I'm a total Twi-whore...I eat it, breathe it, sleep it, write it so when I caught wind that there was a Halloween challenge I jumped on it like a fat kid on cake...hmm I'm a fat kid and I could really go for some cake...but anyways..I was battling a wicked case of writers block (among other things) and started wrting this...Jenn applied her nazi-esque editing skills and even wrote some Leah/Embry sexiness..lol..Jenn I could eat you up I love you so...so yeah...
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Title: Decerpo
by: Nikki & Jenn
Summary: Six go into the supposed haunted Cullen house on Halloween, is the place really haunted, or are the stories just that – stories. What lurks in the shadows of the old house, and will they make it out alive?
Rating: M
Submitted for Haunted Twilight Challenge
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Bella
The great white house sat in the middle of the field. What a house was doing in the middle of the field was beyond me. Everyone said it was abandoned, had been for over fifty years. The family who had originally lived in it, well, every one said that there was something very different about them.
Jake and I stood staring up at the great house. Embry elbowed Jake in the ribs. “Come on man, what are we waiting for, let’s go. Unless you’re too scared.”
I swatted Embry’s arm, Leah smacked the back of his head. “Knock it off dipshit,” we said in unison, then laughed.
Sam and Emily stood to my right. The six of us stared at the house. This was a stupid dare, we all knew that. This house was off limits for a reason. I turned to Jake. “Maybe we should leave; I have a bad feeling about this.”
Emily giggled. “Aw you guys hear that, Bella has a bad feeling,” she said in a baby voice.
Leah shot her a nasty look. She grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. “Come on Bella, it’s just an old house. What could possibly go wrong?”
Famous last words. Anytime someone said “what could possibly go wrong” things always went wrong; very wrong.
Jake took my hand. “Come on babe, we’ll just go in for a little while. If you’re still freaked we’ll leave; I promise.”
I sighed. “Fine, but this is really stupid. We’re going into a house where who knows how many unspeakable things happened, on Halloween and it’s a full moon. Shit, where are the black cats and broken mirrors?”
Emily snickered. “You’re such a baby.” She flicked her long mane of glossy black hair over her shoulder and marched up the steps of the looming home. Sam, Embry and Leah followed. They stood on the porch waiting for me and Jake.
A cloud washed over the moon, exhausting the iridescent glow. The field, the house, the surrounding woods were all bathed in darkness. A flickering light on the second floor caught my attention and I flicked my eyes to the unidentifiable sight.
“There’s someone in there,” I hissed, backing away from the house. Panic and fear’s icy fingers clutched my heart making it hard to breathe. Jake was at my side in a second.
“Come on,” he said, disappointment coloring his tone. “I’ll take you home.”
On the porch, the boys were laughing and snickering at Jake’s wimpy girlfriend. Leah looked at me sadly.
“No,” I said firmly, yanking my arm out of his grasp. Mustering my courage, what little there was of it, I squared my shoulders. “No, let’s go.”
I pushed the fear and worry aside. The thing, animal, whatever you wanted to call it, that killed my mother was dead and gone. It had been twelve Halloween’s, I needed to get the hell over it already. I took a deep breath, grasped Jake’s hand and together we joined our friends on the porch. Sam chuckled wickedly and gazed at the five of us. “You pussy’s ready?” He firmly grasped the door knob and turned it. The door swung inward with an ominous groan. I glanced at Jake. He squeezed my hand as we followed the others into the house.
The door slammed shut behind me. The windows in the living room rattled as the door connected with the frame. I jumped.
Sam and Embry laughed and trudged into the house, looking around. “Dude this place is a fucking wreck,” Sam snickered.
“You know what they say happened here right?” Embry asked, looking around at the group.
We all shook our heads. Of course growing up in Forks we’d all heard the stories. The old Cullen place was the scene of a mass murder that shook the town to the core. In the late 1800’s old man Cullen came home from the war to find his missus shacked up with another man. Cullen went berserk and murdered his wife, her lover and the children; all four of them, then committed suicide.
I shuddered. It was a horrible story, passed down from generation to generation. I wasn’t sure if I believed it or not; I honestly believed it was a ruse to keep kids from trekking out here and getting drunk and screwing around on nights like this.
