The Seventh One

Insanity. I was on the very borderline of insanity. What the hell was that?! It was human, from it's form. It wore old clothing and had cracked, calloused skin. But the red flames raked up and down his back and he didn't even flinch... We were in great danger right now. Our palms sweaty as we hugged onto each other. Staring into each others eyes in horror. Trying to stay as quiet as possible. The house no longer shuttered... But it was way too quiet. I had an terrible twisting in my gut. Telling me that we were alone. I didn't want to face it. No one would believe it...
I looked up at the dusty latter. Up would be to the attic I never knew existed. Down was to the cellar. I slid from Billie's frozen form and knelt. Pulling up on thr rusty latch. It squeaked as I lifted the door, Billie shushed me. Down below was an inky pool of the unknown. I took ab deep, frantic breath and began to lower myself down. Billie followed suit all the way down. It was actually much farther than I thought the cellar was beneath the house. I dropped onto an dirt floor... Instead of the cold, hard concrete I'd expected. So I'm assuming we're somewhere beneath the cellar. Like an catacombs level. I'm just praying there is no bodies. I had no light, but my fingers grazed Billie's leather jacket and he lit his cigarette lighter, filling only an foot around us with orange light.
I leaned into Billie as we ventured. Chills ran up my spine at the thought of all of this being here... I found an wall. Cold and damp as I brushed my fingers across it. Layered stone walls from thr foundation. Then Lord only knows hoe damn old this house really is. I followed the wall since this underground area seemed to be much bigger than I believed. There was an dusty old table shoved against the wall. More logbooks where stacked atop it, waiting to be read. As we walked Billie ran into something, an jangling sound overhead. He chuckled And raised the lighter, lighting the five candles in the chandelier. More light filled the room. There were actually a lot of candles spread throughout the room. Billie lit an long white pillar candle and I walked back an dark hallways while he finished up lighting the main room. The damp smell of the surrounding earth made me want to cough. I breathed evenly through my nose and followed the hallway. Big, wooden double doors at the end. I looked around myself. Surrounded in silence. I turned back to the door and hesitantly shoved it open. Inside, dark as everywhere else. I smoothed my hands across the wall until I found an shabby wooden shelf lined with crimson red candles. They looked rarely or not at all used. I lit each one in turn with my already lit candle. Then searched the walls, it seemed every two feet was another shelf lined with candles. After lighting seven shelves worth if candles, the room was decently lit and was actually quite large. Spiderwebs were strung up in the corners of the ornate designs carved into the stone walls. Somewhere withen the room was the empty echo of dripping. Goosebumps raised on my arms, I wished now I'd worn something warmer. But wait! How was I supposed to know I'd be roaming an secret crypt today? Hmmm?
I found another candle chandelier in the middle of the ceiling and lit those up too. But this one was different. The flames ran up the supports of the chandelier, lighting an entire alley around te upper parts of the room. More designs in the stone was visible. I looked down. Carvings were also in the floor. My eyes trailed the design. Making out some twisting pattern that had no end. Candles, were laid every so often around the circle in the floor. What is this place?...
I could actually read one of the scriptures carved into the wall. I read it outloud.
“Dead. But we never forget. Trapped in time. We can't admit. Our voices lost, not forever gone, until our other half, figures out what's wrong.”
What the hell does that mean?... The other half, soul or body? I thought about it until Billie barged in. Taking in what oddly looked like some sort of sacrificial chamber. This lower level of the cellar was big, but not huge. I found dark, almost black speckles lining thr circle. More of it gathered int the center of the circle. I inlet before it and brushed my fingers across the dark maroon. Holding the faint powder up to the light.

“Blood.” I whispered. Quickly dusting it off on my jeans. I stood up and backed out of the circle. Pulling Billie with me. We looked at each other and realized exactly what we uncovered. Abd now we were going to pay the price of the information. I went out inti the main room. Scientific equipment lined the walls, along with old photo albums and what not. I didn't have the time to look at those. I reached up for the ladder and began to climb out. The wooden steps squeaked as we slowly climbed to the top and out into the crawl space. I turned and pulled Billie the rest of the way out. We dusted off, glanced at each other, questioning with our eyes rather or not to pull back the painting and see exactly who was still alive...
I nodded slightly and he pulled back the picture, I slid out first into the open. The first thing I noticed were the walls... Splattered in blood.