Page 79 of You Shouldn't Have Come Here

“You know I’m not the liar in the family.” He shifted his stance, trying to stand upright on his own. But his body slumped to one side. “You are. There’s a darkness here. Can’t you feel it?” Joe stagged past me, through the living room and toward the front door. “I know you can feel it, Calvin, because it’s in you too.”

The screen door slammed behind him. Sirens roared in the distance. I was about to chase after him when I remembered Grace. My eyes went wide, and I bolted down the hallway. Her room waspitch-blackand still. A draft of wind came whooshing in from the window, blowing up the curtains. I flicked on the lights.

“Grace,” I called out.

The screen had been removed, and the window was pushed all the way open.

“Grace!” I yelled, sticking my head out the window.

I couldn’t see anything outside, just darkness and thered-and-blue lights in the distance. I put one foot up on the windowsill but paused when I heard a rustle in the closet. Placing my foot back on the floor, I pulled open the closet door. The end of a closed umbrella hit me right in the chest and I wheezed, falling backward.

Grace held the umbrella in her shaky hands.

I gasped for air and pressed my fist against my sternum right where she drilled me. “Grace,” I gasped. “Are you okay?”

She nodded several times; the umbrella shook in her hands as she held it like a bat ready to swing again. I got to my feet and wrapped my arms around her.

“I’m sorry.”

The umbrella slipped from her hands but she didn’t hug me back. Grace was stiff like a board and quiet like a mouse. She was just there, a warm body pressed up against me. I rubbed her back, hoping she’d soften, but she didn’t. I released her and stared into her eyes. The blueness was darker now. Trying to get a better look at her, I pushed a piece of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. She was like stone.

“Did Joe hurt you?” I asked. I needed to know. If he did, I’d kill him.

She didn’t blink. Her face didn’t move. But her head shook. I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Okay. Okay.”

Kissing her forehead, I pulled her into my chest again, reassuring her that everything was all right and that she was safe now.

“I want to lie down,” Grace mumbled.

I helped her into bed. She sat down, swung her legs over, and laid back, staring up at the ceiling. It was all very robotic, like she was just going through the motions. Her eyes were spellbound by theoff-whitepopcorn ceiling. The sirens shut off but I could see the yard lit up with flashing lights.

“The police are here. I’ve got to go talk to them.”

I wanted to ask her what happened, what Joe had said to her, what he had done, but it was like she was in a trance. I’m not sure if she was in shock or something else.

“Are you okay alone for a bit?”

She didn’t speak. She just rolled onto her side, facing away from me.

I stood there for a moment not wanting to leave her. But I knew I had to.

Outside, a deputy was talking to Joe. He had to have been new because I had never seen him around before. Joe was seated on the steps of the porch with his head in his hands. Albert was nowhere to be seen. Must have wandered off when he saw the sirens coming.

“What the hell happened here?” the deputy asked, glancing in my direction as I let the screen door close behind me. “We got a 911 call from a woman. Where is she?”

The deputy put a hand on his hip and let out a deep breath. Another cruiser rolled up the driveway. Sheriff Almond stepped out of it, straightening his belt buckle.

“What’s going on, Deputy?” the sheriff asked.

“Just arrived, sir. We got a call from a woman asking for police assistance.”

Sheriff Almond took in the scene, eyeing up Joe and then me. He cleared his throat. “This is my third time out here in a week.”

“I know, sir. I just got here.” I shuffled my feet. “Grace, the woman you met the other day, called.”

“Well, I’m going to need to talk to her then. Where is she?” Sheriff Almond cocked his head.

“Lying down in her room.”

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