When she got back out by the road, she could no longer see her house. Beyond forty or fifty yards, everything had been engulfed in darkness. At first, it looked like any other darkness. But when she stood there and let her eyes focus, she knew it was not. It moved and undulated like it was a physical mass, like it was alive.
She ran away from the thing. It followed, swallowing up everything in the world as it went. She bolted to another house and pulled on the door. Nothing. Then the next house. Nothing. She continued doing this, trying to get into a house, to find somewhere to hide, until she had run for so long that she knew she had to be miles from her home.
How long had it been? How long had she been running? Her internal clock told her that morning should have been on the horizon, yet the darkness clung, still, to everything, like an infection that had gone septic. Even the moon had disappeared. The light remained, as if it hung full in the sky just overhead, only it wasn’t. She looked up only to see an endless pit of blackness. How was there light but no source?
After hours more of running, she arrived, impossibly, back at her own house. She stood before it, shocked that it was there. She couldn’t imagine how this could be. Had she turned enough times that, at some point, she had reversed direction?
She ran for the door, already screaming her husband’s name. He would hear her and come out to help. He had to.
She grabbed the door handle and pulled, but nothing happened. As if made of stone, the door handle did not even wiggle. She pulled at it again, twisting with all her might. She was drained and couldn’t take anymore.
“Richard! Toby!” She shouted all their names in turn.
Nobody called back. She ran out to the road and scanned the ground. Near the curb, she found a large rock. She picked it up and ran back toward the house. But instead of the door, she went for the window.
Just as she was about to heave back and slam the rock through the glass, she froze. Her eyes were seeing, but her mind was not believing. On the other side of the glass, where she had eaten pizza with her family earlier that day, was nothing. The light glared through the windows, leaving none of the house’s contents to her imagination.
All of it was empty, cleared out completely. Like they had never lived there at all. Like nobody in the world had ever lived there. She screamed, launching the rock into the window. It hit with full force and vanished. Her mind was expecting the sound of shattering glass, and when it didn’t come, she just stared ahead, confused.
Finally, she snapped back into it. She went back to the road and grabbed another rock, not waiting a second before cranking back and throwing it at the window.
The rock vanished straight into the glass, fading from existence like a forgotten memory.
She shook her head. No. This wasn’t possible. No! She ran for the door, grabbing the handle. But as soon as she touched it, the metal knob burst into a thin, black smoke. It drifted up into the sky, joining the rest of the darkness. She stepped back, nearly stumbling.
What light was still there began to vanish as the darkness moved in on her.
Her eyes shot open. She was in her bedroom again. She felt the blanket resting on top of her and the pillow under her head. She allowed a heavy breath to ease from her lungs as she spotted Richard standing in front of the window looking outward.
She yawned. “Babe, what are you doing?”
He didn’t move. Her eyes drifted shut, her body still enormously tired, even more exhausted than when she had first gone to bed. They opened again, and he still stood there.
“Come back to bed,” she whispered.
He responded but barely loud enough for her to hear. “We have to go. We have to go. We have to go.”
“Go where? It’s the middle of the night.”
“We have to go.”
“You can go. I’m going back to sleep.” She rolled over, her arm landing on a lump.
It took her mind a moment to process it, but when she did, she leapt from the bed. The area by the window was empty. She looked down at the lump, her body shaking. She remembered the entity from her dream, the black smoke that filled every corner of existence. Gathering herself the best she could, she stepped back toward the bed and reached for the hump. In a swift, quick motion, she pulled away the blanket.
It was just Richard, his head tucked partially under his pillow, snoring softly.
22
Stars peeked out from between fast-drifting clouds. It didn’t feel very windy there, but way up in the sky, it must have been a different story. The signs of the previous rainfall still loomed. Toby suddenly felt a cold hand wrap around his own. He looked down, smiling at Addy’s hand in his. He couldn’t believe his luck. Though, amazingly, this—Addy kissing him and holding his hand—was already beginning to feel normal. Like this was how it was supposed to be all along.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said.
“I just woke up.”
She looked at him for a moment, analyzing him. “Bad dream? Or was it me tossing the rocks?”
He hesitated but then nodded. “The first one.”
“I’m sorry. That’s no fun.”
The ensuing silence continued until they reached the end of the road. It wasn’t an awkward silence, though. It was as if everything they needed was already right there, so there wasn’t anything that needed to be done or said.
“So a nightmare, huh. About what?” she asked.
He opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself before the word ghosts could slip out. This was his first…girlfriend. He wasn’t about to risk blowing that because he thought he saw a ghost.
He faked a smile. “I don’t remember.”
She squeezed his hand. “Yeah, that happens a lot. I hardly ever remember my dreams. Probably for the best.”
“So, where are we going?”
Her smile turned to a grin. “It’s a surprise!”
A surprise, he thought, would be his parents going into his bedroom and finding him not there. The even bigger surprise would be how long they grounded him for. He really hoped that didn’t happen.
