Page 112 of Sinister

He ignores it; or wants to ignore it.

But on the third knock it is clear that whoever is at the door has no intention of leaving.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He deposits me on the bed and goes to the door. I stare at his retreating back as the door closes behind him.

At first, silence is once more my companion.

But a few short moments after, a raised voice echoes through the tunnel.

Sin’s voice.

“I told you I would do it,” he says. “B.”

Yet the odd thing is that no voice answers back.

Frowning, I tiptoe to the door and fit my eye against the peephole.

The hallway is dark save for a few candles in the periphery. I can make out Sin’s back. He’s talking to someone, gesturing with his hands.

“It was just one time,” he adds, seemingly in anger.

This close, I can hear him perfectly. Just as I can hear the silence that greets him.

“Don’t you dare threaten her!” he shouts.

This time, something knocks into him. He lets out a gasp of surprise and moves to the side, revealing his interlocutor—or lack thereof.

No one. There is no one there save for darkness.

My hand flies to my mouth as I watch Sin’s body levitate, as if some invisible force has taken hold of him.

I stumble back in horror.

A bang reverberates outside the room. Then the door opens, and Sin strides inside. His features are tense and tight, so different from the gentle lover from before.

“I will take you home.”

“But . . . what was that? Who was that, Sin?”

“I will take you home, Petra,” he repeats, this time more emphatic.

So stunned I am by everything that happened, by the intimacy we shared and then the strange occurrence in that dark hallway, that I can only follow along in a trance.

Yet a thought persists.

The devil. He was talking to the devil.

32

THE RADCLIFFE HERALD

15 April 1896

SHOCKING MURDER! OF PROMINENT PHILANTHROPIST

WIDOW DISCOVERS BODY; SINISTER WHISPERS OF ACADEMIC TIES AND RITUAL ATROCITIES ABOUND

The community was struck with horror and disbelief this morning upon learning of the untimely and brutal demise of Mr. Joseph Rutherford, esteemed industrialist and reputed to be one of the wealthiest gentlemen residing upon the Eastern Seaboard. Mr. Rutherford’s lifeless and grievously mutilated remains were discovered within his private residence at dawn by his bereaved widow, Mrs. Eleanor Rutherford.