"We better stay together, no telling what he’s rigged up," Frank told him.

"But where do you think he’ll hide?" Joe asked.

"That voice I think is from a speaker. Which means he could be hiding anywhere in the house," Frank replied.

It was hard working without a flashlight. Each lighting flash brought a further glimpse into the room they were in. It appeared to be dusty and had cloth covered furniture in it.

"So we know he’s not here, let’s try the next room," Joe said. Frank agreed. It wasn’t an easy task as they repeatedly bumped into furniture.

"Ouch!" Joe groaned, feeling his hip bang into the covered armrest of a chair.

"You OK?" Frank asked, feeling slightly worried. Something was telling him that this house was full of danger. Something was screaming at him to get his brother out of the house as fast as possible.

Joe stumbled slightly as he limped to the next room. The pain slowly left his hip, but he knew it would leave a bruise. The next flash of light showed that the dinning room was rather large. It had what looked like a table in the center, also covered in the sheets. It was surrounded by looked what to be sheet covered chairs. The chandelier was covered in cobwebs.

"Achoo," Frank sneezed.

"Bless you," Joe whispered.

"Thanks," Frank whispered back.

Joe felt his way along the wall until it was blocked by a large standing cabinet. Moving around the brothers heard something slightly creak. They stood still for a moment, trying to hear for the noise again over the loud thunder, but the noise stopped. Just then, a huge clap of thunder sounded, making Joe jump. When he landed, his foot snagged on a trip wire! A chair fell down, and the cabinet wobbled. Frank put his hands on it, trying to stop the very heavy object before it collapsed on his brother.

"Joe, get out of the way!" Frank shouted.

Frank heard Joe move out of the way. When he saw him standing up near the window, he stepped aside and let the cabinet go. The heavy case slammed into the chair smashing it to pieces. They could hear the loud smashing sound even during a thunder boom.

"Joe, are you OK?" Frank demanded.

"I’m fine," Joe replied, gasping slightly.

"Very good. You made it through. But you still haven’t found me. The clock is ticking." The voice seemed to come from everywhere in the house. The brothers tried hard to see if they could hear where the voice was coming from, but found it impossible.

Joe kept moving along the wall, making sure that he didn’t walk into anymore tripwire. He could hear the steps of his brother right behind him. They walked along the wall until they came to a corner. Moving around, the lightning and thunder continued to dance outside. Suddenly Joe felt his footing give way. Frank came down with his brother landing on his chest. Joe nearly felt the wind knocked out of him.

Taking deep breaths, he gasped, "I don’t know what happened. My foot just gave out."

Frank tried to stand up, but slipped, landing awkwardly again.

"He’s spilled wax on the floor," he said, as Joe tried to get up. Joe fell again, and Frank said,

"Better crawl out of this room, no telling how much of the floor has wax spilled on it," They both began crawling towards the next large room, which appeared through the flashes to be a ballroom. Once there Joe felt no wax on the floor. He stood up.

"The floor is safe here," Joe said. Lightning flashed, and Joe winced again, at the huge thunderclap. He bit his lip quietly, trying to control his racing heart.

What Joe didn’t see, during the next lighting flash, but his brother did, was a large hole in the floor!

"Joe, watch out!" Frank grabbed Joe and yanked him towards the wall.

"What’s the big idea?" Joe demanded.

"There’s a hole in the floor. You were about to go through it," Frank replied. The voice in Frank’s head was screaming louder. Get Joe out of here! "There’s the window, see if you can get out," Frank said, pushing Joe towards the window.

Joe looked at the window, but it too was barred. He looked for the security release bar, but the bars were old, and looked like they were cemented into the house. "No way, Frank. This one has bars too," Joe reported, stepping slightly back. Now that they’re eyes had adjusted to the dark, it was much easier to see.

"You didn’t think I’d make it that easy," the voice taunted them.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Joe shouted at the room.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Frank demanded.

"What you didn’t give me. Now you must pay!" The voice angrily replied. The house became silent once again.

