“I’m staying right here,” Grace said, and the door to the house swung open and settled into silence.
OFFICER ARDGHAL WALSHcombed through the house, speaking in a low, soft voice while Grace shivered outside, fear making her cold even in the warm sunlight.
“You have a day to show yourself and make peace, or leave and never come back. We will drive you out of this world if you keep this up. There are too many families in Pine Ridge who can’t go anywhere else, buddy. Get your jollies scaring the bad things in the woods—unless youarethe bad thing in the woods.”
Nyx floated, a mere ear above the surface of his dark, drifting realm, listening to the words instead of the shapeless growling and snarling below him.
How could they drive him out? If they could, where would he go? Into the woods? Or into the darkness already trying to draw him in? Into the town? Part of it was accessible to him, part of it used to belong with the house... He thought.
But what kind of town was it, that this man knew of such things, and people couldn’t move away?
And don’t you think I’ve tried to drive off the bad thing in the woods?
No. Not really. You watched. Never had a reason to try to reach beyond yourself before.
“I know there’s something bad out there. Something bad in here. We try to respect spaces, but not if you keep pulling this shit. Final. Warning.”
“Officer?”
Nyx sank under the surface of the ether, or the eternal waters and shadows, whatever this pocket of reality was.
“Miss Sanford. I don’t know what to tell you. Now... This might seem like a long shot, and it definitely shouldn’t have happened, but someone could have been out last night, passing by, and seen your table outside. You mentioned you left it on the porch?” The officer’s voice sounded as though he were trying hard to be believable—while knowing he was spouting lies.
“Covered by a tarp. And I’m not exactly just off the road.”
“You know college students. They hike everywhere,” the policeman said vaguely, his voice still far from convincing. “Was the door unlocked? Someone might have thought they were doing you a favor, moving it inside. Looked like rain, maybe.”
Grace hesitated.
In the silence, Nyx shifted, also silent, head above the floorboards under her bed, body suspended in a pool of darkness.
“I don’t know. Actually... I don’t want to get in trouble for wasting police time, but I... I’m starting to second-guess a lot of what I did last night. I’ve been working long hours, I had a glass of wine and some wacko dreams. I wonder if I... Could I have sleepwalked and just carried on my routine of moving furnitureinto the house and getting stuff ready for the opening?” Grace asked, voice confused and conflicted.
“I wouldn’t rule it out. But I also wouldn’t rule out something else. Things... Some things that defy explanation are still real. Why don’t you stay with friends or in a hotel for a few nights and let me and the neighborhood watch take an active role in investigating? There could be some unsavory pranksters who can’t get used to the fact that this is shaping up to be a real nice property after standing vacant for years. Some people might have used this place as their old stomping grounds. You know? How some teenagers like to use abandoned properties as their private crash pads?”
“I don’t want to leave, but I would be grateful for the extra patrols in the area—at least for the next few days.”
“I—”
“You didn’t find anyone? Or anything?”
“No. No, but you should always trust your instincts. If you think someone is trying to scare you or bother you—”
“It doesn’t feel like that.”
There was silence.
It doesn’t?Nyx didn’t know if that was gratifying or insulting.
“No?”
“No. I don’t have a bad vibe like I did at first. I’m sorry. I overreacted.”
“If more people overreacted, there would be fewer true crime shows,” the officer sighed.
Nyx sank fully back into his nightmare world of growls and clawing things, saving himself by staying afloat, connecting with the house that he was bound to instead of slipping completely away, turning into— He looked down into an ocean of long teeth and blood-red eyes.
He decided he was gratified.
