CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Jess had a horrible thought—what if Brandt killed the power to the front gate? What then? Maybe they should try the woods. Make a break for it. With any luck, they might get to the road. Maybe Allison would reach it before them. She glanced toward the line of trees only to see Allison’s form heading back toward them.
“There’s no way out!” Allison called.
Jess hurried to her. “What happened? Are the woods fenced off?” She didn’t want to think about the other possibilities—that if Siler House was able to control the doors and windows, it would be able to control other things. Jess shuddered thinking of what might lurk in the woods.
Allison’s wavy hair was as wild as her eyes. “There’s something in there,” she whimpered.
Not good, Jess thought. Not good at all. Gage had a sprained ankle. Bryan’s nosebleed was pretty bad, as was the mammoth migraine that threatened to drop him where he stood. They were still no closer to getting out of here.
Jess looked back at the house, wondering what she’d ever seen in it. Brandt had finished making his way out of the window. “Shit,” she said.
The others turned to look.
“Well, now what?” Bryan asked. He’d wiped at the blood on his face, but already a fresh trickle was visible under his nose. His shirt was bloodstained, reminding her of just how much it had taken out of him to make the girls vanish.
Gage shook his head. “Sorry, man. I’m fresh out of plans.”
He exchanged glances with Jess and she wondered if he was thinking the same thing. The only defense they had would be for Bryan to get rid of Brandt, after all. And the girls when they came back. And Riley, too. Jess looked at Bryan. It would kill him.
Gage stood, waiting for Brandt, ready to fight if necessary. Jess would fight alongside him if she had to.
Laughter, dark and bitter, came from up in the oak tree. Riley crouched on one of the wide, lower limbs. “A duel to the death. Who will win? My wager goes to the good doctor.”
Jess glared up at him, nearly blind with fury and fright. “GO AWAY!”
She searched the ground for anything to throw, a rock or discarded brick, and came up with a small metal hinge most likely left over from when the renovation crew had built the new iron fencing around Gracie and Emma’s graves. She hurled the hinge at Riley, hitting him dead-on. He cried out as a red burning hole appeared on his chest.
A hinge?
She glanced at the gravesite, recalled the man (Dad?) standing under the oak, pointing to her, then to the gravesite and back to her again. Riley said he didn’t kill Mrs. Hirsch, even though he could have. Why? Because of the pendant. It was made of the same material as the hinge.
Iron.
Mrs. Hirsch had known all along. Hadn’t Brandt mentioned that her family had owned Siler House for years before finally selling it?
Brandt grinned at Gage. “I have strength you won’t believe. I guess you could say the gift was on the house. I can’t let you leave, Gage. None of you. You understand, right? The experiment isn’t over yet.”
Behind Brandt, Mrs. Hirsch had crawled through the window. Would she help them or join forces with Riley?
Gage held his head up, defiant. “The experiment is over for us.”
Mrs. Hirsch held something thin and shiny in her hand as she stumbled across the yard toward them, her attention solely on Brandt. Was that a golf club? A wood iron? Brandt was too focused on Gage to notice her approach.
Gage stepped back.
Brandt laughed. “Not so tough now, are you?”
“Gah!” Mrs. Hirsch brought the head of the golf club down on Brandt’s head. She swung again, splitting his head open. He toppled forward, falling face first. Mrs. Hirsh continued to bring the golf club down on Brandt’s lifeless body again and again, her blows becoming harder and quicker with each swing.
“The gravesite!” Jess shouted, trying not to watch the grisly scene in front of her. “The fence—it’s iron!”
Allison perked up. “That’s right! Demons can’t cross over it!”
Jess removed the already opened lock and swung the gate open. Allison darted inside first, then Bryan.
“Hurry!” Jess screamed at Gage. The gaping red, smoldering hole in Riley was closing up. Mrs. Hirsch was still busy practicing her golf swing on what was left of Brandt’s head, but she doubted that would last much longer. They couldn’t risk she’d turn on them next.
Riley began to scale his way down the tree.
“GAGE!” Jess screamed.
Gage made his way to her, although not nearly as fast as she wanted him to—his ankle preventing him from running. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest.
Hurry, damn it! Hurry!
“Close the gate!” Allison shrieked. “He’s not going to make it. I’m sorry, Jess!”
“No!” Jess shouted back. She wouldn’t leave anyone behind. Especially Gage.
“You can reopen it when he’s closer! Do it! Close the gate!” Allison dove forward, but Bryan held her back.
“You’re risking all of us for Gage!” Allison wailed.
“He’d do the same for us,” Bryan reminded.
Fear did strange things to people and Jess believed that coming here after having to deal with the possession had broken Allison permanently. She was a rat drowning in a sewer flood. She’d bite and climb over anything in her path to escape.
A shadow, because that’s all Jess could describe it as, appeared on the other side of the fence. She called the entity a shadow, but in reality, what appeared before them seemed more like a void—as though all the light, all the space where the figure stood, existed in some black hole. The ample moonlight failed to penetrate it. The figure was tall and male, but nothing like the transparent ghosts she’d been accustomed to seeing. The ghost’s features were impossible to see because they blended in with the night…
Dad?
Wishful thinking. Dad would show himself. This ghost is intentionally hiding his identity.
Still…
“The man on the stairs!” Allison said. “He’s going to make it in! Close the gate!”
“He’s not after us,” Jess said.
“You don’t know that! It’s a ghost! They’re bad, Jess. Why can’t you get it through your head? Damn you!”
The shadowy figure stepped aside as Gage drew closer, then stood in Riley’s path. The two shoved each other for a moment before the figure vanished. Gage limped inside the gate just as Riley’s hand grasped the back of his shirt.
“Let go!” Jess yelled, slamming the gate closed. As she did so, it made contact with Riley’s hand. He screamed and the iron burned him.
Riley circled the gravesite, but ventured no further. Jess embraced Gage, hugging him tightly against her. For a moment, she thought Riley had him.
He kissed the top of her head. “I’m okay. Are you?”
She nodded.
Gage turned to Bryan and Allison. “Are you guys okay?”
“I’d be better if you had something for this headache,” Bryan replied solemnly.
Allison didn’t look up. “I’m sorry. I thought—”
Jess let go of Gage and turned to Allison. This was as close to admitting that not every ghost meant them harm as Jess would ever hear from her. “You’re going to be fine, Allison. We all are. When it’s daylight, they’ll find us here.”
Allison sniffed. “But what if the house doesn’t let them in?” She stole a glance outside the gates where the ghosts of Siler House waited and watched.
“I don’t know,” Jess replied.
They sat together at the base of the monument. No one mentioned they were sitting with the girls’ and Riley’s remains just a feet away. Gage rested with his back against the monument, cradling Jess against his chest. Allison faced the house, staring, rocking in place. Bryan finally stretched out on the ground. He needed a doctor—or something to knock him out for a few hours until his head stopped pounding.
Mrs. Hirsch continued to stare at them from the other side of the fence.
“Now what?” Jess asked.
Gage shrugged. “If Riley doesn’t kill us first, we’re stuck here until Monday.”
“I hope the house lets them in,” Jess said.
“It’s got to let them in, right?” Bryan asked. “It has to.”
Allison continued rocking. “Riley will think of something else. He won’t wait until Monday.”
Riley had resumed his place in the oak, his glowing eyes fixated on them from his perch.
“He’s figuring out a way to open the gate,” Allison said.
They huddled together in the dark, watching Riley and Mrs. Hirsch. Jess wondered how badly Riley and the house wanted them.