The closet door was off its hinges and balanced against the wall. All the clothes had been thrashed and laid in pieces on the floor. Two lone hangers hung on the rod.
“This is the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Stella said. She moved farther into the room. Picked up a book abandoned on the floor before staring at the stickers on the ceiling. “Xavier refused to let us upstairs. I understand now. This is a travesty. Why didn’t he hire a cleaner?”
“He said being in this house made his temper rage out of control.” Aubrey spoke from right behind me.
Her words scratched against the back of my neck. I spun around, ready for whatever she had planned, but she just stood there. Her voice and face lacking genuine emotion, as usual.
“He’s not here.” I’m not sure why I said it or what I even meant. Jeremy. Noah. Anyone.
“Others have been here but not recently, to my knowledge.” Aubrey leaned against the chipped paint on the wall. “The police probably searched the rooms repeatedly and did their forensic thing on and off for years.”
Stella answered even though Aubrey hadn’t phrased the comment as a question. “Yes.”
“No one is in here now.” I spun around in a circle. Scanned the walls, searching for another exit. Looked at the scattered pieces of a lost life strewn all over the floor. “I want to search the entire property.”
“Fine.” Aubrey nodded. “I suggest you wait until the daytime because the property is filled with health hazards. I almost stepped on a knife this morning. There it was, next to the fireplace.”
It felt like she was sending a message but I couldn’t figure out what. “You’re lying.”
Aubrey didn’t look upset or even surprised by my comment. “About what, exactly? If Jeremy came here, then he made a mistake. He wouldn’t be the first person to disappear from this house.”
That’s it. I lunged but Stella caught me and dragged me back.
“I’m stating the obvious. I’ll fix it up. Run the vacuum. Buy some paint. But right now, it’s a dangerous place to be.” Aubrey looked at a model spaceship. Through all the years and trespassing, destruction, and decay, that stood tall. Untouched on the nightstand. “It’s as if people come here, then fade into the woodwork, never to be seen again.”
A scream ripped through the hallway and ricocheted off the crumbling walls. A chilling sound that cut off as quickly as it started.
It took me a second to place the voice, then I did.
“Marni!”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Marni
I didn’t see stars or any of the dramatic images you hear about on television shows. I didn’t see anything at all. The sharp whack to the back of my head drove me to the floor. One second I ventured farther into the house, crept toward the kitchen. The next my knees buckled as the room whizzed by.
I heard the thud more than felt it. A hit that ticked off a banging sound in my head. My eyes closed and a strange warmth washed over me. Spread its way up my body. Nothing made sense. My body floated. Drifted.
A crescendo of thumping footsteps and muffled voices grew closer.
“Marni!”
My eyes opened again. I lay on my side in a layer of dust and filth. Just as I tried to jump up, hands pushed me back down. I flailed and fought. “Don’t touch me.”
“Marni, stop.”
The scent of Stella’s floral perfume hit a second before I recognized her firm voice.
“Hon, it’s us.”
That voice sounded soft. Comforting. Definitely Hanna this time.
“You guys are on thehonfriendship level? Interesting.”
The misplaced amusement. Aubrey’s sarcastic voice.
Apparently I’d fallen into hell.
