Chapter 6: Caving In

                                    

                                          
Chapter 6:
Emily's POV:
Tristen still wriggled around in agony, so I gently helped him back up to his feet. Whatever it was that just caused him such intense pain terrified the shit out of me and everybody else, it was obvious from their wide-eyed faces. Nothing even touched him, I guess this hell house and its inhabitants were so powerful that they didn't even need to touch us. Hayley claimed it was Satan's daughter that we just saw, but I was positive that was just her trying to make sense of this confusing situation.
I was never a big believer in religion or God, but after tonight I definitely agreed that there was a Hell, and we were in it.
"We have to get out now," Jeff demanded, and everybody gave him a dumbfounded look. For usually being the smartest one here, he sure knew how to state the obvious. Head pounding, I couldn't help but get irritated by the shaky sound of his voice.
"No shit Sherlock! What do you think we were trying to do? Find something to eat?" Hayley snapped coldly at him. At the mere sound of food my stomach instinctively growled, cramping almost painfully with hunger. When was the last time I ate? The last time any of us ate? I suddenly realized we had no way of seeing how long we had even been in this never-ending haunted house.
Nick whipped out his cell phone from his jeans pocket almost as if he had read my mind and checked the time.
"It's almost midnight, we came at like what? Seven? Eight?" he mumbled, flipping his little silver phone closed and stuffing it back into his pants pocket.
"You have a phone?!?" Lily screamed, making us all stare over at Nick in realization. My green eyes widened significantly with hope as I whipped the phone back out of his pocket and held it up for everyone to see like we were at show and tell in elementary school.
"You fucking idiot! What the hell is the matter with you? You had a phone the whole time, and you didn't call anybody? Why?" Tristen growled at him, getting very frustrated very quickly. Nick shrugged and shot him a glare, feeling flustered, while Tristen just huffed and crossed his arms. I lifted the small cell phone into the air to look for a signal, but no such luck.
"Tristen chill, it doesn't even have reception," I announced, trying to calm Tristen down by placing my dainty hand on his stiff shoulder. Nick looked angry now, and he wasn't the type of person to let someone just yell at him without consequence. He furrowed his thick brows in anger and frustration.
"Don't you think I tried? It didn't have a signal you bastard," Nick shot back. Tristen took an intimidating step closer to Nick. Even though Nick was at least a foot taller and a varsity football player, he took a hesitant step back against the dingy wall.
"You still could have told us you had it!" Jeff chimed in, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. Hayley chuckled bitterly, faintly bumping Jeff into the wall with her shoulder. Jeff pushed Hayley back a little harder and they glared at each other for a while, as I'm assuming the hunger and desperation started to really settle in.
"For being the smartest one here, you sure are an airhead. What was Nick supposed to do? It's not like he could have used it without a signal!" She shouted right into Jeff's pale face. Jeff glared at her through his dirty, smudged glasses, which I'm surprised he still had after everything we'd been through.
"At least he's not being a total bitch," Lily mumbled, directing her rude comment at Hayley. Hayley turned on her heel and marched angrily right over to a shaking Lily and opened her mouth to speak while pointing her grimy finger straight in Lily's tired face. They had a little stare down for a minute, as Hayley finally closed her mouth, deciding to keep her unnecessary words to herself.