It reminded me of?—
The room disappeared and I wasn’t here anymore. I was thrust somewhere else. Somewhere I couldn’t quite make out through the edges of my vision.
The rain dripped, dripped, dripped.
The awful scent of blood swarmed up my nose.
Panic and pain ripped through me. There was a terrible ringing in my ears. I turned my head to the side, desperately searching for my mother?—
Chapter 13
Billy Parker
Billy woke with a gasp. Mack was going crazy. He had never heard him bark so ferociously. A cold rolled over his skin, slunk down to the depths of his bones—he felt like he wasn’t alone. Slowly, he turned his head to the side and stared at the curtain. He had a terrible feeling if he pulled it back, the monster would be standing there.
Billy turned away, his fingers tight on the comforter. There was no monster, he told himself, it was probably a cat in the yard. He mumbled a swear word under his breath and rolled to his side, blinking sluggishly, trying to make out the time on his clock. It was two-thirty a.m.
“Billy, I’m scared,” Lottie called out, her voice high-pitched and frayed.
He sighed as he flicked on the lamp then clamored out of bed. The air in the room was ice cold, and his breath curled in front of his lips. He shivered as he snatched a jumper off the floor and pulled it on.
“Billy?” Lottie called again. “Hurry.”
The fear in her voice frayed his nerves, making his heart beat faster. Billy started to feel scared too, but he grunted, “It’s just the dog having a meltdown. Hang on, I’m coming.”
Billy’s breath rattled from his lips as he edged his door open. Light spilled from his room into the hallway. He noticed his mother’s room door was still ajar at the same distance as earlier. He had left the kitchen light on for her, but no noise came from there. Not that he could hear much above the dog’s racket. Still, he assumed she wasn’t home, or she’d be shouting and swearing up a storm.
Lottie was sitting bolt upright in bed, her pink teddy clutched in her arms, staring wide-eyed at the window.
“I saw something through the crack in the curtain,” she whispered.
Chills erupted over Billy’s skin as he crept into the room, his eyes strained to see out. The light washed a frail glow over the yard, but all he could make out through the fist-sized crack in the sheets nailed up over the window was the outline of the timber fence.
“What did you see?” he whispered.
Lottie’s eyes were wider than teacups. “I think someone’s out there.”
Billy’s entire body grew colder. His hand shook as he flicked the light on. Lights made everything feel better; monsters didn’t like the light.
Lottie blinked beneath the sudden glare and rubbed her eyes with her fists.
Billy wanted to hide under the comforter with Lottie and wait till whoever it was went away. He tried to sound brave as he said, “I’ll check it out. Stay here.”
Lottie scrambled out of bed, her teddy clutched in one hand, and grabbed his hand with the other. “I don’t want to stay on my own.”
Truth was Billy was glad she was coming with him, but he couldn’t let Lottie know he was scared. He was the big brother, after all, and it was his job to look after her.
They moved cautiously into the hall and turned on the light. The door creaked as he opened the spare room without turning on the light—he wouldn’t be able to see out into the dark if he did. But the hallway light lit the floor enough to see. Garbage bags of stuff his mother hadn’t unpacked since they’d moved here and clothes they’d grown out of were stacked against the wall. Billy wrinkled his nose. The air in the room was thick and musty. Letting go of Lottie’s hand, he edged toward the window. He hovered for a moment, his throat thick, then he took a deep breath, grabbed the corner of the curtain, and peeled it back. An almost full moon allowed him to see the blur of Mack. He was by the fence, looking in the direction of their house, bounding back and forth and barking.
Billy’s heart stopped as he caught a glimpse of movement in the backyard, a fast-moving shadow. He froze but saw nothing now. He cupped his little hands on the windowpane and studied the yard. Nothing moved, the swing sat still, the ball was on the ground, and his baseball bat was nearby. But he couldn’t see anyone. It must have been a trick of his eye.
Billy relaxed and pulled the curtain back further. “There’s nothing out there. See, Lottie.”
She peered up at him with her big brown eyes and then looked out of the window hesitantly. She pulled back after a few seconds. “Can I sleep with you?”
Secretly, Billy was glad she wanted to sleep with him. Despite not seeing anything, Mack’s barking made him uneasy.It was probably a cat on the fence, he told himself. His throat was like a desert. “Yeah, I need a drink though. Want one?”
Lottie nodded. Moving to the kitchen, he noticed that someone had turned out the light or maybe it had blown, but the hallway light allowed him to see in. He jumped and let out a cry of surprise.
