Page 18 of Grotesque
Searching the house was even more agonizing than I expected. Every little sound made me jump. At one point, Quint brushed against my back when he was leaning over to inspect one of the closets. I squeaked, making him jump too.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Quint said, then winced. “I’m sorry. That doesn’t really help.”
“Do you feel it, though? Like you’re being watched?” I led the way downstairs, pausing briefly to look at the giant mirror where I’d first found the moths.
“Yeah. I haven’t seen any cameras either.”
“No, I looked when I first moved in. There aren’t any.”
I was looking right at Quint, at the smooth, ornate wallpaper behind him, but once again the feeling rose that just outside my vision the house was not as it seemed. “Quint,” I started hesitantly. “Does the house look different to you when you’re not looking directly at it?”
“Huh?”
“Like when you look at it, do the parts you’re not looking at seem different?” How else did I explain the way there seemed to constantly be a mirage shimmering in the corner of my vision, like heat rising from a sunbaked road. That the manor seemed pristine up close but seemed to wilt or discolor as the eye travelled away.
Quint’s arm brushed against mine as a visible shudder ran through him. “Now that you mention it...”
I pursed my lips together and nodded. “Just making sure.”
We didn’t say anything after that. I felt a little better having Quint with me, and by the time we had scoured Glamis from top to bottom some of the tension had released from my shoulders. There were no signs of anyone else having been in the house.
We ended our search in the kitchen, leaning against the center island. He looked over his shoulder at the French doors. “Chances are the guy found out you’re living here alone and is playing some kind of prank. I’d call the cops, so they have the report on record. I know a couple of the guys at the station. I just wouldn’t mention anything about vampires.”
I chewed on my thumbnail. He was right, it was the only reasonable explanation. Vampires weren’t real. Ghost weren’t real. None of that superstitious crap was real.
“It’s better to be safe,” he encouraged.
“Maybe it was a one-time thing.” That didn’t sound convincing even to my own ears. The stranger had said he would return. Fuck it. I dialed the non-emergency line before I could doubt myself.
The officer that showed up was in fact someone Quint knew, Officer Tyler Davies. They’d gone to high school together and slapped each other’s backs in greeting. I watched as Quint dipped his head, whispering something I couldn’t hear as they walked up the front steps. I stayed on the porch, my eyesstraying to the tree line where I imagined the stranger had darted off to last night. I never did see any headlights, and I’d watched out the window for a long time before sleep overtook me.
“Ms. Grendel.”
I blinked, turning back to the men.
“There’s not much I can do. By all accounts there was no forced entry, and you’re unharmed.”
Fuck no– he wasn’t going down this road. I didn’t deign to listen to the rest of his patronizing speech before I barreled over him.
“A strange man came into my home,threatenedme,promisedhe’d be back, and you’re telling me there’s 'nothing you can do about it’?"
“Ma’am–”
“Tyler, you know how things go around here. Can you leave a car overnight or something?”
Officer Davies rested his hand over the top of his holster. “Our team’s short at the moment, there’s no one available.” Turning to me he said, “The best I can do is have someone patrol the area later this evening.”
“And the evenings after that?” I wasn’t scared anymore, I was furious.
“Not unless something else happens,” he started.
“Unless somethingworsehappens, you mean.” Unless I wound up harmed or dead. By which point it would be too late. I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what I thought of histeam, then snapped it shut. Cops didn’t respond well to anger, and I could already tell from the look in his eyes he didn’t believe a single word I’d said. It didn’t matter that I had left out how fast the man had been and that his eyes had glowed red. I might as well have told him it was the vampire of Glamis Manor that paid a visit.
Quint was urging him to reconsider. “Will you at least file the report?”
Officer Davies sighed. “Yeah. I can file it, but like I said, my hands are tied. I’m sorry, but it’s likely just a dumb prank. There’s a lot of rumors that circle this place and it was probably some kid.”
“Do you know any kids that are six foot five?” I arched a brow. As expected, neither one of them had anything to say to that.
