Came Back Haunted (Experiment in Terror #10) - Karina Halle Page 0,84
look at Maximus, and he nods. “It won’t make much difference to me. I promise.” He grins. “Would make a mighty fine Christmas present, though.”
“Then it’s settled,” Dex says, getting to his feet. “We’ll come back here bearing tidings and joy.”
“Going so soon?” Maximus asks.
Dex pulls me to my feet. “Unfortunately, there’s that crazy witch lady in this house and I don’t want to tempt our fate a minute longer.”
“Understandable,” Max says, also getting up. “I think I need to escort you again, just in case Victor is making the rounds.”
“You know what happened to him, right?” I say to Max as we head to the door.
He nods. “Oh yes. The fella likes to follow me around the house, telling me all the things his wife did to him. Just my kind of luck that I get stuck in a house with a bickering married couple.” He looks at us over his shoulder. “Though you guys have given me plenty of practice.”
“Hey, you knew us before we were married,” I remind him.
“And you acted like a damn married couple from the very start,” he says. “Now shush.”
He opens the door and looks around the hall.
Just like before, we follow him up the stairs and leave without incident.
No more Victor.
And no Samantha.
I hate that twinge of disappointment I feel for not seeing her. It makes no sense, and I don’t dare voice it to Dex because then he’s really going to worry about my mental health.
I suppose I should be worrying too. I know I should.
So then why is there a part of me that thinks I just need to give her a chance to explain herself?
And why, when I finally crawl into bed that night, do I spend a few minutes staring up at the ceiling, her name whispering over and over in my head, inviting her back into my life?
I have questions.
She has answers.
I want to see her.
Just once.
Three a.m.
I sit up in bed, breathing hard.
I don’t even have to look at my phone to know the time.
I just know.
I take in a deep breath, trying to shake the doom from my heart. I had a nightmare. I know that much. I think I was back in the house, hiding in different rooms from Victor. Maximus was nowhere to be found, so I was calling for Samantha to help me.
She never came.
And then Victor opened the door.
Crawled toward me.
I screamed and screamed.
And here I am, awake.
It’s raining again, the clouds having moved in while we were sleeping, smothering the stars. The light in the room seems more shadowy than normal and I keep thinking I’m seeing people standing in the corners of the room, watching me.
I am very, very afraid, and I can’t tell if it’s because of the nightmare clinging to me, or because I have reason to be.
I glance at Dex sleeping so peacefully beside me. I’m so envious that he doesn’t have to put up with this shit. I know he has in the past, but right now he’s just able to disconnect and let go and I…I have this horrible, dark feeling inside me that this is now a game I’m in and I’m never going to be able to escape. Like a trap has been set and I gladly walked into it.
I need to get up.
I need to use the toilet, get a glass of water.
I’m about to swing my legs out of bed and go, but I remember what Dex made me promise. That I would wake him up next time.
I stare at him for a moment, having an internal debate with myself.
Just let him sleep.
Don’t bug him.
He’s being overprotective.
What’s he going to do, join you in the bathroom?
You can protect yourself.
There’s nothing to fear.
But that last thought feels foreign to me. I know I fell asleep with less fear than I’ve had in a while and more curiosity than anything, wanting to reconnect with Samantha despite my logical side telling me otherwise.
Yet I know there is plenty to fear, especially right now, when that black oily feeling is pressing down on me again, and I’m starting to feel like an animal with its leg in a trap.
Before I get out of bed and change my mind, I reach over and tap Dex on his shoulder.
“Hey,” I whisper. “Are you awake?”
He sucks in a breath and then rolls over on his side to face me, eyes slowly opening. Then he blinks and sits up. “Are you okay?”