Despite Serena’s disapproval of Parsons Manor, living in a secluded house is in her blood. She doesn’t live in the burbs like I’d imagine, but a beautiful home behind a thicket of trees, and far from the road. It isn’t removed from civilization like the manor is, but it’s not easy to find, either.
“You don’t think they killed them, do you?”
“No, baby,” I tell her truthfully. “If they did, they know that if I don’t kill them, Claire sure as hell would. She’d lose her leverage.”
Addie rolls her bottom lip between her teeth as I come to a stop. The house is dark, and the surrounding trees sway in the wind, the branches casting crooked shadows across the home, exuding an ominous feel. It’s a large white three-story house with a massive window on the top center, showcasing the silhouette of a chandelier.
I call Jay, and he answers immediately.
“Keep an eye on the house and make sure no one else comes in,” I order.
“Already on it, boss man,” he says, the tapping of his keyboard following his confirmation.
I turn to Addie and ask, “You ready?”
She spares me a single glance before opening the door and stepping out, silently answering my question. Sibby scrambles out after her while I shut the car off and follow after them.
Addie’s hips sway angrily as she half-runs toward the front door.
I eat up the distance in a few long strides, grabbing her arm and hauling her back. Her neck nearly cracks from how hard she whips her head to glare at me.
“Don’t go charging in mindlessly.”
Ripping her arm from my grip, she scoffs at me.
“I’m not an idiot,” she snaps. I smirk and raise my hands in surrender. If this weren’t her mother in danger, I’d bend her over and fuck her until she does go stupid.
“Sorry, baby. Proceed.”
Leaving me behind, she charges up to the entrance, then as if hitting slow motion on a movie, her movements become gradual and smooth as she reaches for the front door.
Turning the knob, she quietly opens the door, the darkness bleeding out from the depths of the foyer while her other hand grips the knife strapped to her thigh, readying for someone to jump out and attack. No one does, the silence deafening. Stepping farther inside, her eyes scan every direction. When it’s deemed clear, she nods Sibby and me in after her.
I bite my lip, fucking relishing the sight of her in charge. My girl is strong and capable, and I’ll gladly follow her lead.
The blackness swallows us whole as I soundlessly shut the door behind me. It’s so quiet, you could hear a mouse fart. Addie disappears into the darkness as she moves deeper into the house. I can’t see much, but I can feel everything.
The chill coercing the goosebumps across my flesh to rise, the heat moving throughout the pipes, and the eyes watching my every move. They come from all directions and nowhere at all. Yet, they’re as real as the ghostly fingers I feel brushing across my skin in Parsons Manor.
Thankfully, Sibby understands the situation perfectly and contains her giddiness. She’s used to creeping through houses, but she always had the protection of the walls. In Satan’s Affair, she was the creeping eyes.
Maybe now she’ll understand that gut feeling of knowing someone is watching you that wants to cause you harm but never knowing where they are until they’re right in your face.
We travel down a long hallway, passing portraits of Addie gradually aging until she was a teenager. Normally, I’d stop and stare at her childhood pictures, fantasizing about the kid versions of myself falling in love with her had I seen her then. Something tells me that I’d be enraptured by her no matter how young we were.
Now, it’s so eerie in here that those smiling eyes in the pictures appear sinister. As if the different versions of Addie are laughing at us because they know the danger awaiting us. I want to laugh right back because I was the danger awaiting her.
We emerge into a kitchen, finding the expansive area clear. She starts to head to the left, but a slight shuffling sound arises from our right. She freezes and glances back at me. I nod towards the noise. As much as she wants to find her mom, we can’t leave dangerous men behind.
Nodding, she turns and veers toward the noise.
“Watch your step,” Addie whispers a moment later. Keeping an eye on Sibby’s feet, I see her step down, her boots sinking into the soft carpet.
It’s a large living room, with a massive TV screen mounted on the wall to our right and plush couches surrounding it, along with a recliner. I imagine that’s where her dad sits, yelling at whatever football team plays on the screen.
His image fades as a different person replaces it, a body emerging from the darkness like a demon called forth by its master.
Addie and Sibby spot him the same time I do, their bodies briefly bristling from the creepiness before we all spring into action. Addie rushes toward the dude, but I feel another person creeping behind me, and I glimpse metal right before I grab Sibby by one of her pigtails and yank, jerking her out of the way