“So, what’s your favorite color?” he asked.
She looked at him, a smirk tilting the edges of her mouth upward like she was moments from laughing. “My favorite color? Red, I guess.” She laughed. “Yours?”
He considered it, perhaps for the first time since he was little. Blue, maybe. Or maybe not. The question suddenly seemed more difficult than he had expected.
“Black?” he said.
“Good color. Ummmmm. What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Happy was his first thought. Most of his life, until now, was spent feeling empty and painfully alone. There was nothing specific that he woke up for other than to continue his life. He hardly had friends, no girlfriend, and didn’t much care about his grades. He knew it was a dismal way to live, but he couldn’t help it.
“I’m not sure,” he said, knowing she was actually referring to a career, not his mental state.
“Yeah, me neither.” She laughed. “I suppose I’ll go to college and figure it out there.” She brushed her hair behind her ear. “Turn this way.”
She pointed toward a tree line. It was dark out, but even darker beyond the foliage where light could scarcely reach. His heart sank. She turned, pulling him with her. The trees looked like a mouth, a dark pit ready to swallow them into blackness.
He didn’t want to go in there, but he also didn’t want to look weak. They were just trees, he told himself, nothing to be afraid of. Plus, she clearly knew where they were going. Or so he hoped.
As they drew closer, the trees seemed to stretch toward the sky like they were made of rubber and were being pulled by the clouds. He was trying to control his breathing, to keep himself steady and calm. He wasn’t sure why he was even feeling this way. Addy, on the other hand, was just fine. There were no signs of apprehension on her face. Not even the slightest hint of fear or even nervousness.
They moved down a narrow trail, trees
and bushes on both sides of them, the air too dark to tell exactly how dense the place was. He could barely see in any direction. If Addy were to take off into the woods for whatever reason, he wasn’t sure he would be able to find his way back out, not until morning at least. And even then, he wasn’t so sure the light of day could penetrate the barrier into this wooded world.
Her fingers stayed locked in his, guiding him. Finally, they emerged into an opening. The trees parted way to a creek, the water bustling softly. Here, like some magical place, the moonlight shined down, reflecting off the water, lighting the area in a bright, mysterious hue. On their side of the creek was a patch of grass almost like a lawn. He stepped onto it. It had a different feel under his feet, soft instead of rooty and full of sticks and twigs.
“Where are we?” Toby asked, amazed at how inverse this haven was to the dense forest just feet behind him.
“This is where I go when I need to think.”
“How’d you find it? The path is so narrow.”
She laughed. “I’d hardly call it a path. I just stumbled upon it one day when I was adventuring around. Not a lot to do around here.” She smiled as she took in the surroundings. “Nobody really comes here.”
Toby smiled, just barely visible in the moon light. “Probably because they can’t find it.”
“Probably.”
Toby walked over to the water’s edge and stared in. The water was like crystal. In the yellow light, he could see straight to the bottom of the creek. Tiny fish squirmed about. He touched the surface of the water with his shoe, and they scattered.
Addy walked up beside him and joined in on staring through the water. “Mostly minnows, but I’ve seen a few larger fish swim by.”
“How deep is it?” he asked.
She pointed upstream. “It gets a little deep over there but only a few feet.”
He nodded, unsure of why he even asked the question. It wasn’t like they could swim in it. And even if they could, it was too cold outside for a late night dip. He noticed then that she was staring at him.
He turned, smiling back. “So what did you bring me here for? To think?”
“Not quite.”
Her eyes sparkled. She wore a red shirt with four buttons, two of which were undone just below her neck, showing the top of her breasts. He tried not to look, his eyes repeatedly wandering back to the sliver of exposed flesh. She wore short jean shorts, which he thought was brave for such a chilly night.
She stepped toward him, pulling him close. They began kissing. But unlike the kisses before, this kiss was long and passionate, continuing even after Toby became short of breath, their tongues intertwined in a suffocating embrace. Toby allowed his hands to drift lower, finding her hips.
She suddenly released him, stepping back. He wondered if he had gone too far. He had known he was letting himself wonder, the heat of the moment taking over his thoughts. But he was certain, at least a second ago, that, that was what she wanted.
His worry evaporated when he saw she was still smiling. But now he was confused. Was she teasing him? Was that what this was?
“I saw you the other night,” she said, a mischievous grin wrapped from cheek to the other.
He didn’t respond because he wasn’t sure what she was talking about. She just stood there expectantly, patiently waiting for him to understand what she was getting at. Then it hit him, and his heart took a plunge. The mild hardness he had felt under his jeans quickly faded, and his stomach lurched.
“I—I—” he stuttered, his thoughts tripping over each other in a desperate attempt to find a way out.
“It’s my turn,” she said.
“I’m so s—” He stopped himself. What had she just said? Her turn?
With her finger, she traced down from her lower neck, past her breast, to the bottom of the V in her shirt. His hardness returned immediately. He wasn’t sure if what was happening was real or if this was another dream.