Another part of me thought it was possible, old man Cullen killing his wife and children in a fit of jealous rage. Sure, why not? People killed for a lot less these days.
Leah danced up to me. “Spooky isn’t it?”
I stared at her. “Why are we here? We could be back at my house, snuggled safely on the couch watching Michael Meyers butcher all of Jaime Lee Curtis’ friends instead of being here.”
Leah snorted. “Bella relax. You need to learn to have a little fun for Christ’s sake. Now come on. My boyfriend, and yours, are waiting to get us slobbering drunk so they can do wicked things to our young, virgin bodies.” She grinned. “And aren’t you supposed to do wicked things on Halloween?”
I rolled my eyes. “Whore,” I muttered.
We crossed the dirty foyer, following the sounds of the others voices. The disintegrating paint had flaked off the walls and collected in little piles scattered across the floor. Garbage, leaves and years of God only knew what littered the floor, crunching as Leah and I stepped on it.
We found the others were in the living room. The previous owners had left their couch in the hasty retreat. It sat at an odd angle in the middle of the living room. Sam threw himself onto it. Dust and moths floated up from the cushions. The audible sound of a can of beer being opened cut through the still air.
Leah grabbed Embry’s arm. “Come on,” she said dragging him toward the foyer. “Let’s go see if we can rustle up some ghosts or ghoulies.”
Embry snickered, grabbing a handful of Leah’s ass. “Let’s go then.”
She squealed and scampered out of the room. Their footsteps echoed off the empty walls as they climbed the stairs.
“And then there were four,” I whispered.
Emily stood at the window and looked out over the moonlit lawn. “There’s someone out there,” she gasped.
I rushed to the window, gazing out at the yard. I didn’t see anyone. “Emily, there’s no one there.”
“Yes, look at the trees. There’s someone in the woods.”
My eyes scanned the trees at the edge of the property. The night was still. “I don’t see anyone,” I said softly.
“Of course you don’t,” she muttered and walked away. “Sam, let’s go find someplace a little less…crowded,” she suggested.
Sam scowled. “Not right now, Em. Here have a beer.” He held out a blue and silver can, earning him a glare. “Forget it,” she huffed, stalking out of the living room.
From his position by the fireplace, Jake snickered. Above my head Leah and Embry’s footsteps skittered across the floor. What the hell were they up there doing?
“I’m gonna go look around, I guess,” I mumbled, stepping across the room and reaching for the flashlight Jake offered. “Thank you.”
Clicking it on, I wandered into the hall. The house was still fully furnished. They weren’t kidding when they said the previous owners left in a hurry.
There was talk of the place being haunted, that something here just wasn’t right. I never believed the stories. Just because something horrible happened here over a century ago didn’t mean the house was haunted. Did it?
Hearing movement toward the back of the house I headed that way. “Emily?” I called softly.
Footsteps shuffled across the floor, quickly hurrying away from me. “Emily is that you? It’s not funny if it is.”
Breathe; I told myself, she’s trying to scare you.
Yeah, well its working, my subconscious retorted.
I stopped in front of the door at the end of the hall and peered in the dirty circular window. No light was on in the kitchen, and of course I couldn’t see a thing. I knew she was in there; there were no other doors down here, nowhere for her to go.
I took a deep breath, then another. In my chest, my heart was racing. Between my rushing blood and the deafening silence I could hardly hear myself think.
“Emily?” I called again. I tucked the flashlight into my jeans pocket then wiped my sweaty hands on my pants.
Okay, here goes nothing, I thought. I reached into my pocket, grabbing the cool metal of the flashlight. Clicking it on, I took a deep breath and reached out. My fingers connected with the rough wood of the kitchen door. My whole body shaking, I pushed it open. Aiming the beam of the flashlight into the large room, I swept it over the counters and shined it into the darkest corners of the kitchen.
There was no one in the room save for the spiders whose stringy cobwebs hung in the corners. Crossing the threshold, something grabbed my hair.
I screamed, fighting against whatever had a hold of my hair. My hands touched something cold and furry. I screamed again. “Oh my god, what the fuck! Oh my God!”
Feet pounded against the oak floor. “Bella? Bella where are you? What’s wrong?” Jake burst into the kitchen and laughed.
