"Trevor," a meek voice whispered into the black void around me.

Every inch of my skin ached. I felt like a sheet of ice with hairline fractures all over the surface.

"Dinner's ready," the voice continued.

I peeled my eyelids opened, squinting instantly at the bright light I saw. A silhouette blocked out part of the light, shading my face. The figure's outline looked strangely familiar.

"Kara?" I asked in disbelief.

She was dead.

"Come on, Allison is waiting." Her cold fingers ran down my arm.

"Kara?" I repeated.

My eyes adjusted against the bright light, turning the blurry silhouette into the thin blonde I had known over the years. No evidence of the coaster's brutality lingered on her skin. She looked whole—unharmed. Pink smiling lips. Smooth pale skin. Beautiful hazel eyes.

"Trevor, are you alright? You look a little pale."

"How are you..." I trailed off, fumbling for words.

My hand shot up to the back of my head, expecting to contact tender skin and warm blood. Instead, my palm met hair.

"Are you feeling okay? You're starting to worry me." Kara's light eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"The clown and the coaster and—"

"Trevor, we made it out of the house three years ago. Don't you remember?"

Memories of Kara falling to her death played in my mind. The crack of her back hitting the track still echoed in my mind. The haunting feeling of her warm blood covering my skin still felt ever so present.

"No, you died, Kara. This is just another trick. All of this is just a trap to let my guard down."

She looked at me as if we already had this conversation several times before.

"You had that dream again, didn't you?" She placed her hand tentatively on my arm. I flinched back at the touch. Her fingers were ice. 

"It's not a dream. You aren't real. None of this is. I'm probably lying on the ground somewhere close to death."

"Trevor, we made it out. You caught me before I fell. You saved me."

"I won't fall for your illusions," I spat. My heart had hardened. Especially after the Allison fake-out.

"Try to remember, Trevor. You always have difficulties when you first wake up." She looked at me with her soft eyes.

As if a blindfold had been pulled off my eyes, her words seemed to trigger a flood of memories. My hand reaching out to meet hers as she fell. The coaster's cart busting through the roof of the house and sending us several feet down the gravel driveway. She rushed me to the hospital. Allison. Therapy. All of it came back in a fraction of a second.

"No, no, no," I whispered. In my chest, my heart picked up speed as the world closed in on me. Purple and black spots danced across my vision. My breath came out in quick huffs.

"We are done with that awful place. I've helped you get back on your feet, so has Allison."

"I—I can't trust it. It's not p—possible."

"Is he having trouble again?" Allison's voice called from the doorway.

Flicking my eyes up, I saw her gorgeous obsidian hair shining in the bright light. Her blue eyes sent a wave of calm over me.

"Yeah, he thinks this is all a trick again," Kara said, turning around to look at Allison.

"I hate that house. I was glad when they burned it to the ground." Allison walked over to me, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I've got it from here." She nodded to Kara.

"Of course. I'll finish setting the table."

Kara gave me a smile before departing the room.

Frozen lips met mine the second the door shut. Hands of equal temperature gripped the sides of my face. The cool sent a tranquility over me. Gone was the sensation of panic. Numbness had taken over.

The shock of her lips wore off, and I met them back with a hot fire. It felt real. The sensation of joy and love bubbling inside. I was home. Kara had survived. The house was now a pile of ash.

But doubt still nudged at the back of my brain.

I ignored it.

"It was a bad dream, baby." Her breath felt like a wicked winter wind against my skin, forming goosebumps everywhere it touched.

"Why is it so cold? Why are you so cold?" I asked, letting the doubt come to surface.

"Remember? The heater went out last night. Right in the middle of a wicked snow storm. Go figure," she answered.

"Oh yeah," I recalled. Sure enough, the memory snaked its way back into my mind.

"It's okay. You've had so much trouble remembering things after that awful clown." Her fingers traced my cheek.

"Come on. I made your favorite, meatloaf," Allison said, standing up. Her fingers intertwined with mine, pulling me out of the bed.

The movement sent a jolt of pain over my body. Concern flared in her eyes as she noticed my grimace.

"What's wrong?" she asked, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"I guess I'm getting old. My bones hurt," I replied. The sensation faded as quickly as it came.

She nodded, giving me a slight smile. She led me into the familiar kitchen, making my heart flutter. Home. I was actually home. The beautiful chandelier hung from the ceiling, illuminating the marble floor. The white walls made the room feel lively.

The smell of spices and sauce flooded my senses. My stomach growled, sounding like a starved mountain lion.

Kara stood beside the table, setting the platter of meat in the center. A few smaller bowls of vegetables lay beside the main course. Napkins and utensils sat in front of each chair, surrounding a plate. Glasses filled with red wine stood tall on the table.

"It smells delicious," I praised, taking my seat.

Kara sat at the end of the table, and Allison took her place across from me.

"Thank you." She smiled.

I picked up my fork and cut off a small piece of meat. I could taste the meat before I even placed it on my tongue. The juices drowning my taste buds in a wave of euphoria.

A silence fell over the table, filled only by the sound of forks and knives scraping against plates and the low hum of electricity.

