“She isn’t moving,” I whisper.
There’s a sudden flare of light behind us, and I whirl around. The candle has finally burned to the bottom, and I watch with horror as the cards from the board game ignite as if made of some hyperflammable substance. A sudden wind blows the door open, and the cards go swirling into the air like leaves lifted from a bonfire. As each card makes contact with a surface, a brilliant blaze blooms, spreading with almost supernatural speed.
“Shit.” Kennedy runs to the kitchen. “The extinguisher’s missing,” she shouts in a panic.
A sickening sensation of déjà vu floods through me. Chase takes a step toward the cellar, but the door slams shut. He grabs the knob and wrenches it, kicks the door, turns to me with terror in his eyes. “It’s happening again. The fire. Exactly like before. The doors were stuck.”
Before I can speak, a wave of heat rises behind us. Kennedy screams. Chase and I are separated from her and the door by a wall of fire. Chase drops to the floor and I follow.
“Someone did this,” he says. “There’s no way a fire goes up this quickly without a serious accelerant.”
I hear a familiar, horrible, crushing sound.
Hands knocking.
Emily screaming from the attic.
Chase was right.
It’s happening again.
Exactly the same way.