House of Memories ☠️

Part five of Dead End! Hope you enjoy!

She hops down. “I’m Erica. I’ll be taking you to the Glean.”

She has wavy black hair that goes to her shoulders, and light skin.

Chase speaks first. “We can teleport there?”

“No.” She snorts. “We’ll have to take the forbidden path.”

I can’t tell if she’s joking. She looks serious. Neither of us say anything. 

“Well, come on.” She says. She pulls what looks like a crystal out of her cloak, and puts it on the ground in front of us. After a second, it glows, then there’s a huge CRACK, and black smoke rises from it. It swirls around until it makes a door.

Erica walks over, and pulls it open. I can’t see anything.

“You two have your powers, right?” She asks. I shake my head, and Chase nods. She sighs, and turns to me. “There are lots of illusions on this path. Hold on to him so you stay on, alright? I’ll get expelled if I lose another student.”

On that note, she walks through the door, holding another glowing crystal. “Come on, we don’t have all day!”

“Here.” Chase says, holding out a hand. 

I swallow, and take it. “You won’t let go, right?”

“Of course not.” He promises. “C’mon.”

He steps through the door, pulling me with him. I still can’t see, but we’re standing on something solid I assume is the path Erica was talking about. I see the glow of the crystal, though. 

“Follow me!” Erica calls.

We walk carefully, our fingers twisted together. Shadows seem to leer at me, which is terrifying, but I don’t say anything.

“Are you okay?” Chase whispers. 

I nod, but remember he can’t see me, and say, “Yeah.”

“Not trying to call you a liar or anything, but I’m getting a lot of fear from you.” 

Oh, right, he’s got empathy. “This is just...freaking me out.”

“It’s alright.” He says, squeezing my hand. 

We walk a little farther, following the glow. Then Erica calls, “We’re reaching the illusions!”

“You okay?” He asks.

“Yeah.” I lie.

“Are you sure? Cause you feel terrified.” 

“Can you blame me?” I whisper. “What type of illusions will there be, anyway?”

“Mostly things you’re afraid of.” Erica says.

I swallow. “Great.”

“You aren’t helping.” Chase tells her.

I shake my head. “I’m fine.”

“You realize you can’t lie to an empath, right?” He squeezes my hand. “I can tell everything you’re feeling.”

I think about pulling away, but decide against it. “What are you feeling?”

“I’m worried about you, I’m glad I got away from my dad, and I guess I’m a little scared.”

“There’s definitely something else.” Erica calls. 

“How can you even tell?”

“Some Gleaners learn how to feel emotions without having to touch a person.” She tells him. 

“Seriously?” He says. “What else do you learn?”

She starts telling him about Gleaners, but I’m not paying attention. There’s something above us. It looks like a giant face. I glance behind me, and see another one. I’m about to say something, but Chase is gone. I’m not even on the path anymore. I’m at my old house, in my bedroom.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I hate it here. This is why I ran away. 

The door slams open behind me, and I spin around. It’s my mom. 

I look nothing like her or my dad, or any of my siblings. They all have straight blond hair and brown eyes. None of my family members have ever really liked me. Again, this is why I ran away.

“You were supposed to clean the kitchen!” She yells. “My sister is supposed to be here in an hour, and you’re just standing around here! Go clean! Now!”

I rush out into the hallway, then down the stairs. My older sister is on the phone, and sticks her leg out as I run past. I smack my face against the ground, but pick myself up, and keep going, rubbing my throbbing cheek.

My older brothers are tossing a football in the living room, and one of them chucks it at me. I wince when it hits my side, but keep going. I’ll get in even more trouble if I don’t clean.

My other older sister shoves a heavy bag in my hands. “Take that to my room.”

“I can’t, I have to-” 

“I don’t care, I need that in my room.”

I grit my teeth, and put it on the counter. I’ll do that in a minute. I grab the broom from the closet, and start sweeping. But I’ve barely started, when my dad comes in.

“This room was supposed to be clean an hour ago!” He bellows. 

I back away as he sticks a finger in my face. “You should be cleaning!” 

“I know, I’m trying-”

“Quiet!”

The rest of my family comes in, and they all start yelling at me.

“Go clean my room!”

“Go take out the trash!”

“Go clean something!”

“Stupid!” 

“Worthless!”

“No one wants you here, anyway!”

"Why don't you just go?"

I close my eyes, trying not to cry. 

“Ari?”

Chase? I open my eyes. It’s dark. I’m back on the forbidden path. None of that was real. I'm okay. I'm okay.

I stop walking, trying to catch my breath. 

“Ari, are you okay?”

I nod, closing my eyes. “I’m fine.”

“You definitely aren’t.” He says. “What happened?”

I don’t say anything. That felt so real. That was terrifying. 

“Ari.”

“I’m fine.”

“No you aren’t.”

“I know.”

“Keep walking!” Erica calls. “We’re almost there!”

I take a deep breath, then start walking, holding on tight to Chase’s hand. “Sorry, just...the illusions.”

Chase starts telling me about what he did at the school for Reapers, and it’s an excellent distraction. When Erica says, “We’re here,” I’m tempted to give him a hug. Instead, I just walk through the portal.

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