She smiles at me.
Hello again, she says.
And then, fast, disarmingly fast, she hauls herself out of the tub and onto the floor, coming toward us on all fours.
I scream so loud, I’m vibrating.
Dex grabs my arms, screaming along with me, and starts running, shoving me in front of him, running and running, my boots slipping on the blood.
I fall over just as I step out of the door, right onto the hardwood floor, my hands breaking my fall.
I cry out, rolling over, watching as Dex pulls the door shut.
“We’ve got to go,” he says frantically, hauling me to my feet and then swinging me up so I’m being carried on his back, for the second time in as many days.
He starts running down the stairs to the second floor.
“What the fuck!” he yells.
Before I get a chance to ask him what happened, if I can even form words with this level of horror running through me, Dex runs right SMACK into something, everything coming to a full stop.
The impact sends the both of us flying back, and I land on the floor again, this time my poor shoulder taking the brunt of the impact.
“Fuck,” I cry out, more in terror than pain.
I reach out to touch Dex, or my flashlight, anything, but there’s nothing.
“Sorry about that, little lady,” I hear Maximus’ voice drawl through the dark. “Didn’t know if I’d be able to stop you or not.”
I feel a hand on my arm, and I know it’s not Dex’s hand. Maximus gives my arm a squeeze, I guess trying to be comforting, though I don’t think I can be comforted right now by anything or anyone.
“Dex?” I ask uneasily.
“I’m afraid I might have knocked him out,” Maximus muses. “You got a flashlight on you?”
A flashlight? Can’t ghosts see in the dark?
I slowly sit up and then reach around until my hand grasps the flashlight. I knock it against the ground until a flickering light comes on and I quickly shine it around me.
Dex is crumpled on his side, Maximus standing off to the side of me, staring down at Dex with what can only be called amusement.
“Is he okay?” I ask, worry taking over as I get to my knees and crawl over to him.
“You ask if he’s okay?” Max says with a soft laugh. “Perry, you know your husband better than that by now. If he can survive a sword through the throat, he can survive almost anything.”
Almost anything.
“Dex?” I whisper, putting my hand on his shoulder and shaking him.
“Hopefully the camera is okay. You sure do have bad luck with that shit.”
I glance over at the camera. The light isn’t on anymore and it might be broken, but it’s the least of my concerns right now.
Max crouches down in front of Dex and gives me a sheepish smile. Just like last time, I’m completely struck by how whole and real and, well, large he looks. Like nothing changed for him at all. Like death was just a hiccup, like he hadn’t just been in Hell for a long time. I can’t even imagine what that would do to a person, whether they were alive or dead. Either he’s always been tougher than he seemed or he’s managed to move on. Maybe being a Jacob helps in that regard.
“I’m doing okay,” Max says to me softly. “Don’t you worry about me. Let’s just worry about him.”
“You said he can survive almost anything!” I cry out.
He laughs. “Yeah, I reckon he can. But how is he going to handle me? That’s another story entirely.”
But I can tell from the shit-eating twist to his lips that he’s going to enjoy the hell out of this.
He clears his throat and puts his hand on Dex’s arm. “Dex? Bout time you pulled yourself together, son.”
Dex lets out a moan and I shine the light on his face, his eyes pinching shut against the intrusion. “Fuck,” he eventually says, brows knitting together. “What the fuck just happened?”
“You fell,” I tell him.
He groans, trying to move, eyes still closed. He raises his hand to block the light. “Feels like I ran into a fucking tree.”
I glance at Maximus briefly before looking back at Dex. “Well, you kind of did. Remember that sequoia joke you told me?”
He blinks, opening his eyes in confusion.
Only to see Maximus grinning down at him.
“Nice to see you, old friend,” he says.
Twelve
Stunned.
Dex is absolutely stunned, staring right at Maximus, his eyes growing wider and wider, seemingly frozen in place.
“Dex?” Max prompts.
Then Dex yelps and tries to move backward, shuffling along the floor until he backs up against the wall.
