“Sibby,” I hiss through gritted teeth.
“What? It’s not my fault,” she sasses, not the least bit sorry.
Groaning, I roll off of Addie and sit up.
“Get up. We need to get away from the window.” I stand and help the girls up, one of them now in a seriously foul mood. Her temper is only going to continue to rise until she stabs someone, and my headache is only going to worsen until that happens.
They gently brush the glass from their bodies, and with the moonlight spilling
into the room, I note tiny cuts all over their faces.
“Which one is your mom’s room?” I ask, keeping my voice low and swiping
a few shards from Addie’s backside that she missed. Sibby is sticking out her ass
and wiping her butt off, but in her head, one of her henchmen is helping her.
“First door on the left,” she responds.
“Sibby, I want you to go and check the other rooms,” I tell her. Surprisingly,
she doesn’t complain and takes off, probably praying for someone to try her. I’m praying for someone to try her.
Glass crunches beneath my boots as I hug the wall, sliding along it until I reach the door with Addie following my lead.
I crack open the door, tucking myself back around the corner in case more bullets come flying.
“Stay here for now,” I order, not giving her time to argue. Holding my gun up,
I slip into the room. It’s pitch-black in here, and I wish I had thought to bring my night vision goggles.
Straining my ears, I listen for any noise, but I don’t hear anything. Not even
the sound of breathing.
As my eyes adjust, the bed becomes clearer. Empty, save for the rumpled bed
sheets and skewed pillows. A lamp is knocked off the end table, upside down with the cord ripped from the wall. There must’ve been a struggle getting them out of bed.
I let out a slow breath, continuing to scan my eyes over every inch of the room, trying to pick out any figures standing in the shadows or lying on the ground.
“They’re not in here,” I call out quietly.
Addie sneaks into the room behind me, her footfalls light and her body poised for threat. She’s come so far from the girl who ran headfirst into situations without properly thinking it through. She’s a trained killer now, and fuck if it doesn’t make my chest tight with pride.
I never wanted to change Addie. Despite how dangerous her impulsiveness
and stupidly brave tendencies were, it’s what made her so fascinating. But her circumstances took that out of my hands, and while I still needed my brave girl, there wasn’t any room for thoughtless actions anymore.
There’s nothing thoughtless about how Addie moves now, and my fascination
with her has only amplified. All those idle threats she used to make about killing
or hurting me—she could make those come true now.
Fuck. Yes.
“Where do you think they could be?” she whispers, bringing me back to the
situation at hand. I’d berate myself for getting distracted by her if I knew it would change anything, but it won’t. Dying with Addie on my mind is the only way I want to go out anyway.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. But if there are people in the house, that means they’re most likely still in the house, too.”
Addie walks to the bed, pressing her hand into the sheets. “It’s cold, so they’ve been gone for a minute.” Turning to me, she decides with resignation and dread, “I think we need to check the basement.” Her body is stiff, and her shoulders tense.
“What’s wrong with the basement?”
She shrugs a shoulder. “It’s creepy down there?” she says, though it sounds like a question.
“You like creepy.”
She seems to pause on that thought, and then relaxes, nodding her head.
“Yeah, you’re right. I do like creepy. Let’s go.”
Sibby emerges from one of the rooms just as we exit her parents’ bedroom, appearing more frustrated.
“No one is up here. I busted in every room,” she says with disappointment.
“Basement,” I clip. “They might be down there.”
Addie leads us back down the stairs and towards the basement door in the dining room.
“If they are down there, they’ll hear our footsteps and know we’re coming,” I
murmur, once more pushing Addie behind me. It’s better if I’m the one getting
shot at so she can handle her parents.
The door creaks open, and it’s like looking into a massive black hole in the ground.
“How big is the basement?”
“Pretty big. It’s not finished,” she answers on a whisper. “There are rooms down there, too.”
Slowly, I descend the stairs, and my sight is completely robbed. There’s a cold chill and another heavy weight of dread down here, like an evil goddess beckoning me into her lair. Such a warm fucking welcome.
In the far back corner of the basement, a tiny sliver of light shines from the
depths of what looks to be a hallway.
That pit of dread yawns, consuming my insides until all I feel is doom.
Addie and Sibby flank either side of me, and though I can’t see their faces, I
can feel their restlessness.
“We’re in the family room, down that hallway is the unfinished side,” Addie
informs me, her voice barely above a whisper.
Just as I take a step, the glow extinguishes as if they cut the lights out. I freeze, my eyes beginning to adjust.
They didn’t cut the lights out. Someone is standing at the entrance of the hallway. They’re unmoving, but I feel their eyes boring into where we stand. My hand tightens around my gun, and I slowly raise it, preparing for them to attack.
Then, they slowly step back and disappear down the hallway again, the glow taking their place once more.
My heart pumps wildly in my chest. Shit, that’s freaky. Even I can admit that.
Sibby scoffs. “I spent too much time in haunted houses—no one is creepier than me. Let me go first.”
I shrug, deciding Sibby fucking with them wouldn’t hurt.
“Have fun,” I mumble, dropping my weapon an inch, though I refuse to relax.
There could be more lurking around down here.
She giggles loudly, the sound sinister, before she softly sings a lullaby as she