Commi," I growled. "It was you?!"
"Surprise, surprise," she laughed, grinning and twirling a knife in her hand. "I was hoping you would investigate. Of course, you did. Now... I can continue killing. I think I'll start with you." She threw the knife and I ducked, just in time. The blade landed right where my head would have been. Commi laughed.
"Good, good. A fight for your life. It won't last long, I'm afraid, but I always welcome an attempt," she said, and flicked her fingers. I ducked again, and the knife flew over my head and into her hand. I darted for the exit, Salem at my heels. Just as I reached the doors, though, they slammed shut. I tugged at the handles, but they were locked. Commi cackled.
"Let's play a little game of Hide and Seek, shall we? If I find you, I'll kill you. But if you survive for... say, one week, I'll let you free."
"Let's not!" Salem yowled, and ran for cover. Before I knew it, he was gone. I ran up the stairs and hid in a closet in a neglected bedroom. I looked down at the pendent, which I had forgotten about until now. The fire opal glowed too brightly for my preference. I yanked at the chain, but it persisted. I tried to find a lock, but there was none.
After a few minutes of fumbling around in the near darkness, I gave up and peered at the opal. The reds waved, the oranges flicked, and the yellows burned. If I looked closely, I could see purples, blues, and greens hiding in the center. I could get lost in there, forget everything...
No. It was enchanted, or something like that. It was drawing me in. I searched around and found a hammer. What is a hammer doing... never mind.
I smashed it. As soon as I did, I heard Commi scream.
"Sam! I know you smashed that pendant! Your punishment is to spend two more weeks playing Hide and Seek!" I shivered. Three weeks in the Mad House? More like three weeks in Hell. It wasn't happening.
I poked my head out of the closet carefully and saw no one. I crept towards the window above the bed. I slowly climbed onto the purple bedding and felt something... soft. I pulled the covers back and saw a rotting girl. I fought back a gag, a scream, and the bile rising in my throat. I slowly covered the girl back up and tried my best to ignore the fact that I was laying on a corpse.
I fumbled with the latch, prying it in my direction. No luck. I guess the windows were locked to. I could use the hammer I found in the closet to smash the window, but that would be really loud and Commi would know instantly where I was.
Instead, I got off the dead girl and kneeled over on the floor, locking my hands together as if I was about to pray.
"Please listen," I whispered. "Commi is after me. I know you don't want anyone else to die, so... help me, and I'll put your souls to rest." A whisper of voices ran through my head, arguing. As soon as I had one picked out, it was swept away and replaced with another. Before long, they quieted. Then, one voice spoke out. A girl, whose words made me sigh in relief.
"Deal."