“It’s okay,” I try to assure him. “It’s really him.”
Dex is breathing heavily, his eyes jumping to mine, now looking at me like I’m crazy, before going back to Maximus. “This isn’t real,” he manages to say, still in disbelief. “You’re not here. You’re not real.”
Max gives him a sympathetic head tilt and then turns to me, offering his hand.
“Perry!” Dex barks at me. “What are you doing? Don’t touch it.”
But naturally I don’t listen.
I put my hand in Max’s and he hauls me to my feet. I give him a grateful smile and then eye Dex, my brow raised as if to say, see, he’s real.
“What the fuck is going on?” Dex asks, then rubs his hands over his face vigorously. “How hard did I hit my fucking head?” He removes his hands, frowning when he realizes Max is still right here. “I don’t get this.”
Maximus folds his arms and peers down at him. “I have to say, you’re being more obtuse than I thought you’d be.”
Dex eyes me, shaking his head. “How come you’re not freaking the fuck out? I don’t understand. See, this is how I know it’s not real.” He points his finger at me and then at Max. “If this were real, Perry would be losing her shit.”
“Oh, she did,” Max drawls. “Remember the last time you were here, when you were locked alone in that room? Well, I sure as heck surprised her then.”
Dex is looking at me now, eyes rapidly searching my face.
It’s true, I try to tell him.
“And when I kissed her, well, that really got her spooked.”
“WHAT?!” Dex roars, scrambling to his feet.
I close my eyes, pressing a fist to my forehead. Oh, fucking hell.
“Max!” I hiss at him. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“Already dead, sweetheart.”
Dex stands there, eyes wide, nostrils flaring, hands balling up into fists. He’s angry as hell but he’s also scared. “What the fuck are you talking about? You kissed her?” He looks at me. “He kissed you?”
“I was trying to prove a point,” Maximus says dryly. “The point came across. Hey, if it helps you believe me, I’ll kiss you too.”
Dex looks so horrified that I almost laugh. “The fuck you will.”
“Offer’s on the table,” he says with a wink, just to piss him off more. “Things feeling a little more real now?”
Dex keeps shaking his head, walking over to me. “Did this chodepigeon really kiss you?”
“Oh my god, Dex, really? That’s your concern right now?”
“Right, right, right,” he says, eyes flashing. “I guess my concern is why the hell this happened to you days ago and you never fucking told me.”
I knew that would bite me in the ass.
I wave my hand at Maximus. “He told me not to.”
“And you just believed him? And you believed he was real?”
“Well, no,” I say carefully. “I checked with Jacob.”
His eyes nearly fall out of his head. “Jacob? When…the fuck, Perry! Is that why you went for a drive with him?”
“Oh, you saw Jacob. Good,” Maximus says glibly. “Hope he’s doing alright.”
I glare at Max to shut up, then look back to Dex. “I had to make sure.”
“And you didn’t tell me!”
“He said not to tell!” I yell back. I face Maximus. “You told me that I shouldn’t tell him about you.”
He shrugs. “That’s right, darlin’. I did say that.”
“And you honored his wish instead of telling me? Your husband?” Dex asks snidely. I know he’s full of anger right now, I just wish he didn’t sound so hurt underneath.
“He’s dead,” I protest. “You can’t just not honor the wishes of the dead. I didn’t know what to do.”
He turns his fury to Max. “And why the fuck couldn’t she tell me?”
Max runs his hand over his jaw, supressing a smile. “No real reason. Just more fun this way.” Now he’s full-on grinning at us, looking pleased as punch. “I wouldn’t have traded any of this for the world.”
“Ugh, please don’t tell me you reverted back to being an asshole,” I scowl at him.
“I was in Hell, you know,” he points out. “Saving both your apparently ungrateful asses, lest you forget.”
“Is this what we have to look forward to when we pull you out of there?” I say to him. “You reminding us of that? Because it’s going to get old real soon.”
