Gooseflesh dimpling her arms, she ran her hands along her neck and upper back, trying to brush off whatever it was.
A noise from the backyard. Laughter.
Piglet whimpered from the backpack. Turning back to the window, Allie peered uneasily into the blackness.
“It’s okay, li’l girl. I’ll protect you,” Allie whispered to the pup. She was still staring out the window when lightning lit up the yard. Someone was standing in the tall grass, staring back at her.
She gasped and dropped to the floor, pressing her body against the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible. Piglet whined louder.
Who the hell was that?
“Oh my God! What? What’s wrong?” Hannah asked, instinctively ducking, too.
“Someone’s out there,” Allie whispered.
“What? You’re shitting me!”
“Shh! No, I’m serious.”
On her hands and knees, Allie lifted her head just enough to be able to see out. When lightning flashed again, she clearly made out two dark figures, standing about two yards away, staring back at her.
She ducked again, adrenaline shooting through her body. “Oh Jesus! Oh shit! Did you see them?”
“No, but you’re scaring the shit out of me, Allie,” Hannah said, cowering against the wall. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“What? You mean you want to go out there?”
“Stop scaring me! Please.”
“Hannah, did you even look?”
“No. And I’m not going to.”
“No, seriously. There are people out there. Just look.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“No, please. Look,” Allie pleaded. Because I need to make sure they are really there. You know, that I’m not just losing my mind.
Reluctantly, Hannah lifted her head alongside Allie’s and watched in the darkness. After about a minute, lightning flashed again, but the yard was empty. “I didn’t see anything,” the girl said, her words an almost unintelligible slur.
Allie frowned. “That’s because they aren’t there anymore.”
“If they’re not out there, where’d they go?”
Good question.
A second jolt of adrenaline shot through Allie’s body and she raced to the back door. She locked it, then ran to the front of the house and locked that door, too, although she knew there were about a million other ways to get in. If someone wanted to get into the house it would be easy.
“C’mon,” she said, grabbing Hannah. She pulled her down the hallway, to her brother’s room, then slammed the door behind them.
Pulling the backpack from her back, she scooped out a whining Piglet and crawled into the bed. Sitting with her back pressed against the wall, she pulled the rough blanket to the base of her neck and held Piglet tightly.
Crap! Crap! Why the hell did I let her talk me into this? Am I really that desperate for a friend?
Yes—yes, she was.
Or, at least she had been.
Never, ever, EVER again, she told herself. NEVER will I come back here.
The wind hissed angrily, shaking the bedroom’s little window. Piglet squirmed beneath Allie’s grip and jumped to the floor.
“Allie?” Hannah called softly from the corner of the room.
“Yeah?” Allie shined the light on the wall behind Hannah so she could see her face. Hannah was staring at her, her eyes glassy. “What?”
“You know, Claire was right. Maybe you shouldn’t, you know—”
“Shouldn’t what?”
“Shouldn’t trust me.”
Allie’s breath hitched. “What did you just say?”
Hannah closed her eyes tightly.
“Hannah?”
The girl didn’t budge.
Something banged loudly against the window, making Allie jump. Then rain began falling in sheets.
Piglet! “Piglet, where are you?” Allie waved her flashlight beam around the room to find the puppy squatting in the corner opposite Hannah. She was peeing in her brother’s room . . . desecrating it even more. Just the thought of it made her feel sick and terribly sad . . . and lonely for her brother. But she couldn’t blame the puppy. It had been a while since she’d let her relieve herself.
When Piglet was done, she jumped back onto the bed and climbed back into Allie’s arms. She gripped the pup tightly and cursed her decision to come back to the wretched house. He’s not here. There’s no way he’d return to this place, even if he could. He was miserable here. If anyone’s here, it’s her. I was so stupid to come back.
She turned her attention back to Hannah, needing to find out what she’d meant. But Hannah had fallen into some kind of drug-induced sleep.
For what seemed like hours the storm raged on, until suddenly, as though someone had simply flipped a switch, everything became quiet.
The room instantly took on a different personality as ghostly moonlight spilled through the tiny window and clung to the far walls of the bedroom.
Piglet even relaxed enough to fall asleep and began snoring in Allie’s arms. Lulled by the sleeping dog, Allie sat against the wall, holding her and listening for signs of someone in the house with them.
She listened intently . . . until at some point sleep stole her away, too.
CHAPTER 43
MORNING SUNLIGHT SLANTED in the small window.
The warmth of a sun ray licked Allie’s eyelids and she climbed her way out of a sound sleep. Piglet was nudging her arm, wanting to be taken out to pee. “Okay, okay, one second,” Allie groaned. She opened her eyes and blinked, slowly realizing where she was.
She shot up in bed.
Crap!
Her feet hit the floor and she rushed to Hannah, who still lay in the corner. She was curled into the fetal position, sleeping deeply. “Hannah, get up! Hannah! Get! Up! We have to go! Now!”
The girl stirred a little.
As she shook the girl awake, Allie caught movement out of the corner of her eye.
When she looked up, she saw Miss Bitty. The old woman was standing in the doorway, staring down angrily at her.