skin, and I hurriedly pulled out my dick to piss in the bushes. Once finished, I went back into the mansion.
The lamp was gone from the table.
“Great,” I muttered, glancing around. “Okay! Who’s fucking with me? Come on out.”
A giggle came from the right side of the room. I put my hands on my hips and walked over there, expecting to see William.
“Rose?” I asked. She hardly ever showed herself to me. “Did you take my lamp?”
“Maaaaybe.” She twirled her curly hair and smiled up at me. “Or perhaps he did.”
“Who?”
“Boo!” William leapt from the cabinet to my left, almost making me shit myself.
I screamed and jumped backward, bumping into a table and causing it to skid across the hardwood floor. Both children started laughing.
“All right, you had your laugh.” I sharply breathed out and put a hand to my chest. My heart hammered against my ribs, and I worked on calming myself down. “I’m going back to bed now.”
“I will take you!” William grabbed my right hand.
“And me!” Rose grabbed my left.
I moved my head to both sides, looking at them with suspicious eyes. Then, I smiled. They might’ve been little shitheads, but they were just kids.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
The three of us walked down a short corridor and turned into a sitting room. The arched doorway on the other side came out near the staircase. But before I could pass through it, William and Rose stopped walking.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, following their gaze. My eyes had trouble adjusting to the dark room. What were they staring at?
Rose let go of my hand and jerked away from me before disappearing.
William pulled on my arm and ran from the room, taking me with him.
“Hey, what are—”
“Please, sir,” he whispered, as we stood against the wall. His pale face peered up at me with frightened eyes, and he brought a finger to his lips. “Ssh. She’ll hear us.”
“Who will?”
But then I felt… something. A drop in temperature. The hair on my nape stood up and goosebumps spread down my arms. It was also hard to breathe, like the oxygen had been pulled from the room. The air beside my face stirred, as if something—or someone—passed by. I didn’t see a thing, and yet I was still scared shitless.
William yelled and faded from sight. I felt a whoosh of air as he ran by me, leaving me alone with whatever it was that scared him. I tried to call after him, but my lips wouldn’t move. I was frozen in fear.
My face prickled as the area around me grew colder. I jumped when something touched my chest. And then it felt like nails lightly grazed across my skin. The smell of decay filled my nostrils, and I heard a low growling.
I choked on a silent cry and pressed closer to the wall at my back.
“Enough!” a deep voice boomed from the staircase. “Leave him at once!”
Instantly, the cold drifted away, as did the scratching of nails on my chest. I gasped, drawing in a lung full of air, then I looked up at the staircase to see Zeke staring down at me, his long hair falling across his naked shoulder. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of me, pulling me into his embrace.
“I’ve got you,” he said, before pecking kisses to my temple and cheek. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come with you.”
“What was that?” I asked in a gruff voice.
“William’s mother,” Zeke answered, picking me up. Which was good because I doubt my legs would’ve been able to carry me far. I was shaking like a leaf.
“Why is he afraid of her?” I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his hair.
“Because she killed him.” Zeke walked up the stairs, and the action created a soothing rocking as I kept my eyes closed. “Did you see anything?”
I shook my head. “I just felt cold. And heavy. It was hard to breathe.”
“You didn’t see her?” he asked, then pulled my head up so he could look me in the eye. “Tell me the truth. This is important.”
“I didn’t see anything,” I answered, confused. “Why do you look scared?”
Zeke brought my face back to his neck, as if protecting me from something. Seconds later, we were in his room. He kicked the door closed behind him and carried me to the bed.
“Sleep,” he whispered into my hair.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Nor will I.”
“Why?” I peeked up at him. Without the lamp, the room was cast into