Page 175 of Please Open Me
“Mason,” I said, my voice low and stern. “Is this about Mattie?”
She sat back on her heels, one hand on her stomach. Guilt flickered across her face.
Oh, myGod.
Sweat beaded on the back of my neck as my chest constricted.
“I’m not crazy, okay?” Mason said quickly, as if that was the problem. “She just–before we left, she texted me and told me to stay out of Hartwood, and–”
“Youfucking came backto Hartwood?” My panicked yell bounced off the concrete walls.
She flinched and covered her ears.
“Oh my God–you’d be the first person to die in a horror movie!” I grabbed her by the elbow, hauling her to her feet.
“Don’t yell at me!”
“No, I’mgoingto yell at you–this is dangerous!”
It was dangerous. And stupid. And–Jesus Christ, just thinking about it gave me a migraine.
“It’s not dangerous, it’sHartwood!” Mason argued. “And something is wrong! She wouldn’t just text me like that!”
“Hartwoodisdangerous! There’s a cult that–”
Wants to kill you.
A cult Mason probably didn’t even know still existed. A cult I’d dragged her into.
“A cult thatwhat,Sebastian?” she pressed.
“Nothing,” I lied too fast. “We’re leaving. Now.”
I tried to pull her toward the door, but she jerked out of my grip.
“No! You don’t get to just saya cult.Therewasa cult–Cameron was part of it, and then they let him go! They’re gone.”
I dragged a hand down my face, pulse hammering so hard it felt like my skull might split.
“Mason, we’ll talk about this in the car. This house isn’t–”
A deep groan cut me off. Loud, low, and wrong, the kind of sound a house should never make.
The overhead lights flickered twice, then went out completely.
Mason gasped.
“Sebastian,” she said finally, her voice trembling.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My eyes were locked on the ceiling, on the faint tremble of drywall above us–the same ceiling that now smelled faintly of smoke.
“Mason.” I forced my voice calm. “I want you to walk toward me. I’m closer to the door.”
“I can’t see you,” she whispered.
“I know. Just keep coming. Slow and steady, okay? We’ll be fine. I promise.”
She nodded, then took a step–one foot, then another. Arms out, feeling through the thickening air. I still didn’t know where it was coming from, but it was rolling in fast.
