It’s quieter too. Like the house swallows up sound somehow. I know that’s not true because I heard Mina scream, and I don’t think there’s a soundproof room around that could drown out Callum’s big mouth.
The air smells like mildew and rotting wood. Something foul clings to the walls. I can’t place the smell, but it reminds me of something I smelled back in Castlebrook Falls. The swamp maybe?
My boots creak on the warped floorboards as I step into the foyer. Cobwebs drape down from the corners of the high ceilings. A cracked chandelier hangs above me like a tarnished spider carcass.
“Callum?” I’m starting to regret coming in here. Danny had the right idea. We should have left. Something isn’t right.
No answer. This isn’t like him. He always answers when I call him, text him, whatever. He’s always there.
I edge forward, peering into what looks like a sitting room. Broken furniture, tattered curtains, and judging by the black and gray dots speckled up the wall, moldy wallpaper. There’s a fireplace filled with soot and the fire irons are bent and twisted like they’ve been used to hit something hard.
I brush past a hanging sheet covering something large, maybe a mirror. The dingy cloth falls from me brushing against it, and I’m so jumpy that I flinch when my reflection suddenly appears, distorted in the cracked glass.
Then something grabs me.
I gasp, but a large hand clamps over my mouth before I can scream.
My elbow connects with a hard stomach. I stomp down on a foot as hard as I can. The person grunts and loosens just enough for me to twist?—
“Lilac,” Callum hisses, dragging me into his chest again, hand over my mouth. “Don’t scream. It’s me.”
His voice is low, but urgent. His eyes? Terrified.
And that’s what gets me.
Callum Grey doesn’tdoterrified.
“Quiet,” he whispers. “Someone’s here.”
I nod against his palm. He slowly lowers his hand, fingers trembling, and I whisper, matching his tone, “Did you see Mina?”
All he does is shake his head no and pull me behind him. He pushes a door open, just barely, and I suck in a breath, but it gets caught in my throat. This whole place smells like musty mothballs, and I feel like I’m going to puke.
There’s a coppery tang in the air. Blood. It mixes with the thick, moldy stench of decay. I think what’s really making me nauseous is that there’s a note of a scent that I can only describe as sickly. It’s something that once was sweet and has now turned sour.
And then I see her.
A body.
A girl.
She’s slumped like a broken doll against the wall. Her head is tilted too far back, throat laid open like someone fileted a fish. Crimson stains soak her light purple dress, the blood already drying at the edges. Her eyes are glassy and wide, fixed on something I can't see. The thought pops into my head that where her eyes rest is where the last person she saw before she died must have been standing.
My stomach turns. Everything in me recoils, but I can’t look away.
I recognize her from campus. She worked at the library. I used to see her talking to Winter sometimes.
Callum pulls me back, one arm like steel across my waist.
“Remember, don't scream. I’ve got you,” he murmurs, and it’s the softest, most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard.
I don’t even realize I’ve pressed my palms to his chest until I try to step back and he holds me tighter.
He starts guiding me toward the front door, and I mentally note that we’re both in shock. I feel like I’m on autopilot, just letting Callum guide me. Before we can get out on the porch, the others crash through the entryway. I see that even Adam and Lexi are back.
“Whoa, this place is a dump,” Eric says.
“Shut up,” Callum snarls. “Get out of here!”
