Page 1 of Grave Possession

Prologue

Mallory

My head throbs as my body jostles around in the trunk. I don’t know how long I’ve been out or where this lunatic is taking me. The car dips suddenly and throws me around the enclosed space. My forehead cracks off something hard and unconsciousness pulls me under again.

“She’s a fucking burden, Barbra. Another mouth to feed. Why can’t you send her to live with her father?” Dennis yells.

“You don’t think I’ve tried? He doesn’t want her either. At least if she stays here, those government cheques will keep coming!” my mother rationalizes.

“A fat load of good they do when you spend it right away!” Dennis roars at my mother as I cower in fear beneath my bed. I wish he would go away. I don’t understand why he stays if he hates me so much. Their fighting is a regular occurrence lately. I wonder if they would even notice if I ran away? Although I wouldn’t make it onmy own, I know that. Only a few more years and I can leave this place, I tell myself. The years can’t come fast enough.

“Get your fucking ass over here, Mallory,” Dennis whispers angrily at me from the other side of the fence. I’m in the neighbour’s yard again, flying high on a swing I’m growing much too big for. I pretend I can’t hear him as I soar up towards the night sky. The wind in my face carries me away to a place that is anywhere but here. The drop coming has my stomach swirling as I swing back, my hair wrapping around me. The brief freedom I’m feeling comes to an abrupt halt as one of the ropes on the swing is encased in an angry fist. The momentum carries me off the seat, crashing into the unforgiving ground below. I fight every sound wanting to break out of me, resist the tears threatening to spill over as pain lances my body. Fear, embarrassment, and so much hate swell inside me. He crouches down, momentarily I pray it's to show me an ounce of concern. “Get the fuck inside,” he hisses, a coiled snake ready to strike if I disregard him. Rising and returning to the house, he stands on the stoop, waiting for me to follow with my tail tucked between my legs. I long to scream out my frustrations but I stuff it down. On scraped knees and palms, I rise. Fire burning in my chest from the rage I need to suppress. Clenching my fists across the distance, every beat of my heart is a reminder of the pain throbbing on the surface of my body. How do I get rid of him so I can just live my life in peace? My mother doesn’t give enough shits about her own daughter to bother with me half the time, if she does it’s because Dennis has stirred up a problem. Crossing the threshold into my own personal hell, the door closes ominously behind me.

“It’s time for you to get a job and start pulling your weight around here.” Dennis glowers at me from across the dining room table. I’m shocked, wide-eyed, and speechless. Pull my weight? He has to be joking right? I do everything around the house, on top ofgoing to school and keeping my grades up so I can have some sort of future when I get the fuck out of this hell hole.

“Mom…” I look to her, but there’s no one looking back at me.

“Dennis is right, Mallory, we need the money,” she replies, not even raising her eyes to mine. Maybe we wouldn’t need the money if the two of them didn’t drink and snort it all as quickly as possible. Barely leaving enough change to buy some meagre groceries for the week. What place is going to hire a scrawny teenager with no employable skills?

“Find a job or I will find a way for you to make us some good money.” The disgusting threat of Dennis’s words hang heavy in the air. I wait for my mother to interject, to save me from whatever sick idea has taken root in his mind, but her voice never comes. I hate him. I hate them both. I dare him to come near me. I’ll fucking kill him if he does.

The car comes to an abrupt stop, the jolt rousing me from the nightmare of my past I was thrown into. Somewhere along the way, I lost the will to fight for myself. I succumbed to the shit my parents subjected me to, drowned in the guilt my mother poured over me. The fear and self-loathing Dennis instilled still drips off me to this day. I’m weak. Or, at least I was. Something’s taken root inside of me, I’ve felt it growing since the first night I saw Ghost. I can’t afford to just lay down and take it this time. I have so much to lose if I don’t find my inner strength.

The key slides into the lock, the click of the mechanism releasing sending terror bolting through me. Thetrunk lid rises and I fight every instinct I have to run for my life. I know now isn’t the time.

“Rise and shine, darlin’.” This bastard’s voice grates on my nerves in a way I never knew possible. I want to jump up and fight for my life, fight for Nox’s, but my body barely has enough energy to raise my eyelids. His body becomes flush with mine as he crawls into the small space with me. My muscles tense up on instinct and everything hurts. I groan out in agony as I breathe through the pain, willing myself to relax. I need to conserve my energy.

His hand runs over the swell of my breast and up to my chin, turning my face back to his. My mind repels, crying out to recede into the safety it can offer me. I resist, I have to. His dry cracked lips land against mine, and I use every ounce of strength I can find within myself to fight him; to keep my mouth sealed shut and prevent his slimy tongue from invading my mouth. The overwhelming scent of body odour worms its way into my nose and I’m assaulted by a memory. My eyes snap open and I recoil, launching myself away from him as best I can.

“Finally remember me, do you?” His grin is nauseating as he soaks in the fear radiating off of me. I nod.

Part One

Chapter One

Graves

Present.

“Lennox, there’s a call for you on line two.” Carla pokes her head around the corner to ensure that I heard her.

“Who is it?”

She huffs in annoyance, disappearing back around the corner. No less than five seconds later, she’s yelling, “It’s a woman named Victoria, says she knows your girlfriend.” My heart swells at the endearment. Sheismy girlfriend, and I’m so fucking lucky. I lift the receiver, yell to Carla that I’ve answered it, then raise it to my ear.

“Officer Graves here.”

“Where the fuck is she, asshole? I swear to all the gods if you did something to her I’ll lob off your nuts and shove them down your throat.” The female voice on the other end of the line is drenched in worry while trying to remain intimidating. Unease swirls in my gut. After watching Mallory for so long, I learnedVictoria is her closest friend. If she is contacting me, something is seriously wrong.

“Ma’am, please calm down. What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, cop. Where the fuck is Mallory?” she growls at me through the phone.

“Mallory… I don’t know.” Fuck, how long has it been since I’ve seen her? I pull my phone out - no new messages or calls. Noting the date and time, I realize I haven’t seen her for almost forty-eight hours. Shit, am I the world’s worst boyfriend? I’m definitely being demoted from my obsessive stalker position.

I’ve been so wrapped up in the new evidence, time has dissolved without me even realizing it. Two phones were dropped off to the city police department by a messenger service. The boys in blue began interrogating the young delivery man while the tech department started on identifying the devices. It was uncovered that they belonged to the last two victims, Melissa and Melody. I’ve been working overtime and running down leads ever since.

“She’s probably at work or home. Have you tried calling her?” I try to keep my voice steady and authoritative. Internally, I’m fucking panicked.

---