“What are you laughing at? What the hell is in my hair?” I screamed, swatting at whatever was in my hair.
“Bella calm down, it’s a bat-“
“A bat? A freaking bat?! Get it the hell out of my hair! Oh god Jake, please, God, get it out of my hair!”
I smacked at the freak of nature tangled in my long brunette tresses. I shrieked as the god damn thing bit me.
“It fucking bit me!” I screamed. Sam leaned against the doorframe laughing his ass off. “It’s not fucking funny!” I yelled.
Jake grabbed my hands. “Stop hitting it,” he commanded, pressing my hands to my sides. “Now relax and let me get it out of your hair.”
The tugging immediately stopped. Jake murmured to the creature as he untangled its wings from my hair.
“There,” he said stepping back. The bat wiggled in his massive hands.
“Oh my god, get rid of it.” I backed away from him and the bat. It opened its mouth and shot me a batty grin. I shuddered and backed right into the low counter.
Jake carried the bat to the window above the sink. The glass was broken, jagged chucks still clung to the edge of the frame. Carefully sticking his arms through the gaping hole, he released the bat into the inky darkness.
“There you go, Sweetie. Totally bat free now.”
I leaned into Jake’s chest breathing a huge sigh of relief. “Can we leave now? Please?” I pleaded.
He rubbed my back, the nodded with a disappointed sigh. “I guess so. Come on; let’s go tell Sam we’re leaving.”
Breathing another sigh of relief I followed him out of the kitchen and down the hall. Sam met us at the doorway to the living room.
“Have you guys seen Emily?” he asked taking a long swallow of his beer.
Jake looked at me; I shrugged. “No, we haven’t seen her.”
“I did hear a noise in the kitchen. I thought it was Emily but when I went in there only thing there was a bat.” I picked at the hem of my shirt.
Sam rolled his eyes. “Guess I better go check upstairs.”
Sam headed for the stairs. His hand trailing along the banister; the stairs groaned under his weight “Emily?”
Silence answered. From the top of the hall, Leah giggled. Sam muttered under his breath.
“Sam?” Jake called.
Sam turned and glanced down at the two of us.
“Want us to help you look?”
Leah
This house was super creepy. I mean really, really creepy. Not to mention the fact that whoever lived here before left all their furniture. Embry grabbed my hand and lead me into a room at the end of the hall.
“Em, this is creepy,” I said as we crept down the hall.
Embry glanced over his shoulder, grinning at me. “Aw baby, it’s not that creepy. Just close your eyes and pretend we’re somewhere else.”
“Kinda hard to do that while listening to mice race through the walls,” I muttered.
Embry’s thumb traced circles on my hand as he pushed open the door at the end of the hall. We walked into the room. I looked around. “Ooh Swanky,” I muttered.
Gold carpet covered the floor. Long bookshelves of dark wood ran along one side of the room; directly across from us was a wall made entirely of glass. In the back corner of the room was an abnormally long black leather sofa. I giggled as Embry pulled me toward it.
“See, this isn’t so bad, now is it?” he murmured pulling me down to the sofa.
I fell on top of him, my lips pressed against his. Embry sighed, running his hands under my shirt.
Haunted house, my ass, the three of them- Jake, Embry and Sam all brought us here just to scare us into giving it up. Stupid Embry though, we could have just stayed at home and I still would have given it up.
Embry rolled over, pressing me down into the soft leather of the sofa cushions.
I arched up toward him, wrapping my leg around his hip. A low moan rumbled through his chest as I nipped at his neck. Giggling softly I tugged his shirt off and let it fall to the floor.
“Tease.” His eyes were dark with hunger, and I could feel him pressed against me. I giggled, pulling his lips back to mine. Our tongues danced as our heart rates soared.
“Embry,” I whispered, his lips trailing fire down my neck. I smiled as his lips trailed further down. I guess I could check sex in a creepy old house off my list.
“Shit!” We cried out in unison as the door creaked open. I screamed as a shadow filled the doorway.
“Emily?” Sam called.
“Jesus, Sam!” Embry chuckled.
“Nobody here but us horny teenagers,” I called, albeit a little breathlessly.
