Page 69 of How to Trust a Hellhound
“Josh, he’s hurt. I think… Oh, Rick,” he murmured, and I could hear movement and rustling, then the sound of birds through the phone.
“Sebbie is home and Rick is apparently outside his place,” I told Thea and Wilder, and they both stood up from their chairs.
“Let’s go,” Wilder said.
I turned my attention back to the phone, following Thea and Wilder outside. “Sebbie, don’t go near him, okay?” I said.
Thea’s car was in front of the house, and she opened the passenger door and motioned me in as Wilder got in the driver’s side.
“Sebbie?” I asked. I could hear groaning and rustling, and there was still the sound of birds cawing in the background, but Sebbie hadn’t answered me.
“It’s okay, Rick. You’ll be okay now. I’m here to help you,”Sebbie murmured, his voice soft and gentle. I thought the moaning was coming from Rick, and I wondered if maybe it wasn’t just a ploy to get to me. Maybe Rick was actually hurt.
“Sebbie, what’s happening?” I asked.
Thea climbed into the back, and Wilder started the car.
“He’s badly hurt, but he won’t die,” Sebbie said, and his voice was gentle.
My stomach flipped nervously. I still felt like this was some kind of ploy. Wilder started driving, but I was only vaguely aware of what we were doing.
I heard Sebbie gasp, and I croaked out, “Sebbie?”
“Who are you?” he said, his voice strong, and I knew he wasn’t talking to me.
“Who’s there with you?” I asked, and I could feel Wilder’s eyes on me. Thea reached up from the back seat and rested her hand on my shoulder.
“Death,” I heard a voice say, the bird sounds getting louder for a minute, and then there was silence.
“Sebbie? Sebbie??” I cried out, but the line was dead.
Wilder slammed on the brakes, and I was glad that someone—Thea, maybe?—had put my seat belt on, because I jerked forward in my seat. I looked up, dazed, and Corbin and Jude were standing in the middle of the road. We were out of the woods and near the main houses.
They both rushed over and got in the back seat, and there was a crow on Corbin’s shoulder. It got in the car, too, and just cawed once at me.
“Let’s go,” Corbin stated, and Wilder started driving again.
I felt like I had fallen down some weird rabbit hole and was in an alternate dimension. There were hellhounds and a crow in the car, and Rick was hurt and someone was at Sebbie’s who had called themselves Death. Would they hurt him? Would they kill him?
Wilder’s hand grabbed onto my thigh, squeezing. I hadn’trealized I was shaking until that moment. Thea’s hand was still a solid weight on my shoulder, too.
“We’ll get there in time,” Wilder said, but he couldn’t really know, could he?
Sebbie didn’t live far away, but the fifteen minute drive felt like it took an hour. He had a small house on the other side of town. It was somewhat private, with thick trees separating him from neighbors on both sides. Sebbie always said he loved the privacy of his place, but I was cursing it right now. If it was less private maybe his neighbors would have seen or heard something and intervened.
My thoughts were a jumbled mess, and finally we were pulling up the driveway to Sebbie’s house. We barely came to a stop behind Sebbie’s car before we were all piling out. Jude and Thea stopped at the bottom of the stairs to his small front porch, where Rick was laying in a heap.
I kept going, calling out Sebbie’s name as I ran up the steps and threw open the front door. I ran through the house, checking the living room, kitchen, and small bathroom downstairs, then I was pounding up the stairs, still calling out for Sebbie. I ran into both bedrooms and the bathroom upstairs, but they were all empty.
“Sebbie!” I yelled again, turning around and bumping into Wilder. He grabbed onto my arms, holding me steady, his eyes soft as he looked at me.
“No, no, no, no,” I mumbled.
“He’s not here, Mei Ume. I’m sorry. We can find him, though,” Wilder said.
Wilder led me down the stairs and out the front door. Thea and Jude were still hovering over Rick, and Corbin was standing in the middle of the yard, crows surrounding him.
He looked up when we came out. “They’ll lead us,” he stated. I don’t think I’d ever seen Corbin anything but completely calm, but he looked anxious. It only made me more nervous for Sebbie. Did he know something?
