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I peeked out to see a double lot. Part of the yard had been rototilled for what looked like an extensive garden. A few fruit trees were scattered along the fence to the right, and to the left a hedge provided privacy from the neighbors. Even from where I stood, I could feel a tainted blight that underscored the house and land that it stood on.
“Let’s move on,” I said, turning to follow Darla.
She and Georgie led us back through the kitchen, into the bathroom. The room was small, crowded, and gave me the creeps. A second door near the wash basin led into the master bedroom. We had made a loop, and were behind the closed door leading into the dining room.
The master bedroom had a big bed, a dresser, a compact stationary bike in one corner, and a closet, but the room felt tainted in the same way as the backyard.
“Okay, living room next and then if you’ll show us the upstairs,” I said.
“Are you sensing anything?” Georgie asked.
“More than I want to,” I said.
Darla led us back into the dining room, then we made a quick sweep through the living room, which—so far—felt like the most neutral room in the house. After that, we headed upstairs.
As we swung around the landing where the steps turned back on themselves, I could see a door at the top of the stairs, and a hallway leading to the left. I wanted nothing to do with either. My blood chilled as we neared the end and I held my breath as we passed by the hall. As Darla opened the door directly in front of us, I tried to ignore the hallway to our left because I knew—I just knew—that there’d be something there, looking back.
“This is Mary and Georgie’s room,” Darla said, as we entered.
The room was standard size, though it had an odd ceiling that was slanted all along the right side. Anybody too tall would have trouble walking along the back side of the room. There were two closets—one a door to the left that was closed with a lock was on it, bolted shut, and then an archway to the right that had a beaded curtain across it.
There were two single beds, one large dresser with two columns of drawers, a desk against one corner with schoolbooks on it, two nightstands, and somehow they had also managed to find room for a toy box near one of the beds.
The walls were painted a soft rose, with leaf-green trim. Sage curtains covered the window. I realized that this was the window through which someone had been staring at me when I first arrived. I glanced around, waiting for whoever it was to show themselves, but they decided to lurk in the shadows, unwilling to make themselves known.
“All right, any other questions?”
“What about Mary? Is she a target, too?” Bree asked.
“Several times over the past few weeks, she’s come down the stairs, asking if we were calling her. Neither Kevin nor I had said anything. She also told me that she keeps seeing a dark shadow in the corner of this room.”
“I’ve seen it too,” Georgie said, leading the way over to the corner with the desk in it. She pointed to the wall. “One night while I was trying to meditate—Mary was downstairs—I smelled something odd. When I opened my eyes, I looked over in that corner of the ceiling and I saw a dark cloud hovering there. It smelled like rancid meat, and when as I stood up, it vanished.”
“What did you feel when you saw it?”
“Terrified. Whatever it is, it’snotfriendly. It hovered there, swirling, for a moment, then disappeared.” Georgie shivered.
“Why do you have a lock on the closet door?” I asked, examining the deadbolt.
“Mary hates this closet, so I use it.” Georgie pulled the bolt back and opened the closet door. Inside, against one wall, was a two-foot-square patch against the wall. It was on a hinge and opened to the side. “That provides access to a second attic space. And that’s why we keep the closet door locked. That panel keeps opening on its own, and the closet door did too, before we put the deadbolt on it.”
I walked into the closet and stopped as the panel creaked open by itself. “Okay, then,” I said, turning around and walking right out.
“Are you going to ask who’s here?” Darla asked.
“No,” Bree spoke up, her eyes wide. “Whatever’s in this house—and though I’m not psychic, I can feel how powerful the entities are here—is awake and listening to us.”
“She’s right. I’ll wait until I’ve seen the whole house,” I said, trying to act nonchalant, though I wanted to turn tail and run. Even dealing with a vampire was better than this. “Okay, why don’t you show me the back room. I take it that’s the last?”
“There’s a small hall bathroom and the attic crawlspace, but otherwise yes, that’s it.” Darla led the way back to the stairs. We had to go down two steps to walk up the two side steps leading into the hallway.
The moment we stepped into the hall, a sinking feeling spread through my stomach. Besides the basement, this hall was strong with the spreading shadow that crept through the house. There were two pocket doors to the left, and a door at the end.
“Where do those lead?” I asked.
“The first is the powder room I mentioned, and the second leads to an attic space—separate from the one in Georgie’s closet. The room at the end is Johnny’s room.” Darla shivered. “We have problems getting Johnny to go to bed. He cries every night before we can finally get him to come up to his room.”
“Johnny’s sensitive. I think he has the makings of a medium,” Georgie said.
