Chapter 4
The walkway had been stamped down recently, and I followed their path into Dudleytown. It was probably close to noon, but without the flashlight I couldn’t see shit. I scanned the area for any wildlife or threats.
Not a soul in sight.
Not that I believed that for a minute.
Those eyes that locked on me when I came up hadn’t left me yet. I could feel them, like a stare from across the room. Lurking and watching me with an intensity that made me uncomfortably warm, despite the icy air.
My phone rang, but the sound was disjointed, like it was struggling to connect the call. I pulled it out of my pocket.
William flashed before the light of the screen went off and came back on again.
“The balls on this fucking coward are astounding.” Surely there was one bereft spirit here that understood. “He swings them around like his cock isn’t trash. I haven’t come in years. Am I right, ladies?”
No one answered, but I could swear those eyes were narrowed on me. I could almost see the nasty smirk in my mind’s eye. A strangled laugh left my lips, as a strange feeling I wasn’t sure I didn’t like washed over me. “Oh, no. Going through a tunnel.”
Great. William broke me so badly, I was letting a ghost’s arrogance flatter me. Talk about desperate for approval.
Tears pricked my eyes, despite my attempts to joke about the situation, but I held them in with pure will. He didn’t deserve any more of my tears.
Focus on the hunt, Sasha. I took a deep breath to gather myself as I tucked my cell into my back pocket again.
Icy breath fanned across my neck, too close and too intimate. I whirled around half expecting my philandering husband to be standing there. Only to find empty space that felt too occupied.
Of course, that breath was too cold to come from anything alive.
I realized my mistake too late. Whatever this thing was, it was a mistake to give it any attention.
The sensation that I was staring someone dead in their eyes made my pulse quicken and my breathing stutter. The social awkwardness that I was being rude hit harder than it ever had with a person standing in front of me.
It was strangely intimate as if whatever was before me was staring at me just as intently. My face grew warm, and I found myself averting my eyes.
I took another steadying breath, only to hold it when the energy stepped closer and a distinct heat rolled over me from head-to-toe.
I could feel the way their gaze lazily rolled over me, like they wanted to consume me.
That made my face even hotter. Especially since that could very well be the case.
I put my hands up as if to create space between us and felt energy buzzing under my hands. As if I was a hair’s width away from touching them.
I pulled my hands to my chest and turned back the other way. Space, Sasha.
No matter how long or fast my stride was, the distance between me and that energy never grew. Sweat gathered on my temples.
It reminded me of a mountain lion creeping behind an elk. Just waiting for a chance to pounce.
I’d given it too much acknowledgement and emboldened the creature to stay closer. The heated gaze on my back locked onto my ass. An uncomfortable joke about checking me out sat on my tongue, but I held it back.
Don’t acknowledge it further.
I followed the compacted grass throughout the entire place, all while this thing hovered too close to be considered polite. If it was a guy in a mall, I’d have shoved him away from me. But I followed the rules, and dutifully ignored the breath tickling the tiny hairs at the nape of my neck.
In the middle of the town, high above everything else, was a rotting gallows that sent unease rolling through me.The rope was long gone, but I could swear I could feel the noose hanging high like a spirit.
It made my throat tight. It was amazing that it was still standing. The thing looked ready to topple any second.
I cleared my throat when I could swear a noose was tightening around my neck. My fingers ran along my skin, looking for a rope, only to come up empty. It was just the energy in the air.
Suffocating.
Other than that monstrosity, I found crumbling foundations, piles of rubble, and a sagging wall here and there. I stayed on the clear path that the kids took, until it led to the biggest foundation in the place. It was significantly larger than any other one.
Big enough to assume it belonged to nobility.
Where there was noble blood, there were usually skeletons in the closet.
I walked around the foundation and found evidence of the kids that stayed here. Trash littered the place. Abandoned equipment and bags were haphazardly placed around, like they’d been in a rush to leave.
Great. Not only did they break the rules, they were disrespectful when they did it.
Cracking popped behind me, and I aimed my light at the ground. Cracks splintered through the foundation, moving like a snake, and stopped half an inch in front of me.
I pressed my lips together. Another breath went across my cheek from where the last crack was.
Fuck. I was off my game today.
I twisted forward again, even though it was too late to pretend I didn’t notice.
One wall still stood on the east side of the slab. I eyed the thing for any signs it would give up and fall over, but it was in surprisingly decent condition. I frowned, walking over to it.
Why would one wall fare so much better than everything else?
Once I was up close, I saw why. It was wood, not stone. Not just any kind either, witch’s tree. “Hello. What are you doing here?”
