Read Online Satan's Mirror by Roxanne Smolen - Free Book Online

hair then.”
    Emily grinned. Slipping the pack onto her back, she crossed the uneven brick street. The long grass was trampled along the fence as if this were a traveled route. The breeze gusted. A door slammed. She saw no sign of Joey and was glad for that. He frightened her, and she didn’t know how he would react to her following him again. Best keep a discreet distance.
    The three-storied, gabled houses loomed above, blocking the light from the street. The decorative iron made way for a chain-link fence that alternately leaned into and away from a line of foliage. Bushes and low-hanging tree branches brushed her shoulders and head.
    She stopped, suddenly wary.
    “I can’t shoot anything in this jungle,” Dan whispered. “I have to use the flood.”
    “Don’t. I think he’s watching.”
    “If he knows we’re here, it doesn’t matter what we do.”
    A trickle of foreboding crawled over her flesh. “Don’t turn on the light. Follow me.”
    “Hold on. You’re going in the wrong direction. Vanessa’s place is that-a-way.”
    “But the path leads there.” She motioned to a hole in the fence.
    He looked perplexed. “This is crazy.”
    “No, it makes perfect sense. Vanessa said she bought the house to keep away prying eyes, remember? She is protecting whatever is going on over there.”
    “I see. She probably would have bought both properties if the other one was for sale.”
    “I imagine so.”
    “Unfortunately, most of my pictures are of the front of Vanessa’s house.”
    “That’s okay,” Emily told him. “We’ll come back in the morning and take some filler shots.”
    She ducked into the hole. The curled fence snagged her clothing. Again she had the sensation that she was being watched. She straightened slowly and moved out of the way to let Dan enter.
    They stood in a yard filled with tangled twigs, leaves, and assorted litter. Vines draped the shaggy bushes, strangling them.
    Another gust of wind brought another slam. She turned toward the sound and realized it was not a door but a broken casement window. It banged in the breeze as if in invitation.
    Emily hesitated. She remembered thinking that Joey had lured Raynes and Lambert into the house to kill them. Was he luring her and Dan in there now?
    Dan opened the window and peered inside. “Want me to go first?”
    “No,” she said, breathing deep to steady her nerve. “Let’s get that story.”
    She shimmied over the sill into a large, dark room. There was a strong scent of mold and rot. Wooden floorboards creaked beneath her—she could almost hear termites gnawing away. She scanned for movement, but if Joey was there, he was in another room.
    Arms out, she helped Dan through the window. The casement banged behind him despite her efforts. She winced at the sound.
    “Are we alone?” Dan whispered.
    “It appears so.” She glanced about. “Guess I was wrong. Joey must’ve gone to Vanessa’s house after all.”
    “It’s not too late to leave.”
    “Don’t tell me you’re still squeamish about trespassing.”
    “It’s not that. I just feel—”
    Above, the floorboards creaked. They looked at each other in the dimness. Eyes wide, Emily crossed the room. She peeked around the corner.
    The next room faced the street, and light spilled through the windows. A staircase stood in the shadows. Emily crept toward it. She reached the bottom stair and gazed upward. There was a faint flicker at the top, much like that from a candle.
    Joey must be there. What was he doing? An unbidden vision came of him stacking bodies in a closet. Did she dare go up?
    “I hope you brought your mace,” Dan whispered.
    She grimaced with chagrin. She hadn’t thought to bring it, although she brought everything else. “Turn on your light. I want this recorded.”
    The camcorder light clicked on, throwing stark shadows over the staircase. Eyes glowed from the landing. She jumped. Just a rat, she told herself, but wasn’t entirely convinced.
    She climbed the