On My Way - Eve Langlais Page 0,11

bit.

“I’m not afraid of you. It’s just—”

Someone dared ring the bell, and the dog went nuts.

“Shit, someone’s at the door. I’ll be right back.” I didn’t realize I held on to his arm until he tugged it free.

Darryl took the stairs two at a time, yelling at his dog. “Herbie. Calm down, dude. It’s just the fucking door.”

I let out a breath. Probably a good thing he’d left. I needed space. A second to think. A quick peek at my chompers to check for food. The closest thing I could find for a mirror was a tarnished platter, which showed my teeth were lettuce free. A Tums pilfered from the bottom of my purse crunched and gave me a minty taste to my mouth. As I wandered through the stacks of items, I thought about what I’d say when Darryl returned.

I could go with the truth. Hey, so the only man I’ve been with for twenty years was my ex-husband, and it’s been awhile for me. If I ignored my hot and heavy session with Kane.

Expressing myself would be the mature thing to do, and then we could talk about it like grown adults and ease me through this weird transition. It sounded pathetic even as I thought it. I couldn’t admit to him that I was a nervous wreck who was worried that he’d kiss me and be disappointed.

What if we had sex and I was just bad at it? Heck, what if Darryl sucked? We lived in the same small town. We’d constantly be running into each other, avoiding each other’s eyes because we’d have seen ourselves naked.

Naked.

Oh boy.

I glanced down at my body hidden by the oversized sweatshirt that camouflaged my wrinkly belly. I couldn’t let Darryl see it.

How would he feel about making out in the dark?

Click.

I blinked at the sudden lack of light. What the heck? Were they on some kind of timer? The open basement door spilled a bit of illumination. I headed for the stairs, only to squeak as the door slammed shut.

Pure darkness reigned. I couldn’t even see the hand I waved in front of me. I swear if I’d touched something, I would have uttered the scream of all screams.

I could hear the cooling tick of the bulbs and nothing else. I didn’t like it one bit.

“Darryl?” Was he playing a prank on me? He’d better not be. I pulled my phone out and it lit for a moment, long enough for me to see it say “low battery,” before shutting down.

Just my freaking luck. The pressing blackness all around stifled me and roused a bone-chilling fear.

I took a shuffling step in what I thought might be the direction of the stairs, and immediately slammed my shin into furniture.

“Ow. Damn. Fuck.” The rare expletive slipped from my lips. Feeling around, I grasped the contour of a chair and sat down, rubbing my leg. “Stupid basement. Should have gone upstairs where it’s nice and sunny,” I grumbled.

“Stupid.”

The ghostly echo froze me.

“Hello?”

It took a second before it repeated. “Hello.”

Definitely not an echo.

“Darryl, that better not be you.” The man was obviously trying to scare me. First his story about his house being haunted then pulling this childish prank.

“Darryl.” The voice sang the name. “Darryl. Darryl. Darryl.”

What if he hadn’t lied and his house truly did have poltergeists? I’d never asked if they could hurt people.

My breathing came quicker. “Who is that? What do you want?”

“Who. Who. Who.”

The word came from everywhere, left, then right, and finally in front of me on a ghostly waft of air.

“Stop it.”

“Make me.” The cold breath of the words hit my nape, and I was out of the chair like a shot.

“Stay away.” I stumbled amidst the furniture, banging and scraping.

Even through the noise I made, I heard it singing and giggling, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

“I’m not a witch.” I hollered the words. A witch wouldn’t be scared. She’d have a spell to fight the nasty voice and light the wretched basement.

“The only thing worse than a witch is a liar.” The frozen syllables blew into my face, and my teeth chattered.

“Who are you? What do you want? Show yourself, coward.” I shook like a leaf in a storm on the inside, and yet my voice never once faltered. I sounded strong. Confident.

The voice mocked me. “Are you afraid of the dark?”

“No.” A lie but I wouldn’t admit to being weak. “So you can stop this, right now. Whatever joke you’re playing with Darryl,