Chapter 45
45
P anicked, I raced down to the bathroom without even pausing to dress. Heath was nowhere to be seen, though, the entire washroom dark and empty. Running back to my room I dragged on some clothes, stuffed my feet into boots and tossed my coat on.
My sleep foggy mind wasn’t working fast enough, and I fumbled my phone as I ran for the elevator. It came up from the ground floor which made me think Heath had gone outside. Maybe it was a coincidence, there were loads of other people in the building who were using the same elevator but…it was a gut feeling.
My first thought was to call Heath, but the faint ding coming from my room said he’d left his phone behind. Shit.
Royce’s number rang out, going to voicemail and I canceled the call. Carter next, with the same result. Finally I tried Nate.
“ You’ve reached Nathaniel Essex, please leave your—” I ended the call with a growl of frustration.
Of course they wouldn’t answer, though. It was four-thirty in the morning, they’d all be asleep. But then where in the hell had Heath gone? He was barefoot, I’d seen his sneakers beside my bed as I got dressed, and it was bitterly cold outside.
The elevator seemed to take a year to reach the lobby, then I burst outside so fast I nearly tripped over my own feet.
“Heath?” I called out into the darkness, hoping somehow that he hadn’t gone far. Was he sleepwalking?
The cold bit into my skin with determination and I pulled my coat around myself, shivering. If he was sleepwalking, he could be anywhere. But what if he wasn’t? What if he was just…fuck, I had no clue. But my gut said that someone was messing with his head, maybe forcing him to do something against his will?
If that were the case, then I’d bet my car the Devil’s Backbone was behind it.
With absolutely no better ideas, I started hurrying across the silent, empty campus toward the drama department. That was my only lead, and if I didn’t find him there…Maybe the library? Or check if he’d turned up at his apartment?
Nate would kill me. The one time he asked me for help, and I’d fucked up.
“Heath?” I called out as I walked, hoping beyond all hope he would respond. All I got back was the echo of my own voice, and it churned the anxiety even harder.
Shivering, I yanked on the main doors for the drama department and my heart almost leapt out of my chest when I realized they were unlocked. That was a good sign, surely? That had to mean I was in the right place?
“Heath?” I called again as I stepped inside the dark building with more than a little trepidation. Fucking hell, this was how bitches died in horror movies. Was I going to be one of them? Yes. For Heath…yes. “Heathcliff, are you in here? Honey, it’s cold. Let’s go back to bed…” I tried to push calm and casual into my voice, but even I could hear the tremble of fear.
My footsteps echoed ominously as I advanced down the dark corridor, heading for the dressing room where Royce had patched up my scrapes back at the start of this whole mess. That was my only lead because I had no idea where the mysterious clubhouse was actually located. I’d never made it that far.
Lights were on inside the dressing room, but it was empty.
“Heath?” I tried again, just in case…what? In case, what, he was hiding under the table? Come on , Ashley.
Wetting my lips, I glanced around and tried to work out what the hell to do next. Had he been here in the drama building? Or was this all a coincidence?
Choking down the undeniable feeling of hopelessness, I exited the building once more and closed the doors behind me. What now? Maybe the library, since he’d been in a bit of a daze when I’d found him there. He might have returned for some reason?
Shit, I didn’t know. Nothing made sense right now.
I pulled out my phone and tried Nate again. If anyone was going to wake up and help…it was surely him. He was the one who’d come to me with concerns so maybe he’d be waiting on my call. Frustratingly, though, it rang out to voicemail again.
The cold seemed to have intensified while I was inside because my breath came in dragon puffs as I stomped my way through the campus to reach the library. It only took me a few minutes, but somehow I got my hopes up that I’d find Heath there all dazed and confused. So when I approached the doors and found them firmly locked, my heart dropped out my ass.
“Fuck!” I exclaimed. Then tried dialing Nate again. Maybe if I was annoying enough, he’d wake up and take my call.
Voicemail again.
Redial.
This time as it rang out, I thought I heard a phone ringing somewhere nearby.
“Nate?” I called out into the half-light of pre-dawn. I don’t know why the fuck he would be out here at this time, but…I dialed his number again but this time kept the phone away from my ear so I could listen.
There it was again. The happy tune of a mobile phone ringtone.
I hurried in the vague direction the sound was coming from, around the side of the library building and then skidded to a stop when the sound cut off. Searching all around, I saw no one. Absolutely no one.
Another redial, but this time…no ringtone echoed back at me. Had I imagined it?
