Her son and husband were dead. She'd never see them again, because she was never going back down into that basement. Both doors were locked. Charlene would probably bleed out before she starved, but she hoped Gertie died a slow, lingering, agonizing death.

Vivian didn't believe in ghosts. But maybe the ghosts of Jared and Ken would stay in that room, tormenting the girls until they finally succumbed to their demise. Perhaps continuing to torment them in hell.

She took another drink of whiskey, this time without vomiting.

She'd clean herself up, then find a place to dispose of the bodies in the trunk of her car. Then she'd go home and do nothing. Eventually she'd call the police and report her family missing, but since they'd gone on a weeklong father/son camping trip with unreliable cell phone service, she hadn't been worried. She'd have plenty of time to practice her response when the police informed her of what her husband and son had really been doing.

She went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, making sure not to look in the mirror. If she saw her reflection now, it was the only way she'd ever see herself.

The doorbell rang.

Fuck.

Vivian couldn't ignore it. There'd been a lot of chaos in the basement, and not all of the sound had been masked. If she didn't convince whoever was at the door that everything was fine, they'd surely call the cops. Assuming it wasn't the cops at her door.

Her clothes were drenched in blood. She could strip out of them, but she'd still have blood all over her, and there was no time to rinse off. Instead, she hurried to the door.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Hi," said a man on the other side. "We're your neighbors. We wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"It's fine. Everything here is totally fine." Did she sound hysterical? Vivian thought she might sound hysterical. That was not the tone she wanted to convey. "Sorry I can't open the door, I was in the shower when I heard the doorbell and I'm not decent."

"No problem, no problem," said the man. "We heard some commotion over here. Sounded like screaming."

"Yes, that was the TV. I was watching a horror movie too loud. I'm sorry—I didn't realize the sound carried that far."

"Sounds like a crazy flick. Which movie? We'll have to check it out."

"I don't remember the title. They're all pretty much the same, right?"

"Are you sure everything's okay?" a woman asked.

"It's all good. I apologize for not coming over to introduce myself sooner. I don't actually live here."

"No, no, that's fine," said the man. "We're sorry for bothering you. Maybe we can get together for coffee sometime."

"Yes, absolutely. That would be great. Again, I apologize for not opening the door—I'm standing here dripping all over."