woman that had been hiding somewhere in the room off of her. Fetid breath washed over her as hands slapped and tore at her. Fingers curled into her hair, her scalp screamed in protest as strands of her hair were torn free.

The banister pressed against her back, she was nearly bent over it as the woman continued to beat at her. Riley caught a glimpse of the floor of the main hall beneath her, panic slammed into her at the thought of plummeting to the hardwood floor below. The woman's screaming abruptly cut off as her fingers curled into the flesh of Riley's upper arms. The noises coming from the woman made Riley think of apes in the zoo and she suddenly understood the theory of evolution in a whole new way.

The woman's face was covered in blood but Riley didn't think any of it was actually the woman's as her teeth snapped with a loud clacking that caused Riley to wince. She was certain the woman's teeth were going to shatter from the force of her biting. Terror caused her to fight the woman with more strength than she'd thought she could possess, but even still, the muscles in her arms were beginning to protest having to hold the weight of the woman off.

It had probably only been seconds since the woman had burst from the room but it seemed an eternity had passed before a sickening thud resonated within the hall. The woman released a loud grunt, her eyes rolled back in her head before her weight eased from Riley and she slumped to the floor. Riley's eyes met Xander's, he was holding his gun by the barrel, the butt of it was covered in the woman's blood as he twisted it within his hand and slid it into the waistband of his jeans.

"Are you ok?" he demanded as he stepped over the woman and took hold of her brutalized arms.

"I'm fine," she murmured as she strived to catch her breath. His hazel eyes burned into hers as he leaned closer and examined her from under his curling, dark blonde lashes. "She didn't hurt me."

The muscles in his forearms and biceps flexed as he turned her hands over before him and examined the scratches and gashes on her arms. His thumb stroked briefly over her skin before he released her and took a step away. "Is she dead?" she asked as Xander knelt by the woman's side and pressed his fingers against her throat.

"Yes," he said flatly.

Kill or be killed
, she reminded herself as she looked down at the scratches marring her arms. Blood trickled down steadily and dripped from her fingertips onto the floor. It wouldn't be the last time any of them would kill; she knew that. She would be more upset if she stopped feeling any regret over it, she wouldn't be able to recognize the person she would be if that ever happened.

Xander rose and gently took hold of her hand. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"We should finish checking the rest of the house first. Where there's one..." Her voice trailed off, there was no reason to finish the sentence, they already knew.

Xander nodded but he took hold of her wrist as he turned back to the bedroom the woman had come from. She took a cautious step inside, but didn't make it far as the blood and bones littering the room were overwhelming. Her foot brushed against something that she assumed was a femur judging by the size of it. Her stomach was beginning to feel like she'd just ridden on the spinning teacups for two hours straight.

"She must have been bringing people back here," Bobby said as he took a couple of steps to the side.

Riley spotted three skulls in the corner, one of which was far too small for her liking. "I've seen enough," she said and left the room.

They went rapidly through the rest of the rooms but no one commented on the neon green bathroom or black bedroom. Riley had ceased to find any humor in the woman's color choices. Xander led her into the green bathroom and sat her on the toilet cover while Al and Bobby remained outside the door.

Xander opened and closed the medicine cabinet before bending down to look under the sink. He pulled out a bottle of peroxide and some bandages. "How does your leg feel?" she inquired.

He glanced up at her as he placed the peroxide on the sink. "Fine." Her gaze slid to the scratches on her arms as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "How are you?"

"Good. I'm good."

He dropped a couple of towels next to her and turned her arms over to pour some peroxide on the scratches. The bubbles fizzed as the liquid ran over her skin but it didn't sting. He wet a towel before wiping the blood and peroxide away.