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I felt the tension slide from my shoulders. “But someone was here,” I eked.
He stopped in front of the wall, eyeing it. “Someone who knows you very well.”
The sick feeling in my stomach flipped once then twice. I inched closer. Afraid to examine the wall, yet drawn to it at the same time. I couldn’t ignore it.
“Who
would have done this?” I whispered.
“I don’t know.” He reached for his phone and started snapping pictures. At least his battery wasn’t dead yet even if he didn’t have a signal.
I didn’t know how to digest the image on the wall. It was a crude map. A rough sketch, drawn by hand that canvassed the entire length of the room. I was scared to touch it, as if some of the horridness would bleed through my skin. I traced the lines in the air, careful not to make contact.
“This is my route.” My eyes darted to AJ. “Every stop I’ve made to interview someone about my mother.” I inhaled. “Do you see it? Every town for the past six months is on here.”
He nodded. “It definitely looks familiar. I recognize the stops, and they are in order.”
I stepped sideways, following the pattern that I had taken across the country over the past half year. There were bright red dots, circling the towns I had stayed in overnight. There were no messages. No explanations. It was as if someone had dropped a creepy hieroglyphic inside this house for me to find, without the next clue.
“What is happening? Why is someone doing this?” I felt the hysteria start to rise. But I couldn’t let it take hold. I couldn’t let it win. Not now when we were trapped in an abandoned house with a hurricane on the doorstep. “Nothing makes sense. Do they want to hurt me? Is that it?”
I didn’t know if he had forgiven me for leaving, but AJ wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. I inhaled his scent and let the warmth of his body penetrate the chill of my wet clothes. For a brief second, I let him take away the fear. I let him hold me, and I let myself pretend all I needed in this world was the safety of his arms. And everything was going to be ok.
Chapter Six
AJ opened and slammed the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen until he found a box of matches.
“I don’t even know if these will work.” With a flick of the wrist the flame sparked. He grinned. “That’s a good sign. He lit one of the candles I found in the coat closet.
Except for a few of the closets and cabinets, the house had been cleared out. I had an eerie feeling maybe some of the things we found had been planted, rather than actually left behind. They were here as props or accessories.
After scouring the two small bedrooms, I found a stack of quilts in the closet that were clean and folded. I shook them out, and was surprised they smelled like fresh detergent. There were vanilla pillar candles. We had all the essentials we needed to get through the night.
The one thing we didn’t have was food.
“Any chance there’s a bottle of wine under the floorboards?” I stomped my foot into the hardwoods.
“I’d go for straight whiskey,” he answered.
I walked to the window, ready to try to scrape some of the paint off when AJ stopped me. I didn’t like that we had been painted in.
“No, don’t do that,” he warned.
“Why not?” I asked.
“If someone’s outside watching us, the candlelight is going to give them a clear view. At least for now we have some cover.”
“Shit. You think someone is still watching?” I searched his eyes for reassurance. “But you didn’t see anyone out there.”
“There are no signs of anyone, but our cars were tampered with, so I have no doubt there was someone here. I don’t know what to expect.”
“Maybe they want the paint to stay on the windows and we should scrape it off,” I suggested. It gave me chills.
AJ disagreed with me.
“What’s the plan? We can’t stay here. Not like this. Not with some psycho on the loose.”
“Our phones don’t work. Our cars won’t start. And there is a hurricane about to hit. We have to stay for the night.”
