AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kas leans toward the windshield to get a closer look, and I hear him suck in a breath. “Kai… is this really where they lived? What if she’s still here? There’s no way this place is safe, and what if it’s even worse on the inside?” he says, sounding panicked.
I grab his hand again, squeezing it to get his attention. “Kas, breathe. If she’s here, we’ll get her out and bring her home with us. I promise you; it’s going to be okay. Whatever we find here, we’ll handle it as a pack. Okay?”
He takes a deep breath, grabs the door handle, and says, “Let’s go. I need to know one way or another if she’s here.”
* * *
“No, I’m afraid you can’t come in. My son isn’t home and even if he was, he wouldn’t be interested inhockey,” Dianne says with a sneer.
We’ve been standing on this crumbling porch for the last ten minutes, trying to get her to let us in so we can look around, but D wasn’t kidding when he said she was a hag. When she opened the door, she was threatening to shoot us until we said we were with a youth hockey foundation offering free lessons to kids in the city. Even then, she only opened the door a crack to talk to us while adamantly explaining her son was into football,nothockey.
Our pack started a hockey program for underprivileged kids several years ago alongside the other work we do. I’m thankful for it now because it allows us access to places Blake might be.
“We completely understand, ma’am. We won’t take up any more of your time tonight. Would you mind too terribly much if I used your restroom before we head out? It’s a long drive back to our hotel,” I tell her, giving her my most charming smile.
She looks me straight in the eyes and with a curl of her lip, gives me a curt “No,” before slamming the door in our faces.
My brother starts to speak, so I quickly hold up my hand. “Let’s wait until we’re in the car. We don’t need anybody overhearing us.”
He nods in response, and we turn to walk down the stairs when he steps on a weak board and his foot falls through the bottom of the porch.
“MotherFUCK! That hurt!” he says, and I can’t help but laugh. He throws me a dirty look before holding out his hand. “Help me out, would ya? Who knows what’s underneath this cesspool of a house? As it is, I’m probably going to need a tetanus shot… or some antibi—” he trails off and lets out an awful high pitch squeal that has me doubling over with laughter.
“Dude, what the hell was that? You sounded like a preteen girl at a boy band concert,” I say, wiping tears from my eyes.
He looks at me with huge eyes, panting like he’s just run a marathon, “It’s notfunnyKairo! Something just ran over my foot. Get me the HELL out of here before I tell everybody I know about that time you peed your pants and passed out watching The Conjuring when we were sixteen.”
“You. Wouldn’t.Dare.” I narrow my eyes at my twin.
He looks at me challengingly. “Try me.”
Knowing the asshole will absolutely follow through on his threat, I reach down and grab his arm, hauling him up and out of the hole. “C’mon you big baby, let’s get out of here before Dianne realizes we left a hole in her porch.”
We’re walking back to the car when Kas pulls me to a stop and sniffs before putting his finger to his lips.
“Do you smell that?” he asks. “I swear I just got a whiff of strawberries.”
Just then, we hear what sounds like glass breaking coming from the backyard, and I forget about his original question. I take a second to listen closely, and I can hear glass tinkling like it’s falling on cement, and what sounds like someone crying. I look over at my brother and give him a small nod.
“Let’s go check it out. It’s probably just an animal or something.”
Walking around the side of the house as fast as we can, we stop short when we see a small cottage out back, not much larger than a shed. What makes us stop, though, is the person trying to crawl out of the broken basement window, audibly crying and wriggling like they’re stuck.
One of us must make a noise because suddenly her head whips up. When her eyes lock on us, she struggles harder, frantically whispering, “Please.Pleasehelp me. Get me out of here. I can’t get my belt loop unstuck from the glass.I’m begging you.Please help me!”
Kas snaps out of his stupor before I do and runs over, easily unhooking her and pulling her out just as we hear a door slam somewhere in the cottage. He passes her to me while he reaches down to grab what looks like an overstuffed backpack she must have thrown out ahead of her. As soon as she falls into my chest, I get the strongest whiff of strawberry shortcake, making my eyes widen.
The girl seems even more frantic now. She looks up at me with the most incredible green eyes I’ve ever seen in my life, slurring out, “He drugged me. We have to get out of here, please,” before passing out in my arms, making me scramble to catch her.
Kaspian looks over at me, and I can immediately tell we’re thinking the same thing.
“We found her.”
ChapterTwo
ARE THERE BAKERIES IN THE AFTERLIFE?
Blake