"WHAT DIDN’T WE GIVE YOU?" Joe shouted again. He coughed as he inhaled a lungful of dust. There was no answer.

When Joe’s coughing continued, Frank was concerned, "Take it easy." He heard Joe’s breathing return to normal.

They continued walking next to the wall. Frank kept scanning the floor to make sure there were no more holes along the ground. Joe kept scanning around looking for anyway that they could get out of the house. What caught his eye was that the grand piano was not covered and the top was up. Lightning flashed again, and Joe tried to get a better look, but failed to do so.

"Hey Frank," Joe whispered.

"What?" Frank whispered back.

"You noticed that all the furniture in the house we’ve seen so far is covered in sheets. But why isn’t the piano covered?" Joe asked.

During the next flash of lightning Frank did notice that the piano was indeed uncovered. During that same flash, something in the piano caught Joe’s attention.

"Get down!" Joe yelled, pulling Frank down. He felt something whoosh above their heads. Frank looked up. An arrow from a crossbow had lodged into the wall!

"That could have…" Frank tried to say, still staring at the arrow.

"Don’t say it," Joe told him, trying to get his heartbeat under control.

They crawled out of the room, into a small hallway, which lead to a set of stairs. Frank took a glance. He saw nothing on the stairs, but wanted to go first to keep his little brother safe. He looked at his brother, and was about to open his mouth, but Joe beat him to it.

"We should go one at a time. No reason for both of us to be caught flat-footed," he whispered.

"Let me go first," Frank offered.

"I can make it," Joe replied.

"Please," Frank nearly begged.

Joe sighed. He stood up and backed against the wall. Frank passed ahead of him. He felt along the wall and moved his foot slightly ahead with each step to guard against more trip wire. His foot hit the stairs. Joe bumped into him as he had stopped.

"What?" Joe asked.

"Just making sure," Frank replied.

Frank eased his way up each step, trying to distribute his weight evenly. The stairs still creaked slightly. Joe watched as his brother walked up the steps, and around the corner that the steps took. He held his breath as Frank disappeared. His heart leaped into his throat as he heard Frank scream! He ran up just in time to catch his brother before he fell backwards down the stairs. Joe leaned his brother back, and took him back down the stairs. He looked into his brother’s face. Frank had a small amount of blood oozing from a cut near his scalp. His eyes were open and he looked dazed.

"Frank!" Joe yelled into his brother’s face. Frank tried to look at him, but couldn’t seem to focus.

"YOU’RE GOING DOWN!" Joe yelled, anger spilling from his very being. No one hurts his brother and gets away with it!

Before Frank could stop him, Joe ran up the steps. Joe looked around searching for anything. He heard foot steps in the last room. Joe ran into the room, throwing open the door. He had no time to see who was there before a shooting pain hit him. Lightning flashed, and thunder clapped as it struck him again. It struck one more time. Liquid fire blazed through his being, causing him to fall to his knees. It caused him to scream. The pain came again…and again.

Meanwhile, Frank forced himself to return to reality. He shook off the pain that came and ran up the steps. It was then that he heard it. He heard the scream of pain that was unmistakably his brother’s voice. Joe! Frank’s heart dropped to his stomach. He ran to the room and saw during a lightning flash a figure looming over another that was on the floor. The figure raised the knife poised to strike again.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" Frank shouted. He launched himself in a flying kick, which knocked the figure to the ground. Frank heard the knife go skittering across the floor. He felt nothing but rage. Rage that burned through like an inferno. Frank screamed and launched himself at the man, he delivered blow after blow until he heard a moan. He stopped, knowing it was Joe. That slightly distraction was all the intruder needed. He hit Frank causing him to fall back. He ran out the door, and down the stairs. A minute later, Frank heard the front door open and raucous laughter could be heard, combined with a huge thunderclap.

"Joe?" Frank nervously asked, turning his attention to his brother. No response. "Joe?" Frank asked again. It was during the next flash of lighting that Frank saw something that caused his heart to race. It was blood. Blood was all over his little brother, the floor, everywhere. "No." Frank thought, "No…please…no!"