“Poppy!”
Frowning, she realized that was definitely Rick. Why would he be in a building they were preparing to demolish in now less than twenty minutes?
That was when it hit her. The words death, evil, agony. Did someone have him in the building? Maybe the aura? Could the aura detach itself from her and harm Rick?
If it can lob you across the woods, of course, it can attach itself to Rick, moron.
Maybe that was why she’d felt the pressing need to get to Littleton? Because Rick was being held captive by the aura?
Scraping her hand over her back pocket, Poppy discovered she didn’t have her phone. She couldn’t call January or Nina or anyone, and she was the dreaded A word.
Alone. Something she wasn’t supposed to be no matter what.
Her hands went clammy and shaky. If she left and went to find a way to contact the girls, and Rick really was in the building, he could end up dead. January had said the aura wanted death.
“Poppy!”
Looking up, she pinpointed where his voice was coming from and decided there was no other way. She had to go look. Whipping around, Poppy’s eyes scanned the surrounding area for any signs of help, but the place was deserted.
“Get Rick!”
As another tidal wave of fear coursed through her, she knew he was in the building. She felt it in her bones, and there was nothing left to do but go in and find him.
Without another thought, and with the small consolation that she was pretty quick on her feet, Poppy took off for the interior of the building, pushing her way through the front doors.
“She what?” Rick asked just before he realized his voice had returned.
“Well, look who can fucking talk, would ya? Thought you had laryngitis? Or was that pussy-itis?” Nina crowed, jamming her face in his.
Clenching his jaw, he forced himself to respond rationally. Nina was only looking out for Poppy, and for that he was grateful. If it meant he had to suffer her threats, he’d do it gladly.
“I’m as surprised as you. Forget my voice for now and tell me what happened to Poppy.”
Nina snapped her fingers. “Dis-a-fucking-ppeared, dude! One minute Darnell was rocking her like a damn baby, the next she was just gone.”
Fear flooded his gut, making him lean against the door of his house for support. The cold, clear night above appeared harmless but had somehow become chock full of danger.
He hadn’t even stuck the key in his door before the women, Carl, and a new man he hadn’t identified yet swarmed him, all talking at once about Poppy’s disappearance as they prepared to go find her.
His plan had been to ask Poppy to come to the diner with him to be with the seniors and watch the demo. He didn’t want to leave them alone in case there were any concerns, but he couldn’t stand to leave this thing between them for another second.
And now she was gone. Vanished into thin air. Which meant he had to take action now. Turning to Nina, he asked, “What was happening before she disappeared? Why was Darnell rocking her?”
Nina poked him in the chest, her anger with him apparent as she used aggressive hands to straighten her jacket’s hood. “That damn building of yours! She hasn’t said much because you just can’t seem to communicate and digest without clamming up, but she’s been having some pretty shitty feelings about not only your BFF, Pip-Pip-Cheerio, but about that damn building and everyone’s willingness to skip off to fucking Great Neck. She felt like it was her job to advise you, not dump on you about something she didn’t damn well understand. Also, when she did try to tell you how she felt about your buddy, you walked out, Ricky baby.”
“Nina!” Marty scolded, knocking Nina in the shoulder. “That’s not true! He asked her to allow him to wrap his head around the fact that she thinks Avis is a misogynistic ass! Not the same thing, Vampire.”
But Nina wasn’t having any of Marty’s guff. “Well, I’m here to tell you, we don’t play like that. We fucking duke it out until it’s a GD dead issue. We don’t walk the fuck away because this is what happens!”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Yash had always been on him about expressing himself better, and he’d been right. He did suck at sharing, but he’d been so blindsided by the look on Poppy’s face and her conviction Avis was a scumbag, he’d needed to process.
So he shook his head at Marty, his eyes apologetic. “No. It’s true. I didn’t walk away-walk away, but I did need some time to process what she was saying about Avis. It surprised me, in truth. But she never said a damn thing about Littleton.”