Page 93 of Nightshade

Looking over my shoulder showed Van Croix talking to Garic, but his eyes were on me the whole time. Heat rushed to my cheeks. Wave, my head urged.

Lip peeled back with disgust, he looked away, making me regret the gesture.

“Somebody has a hangover,” I muttered to myself, and that was when I caught sight of a bloody meat chunk dangling off my sleeve by a strand of fat, or a tendon, or something white and utterly disgusting. “Ugh!” I shook my hand over the pit, jerking the meat into motion. At the sound of a snorty chomp, I jumped back on a scream, found Cerberus chewing the meat he’d just severed from my sleeve. “So gross. So motherfreaking gross!”

One more glance back showed Van Croix had left, thankfully.

After their meal, I took the dogs for a walk around the property in an effort to shake off my hunger. A glint in the grass captured my attention, and I turned to see a strange golden shell lying there, its shiny surface gleaming beneath the overcast sky. I reached out to pick it up for closer examination, and at the slight movement, I squealed, drawing my hand back.

Two small antennae slowly uncurled, at the same time as spindly legs raised the shell up off the grass. It scuttled around to face me, two big beady eyes staring back at me. Beneath them, sharp teeth gnashed together, and I jumped backward. The bug took flight, making a strange clicking noise as it buzzed overhead.

I flinched with its proximity, but thankfully, it flew off. Once again, I was reminded that this place, with all it’s odd little creatures, definitely wasn’t Chicago. A strange sensation tickled the back of my neck, as I stared after it toward the dark, hedge maze.

Stony-faced cherubs stood guard at its entrance, tugging at my curiosity as we neared. In its archway, a single flower that’d somehow managed to survive the dip in temperatures bloomed on a ravaged vine, which had since browned and curled. Reaching out a finger, I only just brushed its petal, and the flower snapped shut, coiling into a tight bud. Skinny tendrils entwined around it, sealing the flower into a tight cocoon.

I stepped past the vine-covered threshold to where the surrounding hedgerow enclosure stood a good ten- to- twelve feet in height. Impossible to see over. Still, the lure of a puzzle was too enticing to ignore. I’d always been fond of them, and the one before me held the intrigue of secrets and mystery. It dared me to find my way out.

Right hand to the wall.

Two of the dogs lagged behind me, while Cerberus took the lead, sniffing his way through the arboreous passages. I wondered if he’d ran through the maze so many times, he knew the way, or was simply humoring my attempt at escape.

Some paths held ancient looking archways, with creepy cherubs carved into their surfaces that seemed to stare at me as I passed. As I slipped beneath one, a shadow crawled over my skin.

Cerberus and I eventually ended up ahead of the other two dogs, who I prayed wouldn’t take a detour and leave me running this maze after them.

With a smile, I ducked out into the shrubs beside me, which was no easy feat with all the branches poking at my hair and skin. I whistled for the dog, watching him skid to a halt and trying not to giggle too loudly, when he twisted around, looking completely lost. Hand slapped to my mouth, I closed my eyes and willed myself to remain perfectly still, until the first prod of the dog’s wet nose against my skin left me belting out a laugh.

Tail wagging, Cerberus urged me out of the bushes, and the moment I stepped back into the path of the maze, a figure ahead of us sent my lungs clamping over my next breath.

The caretaker, Jesper, the man I’d sworn had been dragged off and eaten by the dogs, stumbled to the ground, trembling. His clothes were torn and tattered. Eyes bloodshot. I stepped cautiously toward him, curious of his condition, yet not entirely trustworthy after what I’d been told about him.

Cerberus let out a warning growl, and I rested my hand on his back to calm him, never taking my eyes off Jesper.

If the man were prone to attack, he certainly couldn’t have done so in his state, given the sickly pallor of his skin and the shivering that wracked his body. Without getting too close, I knelt beside him. The splotch of red at his coat had me pulling the fabric away to find bones sticking up where I imagined a ribcage to be.

A shocked breath sputtered out of me, and I pressed the back of my hand to my lips when acids rose into my throat. It was one thing to see such a gruesome injury in a photograph, but something else when staring down at the real thing. “I’m gonna get help.”

“The sun … will turn into darkness ... and the moon ... into blood. And the heavens ... will shake.” Words broken by unsteady breaths slipped past unhealthy blue lips. His eyes turned unfocused, staring beyond me, as if something stood there. When I turned, Cerberus was no longer at my back. I was completely alone with Jesper—a thought that sent a wintry chill up my spine.

Run away, the voice inside my head commanded, but when I turned back to Jesper, I caught the shine of tears in his eyes. The man was terrified of something.

“What did this to you? The dogs?”

“Not animal. Not human.” The shine of his tears gave an eerie flicker to his staring and set my teeth on edge.

“If you’ll release me, I’ll go find help. But I have to leave you here.”

“No.” At the sharp clutch of my arm, I sucked in a panicked breath. “The moon. Blood. Fire.”

“I don’t understand. Please let me find some help.” Against his grip, I twisted my arm to get loose, the panic inside of me escalating. “Let me go.” But no sooner had I spoken the words, the man’s eyes closed.

“Forgive … me father. For I have sinned.” He let out a long sigh of a breath, and the trembles stopped. The grip of my arm slackened.

“Oh, God.” Prying his fingers loose, I pushed to my feet and, on shaky legs, backed myself away. “No, no, no,” I mindlessly chanted. “Not dead. Not dead.”

A scent wrinkled my nose, acerbic and sulphury enough to turn the air to acid and burn my lungs. Hissing drew my attention toward where the hedge alongside Jesper fluttered with movement. A cold brush of fear hit the back of my neck, as I watched a long-nailed, gray hand reach out from the hedge into the path. It tensed as if weight-bearing, and the gray hairless crown of a head followed after.

Breaths hastening to the beat of my panicked heart, I backed up two more steps, as whatever creature it was emerged from the hedge. Not quite human, not quite animal, as Jesper had described.