#Homebound: The Escape

You were right.

“Are you okay?”

You struggle to open your eyes. The room spins as you try to move your head. With blurry eyes, you see the countenance of your partner.

Your throat is parched and words seem to be glued within.

“Water? Here. See, this is why they say – if you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail,” your partner helps you with the flask.

You can barely decipher their monologue but water feels good.

“Do you hear me? Here, take my hand…”

You strain your ears and try to focus.

“Get up. This mansion is beyond eerie. We must leave,” your partner is yelling now.

As your vision clears, you notice that there is a strange onlooker on the other side of the half-open window. His gnarled face and deep-set rat-like shiny eyes become less and less vague as you regain consciousness. You get startled and sit back down.

The man is still staring at you. Worse, he seems to have a weapon hidden behind the ledge of the window.

You scream in shock as you see him forcefully treading towards you and your partner.

“Look behind yourself!”

Your partner turns around and lets out a bizarre guffaw.

“Hahah, don’t worry! That’s David, the caretaker. He has been with our family for years now — Gramps also doesn’t remember since when! He looks after the mansion and lives in the outhouse. In fact, we should be thankful to him. Upon sensing that we were running about lost and hassled, David found us and brought us here to this escape door. Our car is parked outside. Let’s go home.”

Everything seems to have fallen in place now.

You hop into the car, roll the windows down, and thank luck for the good riddance.

As you get down to open the main gate for the car to pass, you notice a tiny tombstone on the side.

“David Pedro.

c.1845-1900”

You look back to find the David who had just saved your life only to find yourself staring into stark nothingness.