I started across the lawn, wandering with no real purpose and no clue where to look next, until I was ready to give up. I needed to go to the guys’ apartment and wake them up. Four sets of eyes had to be better than one, and maybe if we were lucky, Heath had just sleepwalked home.
With a defeated sigh, I turned to head for my car. Then I gasped and stopped in my tracks. There in the distance, lit up by the glow of dawn, three robed figures slowly walked across the lawn carrying…something heavy?
I wanted to call out and see if Heath was one of the robed idiots, but flashes of Abigail’s diary filled my brain. Images of Bart’s decapitated head in my bed. That was enough to keep my mouth shut, but I still moved closer nonetheless.
For several minutes, I followed silently. None of them seemed to notice me trailing behind, and the closer I got the clearer the picture. All of them wore the black robes and masks from the Devil’s Backbone ceremonies, and they each carried two gas cans.
Alarm spiked through me when I made that realization. Were they going to set fire to something? I had to intervene…didn’t I?
Or…would I end up getting hurt? It might not even be Heath; it could just be a coincidence. Fucking hell, how many coincidences in one night were too many? Then I spotted his feet. His bare feet beneath the robe.
“Heath!” I called out loudly, no longer caring how stupid I was being.
He didn’t react. None of them did.
I hurried closer, calling his name again, but still got no reaction. Doubts crowded my mind but I ignored them as I approached the three creepy figures and grabbed the barefoot one’s arm.
“Heath, what are you doing?” I demanded, giving his arm a little shake in case this was a sleepwalking thing.
No response.
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed out loud. “Hey! Heath!”
He just kept walking, as though I didn’t exist. All of them did. Like fucking zombies .
Panicked and downright scared, I hurried to keep up, circling in front of him and reaching for his mask. I needed to see him to be sure .
“Heath!” I shouted, tossing his mask aside with some relief that it was, indeed, Heathcliff Briggs. I’d found him, thank fuck , I’d found him! “Hey, honey, wake up. You’re sleepwalking.” I think ? Although it was unlike any sleepwalking I could have imagined. His eyes were wide open and fixated beyond me.
Where were they going?
I glanced over my shoulder, puzzled, then spotted the old science hall. Was that where they were going? Maybe…maybe there was a truck broken down on the far side that needed fuel? Or maybe one of the applied science classes needed a shitload of gas for an experiment and, um, and they’d asked the DBs to deliver it? Fuck, I didn’t know.
Heath didn’t see me there, didn’t stop when I tugged on his arm, all I could do was watch in horror as the three robed zombies disappeared inside the science building. I didn’t follow, because I was just downright terrified. I knew where he was, so now I just needed to…
The fumes of the fuel reached my nose, and dread pooled.
I sucked a breath, preparing to run in there and drag Heath out by whatever means necessary, but before I could take a step, someone grabbed me.
A scream escaped my throat, and I thrashed, kicking and hitting, flooded with adrenaline and pure desperation but my captor simply swept me up off the ground and held me tight as he ran away from the doomed building.
It took me a moment, but then?—
“Nate?” I gasped, somehow recognizing his scent. It was the same as the hoodie that I’d worn far too often without washing it. “Wait, stop! Put me down! Heath?—”
“I know,” he grunted, his grip so tight it was hurting as he literally ran across the lawn. “You can’t stop them, and you can’t get caught up with what they’re doing. It’s not safe.”
My head spun. “What do you mean? Nate, we can’t just?—”
“We can!” he barked, his voice edged with genuine fear . “We fucking can, Ashley, and we will. What the hell do you think it’d do to him if you got hurt again? Do you want that on his conscience? I can tell you right fucking now, I don’t.”
That shut me up. At least until Nate burst through the lobby door of my building and pressed the elevator button with his foot. He didn’t set me down on my own feet until we were inside the elevator with the doors closed. Presumably so I couldn’t go running back into danger.
“I don’t understand,” I said in a small voice, hugging my arms around myself as he paced the small space anxiously.
He nodded. “I know.”
That was it. The elevator reached my floor, and he grabbed my hand, all but dragging me along the hall and opening my door with his own key. I wasn’t even mad about it, because my fingers were too cold to hunt my own keys from my pocket.
“Get in,” he ordered, and I silently complied.
Nate stepped in after me and closed the door firmly, locking it. Then, only then, did he exhale heavily and sink to the floor with his back against the door.
Only then, did I realize…he too wore the black robe of the Devil’s Backbone Society.