It wasn’t common to use elderwood in house building, unless a witch had a say in it. A breath of cold air went over the back of my neck again, even closer than before.
On the wall, above my head, plants withered from a vibrant deep-green, to brown, to black right before my eyes. I paused as a clear shape came into view. A huge handprint.
As if they were leaning over my shoulder, onto the wall. The height was a solid six-foot-high or taller.
Considering I was five-foot-two on a good day, that meant this entity towered over me.
I forced myself to continue looking forward, even though I wanted to get a gist of what it was. I brushed away the overgrowth on the wall and found carved symbols in the wood.
That’s what I’m talking about.
I held the vines back to get a better look.
My sister, turn back. Death awaits you here.
Vera Rinah
My stomach sank. Rinah.
The first name was familiar, and I mentally chugged through the family tree to figure out where I knew Vera from. It took five seconds too long to figure out the answer. A second cousin I only saw at a distance at family reunions.
She took a blade to her wrists ten years ago.
I went to her funeral. She’d been a hunter like me.
Did she escape here just to lose the fight at home?
I swallowed harshly. The reminder of my own mortality. If the monsters didn’t get us, this was how we usually died. It was why no one had considered asking more questions. If I left this place and killed myself, would anyone ask any questions?
Probably not.
I wouldn’t. Especially after that stunt I pulled a few weeks ago.
I shook that thought out of my head. Willow and Esme would ask questions.
Vera didn’t put this wall here. Someone else did. Maybe the Rinah that started this mess. The real question was why.
Why was my family composed of women who shot themselves in the foot?
Whatever the reason for putting it here, it wasn’t disintegrating like everything else. So whatever that witch did, the elderwood was immune to it.
That was the first real clue I could work with.
I set up my tent where the kids left the bulk of their trash, assuming that was where they stayed, and then went to meander around the settlement, looking for anything else out of place. Puffs of breath chilled my neck as I did, setting me on edge.
The urge to say anything to fill the silence made me press my lips together. It’s all fun and games until it responds. My impulsive behavior had already gotten me in enough trouble.
When I doubled back from a dead end to return to the main road, I found a trail of blackened footsteps where the thing followed me step by step, confirming what I already knew.
It was latched onto me. I blew my bangs out of my face and didn’t dare turn around to face the source.
I went past the noble house, even though I couldn’t see any foundations beneath the overgrowth, not wanting to miss anything important. My knees slammed into something hard and sent pain all the way down to my toes.
“Fuck,” I yelled, shaking my legs. I pulled the thigh-high grass away and found a headstone. The slab was so old, the carving was almost washed away.
Here lies Abiel Dudley.
“Sorry, Abiel. Didn’t see you there, buddy.
” I moved so that I was no longer standing on his grave and finished wiping the vines and matted weeds away.
I pulled some rosemary out of the tool belt, as Esme liked to call it, that was wrapped around my hips and filled with everything a witch might need.
I sat the bundle of herbs on the top of the headstone.
“May you have peace.” I figured it was best to be as respectful as possible, considering it could be him breathing down my neck. I ran my fingers along the edge, and the constant air blowing across my neck stuttered as if I’d shaken or surprised them.
That or they were chuckling at a joke I didn’t understand.
The darkness was getting deeper and growing by the second. I assumed because the sun was setting. It was getting harder to see, even with my flashlight.
The breath grew stronger as they stepped even closer than before, and the ghost of a touch hovered over my arms, making my hair stand on end. Exactly how close were they to me?
Did I even want to know?
I froze, waiting for the moment they grabbed me. My fingers slowly went to one of the pockets of my belt, ready to take action as soon as they did.
A sensation of heat and warmth danced along my cheek, like they were only millimeters from touching me. I held my breath.
If he touches you, something is going to happen. The instinct was as sharp as my heart beating.
The cold energy lingered there as if it felt the same, only to back away a few steps after a long moment that stretched for eternity.
They were still too close for comfort, but at least they weren’t inside my bubble anymore.
Why did it back away? What did that mean for me?
My heart raced. I couldn’t think of anything good. Either the entity was intelligent enough to understand social behavior, or it was maliciously toying with me. Neither meant anything good.
I focused on pulling weeds a few feet away, confirming what I already suspected.
Another headstone. This was a cemetery. No more than a couple yards away from where those teens slept.
Their night was probably hell.
The whispering hushed in a way that made my stomach drop. My flashlight flickered out as if it had been silenced too…
“Come on.” I slapped the side of the light. “Get your shit together.”
The last of the light vanished as the sun finished setting, shrouding me in complete darkness.
Oh, fuck.