“Where is the other nurse?”
“It’s her day off,” she says. I can smell the food. I am so hungry.
“I need to use the bathroom,” I say. “Can you take me?”
She nods her head, but she looks afraid of me. I follow her out of the little room and into the small hallway. What kind of hospital has the toilets in a separate area from their patients’ rooms? She stands off to the side while I use the restroom, wringing her hands and turning an awful shade of pink.
When I’m finished, she makes the mistake of turning toward the door. When she opens it, I pull the piece of pipe from my hospital gown and hold it toward her neck.
She faces me again and her beady eyes grow wide with fear.
“Drop the keys and back up slowly,” I say. “Or I’ll stick this straight in your throat.”
She nods. The keys clank against the ground, and I advance toward her, my weapon extended toward her neck. I push her backward, into the room, and shove her down on the bed. She falls back and cries out.
Then I’m out the door, taking the keys with me. I pull the door shut as she flies toward it, her mouth open in a scream. We struggle for a moment, her trying to yank it open while I get the key into the lock and hear the metal click.
My hands are shaking as I sort through the keys, trying to find the right one to open the next door. I don’t really know what to expect when I step through. A hospital hallway, nurses and doctors? Will someone be there to drag me back to that tiny room?
No.
There’s no way I’m going back. I’ll hurt anyone who tries to stop me from getting out of here.
I don’t see a hospital or staff or anyone else when I open the door. What I see instead is a very impressive wine cellar. Dusty bottles sit in hundreds of little holes. It smells of ferment and dirt. A staircase runs up one side of the cellar. There is a door at the top.
I run for the stairs, stubbing my toe hard on the concrete and feeling the wet blood run over my foot. I almost slip on it, but I catch onto the railing in time.
The top of the stairs opens to a kitchen, a single light illuminating the counters and floors. I don’t pause to look around. I need to find…a door! I grab the handle, and this time it’s not locked. I cry out in triumph as it flies open. The night air hits me in the face. I breathe it in gratefully.
Then I run.
Chapter 17: Silas
“You can’t trespass, Silas!” Landon yells.
I’m trying to scale the gate, but my foot keeps slipping. “Help me over,” I yell down to him.
He walks up to me and offers his hands, palms up, despite the fact that he’s still verbally trying to stop me from climbing over. I step into his hands and he hoists me higher, allowing me to grab the bars toward the top of the gate.
“I’ll be back in ten minutes. I just want to check out the property.” I know he doesn’t believe a word I’ve said today, so I leave out the fact that I think this Cora girl knows something. If she’s inside that house, I’m going to force her to talk to me.
I finally make it to the top and down the other side. When my feet hit the dirt, I stand up. “Don’t leave until I get back.”
I turn and take a look at the house. It’s about two hundred yards away, hidden behind rows of Weeping Willow trees. They look like long arms, swaying toward the front door, coercing me to move forward.
I slowly make my way down the path that leads to the porch. It’s a beautiful house. I can see why Charlie missed it so much. I look up at the windows. Two of them are lit up on the top floor, but the bottom floor is completely dark.
I’m almost to the porch that extends across the entire front of the house. My heart is racing in my chest so fast that I can actually hear it. Other than the occasional insect noise and the pounding of my pulse, it’s completely quiet out here.
Until it’s not.
The bark is so loud and so close, it rumbles in my stomach and vibrates through my chest. I can’t see where it’s coming from.
I freeze in my tracks, careful not to make any sudden movements.
A deep growl rolls through the air like thunder. I slowly look over my shoulder without turning my body.
The dog is standing behind me, lips pulled back in a snarl, teeth so white and sharp they look like they’re glowing.
He rears back on his hind legs, and before I can run or look around for something to fight him off, he’s in the air, lunging toward me.
Straight for my throat.
I can feel his teeth pierce the skin on the back of my hand, and I know if I hadn’t covered my throat, those teeth would be in my jugular right now. The massive strength of this animal knocks me to the ground. I can feel the flesh give way on my hand as he thrashes his head from side to side and I try to fight him off.
But then something slams into it or on top of it—a whimper and then a thud.
And then silence.
It’s too dark to see what just happened. I take a deep breath and try to stand.
I look down at the dog, and a sharp piece of metal is protruding from his neck. Blood is pooling around his head, tinting the grass the color of midnight.
And then a strong scent of flowers…lilies…surrounds me in a rush of wind.
“It’s you.”
I recognize her voice immediately, even though it comes out in a whisper. She’s standing to the right of me, her face illuminated by the moonlight. Tears are streaking their way down her cheeks, and her hand is cupped over her mouth. She’s wide-eyed, staring at me in shock.
She’s here.
She’s alive.
I want to take her in my arms and hug her and tell her it’s okay, that we’re going to figure this out. But she more than likely has no idea who I am.