“Well, I think it’s only fair that if you saw me, I should get to see you.”
“With my clothes off?” He looked around, sure there must be cameras hidden somewhere or a crowd of kids waiting for him to be dumb enough to remove his clothes here next to the creek.
She stepped toward him. “Do you disagree?”
He shook his head no. His heart was racing, but he still wasn’t sure this was real. It couldn’t be. Things like this definitely did not happen to him.
“Maybe I can encourage you a little.” She grabbed her shirt from the sides and lifted it up and over her head and then dropped it to the ground.
There she stood in only her bra. His eyes were fixated on her breasts which her bra seemed to barely be able to contain.
“Well?” she asked.
He startled into realization. It was his turn. This couldn’t be a set up. If it were, she wouldn’t have taken her shirt off. He pulled his shirt off and tossed it to the ground.
“Good. Good,” she said. “Now the rest.”
He waited a second, seeing if she would lead the way again, or maybe even say she was kidding.
“No. You first this time. We have to keep this fair.”
He hesitated a moment, giving her one last chance to change her mind. She didn’t. He kicked off his shoes and then unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them off in a funny stumbling manner. Now his jeans and shirt were in a pile together, and all that remained were his boxers and socks.
To his relief, she followed. She unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them down, wiggling her hips a little as she did so. He wasn’t sure if the act was intentional or if the shorts were really that hard to get off for some reason.
He swallowed hard, staring at Addy in nothing but her bra and underwear. The cold air had her nipples hard, pushing out from the inside of the thin bra. He could not take his eyes off her body. It was the first time he had seen a girl like this. Sure, he had seen girls in their bikinis, which covered pretty much the same amount of space, but he hadn’t in this context, or anything even remotely close to it.
She was staring toward his waist. He looked down and noticed his hardness was pushing his boxers out. His nerves shot a hot sensation through his entire body. He was suddenly more nervous than he ever had been in his entire life.
But the way she was smiling at him helped push that feeling away. She was looking him up and down now in the most obvious way possible.
“Not bad,” she said.
Without another word, she reached behind her back with both hands, unclipped her bra, and let gravity push it to the ground. She smiled at him, no sign of anxiety or nervousness in her eyes, then bent over, removing her underwear.
He was frozen in place, not because of the cold, but because his mind and body had no idea how to react. He had seen this coming, only because it was the logical conclusion to whatever it was they were doing. But now that she was standing before him, fully naked, her blond hair draping down over her breasts, he felt like he could no longer breathe.
“Well, are you just going to let me stand here naked or are you going to join me?”
23
The smell was beyond putrid. Most of the house woke up with slamming headaches, all but Toby and Paisley. What had first been confined to the basement, then the first floor, had now made its way to the second floor with overwhelming force. The musk clouded the entire house, the smell’s presence almost palpable.
Richard was downstairs pacing around, his head throbbing even after he downed three extra-strength headache tablets. He had left a voicemail on the realtor’s phone. That was an hour ago. He had demanded to know where the key to the basement was, firmly stating that he had had enough. Silent minutes drifted by, undisturbed by the sound of a ringing phone, until Richard had finally reached his limit.
He dialed again. It rang until the voicemail kicked in. Even the realtor’s voice annoyed the piss out of him at that point. He was furious with the guy. Worse yet, he bet that if he drove over to his office, he would find the bastard’s car parked in
the lot.
He didn’t bother leaving a second voicemail. He pounded the large red hang-up button on the screen and then jammed the phone angrily back into his pocket. Outside the basement door, he leered at the thing as if the door itself was the cause of their problems and not the other door further down into the basement. He could kick it, anything to get the frustration out. That’s what he wanted to do. But he didn’t dare. If he were to damage it…well, that door was the only thing separating them all from the brunt of the stench.
Lisa tried to calm him with a glass of lemonade, one of Richard’s favorites, but the attempt went unheard. Beyond that, Lisa didn’t try to talk him out of his next move. She was angry as well, maybe even almost as angry as Richard, just better at hiding it. She had had enough of this dead animal crap. The house smelled utterly horrible.
So, when Richard said he was going to the realtor’s office to punch him in the face, Lisa hardly protested. She knew—or she was pretty sure—he wouldn’t really punch the guy. But if he did, well, they would cross that bridge when they got there.
Robbie wasn’t going this time. He was still upstairs in excruciating pain, much worse than he would let on to the others. He didn’t want to scare Richard and Lisa, both of them having their hands full already. Plus, the way he saw it, if his little nephew could overcome this sickness, he could, too. He was healthy, for the most part. He told himself that this pain, this…insane pain, had to be the worst of it and only better days could be ahead.
He hadn’t seen Trevor in a day or so, which made him wonder about the boy, but between the pain and the delirium, he hardly remembered the fact. The reason he hadn’t seen Trevor, unknown to Robbie, was because Trevor was right back where he started, in the next room over, lying in the fetal position, begging whatever god was above to help him get through whatever this was.
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