Page 17 of Deadfall

I had worlds of information at my fingertips, and yet my own world was no larger than the modest house and surrounding gardens. Gardens I rarely ever ventured into for fear of the dark forest that surrounded it.

The door across the room unlatched and Vetticus sauntered in.

I hadn’t seen him in months. Thankfully, the games with Octavius had stopped after the man in the wolf mask had appeared, and while I couldn’t exactly remember all that the “games” entailed, I knew they weren’t good.

Vetticus jerked his head towards the door.

“Come on, I have a surprise for you.”

My surroundings dissolved until I was in an SUV as it drove through the woods. We stopped in a clearing in front of a hunting cabin, its windows glowed softly in the dark. Everyone piled out and one of the men took my arm and led me inside. The cabin didn’t have any furniture except for a wooden table and two chairs. A few lanterns glowed throughout the room, illuminating the inches of collected dust that sat heavy on every surface. I sneezed as we walked in, disturbing clouds of it to glitter in the firelight. Vetticus sat down in one of the chairs and pulled out his cell phone.

“Ah, they’re on their way,” he said.

A moment later, the rumble of a vehicle cut through the silence. Doors opened and shut. I looked toward the windows, but I could only make out the glow of headlights through the dirty glass. Vetticus stood up and smirked as he moved toward the door.

“Show time,” he winked.

The door shut behind him.

Shouts, screams—horrible sounds of pain and violence paralyzed me with fear.

When the door of the cabin opened again, I jumped as it slammed against the frame. Vetticus’ eyes were alight with fire, and blood covered his clothes. I hastily backed up, not wanting him to get close to me, but he grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the door.

The scene that greeted me as we stepped out onto the front steps was a haze of violence. The air was heavy with the smell of blood and the suffocating scent of dust and death. Vetticus dragged me down the steps. I stumbled to regain my footing and as the dust cleared, I saw a man kneeling in the middle of the headlights. The man I thought I’d never see again.

“Emersyn…” His eyes went wide in disbelief.

I choked on my words, unable to speak.

Dad?

I woke up with a sob on my lips and drenched in sweat. The nightmare was a memory, which only made it worse.

“Do you need a countdown?”

The knife was at my face—my Dad’s broken expression was the only thing I could see through the red haze as blood dripped into my eyes and pain exploded in my head.

I choked on my breath and huddled in the chair, terrified to close my eyes again. This one felt particularly real, and the fact that I was alone made the terror worse. I spiraled, unable to think of anything else. The darkness outside was trying to come in—the shadows crept across the walls—they reached for me.

“I’m sorry—I love you—”

“Dad,” I dissolved into sobs.

I couldn’t stop crying. Time passed—the morning stretched into the afternoon, but I barely noticed. I huddled on the floor in front of the fire, hyperventilating and watching the fire as it dulled to embers.

Vetticus was coming for me. Or maybe Albatron so he could finish me off—or worse Octavius—

The panic gripped me. What if they were outside right now? What if they came while Sacha was gone? I quickly spiraled, my lungs fought to breathe through the panic that crashed through my veins with no mercy.

Cole’s screams. The gunshot.

They all played like vicious reels in my head I couldn’t seem to turn off.

“Emy!” I whipped around at the sound of his voice, I stumbled. “Time for bed!”

“Dad?” I whispered.

And there he was, rounding the corner of the lake house kitchen, just like the night before everything changed. He looked exactly like I remembered, hard eyes that softened the moment they found me, and a small smile took over his features.