“What are you talking about?” Dex asks. “Pull him out of where?”
“He’s in the Veil,” I say, waving my hand around. “This whole house is like the Veil. Jacob dragged him out of Hell but could only take him this far.”
“You have got to be shitting me,” Dex says, a look of awe coming over him as he stares at Max. “It really is you, isn’t it?”
“Something like that,” he says. “You gonna give me a hug or what?”
Dex wrinkles his nose. “I don’t know. You going to try and kiss me? Because I might need a breath mint.”
I watch in amusement as Max grins and goes over to Dex, putting a meaty palm on his shoulder and pulling him in to a hug. Dex winces, looking like he’s being crushed by the giant ginger. But eventually he pats him (rather awkwardly) on the back, and I swear there might be just a hint of emotion in his eyes.
Maximus releases him and then slaps Dex on the back, HARD, making him cough.
“Okay, okay. I get it,” Dex says, looking pained. “You’re real. Didn’t have to break my ribs like that.” He looks between the both of us. “So now what? Dex is all filled in here, no more secrets. Right?” He glares at me.
I throw up my palms. “No more secrets. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I really wanted to. I would have if we didn’t see him tonight.”
“So you wanted to come back tonight because of him.” He jerks his thumb at Maximus.
“And Samantha,” I tell him.
Seconds after her name falls from my mouth, the house fills with the sound of a door unlocking from the floor above us and slowly creaking open, followed by a thump.
The bathroom.
I look at Dex, wide-eyed. I do not want to run into her again.
“Hey, big guy,” Dex says to Maximus. “You wouldn’t be able to do anything about a troublesome dead woman, would you?”
Max’s expression turns grim, which I have to admit, puts all the fear back in me.
“Follow me,” he says, lowering his voice. He goes down the stairs as Dex and I exchange a look of surprise, and then Dex quickly scoops up his camera, peering at it as we hurry after Max.
“This better not be broken,” he grumbles. “And I can’t believe he fucking kissed you and you didn’t say shit about it.”
“Sorry,” I tell him under my breath. “It’s not like it left an impression on me.”
Max lets out a derisive snort from ahead of us as he leads us down yet another set of stairs, going into the basement. It’s barely lit from my flickering flashlight.
“In here,” he says, opening a heavy door.
“Oh great, he’s leading us into a basement,” Dex says. “Fucking love basements.”
We step into a cold room that’s lit by ochre-colored windows that line the upper part of one wall, facing onto the street, the streetlights providing just enough glow. There’s a brick fireplace with a Moorish arch above it, and broken Middle Eastern lanterns strewn between old leather furniture.
“What is this place?” I ask, shining my flashlight around.
“I’m guessing this used to be the smoking room, back in the day,” Maximus says.
Dex seems more preoccupied with getting the camera to work. I zip open my purse and find an extra flashlight, handing it to him.
“Here,” I tell him. “I think I left my EMF reader upstairs.”
“You can come get it next time,” Max says.
“Next time?” I repeat. “You think there’s a next time? If that was Samantha Poe up there in that bathtub, I’m sorry but there’s no way in hell that we’re talking to her.” Not to mention the fact that I’ve seen her outside this house. “No, we’re getting you out of here tonight.”
“I told you last time, sweetheart. It just ain’t that simple.”
“But you said you had a connection with me.”
Dex looks up from his camera, glaring at the both of us. “A connection?”
I give Max a pleading look like, please don’t fuck this up and say something that will set Dex off.
But Max gives me a smirk, and I don’t like the look of that smirk.
“We do have a connection,” he says slowly. “Happens when you’re that intimate with someone.”
Dex’s hands nearly crush the camera. “If you don’t shut up,” he growls at him, “I’m going to fucking kill you.”
“Like I said, I’m already dead.”
“What if the both of us kill you?” I threaten him. “That might count for something. Stop being such an instigator. We’re trying to help you, you jerk.”
“Fuck that, I’m already having second thoughts,” Dex says.
