Chapter 19
Melissa had watched as Eric dashed across her backyard and into the wooded area behind her house. He disappeared into the thicket quickly, his gait like that of a deer, graceful, agile, and frightened.
He had shared with her information that compounded her worst fear; that Kevin, Chris and John had returned from death and were more dreadful than before. Her hands trembled still. She wondered if they’d ever stop trembling. She wanted nothing more than to run upstairs and tell her father everything, beg him to stay with her and not drive two and a half hours away from her for a weekend poker tournament. But she knew that it was not an option. She could never tell her father about Kevin and the others. She could never tell him about Gabriel, Terzini or Eugene either. To do so would all but guarantee her father would have her committed to a mental health facility.
Instead, she hugged him tightly and watched as his taillights trailed down her street and vanished out of sight.
Her house suddenly felt far larger than it actually was, and far more vulnerable. She set about fortifying every entry point. Starting with the front door, she engaged the deadbolt then moved to the backdoor off of the family room and to the door that led to the garage. She then went to the basement and double-checked that the casement windows had been closed and locked after her father’s workout. When satisfied that the basement was sufficiently secured, she turned off the light and returned to the main level of her house.
The curtains in the kitchen billowed. She did not remember opening the kitchen window but shut it immediately and locked it nevertheless. Drops of water stippled the sill. The late afternoon drizzle had graduated to wind-driven rain. She watched from the recently closed kitchen window as it whipped and lashed treetops in her neighborhood before checking the remaining windows in the living room and dining room.
Once all were closed, she ascended the staircase to call Alexandra and make plans for her to spend the weekend with the Georgopoulos family. She would then gather her toothbrush and other personal effects, pajamas and a few outfits and head over to Alexandra’s.
She looked to her desk and saw that her cell phone did not rest on its charger. She did not see it on her bed either. As she scanned her room she realized it could be anywhere, lost in a sea of clothes and shoes strewn about the floor. She began to pick up articles of clothes from the floor, frustrated by her lack of housekeeping, when a tapping sound startled her.
She paused, dropped the clothes in her hands and listened.
Then she heard the tapping sound again. It came from near her desk. She froze and held her breath, waited for the sound again.
The taps sounded again in quick succession, and it came from her window.
Her heart beat wildly. She could think of only one person who had tapped on her window, and that was five months ago. Excitement fluttered in her stomach as she quickly smoothed her hair with her hands and walked to the window. She was certain that Gabriel waited on the other side of the glass; that he had returned from whatever exotic destination he called home for nearly half a year after hearing of Kevin, Chis and John’s return and had returned to protect her.
The dimness of early evening combined with the brewing storm outside prohibited Melissa from seeing anything in the glass but her reflection. She immediately crossed the room and moved to the window where the tapping originated. She placed both hands on the casing and pressed her face to the pane. She guessed that Gabriel, wanting to surprise her, had backed away and off to the side. Melissa did not want to delay their reunion any longer. If Gabriel waited on the other side of the glass and had been responsible for the tapping as she suspected, she refused to waste more time. She immediately threw open the sash and then the screen. She stuck her head out. Rain beat against the roof of the garage. But she did not see him.
Crestfallen, Melissa had erroneously believed he awaited her beyond her windowpane. In all likelihood, a branch, propelled by the gusting wind, had been responsible for the tapping. Leaving the screen open, she closed the sash and resumed her search for her cell phone.
As she rifled through her untidy room, she heard tapping at the window once again. Cautiously heartened, she went to the window without hesitation. This time, a face stared back at her.
Shock briefly deprived her of voluntary movement, rendered her speechless. The world went silent around her. She did not hear the rain and wind; she did not feel the balmy breeze blowing against her skin.
The face that looked back at her was neither Gabriel’s nor her own reflection. It was monstrous, inhuman, and moving closer. It reached its arm at her spread its webbed fingers outstretching its hand toward her. Instinct screamed for her to back away as the world regained sound. Each noise resounded loudly, echoing and reverberating at an amplified volume.
She took two steps backward, sheer fright commanding her back, away from the hideous beast that advanced. Her feet became entangled in a pile of clothes and suddenly she was falling. She put her hands out to her sides, reaching blindly for something to hold on to, but grasped papers on her desk with her fingertips. She felt the back of her head meet with the wood of her bedframe before everything went black.
Dark Creations Boxed Set (Books 1-3) Page 77