Gravity - By Abigail Boyd Page 0,48

light was gone, swallowed by whatever brought on the dark.

I reached the door and grasped the metal knob with both hands. The light in the hallway was on, but as I glanced back, my room was still dark. No light could penetrate the empty void of my once comfortable room.

I rushed up the stairs, leaping two at a time, and to the living room. Hugh and Claire were watching movies on the couch. She was snuggled up to him and he had his arm around her shoulders. I hated to break their companion time up, but I was scared out of my wits.

"There is something in my room," I said, chest heaving as I tried to breath. A curious metallic taste filled my mouth, parching it dry.

"What?" Hugh asked, standing up.

"Something in my room," I repeated, gulping as I pointed to the staircase. "The lights went out. They won't come back on."

Claire started to stand as well, but Hugh held his hand out to prevent her from getting up.

"Just wait here, hon," Hugh said softly. "Pause the movie and I'll be right back."

He followed me back down the stairs and down the hall to my room. I stopped, allowing him to walk in front of me. I reached out and gripped his arm above the elbow, just in case.

We arrived at the door to my room, which was shut. I distinctly remembered leaving it open, when I stared at the black, yawning maw. He turned the doorknob slowly. The lamp glowed steadily on my desk, warm yellow light that seemed to mock me. Flipping the light switch, which turned on the overhead lamp, for good measure, he went inside.

I followed him in, looking up at the ceiling and over at the desk in disbelief. I hadn't imagined it this time, I couldn't have. The noise had been real, and the lights had definitely turned off. Was it a wiring issue? Or just the possibly faulty connections in my brain?

Hugh poked around in my closet, looked beside my bed and underneath, moving around the boxes, the same way I had when I thought there was a midnight intruder.

Finding nothing, Hugh stood up and turned to me.

"What exactly scared you so much?" he asked quietly.

"The lights went out," I said, disturbed to find my voice still shaking. I pointed at the wall. "And I have been hearing this banging noise, a couple of weeks ago and again tonight."

He went over and rapped on the wall, listening for any echo or response. When he heard nothing, he pulled back and regarded me, as I stood clasping my hands under my chin. I bet I looked just like a child, scared by imaginary monsters in the night. The thought made me feel utterly foolish.

"It's possible that an animal might have burrowed its way inside, trying to escape the cold," he suggested. "I'm sure it was nothing serious."

He gave me a familiar pat on the shoulder as he trudged out of the room, leaving me behind to stare at the space on the wall above my desk.

I knew better. Something was haunting me.

Chapter 12

"Who would name a town "Hell" anyway?" asked Alex Perkins, our class clown eight years running, the next day in History. I had no idea how he would ever qualify for an Honors class. He was a year older than the rest of us, supposedly because he skipped Kindergarten but I figured he had been held back. He made the dumbest jokes and was always the loudest one to laugh at them. His parents had money, so he was considered part of the popular crowd.

Ambrose had taken to sulking in the corner by the back window. No one was willing to pay attention to his stories of false bravado and bedding head cheerleader anymore.

Warwick looked excited to have a chance to explain our town's history. He perched on his worn spot on the desk and looked thoughtfully at the floor, as if gathering his words.

"When George Reeves, the man who originally settled here, was asked what to call the town, he said "Call it Hell for all I care." At least, that's the charming anecdote they like to tell at town meetings," he explained.

"So what's the real story?" I heard Henry ask behind me. I listened automatically at the sound of his familiar voice.

"Depends on who you want to trust," Warwick said. His voice had taken on the quality of someone narrating a Discovery Channel special. "There are several theories supporting the