“Looks like the gang’s all back together,” Max remarks with a smile.
“Shut the fuck up,” Dex and I both say to him in unison.
The sound of the floor creaking above us steals our attention. All three of us look up, sucking in our breath. Well, Dex and I do—I don’t even know if Max breathes or not.
There’s someone walking across the hall on the main floor. I want to think it’s Atlas paying us a visit, but I know that’s probably not the case.
“Are you sure we’re safe down here?” I ask Max, trying to keep the panic from my voice.
“I reckon so. She’s never come down here. None of them do.”
“None of them?” Dex practically spits out. “Who are the rest of them? And are any of them missing a leg?”
“Ah, I see you’ve met Victor, then.”
“I think I met Victor’s leg…”
“What is this place, Max?” I ask him. “It’s not just a house. Jacob said as much. He said it exists on another plane.”
He sighs and sits down on the leather armchair, dust flying up from his weight. “I don’t really know. I’ve got no answers at all.”
“Well, what did Jacob say when he brought you here?” Dex asks. “You didn’t ask him where you were? You just thanked him for the ride and that was it? No tip?”
“No.” Max gives him a steady look. “If you could understand my frame of, well, mind at the time, then you’d know. Look, the two of you have no idea what Hell is like.” Dex opens his mouth and Max quickly waves at him dismissively. “You don’t, okay? You gotta trust me on that. The Veil has layers, Hell has layers too. The deepest ones…well, I’m thankful I guess I wasn’t there. I doubt anyone would have been able to get me out, and if they had, I’m pretty sure my brain would be scrambled eggs by now.”
“Delightful,” Dex mutters.
“So no, despite not having scrambled eggs for brains, I wasn’t really aware of where Jacob had brought me. Heck, I have no idea when that even was. What is time here? It might have been last week. I mean, how much time has even passed since I died?”
“Three and a half years,” I tell him solemnly. “Give or take.”
“Okay,” Dex says after a moment, and I can see he’s trying to give him space. “So you’re here in this house, which may be a giant portal or a waiting room or who knows what. You’ve obviously had to interact with everyone else in here.”
“Not everyone,” he says slowly, still staring straight ahead at the fireplace. “And not everything. There are things in here I don’t want to meet. Things that might take me back to Hell.”
“What things?” I ask, uneasiness building in my stomach.
“I reckon you didn’t see it with the witch?”
I blink and look over at Dex. He’s staring at me with the same befuddled expression. “Witch?” I repeat.
“Samantha Poe. She’s a witch. Or was a witch. Same difference, I guess.”
“How do you know that?” I ask him.
“I know a witch when I see one,” he says simply. “I’m sure if you investigated things a little further, you’d figure out more.”
“That Edgar Allan Fuck is a literal son of a witch,” Dex says, shaking his head. “I knew he was hiding something.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know,” I point out.
“Oh, he knows.”
Meanwhile, Maximus is staring at us in confusion. “Edgar Allan Fuck?”
“Atlas Poe,” I tell him. “Samantha’s son.”
“Ah yes, the son. I’ve seen him around in here. Talking to her.”
“Hold on, before things get weirder, you said that we didn’t see it with the witch. What is it?” I ask.
“The demon,” he says. “At least I think it’s a demon. I’m not about to tussle with it to find out. As long as I’m in this place, any demon can bring me back, I reckon.”
“Would this demon, uh, happen to walk on all fours and crawl on the ceiling, have black, dense fur with white eyes, and a long leathery tail?”
I can feel Dex frowning at me and I know I’m close to admitting the truth. I just hope this doesn’t bite me in the ass later. I’m so afraid that every time I mention something scary that happened to me, Dex is going to change his mind about the baby.
And at that thought, Max catches my eye. A hint of recognition flashes over his, and I wonder if he happened to hear me. I hope not. I don’t want to go down that long road with him right now.
Came Back Haunted: An Experiment in Terror Novel #10 Page 15