Free The Dead Game by Susanne Leist Page A

told Gregg to keep everyone close together in one group?”
    Edging closer to Todd, Linda whispered, “Do you think that Gregg, Ryan, and Judy have something to do with this strange party?”
    Not bothering to answer her question, Todd just opened the door and walked in, leaving Linda and Shana alone in the empty hallway.
    Shana was annoyed. “What’s his problem? Does he think he’s too important to give us a straight answer?”
    “I’m sure Todd is as much in the dark as we are…he is just trying to keep us safe.”
    As Shana stalked through the doorway, she sharply responded over her shoulder, “I sure hope so.”
     
    They entered a dark and musty-smelling living room. The room was softly lit by the orange glow radiating from the fire in the wide brick fireplace on the far wall. Two old, shabby couches faced one another in front of the fire. The only other furniture in the room consisted of two empty end tables. The wallpaper had a greenish color, and was peeling off in many spots.
    As they quietly stood before the fire, the intense heat began spreading toward them. It felt much hotter than the heat coming from the fire alone, Shana bleakly thought—and that couldn’t mean anything good for them.
    Spotting a dark substance dripping down the walls, she quickly grabbed hold of Todd’s arm while pointing. “Something is trickling down the walls!”
    Todd walked over to the wall to the right of the fireplace. He touched the wall and then checked his finger. “It’s just blood,” he remarked.
    “What do you mean ‘just blood’? How could that be unimportant? If there’s blood, then there could be dead bodies of animals…or even people!” cried out a frantic Shana. At times she couldn’t believe how callous and unaffected Todd could be about the people around him.
    The flames began to sputter, shooting bright sparks of orange and yellow puffs of fire at them. As the flames grew taller and fuller, harrowing sounds began to echo from inside the fireplace. In horror, they watched as body parts dropped down from the chimney. They sizzled and burned in the intense flames, splattering blood across the fireplace walls. Severed arms and legs—even sliced-off fingers and toes—flew down the chimney. Bloody limbs flew out from the fireplace, landing at their feet on the dark- green carpet.
    Shana felt like she was losing her mind. She had to get out of this place. Blood and body parts were flying around the room and no one was doing anything. They were all standing there like idiots—frozen in place. And what was happening to the others in the basement? Were they experiencing similar horrors? Were these body parts actually from their friends?
    “Look! There’s a new door next to the fireplace! Come on! Hurry! Let’s use it to get out of here!” Grabbing hold of their hands, Todd safely pulled them out of the room.
    “I didn’t see a door there a second ago! Did it just materialize, or am I going crazy? Is this a hallucination, or is this really happening to us?” Linda shrilled loudly.
    “We’re all seeing and experiencing the same exact things,” responded Todd. “Someone is playing a cruel joke on us. Once we discover who that person is, I’ll personally make sure that he won’t be able to play tricks on anyone—ever again! But for now…let’s just finish this game to the end and then deal with the culprit once it’s over.”
    Yeah, life should be so easy. Shana knew that this battle was never going to be finished. Whoever was doing this wasn’t going to give up so easily. Spirits or demons—or whoever was responsible—weren’t easily vanquished with water like the Wicked Witch in  The Wizard of Oz. Spirits who rose with vengeance in their hearts usually rose with carefully laid out plans that involved other spirits…with their own explosive baggage. She’d had too many bad experiences with spirits…and the witches who have awakened them for the wrong reasons. Too much was happening here