Bella giggled. “Have you guys seen Emily?” she asked.
“Nope, we were slightly occupied,” I replied.
“Me either,” Embry chimed.
Sam muttered under his breath. I looked up at Embry. “We should probably help find her,” I suggested.
Embry rolled his eyes. “She probably left, ran back home to La Push.”
I smacked his bare chest. “She might have, but we’re supposed to be her friends. If she’s missing we need to help look for her.” I pushed myself up off the floor and hurried across the room.
Embry slapped my ass as he sauntered by, tee-shirt in hand. I yelped and danced out of his reach.
I went into the hall; Bella and Jake were at the opposite end calling for Emily. The beams of their flashlights bounced around the room. I hurried in their direction. “Did you guys find her?”
Bella shook her head. “No. I think she might’ve left.”
The five of us stood in the hallway. “Sam,” Jake said, “We’ve looked everywhere. She’s not here.”
Sam nodded to a door in the middle of the hallway. “We haven’t looked there yet.”
We all turned to glance at the door. “What is it?” I asked. “Where’s it go?”
Sam shrugged. “One way to find out.”
“No, HELL no!” Bella shrieked. “I’m not fucking going up there.”
I grabbed Bella’s arm, dragging her towards me. “Relax,” I commanded, wrapping my arms around her. “No one’s gonna make you go up there. Are they?” I stared at Jake, Embry and Sam. All three shook their heads no.
“Give me a flashlight.” I held out my hand and took the flashlight Jake offered. “Now Bella and I are going to go downstairs to wait for you guys and wait for Emily. If she’s not up there, then when you come back down we’re leaving.”
The boys all nodded. I clicked on the flashlight. Bella and I made our way down the rickety stairs. “Do you think Emily’s okay?” Bella asked in a soft voice.
I nodded. “I do. I bet you anything her pansy ass bounced hours ago. Why were you screaming earlier?”
Bella snorted. “A bat.”
“A bat?”
Bella nodded. “Yeah. I went into the kitchen; I heard a noise, and a bat flew into my hair. It got tangled, Jake had to come and set it free.”
I snickered. “A bat was trying to get freaky with you. How funny is that?”
“It's not funny,” Bella whined.
I thought I saw something move in the darkness; something moving across the front lawn as we walked into the living room. I raced to the window.
I glanced out over the moon washed yard, nothing moved. The shadow was gone.
“What’s wrong?” Bella asked. “What did you see?”
“Nothing,” I said softly. “There’s nothing there.”
Bella
I walked away from the window and threw myself down on the couch. “I want to go ho-” A loud creak from the second floor made me stop. “What was that?” I asked, bolting up.
Leah was standing at the window, her caramel eyes wide with fear. “Upstairs,” she said softly.
“Yeah, I heard that. What do we do?”
Leah shrugged. “Stay here. You’ve seen those damn horror movies. Every time one of those bimbos hears a noise, she goes rushing off to see what it is and then –bam! She dies. And frankly, Bells, I’m too young, not to mention hot, to die.”
I snorted. “Yeah you got a point. I don’t want to die either.” I lay back down and stared at the ceiling.
Above me, something scurried across the floor. I sat back up and glanced at Leah, who was staring at the ceiling.
“There’s someone up there isn’t there? That sounded like footsteps.”
I nodded eyes wide. There had to be a logical explanation, there just had to be. There was no such thing as ghosts or monsters, or things that went bump in the night. Heavy footsteps echoed down from above once more. “It’s probably the guys, coming down from the attic, you know.”
“Yeah, the guys,” Leah echoed.
“I’m gonna go see,” I announced.
Leah swallowed hard, the indiscernible noise travelled across the living room. “Bella,” she breathed. “That is such a bad idea.”
I shrugged. “I have to know.”
Leah sighed. “Fine,” she huffed. “I’m coming with you.”
Together the two of us crept toward the foyer where the main stair case lay, dark and shrouded in cobwebs, waiting. The space at the top of the stair gaped like the mouth of hell waiting to swallow us up.
“Bells, I really don’t think we should go up there,” Leah whined.
“So stay down here. Emily is still missing and I’m betting it’s just the guys up there trying to scare us.”
To the left, something moved in the darkness.
