I clutch my chest, heart racing. “OhmyGod, ohmyGod, ohmyGod,” I chant.
Annabelle is still screaming in my ear. “What is it? What’s Happening? Are you dead?”
I suck in a sharp breath and continue forward, my grip tightening on the wooden spoon as if it were arealweapon. The shadow outside shifts again, larger this time—lesswild animal, morehorrifying intruder.
My stomach plummets.
I reach for the curtain, fingers shaking. Slowly, I peel it back an inch—
And that’s when I see him.
“Harris?”
Harris is mid-climb, scaling my window like some kind of deranged burglar. His hands are gripping the window ledge, one boot most likely planted in the vine trellis, muscles straining as he tries to—what? Break in?
The second I shout his name, he startles.
And then?
Hefalls.
“Oh Sh—”
Thud.
I wince as he lands hard in the bushes below with a loud groan.
“Holy shit!” I scream. “Oh myGod!”
Annabelle is shrieking at full volume in my ear. “What? What Happened? Are youMurdered?”
I don’t think. Imove.
Barefoot, heart pounding, I dash down the stairs, nearly tripping over my own feet in my rush to get to the front door. The second I fling it open, I sprint toward the driveway, phone still clutched in one hand as Annabelle shouts in my ear.
“Lucy?! Are you dead? Blink Twice if you’re dead.”
“I Can’t Blink if i’m Dead, Annabelle!” I screech back, my brain operating at peak useless-panic mode. “For the Love of God!”
The garbage cans are toppled over, their contents spilling onto the pavement as if ransacked by a gang of raccoons. And right in the middle of the mess?
Harris.
Sprawled out. On his back. Arms spread. A butter wrapper stuck to his shirt.
I skid to a stop, hands on my knees, breathing hard. “Harris, are you—”
“I’m fine,” he groans loudly. He sounds pained. He shifts, trying to sit up, and an empty soup can rolls off his stomach. “Okay, maybe not fine.”
Annabelle is still screaming in my ear. “Is it a Burglar? Did he kill harris? Is ThereBlood?”
I press a hand to my forehead. “It’s Harris.”
Silence.
Then:
“You mean to tell me this entire moment was caused by Harris being amoron?”
