The Dead House - Dawn Kurtagich Page 0,80

her eyes huge in her face. Her eyes rotate towards Kaitlyn, and her expression is one of grief and horror.

“Kaitie,” she whispers, before her expression hardens and she reaches for the knife beside Ari’s bowler hat, grips her tongue between her left fingers, and with a violent, sickening motion, saws off her tongue.

She flings it across the room, where it lands with a soft slap, and then she falls to the floor, twitching.

Chaos erupts.

Scott is the first to reach her, pulling her into his arms. “Call an ambulance!” Spurts of blood jump from her mouth, and she gurgles.

Ari stares at her, seemingly unable to move. Brett grabs his own hair and yells, “Shit! Shit! Shit!” It is John, standing guard by the door, who runs up the stairs.

“What should I do?” Scott yells. “What the fuck should I do?”

Ari blinks, shuts his mouth, and hurries over to them.

“Flip her over,” he instructs. “She’s choking on her blood.”

Scott turns the seizing Naida over, and the blood pumps from her mouth in spurts.

Ari grabs the cloth that lies near the chicken cage. “Shove this in her mouth. Hard!”

“She’s bleeding to death!” Kaitlyn cries. She stands near the armoire, arms folded over her chest. She looks more like Carly than ever. “She saved me… she saved me…”

John returns. “They’re coming. They said to stuff her mouth with cotton, but I couldn’t find any.”

“Help me get her up the stairs,” Ari says, starting to haul Naida up.

“Don’t move her!” John yells.

Scott, crying, begins to help Ari lift her, then pauses, looking at John.

“We can’t have them down here,” Ari says firmly. “Now, help me.”

John swears, then runs forward, lifting Naida into his arms. He runs up the stairs with her, and Scott follows.

Ari turns to Kaitlyn. “I’m sorry,” he says, and then he shoves her backwards three sharp times. “You can’t be seen!”

“Ari—”

With a final shove, she falls back against the armoire. Ari pulls open the door and pushes her inside.

“Stay there,” he snaps, then slams the door and locks it.

He runs out of the room, leaving behind a noisy wardrobe, rocking back and forth, shaking as Kaitlyn screams.

[END OF CLIP]

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.

—Edgar Allan Poe

Because I could not stop for Death—

He kindly stopped for me—

The Carriage held but just Ourselves—

And Immortality.

—Emily Dickinson

90

On 25 January 2005, at 1:46 AM, Naida Chounan-Dupré was admitted to Musgrove Park Hospital with severe blood loss, shock, and a severed tongue. She entered the operating room at 2:05 AM and was transfused with five units of blood, type AB positive. Coma was induced for three days. The use of her tongue was permanently lost.

The following diary entries are smudged with blood in various places. It is presumed to be from Kaitlyn’s wounds, reopened while breaking out of the wardrobe Ari Hait locked her in before rushing Naida Chounan-Dupré to the hospital.

Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson

Tuesday, 25 January 2005, 2:24 am

Basement

Her tongue is still on the floor. They left it behind.

2:36

Torn between fury and fear. Want to hunt down the Shyan and slit his throat. Want to throw myself blindly into the Dead House and will my way to the gateway. I don’t even know what to look for.

Terrified to try.

Someone took the chicken.

Lost them. Lost Carly. Now Naida too. I keep hurting the people around me.

He probably saved me, Dee.

Yes, I know he locked us in a cupboard.

Yes, I know that too.

But if he hadn’t, I’d be back in Claydon, wouldn’t I? Probably in isolation on the high-security ward. Maybe even prison. Can they arrest you for breaking out of the hospital? And that’s without what they’re saying about Juliet…

I would never hurt anyone.

Besides, they would have found a way to blame me for Naida too. And I couldn’t live with any more of their accusations and lies. Still… when he pushed me in like that and locked the door… when I realized he was going to leave me in there while he got Naida to the hospital with the others… I’ll admit to a certain… annoyance.

But he was protecting me. Protecting us.

Protecting the thing inside me too.

3:12 am

I need news.

What’s happening?

Is Naida okay?

I can’t believe what I saw… what she did. What it did. She saved me. She saved me. She sacrificed her voice for me. How can I ever repay that? She’s a saint.

I don’t know—I don’t bloody know! Shhh! I hear something—

91

8 days until the incident

Naida Camera Footage

Tuesday, 25 January 2005, 3:14 AM

Basement

Footsteps echo in the room as someone hurries down the