“What was that?” Leah gasped clutching my arm, her acrylic nails biting into my arm.
I shone the flashlight into the dark room. The white slips on the dining room chairs swayed, their shadows doing this strange wavy, almost hypnotic dance.
“Lee, there’s no one in there. We’re freaking ourselves out.”
Prying her nails out of my arm, I turned the flashlight back to the stairs. The beam didn’t make it to the top of the large staircase. Above us, something wet slid across the floor.
Leah whimpered. “Tell me that was my imagination,” she cried.
I shivered. I heard it, clear as day. It sounded like someone was dragging a wet pillowcase across the floor.
“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck.” I shivered as the wet sound slid across the floor again, closer to the top of the staircase.
Leah and I had begun backing up; we bumped into the front door. We both screamed, grabbing onto each other. I dropped the flashlight. It clattered loudly to the floor; the beam blinked once, then shut off. The foyer was shrouded in darkness.
At the top of the stairs a floorboard creaked. Something, large and pale flew through the darkness. It hit the stairs with a loud, thump, thump, thump.
“OH MY FUCKING GOD!” Leah screamed as the ghostly white body of Emily landed at our feet.
“What the fucking hell?!” I screamed, trying to back away from Emily’s mutilated body.
The door was still behind me. Leah turned and furiously clawed at the door knob. “Open you bastard. Open right fucking now,” she whimpered.
I pushed her out of way and fumbled with the doorknob. It wouldn’t budge. The knob wouldn’t even wiggle. It was like something had a hold of it from the outside. Beside me, Leah was whimpering, tears were streaming down her face, their shiny tracks leaving streaks in her makeup.
“We need to hide.” I grabbed Leah’s arm, dragging her toward the dining room.
“What’s the point? Whoever, whatever, killed Emily will find us and kill us too,” Leah sobbed.
I released her arm. Looking at her I said adamantly, “That doesn’t mean we have to sit there and wait for it to come for us.” I dropped to my knees and peered under the table. Sam’s decapitated head stared back at me, his eyes wide and horrified.
I dropped the white cloth and backed away. “We need to find someplace else to hide,” I said trying to hide the tremor in my voice. “The first place anyone would look is under the table.”
“O-o-okay,” Leah stammered.
Clinging to one another, we crept back to the main hall. Where the hell do you hide when you’re hiding from a monster that already killed two, and possibly more, of your friends?
We had to find Jake and Embry. I hoped they were still alive. Had to believe they were. Taking a deep breath I looked at Leah. “We’re going upstairs. We have to find Jake and Embry and the last place they were was upstairs.”
As quietly as we could, we climbed the stairs. On the landing I looked up to make sure no one was waiting to kill us. I couldn’t see shit in the dark. Who the hell knew what was waiting at the top.
“Come on.” I grabbed Leah’s arm and climbed the rest of the stairs.
“Jake? Embry?” I called softly.
There was no answer. Beside me, Leah stood trembling. “They’re dead,” she mumbled. “We’re all dead; we just don’t know it yet.”
“Shut up Leah.”
“Face it Bells, we’re dead. Whatever killed Emily, probably killed the guys and it’s gonna kills us too.”
“No, Leah. It’s not gonna get us. We’re gonna get out of this. We just need to find Jake and Embry.” We shuffled toward the attic door. The door was ajar, light shone down from the top, dust motes danced in the beam.
“What about Sam? You keep saying Jake and Embry. We gotta find Sam too.”
I swallowed hard as my foot connected with the first step. “Sam’s dead.”
“What?!” Leah gasped.
“He was under the table,” I sobbed.
“Oh my god,” Leah cried, “We’re really gonna die.”
We ascended the stairs. I grabbed the flashlight off the floor, gripping it tightly. It was sticky, the coppery scent of blood hung in the air. My stomach clenched, I felt ill. I took a deep breath in hopes it would clear my head but it only served to make me feel even sicker. I knew Jake and Embry were dead. I knew in that second that neither Leah nor I were getting out of that house alive.
My heart banged against my ribs painfully; my vision swam, grew blurry. I blinked away the tears. No, I thought, I am not dying in this house.
“Come on Leah,” I said reaching for her. My hand closed over empty air. “Leah?”
