Page 3 of Kat Bethel
The impersonal paint and fabric were new enough that I could breathe, and familiar enough to feel safe. It was perfect for a temporary crash pad. I could think straight here.
Like how I could have sold my house instead of turning it into ash.
Live and learn.
I threw the mood stabilizer I’d been prescribed into my mouth and washed it down with old coffee I’d gotten from the lobby. Something I should have done earlier.
The clock on the wall softly twinkled with a folksy song that made my hair stand on end. Three in the morning. It was hunting time for those things that go bump in the night.
I played with the witch’s ladder hanging around my neck. I made that one while I was locked up. Despite the intentions I poured into it, it had yet to mend my broken heart. Perhaps I’d been too chaotic when I made it.
Nothing good ever came from a witch’s bedlam.
I turned on the phone I’d charged during the two-hour car ride and waited. Dings of missed notifications filled the comfortable silence.
A call came through within seconds: Willow.
I hesitated to answer. How much did she know? Were they disappointed in me?
Rinah hunter goes psycho after husband leaves her for a younger woman.That sounded like something that Willow would sniff out from the universe.
I tapped the green button and waited.
“Sasha, you stupid bitch!” Willow snarled, but her voice broke, betraying her. Hard-ass Willow wasn’t so unshakable after all.“Esme is retracing your steps, looking for you. Why the fuck didn’t you check in? How could you do this to us?”
Shame swirled through my being, going all the way to my toes. “I’m sorry.”
Lights flashed across my window through the curtains, as someone pulled in. For a half a second, I thought it was Esme, coming to beat the stupid out of me. The giggly voice outside eased the brief panic. This was another type of early morning visit.
“You have to quit doing things without thinking.”
Self-destructive. Impulsive. Volatile.Words that were stamped throughout my file. Things I’d known about myself well before some doctor said them to me. “You’re right.”
I could have called them at any point while I was admitted. I just couldn’t face them like that. Even if they knew who I was better than anyone.
In the corner, the headlights landed on the nightstand, and I watched the way the shadow extended farther than it should have, in a slow, lazy way as if it just woke up. I stood up, watching my shadow extend outwards more. Not like the wraithI’d trapped in the box that consumed darkness. More like the shadows were growing to take up more space.
She let out a sigh of relief.“Where are you?”
The shadows continued growing and moved along the wall, taking up all the spaces they shouldn’t.
“Just landed at a new job site,” I answered and it was true. The work had already begun.
The lights flickered on and off, making my eyes search the corners of the room for anything that shouldn’t be there. Unease tiptoed down my spine, but the cause didn’t appear to be in the room with me. Something had to be controlling that shadow though.
The room shrank as the shadows crept across the walls. The need to run pricked under my skin, as if the room was a prison four times too small, suffocating.
I’d bet money that the entire town was smothered with this feeling. I hadn’t even gone looking for this thing yet.
“Do you need anything?”
“Yeah.” I pivoted on my heel, searching for a phantom or ghost that might be hiding. I pulled a lemon balm candle out of my duffle, lit the wick, and inhaled the calming scent, but the tightness in my throat didn’t fade. “Got a slew of suicides in Cornwall, Connecticut. Just got here and I can already feel the energy.”
Fingers typed on the keyboard for a few minutes while I held still, waiting for the creature to reveal itself. It would make my life easier if it did.
Sure, but then what, Sasha?
Find another one. Duh.
