Page 131 of When Darkness Calls

I nod back and we turn to the movie just as Cay comes toppling down the stairs.

“No answer from mom, but pizza will arrive shortly. What do y’all say we watch a real horror movie?” He wiggles his brows at me, and I choke on my laugh, just as Dani begins to screech.

We’re thirty minutes into The Conjuring when the doorbell rings. I had just sat down, so I don’t move and neither did Cade. Dani huffs a sigh, “Oh no, don’t worry about it. I’ll get it.”

“Pizza money is on the side table, Dee.” Cade throws a fistful of popcorn into his mouth, only like two pieces actually made it in, the rest falls and scatters across the floor.

A sharp cry cuts through the silence of the movie. Cade jumps and looks over at me startled as well, but the cry continues. I jump up and run to the front door. My heart is pounding and my blood rushes through my ears.

I round the corner to the entry hall and the image before me is burned into my memory forever.

Dani is balled up on the floor, weeping, gasping for air.

In the door, Alex stands, his new uniform, rumpled and covered in blood, with an older police officer. His dark brown eyes are blood shot, and his cheeks are red. His hands are balled around his hat, knuckles white under his grip.

He swallows thickly, the officer putting a wide hand on his broad shoulder.

“I can do this, son. You don’t have —”

“No. I need to do this.” He turns to me, one of my best friends, and I already know what he’s going to say. “Grays, I need to speak to Cade. Something happened…” he trials off as Cay comes up behind me. He pushes past me and steps over Dani.

“Alex?”

“Cay, I—” he chokes, taking a deep breath.

I kneeled by Dani, my hand running up and down her back as she wracks with her sobs.

“Shh, Doll. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” I murmur into her hair as I wrap her in my arms, pulling her into my lap.

Cade stills, glancing at his sister in my arms, his demeanor changes completely. He’s no longer laid back and cocky like he was thirty minutes ago. It’s as if in his place is a soldier awaiting orders.

“Which one, Alex?” Dani sobs harder at her brother’s question. I knew it was coming but it still cut me. I know this pain. It’s an open festering wound that never fully heals. Not even after all these years.

“Cay,” Alex starts, straightening his spine as his voice hardens, angry tears rolling down his face. “I’m sorry to tell you this but there was an incident this evening. Your mother…” He chokes again, inhaling deeply. “Your mother didn’t make it.”

Cade nods, there is a slight tremor in his body as he turns to me with Dani. One passing look and I know that he wants me to stay where I am.

“Have you been able to contact my dad?”

“No, not yet. We need you to come down to the station. We have reason to believe this wasn’t an accident.” The officer’s gruff tone is calm as he speaks. His uniform is just as crumpled and bloody as Alex’s, a smear of blood covers most of the tag on his shirt, especially the part of the stitching supporting the letter K before his last name.

“Yes, sir. Grays, stay with Dani. I’ll be back in a few hours.” He steps through the threshold, the door slamming behind him. And it’s just Dani’s heartbreaking cries.

“I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it,” she cries over and over as I rock her gently on the hall floor.

“It’s okay, Dani. I got you. I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

My eyes open to darkness. It takes a couple seconds to adjust the void of the second room Dani has been staying in. The soft scent of her vanilla and cinnamon perfume filling my senses, the erratic beat of my heart in my ears.

Fuck, it’s been a long, long time since I relived that night. I guess all the talk earlier today had me thinking about it more than usual.

An ache settles in my chest as the sound of Dani’s sobs echo through my mind. They haunt me. They have haunted me now for years. But now I also have the visual of her lying on that cold pavement, blood and tears pooling around her face, gasping for each breath that filled her lungs.

My eyes squeeze tight. The image, the sounds. She felt so cold on Halloween night. As much as I hated the sound of her painful breaths, they were like a lifeboat in a storm. The only thing I had to anchor myself to was her being alive, to know she would be okay.

I suck in a deep breath, slowly releasing it, letting the comfort of her scent calm me down.

She’s lying beside me, and through the slight gap in the curtain, the moon illuminates the side of her face.