Don't Wake the Dead by C.C. Wood

Author:C.C. Wood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Horror
Publisher: Crystal Wilson
Published: 2016-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

The next afternoon I stepped out on my porch and locked the door as soon as Mal pulled up in front of my house.

I didn’t want to admit it, but I was nervous. I’d never done anything like this before. I hated confrontation of any kind. I would face it if I needed to, but I preferred to avoid it. Probably from years of being on the receiving end of my mother’s sharp tongue.

Our spontaneous arrival at Trisha Dwyer’s house could very well end badly.

I tried to keep up with Mal’s small talk as he drove, but it was a struggle. My focus was on what would happen when Trisha opened the door. If she opened the door.

“You okay?” Mal asked.

“Yeah.”

A few minutes later, he asked again, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I glanced at him. “Yeah, I’m sure. Why?”

He shrugged. “No reason except that your left leg is bouncing and the rest of your body is so tense it might as well be stone.”

Why did he have to be so observant?

“Okay, so maybe I’m a little nervous,” I admitted.

“A little? You’re wound up so tight that you’ll shoot to outer space if you fart.”

I choked as I gasped and laughed simultaneously. Without thinking, I smacked his arm. “Oh my God, don’t say stuff like that to me!”

Mal guffawed. “The look on your face was priceless!”

I laughed until tears ran down my cheeks. When I finally stopped, my nerves had calmed as well. I wiped my eyes with a tissue I dug out of my purse.

Mal gave me a few moments before he asked, “So why are you so nervous?”

“I hate confrontation,” I answered with a shrug. “Something about women screaming at me sets my teeth on edge.”

“Same here,” he muttered. “If it helps, I do cold visits like this all the time about haunted spaces and most people can be standoffish, but I’ve encountered very little yelling.”

“Good to know.”

Mal smiled. “I promise, if she starts screaming or being nasty, we’ll leave. We can find out what we need to know another way.”

“Thanks.”

We drove the rest of the way to Trisha’s house discussing what we would say and do. Mal suggested that he introduce me as his assistant, which would allow him to do most of the talking. It also decreased the likelihood that I would be on the receiving end of Trisha’s wrath should the interview go sideways. Mal didn’t mention it, but I understood that was his intention.

I probably should have insisted that it wasn’t necessary, but I appreciated his consideration.

He turned into a driveway and I felt my heart rate kick up.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

We got out of the car together and were met on the porch by a woman who appeared to be in her mid to late-forties. Her light brown hair was lightly streaked with grey and lines were beginning to deepen around her eyes and mouth.

Her harsh features were those of someone who’d led an unhappy life. I could also see the echoes of the loveliness she once had, but time and bitterness had erased it.

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