A headache blooms behind my eyes, and the words blur in and out of focus. Putting the pen down, I squeeze the bridge of my nose and rise to my feet, the chair scraping against the wooden floor. I walk up to the window, kneeling on the window seat and pressing my face against the glass. Beside me, the curtain billows, bringing the sound of…whispers?
My breath fogs the glass as I strain to listen. When Dominic strums his guitar again, my eyes fall shut with frustration. But then the music fades into silence, and the whispers come again, urging me to lean closer to the glass and peer beyond the trees.
“Camryn.”
I tumble backward with a gasp, landing hard on the floor as my heart thumps. Inhaling shaky breaths, I feel my pounding headache intensify behind my temple.
Wincing, I press my palm to my forehead before rising to my feet and steadying myself on the desk. Fuck this. I need to get out of this house. I need fresh air.
After entering the hallway, I glance at Dominic’s bedroom. His door is open, and I catch sight of his long legs on the bed, crossed at the ankles. Hurrying down the stairs, I put on my shoes and leave the house. It’s late afternoon, but the heat still slams into me as I step outside, though it’s not quite as stifling as earlier.
Rounding the side of the house, I let my hand drift over the rough bricks while the tall grass tickles my bare ankles. A bumble bee flies tirelessly from wildflower to wildflower, and crickets chirp somewhere in the thicket of the overgrown yard.
I turn the corner and make a beeline for the forest, called forward by something inside me. Something that responds to the whispers in the afternoon breeze.
Whispers that call my name.
My damp neck pricks with awareness as I draw to a halt, turning slowly to look up at the window.
Dominic, shirtless and with that dog tag hanging around his chest, gazes down at me with an intense, unreadable expression.
One that sees through me.
I clench my hands to hide the slight tremor and start to turn back around, but I pause when I see a different figure.
A figure that peers down from my bedroom window: a stern-looking older woman dressed in all black, with a severe bun and pale, gaunt cheeks.
Ice slithers through my veins even as a bead of sweat trails down my spine. I blink, and the woman is gone.
“What the…?” I stiffen.
Dominic is still watching me intently, his eyes never wavering as they strip me bare.
My own window remains empty.
Behind me, the trees rustle when their branches move in a vagrant breeze?—
A sudden insect bite stings my bare arm, and I slap my hand over it, but it’s already gone.
“Fuck,” I whisper as I turn around to enter the woods. I scratch my skin, making the red welt worse by dragging my dirty nails over it. Let’s face it—it feels fucking good.
Greeted by the mustiness of moss and the earthy scent of pine and rotten bark, I venture deeper, noting the temperature drop in the air.
A sudden chill causes me to shiver. Despite the summer heat, I shudder, dragging my hands over my arms to rub some warmth back into me.
It doesn’t work.
Twigs break underfoot as the trees groan and sway in the wind, seeming to sing a haunting tune. I don’t know what possesses me to keep walking, but a calling from deep within, an urge I can’t place, pulls me forward.
“Camryn,”the whisper comes again, and I stumble to a halt, snapping my head from left to right to locate the voice. Silence settles over the forest once more like a swirling mist that suffocates everything in its path.
“Camryn.”Again, much louder. This time, from right behind me.
With my heart in my throat, I spin around so fast, my hair whips me in the face. Spindly trees reach up toward the sky, their twisted branches creating ominous shadows on the ground. Nearby, a thicket of blueberry bushes bristles with dark,glistening fruit, their sweet scent mingling with the damp earth and decaying pinecones.
A crow lets out a loud caw somewhere in the distance. My breath catches, but then something else snags my attention—a repetitive thud or a whack up ahead.
I set off toward the noise, frowning as I move branches out of the way while stepping over fallen logs. Once I reach a clearing, I take cover behind a tree.