"Trevor, I was thinking," Allison started, placing her fork down on the table, "what if we went away for a while? Like on a vacation?"

I finished chewing on the bite I had in my mouth before responding. "What did you have in mind?"

This would be a great test. A chance for any lingering doubt to be put on trial and judged accordingly. There was one place the two of us always wanted to go. A place only the real Allison would know.

"Australia. I know you've always wanted to go scuba diving and see the Great Barrier Reef."

Bingo. The doubt that bit at me like a flea on a dog dissipated in an instant. I had never told anyone else that before. Only her.

"Ever since that house you've had such a hard time. I think this could be a good distraction. Something to take your mind off the hell you went through. I've talked to your therapist. She thinks it is a great idea." Allison's fingers traced a pattern in the tablecloth.

"Allison," I whispered, in awe at the love she showed me.

"Kara has agreed to watch the pets while we are gone. It could be just the two of us. Like old times." Her lips curved upward.

Both Kara and Allison stared intently at me, waiting for me to answer.

"Of course," my voice cracked.

Time had evaded me. My focus set on that damn house for far too long. It was time for me to take back my life, starting with my wife.

"Honey, you're crying," Allison said. I could see the tears forming in her cobalt eyes as well.

"You don't know how happy I am to have you," I choked out.

"You both are going to make me cry," Kara said, fanning her eyes.

Allison's eyes met with mine. The pull in my stomach and the skip in my heart let me know the every second of this was real. The love we shared could not be faked.

"To Australia." Her hand clasped around the neck of the wine glass.

I followed her actions, raising the glass level with my head. Kara did too.

"To Australia," I echoed, bringing the glass to my lips. The sweet scent filled my nostrils.

As the wine passed my lips, I caught a sight of Allison through the glass. Where she sat lay a bony woman. The woman's skin appeared like leather, dried and withered with decay. Her hair sprouted in thin wisps, surrounded by bald patches of grey skin. Hollow eye sockets in sat in place of her radiant eyes.

The liquid spewed from my mouth, flying across the table. Red splattered the table, absorbing into faint crimson blots in the table cloth.  The glass tumbled from my hands. It bounced off the table, shattering into pieces on the marble. A dark red puddle settled on the floor.

"Trevor!" Allison gasped. Her eyes sparked to life.

Gone was the image of the corpse. Her appearance as it always had been—youthful.

"No—Nothing. Just a flashback. That's all," I said shakily.

My mind loved playing tricks on me.

I would never truly rid myself of that house.

I pushed out my chair, reaching down to collect the broken shards of glass.

"Let me help," Allison soothed.

I gathered the shards carefully, placing each shard in a napkin. Allison's shadow casted over me. Her hair dipped into my view.

"Thank you," I whispered. My cheeks burned hot from embarrassment.

"Trevor," she muttered, placing a hand on mine.

And then I saw it. The reflection I saw earlier. The same skin. Same hollow eyes smiling back at me. I jumped back, hitting my head on the table.

"Are you okay?" Her voice changed. It deepened, twisting into a sadistic growl. "Trevor?"

"Leave me alone!" I screamed, scrambling back. I came out the other side of the table, bumping into something cold and stiff.

Peering up, I took in Kara's decaying appearance. Like Allison, she too had leathery skin. Her face clung to her bones like a piece of meat in someone's teeth.

"No, no, no this can't be happening. Make it stop," I cried.

"Join us," the women said in unison.

Allison crawled towards me. Her bones cracking and popping with each movement.

I scrambled to my feet just as Kara reached down to wrap her claws around my grasp. The wind of her swipe sending a foul odor in my direction.

"You killed us, Trevor. You are the reason we are dead."

"That's a lie!" I screamed.

How could have I been so stupid? I fell for the house's tricks. I thought I was better than this.

"Why didn't you grab me Trevor? You could have reached your hand out and saved me from falling. We could have made it out together. How could you be so selfish?" Kara cried.

Her voice reminded me of the doll's wails.

"You know if I let go of that seat we both would have died," I whispered.

"Selfish." She shook her head, repeating the words over and over again.

"You left me, Trevor. I spent years wondering why you abandoned me. I worried myself to death. You are the reason I am dead," Allison spat with venom in her voice.

"That's not true!" I yelled.

I couldn't let them get inside my head.

"Selfish," she repeated.

Their voices fell into a chant. I could feel the words pressing into my skull like a drill screwing a nail into a wall.

Door. I needed to find the door.

"You left us for dead already! Don't leave us again. Stay with us. We can be a family again. Stay." Their words weaved together.

"You aren't Allison!"

She snarled in response, bending her limbs outward. The bones snapped like twigs. All four of her limbs touched the ground with her head facing upward. One snap and her head rotated 180 degrees.

I found my way to my feet, stumbling towards the bedroom door. Allison was hot at my heels, slashing wildly in attempts to catch me.

I was five feet away from the door when I heard her stop.

"You are foolish to go in there. It is a fate worse than death."

"I have to. I need to get out of here." My breath hitched. A painful stitch developed in my side.

"The last room is not for the faint of heart," Allison hissed, backing slowly away from me.

"I don't give a damn."

Total Word Count: 16,018