I turned around to look for her, but she was gone. “Leah? Jesus fucking Christ, Leah, it’s not funny. You better not be fucking with me.”
Across the attic, something in the darkness growled. I shrieked, my foot slipped, skidded across the pool of blood, then the floor fell out from under me. My head hit something hard, gravity pulled me forward, and I tumbled down the stairs; the darkness swirling around me in a dizzying fashion. I landed on the second floor, inertia kept me going. I came crashing to a stop as my limp body flew into a door directly across from the attic. I hit the door and bounced back. They swung open, Jake’s pale, lifeless body collapsing to the floor.
Tears filled my eyes, disbelief and denial flooding me. “No,” I whimpered, “No, no. Jake, oh no. Jake, no.”
Ignoring my aching body, I pulled myself toward him. His eyes, exactly like Sam’s, were wide with fear and lifeless. The light that his eyes held had been extinguished. I cradled his head in my lap, running my fingers down his cheek.
Tears fell from my eyes, raining down on Jake’s lifeless face. “Oh god, how could this happen?” I sobbed.
“Bella!” Leah’s frightened voice screamed. She stumbled down the hall. Unable to get her footing, she stumbled into the wall, clinging to the antediluvian wallpaper. Giant pieces fell off the wall as she clawed at it. “Run, Bella, run now!” she rasped.
Scrambling to my feet I rushed to Leah’s side. There was a large, circular wound in her neck as if an animal had taken a bite of her. Blood dripped down the front of shirt; her skin was waxen, her breathing shallow. I knew she didn’t have long to live.
“Come on,” I said pulling her arm over my shoulder. “We’re getting out of here, even if we have to bust the windows and jump.”
Supporting her weight, we made it to the landing.
“Bella,” she gasped. “Leave me.”
I shifted her weight and looked at her. “No,” I said stubbornly. “I’m not leaving you. We’re not gonna die in this damn hell house.”
She attempted to grab my arm. “Too late, love you.” she breathed.
Leah’s body went limp in my arms. “Lee?” I shook her. “Leah, open your eyes. Damnit open your eyes!”
I shook her again; her arms flopped, trembled once more then settled motionlessly by her side. As much as I hated to do it, I set her down on the landing and hurried toward the living room. The windows. My only hope was the window. A shadowy figured stood in the doorway. I gasped and back peddling.
“Going somewhere, love?” a wispy voice asked.
My heart leapt into my throat. I felt like I was suffocating. Spinning around, I rushed toward the dining room. A much larger, much more intimidating figure lurked there.
“I’d watch where I was stepping,” a voice rumbled, “I’m so very thirsty.”
I jumped, my back slammed against the banister. Cold fingers brushed my cheek. “I can smell your fear,” a musical whispered in my ear. “It’s delicious.”
I wheeled around; staring into the most beautiful face I’d ever seen. This boy, man – creature was inhumanly beautiful, with the flat black eyes of a monster. I backed away from him and the other two shadows that lurked in the doorways.
The other two maintained their position in the doorways as the boy from the stairs gracefully jumped over the banister. He landed before me without a sound. My whole body shook as his gaze travelled up and down the length of my body.
“What the fuck are you,” I spat.
The boy smiled, the other two chuckling wickedly. “Hungry,” he murmured coming towards me; his pink tongue flicked out, running along his lips. I stood there, too afraid to move.
"It’s okay," he murmured, his voice melodic, like that of a lullaby. "You don't have to be afraid."
Behind him, the large, burly shadow chuckled. My eyes darted to him, my pulse racing.
"Ignore him," the beautiful one commanded, tapping my cheek with icy fingers.
I nodded my head stupidly. "Okay," I breathed.
White hands flashed, grabbing me, dragging me towards him. His frozen lips were on my neck. Teeth tore at the delicate flesh; a burning sensation washed over me.
I screamed. The pain became too much. Everything faded to black.
The End
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Decerpo is Latin, meaning to pluck off / to gather, take away
oh & Stephenie Meyer might own the character's but the story idea is all mine (& Jenn's) so..
Copyright 2009 by Elizabeth James & J.E. Demeter as Common Law Literary Property.
Freakin' love it!!!
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