A House in Shadow by Erica Damon

Author:Erica Damon [Damon, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-05-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter sixteen

Day 19 - Thursday

5:20 a.m.

Tristan woke up when Ally got out of bed. He usually managed to sleep through her shuffling about getting dressed, but something felt different. She was somehow louder even though she slunk around the room with the light off. The first glinting of the morning sun glowing through the curtains liting her way.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered over her shoulder when he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

He yawned. “It’s fine. I was having a weird dream, anyway.” The memory came back to him like fog. At first, he assumed it was a dream. But, no. It was real. Wasn’t it? “Or—no. We cleared the house again last night, right?”

Ally turned to him, her blouse half-buttoned. “We?”

He suddenly was cold and pulled the duvet around himself. “Yeah. Last night, after Dora went to bed.” He remembered fully now that he was awake, remembered her disappearing into the dark, then coming out of the bathroom. His confusion, that’s what he wanted it to be—a mistake, a little mind-slip that would allow him to believe he was overtired or something.

She shook her head. “No, Tris. I was in the tub when you put Dora to bed. I don’t—I don’t know what you were doing.”

His knuckles cracked as he clutched the blanket. It hadn’t been real. Or it had, but it wasn’t Ally he’d been walking the house with.

Ally sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out a hand toward him. He didn’t take it. The goosebumps from last night returned at the motion. She took a deep breath. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I think I saw your symbol.”

She looked away, and now he snatched up her hand, pulling her gaze back to him. “Where? Is it still there?”

He was ready to jump up and run in whatever direction she said. Ally twisted her hand out of his. “Hey, you’re hurting me. And no, it was gone almost as soon as I recognized it. I mean, it was a symbol, lines and circles like you said. It was in the mirror when I used the bathroom in the middle of the night.”

“You’re sure it’s gone?” He kicked his legs over the edge of the bed. He’d have to go check, no matter what she said.

“Yes, it was gone when I turned on the light.”

He frowned. It never simply disappeared when he saw it. Or it did, but only after he tried to erase it. After he destroyed it. “Did you feel anything?”

It was her turn to frown. “What do you mean?”

He drummed his fingers along his leg. How could she not have felt it? He never just saw the symbol, not after the first time, anyway. It called to him. It made his blood rush in his veins, his hairs stand on end, his mind whirl with too-fast thoughts. Was she making this up?

“Never mind. Have a good day at work.” He put his legs under the duvet and laid back down.

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