Ash was going to cast an enchantment.
I slammed the door shut. Then I leaned against it, terrified that I was going mad. What was I doing? For the first time in years, I finally met a nice, attractive man, someone with no Hollywood or publishing connections. I mean, here was someone who might actually be a decent guy, but no, I’m convinced he’s one of the monsters in the woods. And it wasn’t even as if I had any evidence that the monsters in the woods were real. Maybe I really had stumbled through deadly nightshade, like the vet said. My eyes closed and I still refused to move. I stayed right there, leaning against the door, praying that I would hear Ash’s footsteps thudding down the stairs as he walked away.
And at the same time, I wished that he would never leave.
For a long, frightening moment I didn’t hear anything. Then finally something moved on the porch, the boards creaked.
“Stay indoors, Madeline,” he said from the other side of the door. “Promise me one thing, then I will leave.”
“What?” I asked.
“If anything happens, promise that you will call for me.”
The wind surged against the door, strong and screaming, all the trees scratched against the sky, and a howl raced around the outside of the house.
And then, complete silence.
I opened the door a fraction of an inch.
Ash was gone.
I curled in a bedroom chair, the door closed, a blanket over my lap. Tucker was still in the kitchen, finishing up his dinner. So far he hadn’t noticed that I was acting strangely.
“I feel like I’m going crazy,” I said in a low voice, phone pressed against my ear. “First there was a dead body in the woods and then there wasn’t. Monsters sneak into my house at night, then they attack me in the woods, and I don’t think I even told you this part—Samwise turned into a werewolf, or something—”
“Samwise? Your dog?” my younger sister, Kate, asked.
“Yeah, and he rescued me from the chupacabras—”
“What’s a chupa—chupa-whatever you said?”
“Just another monster, I guess.”
“How’s Tucker?” Kate asked.
“Fine. He’s dressed for Halloween. But I don’t think we’re going out—”
“Other than this whole ‘the monsters are out to get me’ thing, how are you?”
I paused. Reflected for a long moment. “Good, actually.”
“No more depression or crying?”
“No.”
A long quiet followed. Kate must have been thinking. She was always the logical one, the person I turned to whenever my world unraveled. Kate came to stay with Tucker and me when my divorce proceedings started, when there were camera crews and reporters lurking outside my front door every day for weeks. It certainly hadn’t helped that my husband worked in the entertainment industry, or that he had run off with my best friend—the woman who had been a collaborator on my last two books.
“Wasn’t there a part about some hallucinogen and a doctor who said that you might have accidentally ingested some?” Kate said.
“Yeah.”
“How long has it been since you’ve seen anything—anything strange?”
“It was about an hour ago, maybe longer,” I answered, remembering the headlights that had blinded me, that hole in Ash’s side. I wrapped the blanket around my feet, then glanced out the window. The snow was coming down harder now, in big clumps. It was sticking to the ground and the trees, turning the landscape white.
“And the first time was when?”
“Last night, wait, yesterday late in the day, when I was in the woods. Um, about four o’clock, I guess. It was starting to get dark.”
Another long pause while Kate digested all the information.
“I think you probably did get some of that nightshade stuff in your system. But it’s been more than twenty-four hours, so I think it’s worked its way out. I don’t know for sure, maybe you should go see a doctor, but Maddie,” Kate took a deep breath before continuing, “I really don’t think there’s anything up there for you to worry about. Did Tucker ever see the creatures?”
“No.”
“And the videos you took are gone?”
“All my videos are gone.”
“I know, honey. But you might have tried to take a video, under the influence, and accidentally erased all of them by mistake.”
“So, you think I’m making everything up,” I said, running my fingers over the edge of the blanket, not sure whether I liked this answer.
“I didn’t say that you were making anything up. Some wild animal, maybe a raccoon or a squirrel, probably did break into your house, and you must have scraped your arm in the woods. Maddie, you’ve got to admit, you have a pretty active imagination. Combine your imagination, the stress you’ve been under, and some unknown hallucinogenic plant, and I think you’ve got the perfect recipe for shadowy monsters with big wings. Sheesh. You’ve almost got me seeing them now.”
Kate laughed. I joined in, a bit nervously, wishing that she were here.