The Devil Inside by Leisl Leighton

Author:Leisl Leighton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Published: 2023-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Phil followed Mel, watching her closely as she made her way down the stairs.

Shit, she’d given him such a scare in the garden, but curiously she seemed so much … stronger now. Which was kind of a weird thing to think because she was incredibly pale again, her eyes shadowed with nightmares. But she wanted to do this. Said she needed to do it. And she’d asked him for help. That fact made his heart sing.

He put out a hand to steady her as they took the last step into the garage. She hesitated and he waved his arm. The lights flickered on.

He glanced down at her.

Fear. Panic. They filled her eyes, tightened her expression.

And yet, she took a deep breath and made her way doggedly to the storeroom.

She was so stubborn. So strong. Why she needed him, he had no idea, but he was just thankful she did. His mouth twisted wryly. Perhaps he wasn’t quite the useless shit he’d begun to think himself after talking with his parents that day in the hospital.

She turned to look at him as they reached the door, her face as pale as one of his mother’s scary China dolls.

‘Do you want me to open the door?’

‘No. I can do it.’

It was agonising to watch her. Hand trembling—shit, her whole body trembled—she reached for the handle, but then seemed unable to push it down to open the door.

He put his hand over hers, the other on the curve of her back. She looked up at him, nodded.

He pushed the handle down with her.

The door swung open to the black cavern that was the storage room.

It felt more ominous, more unwelcoming than he remembered it being from when he and the boys had unpacked their stuff from the van. Mel’s nostrils flared, her lips trembling as she stared into the dark, taking a step back.

She so hated the dark. He’d never found out why.

Perhaps he was about to.

He stepped past her and into the room. Lights flickered on inside.

Mel took a cautious step in after him, staring blindly around before her gaze landed on the pile of their stuff next to the packing cases they used to transport their equipment.

‘What’s in those?’ She pointed at the unlabelled boxes that sat on top of the chest.

He shrugged. ‘Clothes and things, I think. Your Aunt Grace packed most of them.’

‘They should be labelled.’ She looked askance at him. ‘I still label things, right?’

‘Do you label things? I had to buy you a new labelling machine when the old one died the day it died.’ It had been a fancy one small enough to fit into most of her handbags so she could take it with her and had different fonts and even coloured ink. ‘You fell in love with it. Called him Oscar. You used him all the time, taking him everywhere with you. I caught you talking to him and patting him. I asked you if I needed to be jealous.’

She snorted, then her face fell back into serious lines as she looked at the unlabelled boxes.

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