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The husband gave his wife a tired look before turning back to Mama. “Mrs. Black, respectfully, you could have the damn Pope inspect it. We are not sleeping in that house again!”

Good.

Mama stood beside the driveway looking completely lost while the family climbed into their vehicles like they were escaping a natural disaster.

The son leaned toward the open rear window. “Something walked down those stairs last night and there wasn’t nobody there!”

“And it threw all of our important stuff down them!” the daughter added.

Nick lowered his voice. “Mrs. Black, this is a beautiful house, inside and out. It’s well maintained, it’s in a great area, and under any other circumstances, my family would’ve been more than happy living here. But whatever happened in that house last night wasn’t faulty wiring, bad plumbing, or the place settling. I don’t know what it was, and frankly, I don’t want to know. You should seriously consider not renting this property to anybody else until you figure out what’s happening in there.”

Constance nodded quickly. “What my husband said! Whatever is in that house does not want anybody living there… or maybe just us! Either way, I’m not waiting around to find out which one it is. Last night it packed our things. I don’t want to know what it does when somebody ignores the warning.”

Correct.

Nick rested one hand on the open driver-side door. “I’m sorry this didn’t work out, Mrs. Black, but we can’t stay here. Please take care of yourself.”

Mama looked like she still wanted to argue, but there wasn’t much left to say when an entire family was already strapped into their car and ready to go.

The gates had barely finished opening before their SUVs were pulling through them.

Mama stayed in that spot until the last vehicle disappeared down the road.

Then she slowly turned toward the mansion.

“What the hell?”

I smiled from the other side of the front window.

Morning, Ma.

When she came inside, the foyer looked normal again except for one overturned box I hadn’t bothered putting back together and a throw pillow sitting near the bottom of the stairs.

Morning light spilled through the windows, making the whole place look entirely too peaceful after the shit I had put those people through the night before.

Mama bent down, picked up the pillow, and placed it back on the sofa.

Then she stood there for another minute, looking around my house like she expected something to move while she was watching.

Nothing did.

I wasn’t concerned with what conclusion she reached. Their asses were gone, and that was all I cared about.

I knew an empty mansion required more upkeep than I ever had reason to think about when I was alive, so I understood why Mama had tried. That didn’t mean I had to cooperate.

That was my fucking house, and the only people I was ever going to let sleep comfortably under this roof were my family.

Lakelyn and my son belonged here in a way no renter ever would.

I just had no idea whether either one of them would ever come back home to me.

Chapter three

Lakelyn

Five Years Later

September 25th, I was heading back home to Hallowridge… for good.