CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“Screw it. I say we take care of Gracie and Emma first,” Gage said as they headed back.
What? Jess stared at him, incredulous.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” he went on. “If this doesn’t go down the way we want, we won’t have time to cross over the girls.”
He had that determined look on his face, the one that said his mind was set. He also looked mad. She’d never seen him like this before.
“Besides,” Gage went on. “It’ll piss off Riley, and right now, that’s fine with me. It might even work in our favor.”
Jess frowned. “You want to piss off Riley? Are you nuts?”
Gage picked up the pace as he headed for the back lawn instead of the front door. “I refuse to let that little prick have us run around as if our heads have been handed to us. If we’re not thinking clearly, Riley and Siler House will have the upper hand.”
“So, how’s getting Riley angry going to help?” Bryan wanted to know.
“We turn the tables. If he’s angry, he’s the one not thinking clearly,” Gage replied.
Bryan laughed. “Yeah. And when he’s flinging knives or taking over one of us, what are we going to do?”
Gage stopped once they reached the oak, his face tight and eyes dark. “You think it’s going to get any easier once we’ve pulled Riley through? It’s not. And right now, he and this fucking house have us running scared. You think he’s not going to pull out all the tricks? You think he’s going to follow all those baby-game monster rules you had when you were a kid? That if we don’t stick a leg or arm out of the covers the monster under the bed has some code of ethics where they won’t eat us alive? I’ve got news for you, guys. Pissed or not, he’s coming after us. And he’s not going to play fair.”
Like the others, Jess stared at him. She considered what he’d said and had to admit he had a point. They needed an advantage. But what? “If we put Gracie and Emma to rest now, we lose any chance they’d help us with Riley.”
Gage let out a small laugh. “Sweetheart, if they could do something to stop Riley, I’d bet they’d have done it by now.”
That was true, too.
“I say we go dig up some bones,” Gage said.
Bryan sighed deeply. “When?”
Without so much of a pause, he replied, “Tonight. Now.”
“Now?” Jess nearly shouted in protest. “No way, Gage! No. We’re not going in there.” She expected a reaction, some wisecrack, some angry retort. But Gage simply looked at her, unwavering, determined. The thought of stepping foot back into those woods, going back to the spot where Riley had killed the girls was too much. She drew her arms up against herself. “No, Gage. Just…no. Especially in the dark. Not a chance.”
Gage shrugged. “You don’t have to, then. Stay here with Allison. Bryan and I will go. Just tell me where to look.”
“Gage, that’s impossible!” Bryan said. “How are we supposed to find the same spot? We need Jess to show us.”
All eyes turned to her. They were asking too much on this one. Her mind scrambled to find some excuse. If she didn’t, Gage and Bryan were going to do it, anyway. She didn’t like the idea of them out there, either. “Guys, I can’t. We can’t! It’s dark. We don’t have a shovel or even a flashlight.”
“It’s the only way, isn’t it?” Allison said in that resolved, trance-like voice she got into now and then that set Jess’s bones on ice. “I don’t like it either, but what choice do we have? The sooner we do this, the better.”
“Why can’t we do this in the morning? We’ll find some other way to get him angry,” Jess protested. Great. Three against one. There was no winning this one, no matter how she tried. She’d thought Allison would be on her side, but now, Allison just looked…defeated.
Bryan leaned one shoulder against the oak tree and closed his eyes. “Jess, you know Gage is right.”
Gage nodded. “Besides, even if we could wait, we’re burying a kid’s skull…in the cemetery, which is sectioned off with a padlocked iron fence. Brandt might be getting a little weird on us, and the dude’s all about the experiment, but I don’t think he’s going to stand by and let us dig up Gracie or Emma’s grave tomorrow.”
“I’ll go fetch the shovel.” Bryan shoved off from the tree. “I noticed a couple of them just by the side of the house. They must belong to the renovation crew.”
Gage leaned in and kissed the top of Jess’s head. “Stay here with Allison. We’ll get the shovel and some flashlights and be right back.”
He and Bryan set off across the lawn. Jess opened her mouth to complain, but to what end? The others were set on doing it now, and eventually it had to be done.
Jess wanted to tell him to not go. Instead, she called after him, “Be careful. Don’t get caught.”
By anyone.
Or anything.
He turned, walking backward. “Never,” Gage said as he offered that devastating grin of his before turning once more and walking off toward the house.
Jess stared after him, never realizing until now just how large Siler House truly was.
Allison stood next to her. “How’s he going to get the flashlights with Dr. Brandt in the house?”
“No idea. But he’ll be right back with them. They’ll be okay.”
She hoped.
“It’s getting more dangerous.” A small breeze blew wisps of hair across Allison’s face, but she didn’t seem to notice. “For all of us. It wasn’t Brandt or some faulty switch that stopped us at the gate. It was the house.” She turned her head in Jess’s direction. “It watches us. It’s watching now.”
Jess stared up at the house, taking it in. It was bleak and cold against the night sky, void of color.
You see what it wants you to see.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. Just days ago, Jess would have argued Allison’s point. Not tonight. Not ever again.