Page 30 of Like Grim Death: Part One
Nobody. Not anymore.
We’re going to figure this out, pretty girl.
I take one step down the stone driveway, eager to get home to her. Bury myself inside of her.
But a second passes, and I snap my head up, every sense on high alert. Just like with Sid, I sense it before I see it.
There’s a figure at the end of the drive.
I hold my breath, my hearing acute as I stand stock-still.
I don’t have a weapon, but I know if I whistle, a guard will hear.
I don’t know if I want a guard to hear though. Truth be told, I kind of want to handle this myself. My adrenaline spikes, and although I don’t want to start trouble, I wouldn’t be too mad if I had to finish it.
As I blink in the darkness, wondering if maybe Cain, Atlas or Ezra came down to check in on Rain or saw me leave or some shit, the shadow disappears.
My pulse pounds faster and I keep walking toward the end of the driveway, casting my eyes around the night. I glance to my house, seeing the porchlight is off.
I stop again.
I left the light on so I could see the keypad clearly when I walked back up the steps. There are fake spider webs strung up on my porch as Halloween decorations, and the lights beneath the numbers are dimming and the unit is getting replaced next week. I wasn’t chancing leaving my girl there with unlocked doors, so I turned the light on to see the keypad.
Someone turned it off.
My entire body is tense, every limb locked up as my heart pounds too fast.But I’m ready to finish shit, aren’t I?I mock myself inside my head.
It’s like two separate halves of me, screaming at one another for dominance. Protector and predator, I reason with myself maybe they’re one in the same.
I blink in the darkness and start to think I imagined it. It’s late, and I’m exhausted. Rain can be a lot of work, and I’ve seen my fair share of shit recently, so maybe I’m just delirious. But I didn’t imagine my porchlight. IknowI left it on because IknowI locked our fucking door. I glance at the glow-in-the-dark blue paint.
666.
I have the sudden urge to run to my house to check on Ella. To know she’s okay. I left herright upstairs.
But where is she now,a voice whispers in my head.Maybe you’ll fail her just like you failed Malachi. Brooklin. Sid. Ria.
I grind my teeth, and I know I’m a sitting duck right here in the dark with nowhere to hide. Then again,when the fuck do I ever hide?
Either way, there’s no more noise, and I don’t see any more shadows.
Fuck, I need sleep.
I rub my fist over my eyes, spots flaring behind my closed lids. Then, sighing, I fix my gaze on home and take another step on the damp walkway, the sound sticky from the afternoon rain today.
As I walk, a bird caws overhead, which seems a little ominous. It’s not time for birds, right? Don’t they come out in the morning? Isn’t it their whole thing? I shove my hands into my pockets and keep walking, my shirt beneath the layer of my hoodie sticking to my back with the warm night from North Carolina’s volatile weather, and my adrenaline.
I want to get to Ella.
I need to get to Ella.
She’s okay.I repeat it over and over in my head. This one thing, I’m going to get it right.This one fucking thing.
We’re safe.
We’re safe.
I make it off Luce and Sid’s driveway. I don’t see the shadow. It was nothing. I’m just exhausted.
