Sorcha just held her as she was taken back to that moment when the police had shown up at her house on that cold winter night.
Because of Mono, she’d been home, instead of at school, in her dorm.
For reasons she still didn’t understand, she’d gone to bed fully clothed that night. It was as if some part of her had known that she’d need to be dressed to deal with what was coming for her family.
Just before dawn, her mother had been getting ready for work. Sorcha had awakened to the sound of someone knocking on her bedroom window.
“Sorcha?”
It’d sounded just like her sister’s voice. Thinking Siobhan had snuck home to see her, she had gone to the window and pulled back the curtains.
At that exact moment, the police car had rolled into their driveway.
Her mother had gone outside to meet them, and Sorcha had watched curiously as everything unfolded in slow motion. “What happened? Did my daughter have a car wreck?”
Such a simple question.
“No, ma’am. We’re here to inform you…”
Sorcha wouldn’t allow those words to finish even now. If she lived a thousand years, she’d never forget them. Or the sight of her mother screaming and falling to the ground. Of the police having to carry her petite mother into the house where Sorcha waited in stunned silence.
Her mother’s hysterical screams had awakened her father.
Sorcha had staggered back to her bed and just sat there, trying to fathom the horror.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she held the girl and tried not to remember the one memory she’d give anything to forget.
After several minutes, the student pulled away and wiped at her tears with the back of her hand. “You do know, don’t you?”
Too choked up to speak, she nodded.
“Miss Norton?—”
Sorcha held her hand up to cut off Rory’s words. “She made a statement to the police already. I think she needs to be taken home.”
Rory nodded. “I’ll get an officer to do it.”
As he walked off, Sorcha had a peculiar chill go down her spine. That crinkly feeling that came from being watched.
Turning around slowly, all she saw were the officers and support staff…police cars, an ambulance, flashing lights. The moss-covered trees.
Nothing was out…
Her thought trailed off as she caught sight of a black dog in the shrubbery. At first glance, it looked like Luke’s mom. But there was something different, too.
Without thinking, she started for the dog.
Baring its teeth, it growled at her before it vanished into a cloud of gray smoke.
“What did I miss?”
Sorcha actually screamed at the deep, resonant bass in her ear. “Jesus!”
“Not even close.” Luke flashed a grin at her. “You okay?”
“I don’t know.” She gestured toward the bushes where the dog had been. “I think I just saw a hellhound.”
Luke scowled at her. “Where?”
