Read Online Skeletons of Us (Unquiet Mind Book 2) by Anne Malcom - Free Book Online
Authors: Anne Malcom
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muttered. Then my smile left. “Don’t distract me. Bed rest. Elaborate,” I demanded.
“Oh chutes and ladders,” Mom cursed. “Rocko, how did you get out of bed? Wait, that is not for eating! Got to go, doll. Love you.”
“Love you,” I called into empty air.
I frowned down at my phone, making a mental note to call Zane later on tonight to make sure everything was okay. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I was about to bend down to grab my basket of clothes when the room went black.
“Great,” I muttered into the darkness. Power outages were unusual, but they happened, even to the glitzy neighborhoods. Though they normally didn’t last for long considering powerful people didn’t like to be inconvenienced and they were the most vocal about it.
I sighed and fumbled to get my phone from my pocket when I heard it—the unmistakable sound of a door opening and closing.
I froze.
“Duke?” I called, though I knew it couldn’t have been him. He was upstairs, eyes glued to the game. It wasn’t the door that opened to the upstairs that I’d heard. It was the one to the outside. No light glinted from it. Somehow my sensor lights, which ran on batteries, not electricity, were out too.
My blood turned to ice as I felt it, that malevolence from the day of the funeral. Only it wasn’t just a shadow of the feeling, fleeting and easy to shrug off as an overreaction. No, this filled the air, drenched it. My heart was in my throat as I blinked rapidly, trying to make my useless eyes see through the darkness.
Someone was in here. Someone was right here .
On that thought, my fight-or-flight response kicked in and I dropped my basket and ran in the direction of the stairs. It was dark, so I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew where they were, and I just hoped and prayed that I’d somehow be able to climb them blind without falling.
I stumbled on the first step but caught myself before I fell. I scrambled up as fast as I could. A cold hand circled around my ankle when I was halfway up the stairs, and I came down painfully, my head cracking on the corner of the wood.
I screamed now, realizing that’s what I should have done before. My house was big and the living room was at the other side, but Duke’s ears were sharp. He’d hear me. He had to.
I kicked out at the body behind the hand as warm blood trickled down my forehead from where I’d landed. There was a grunt as my slipper-clad foot impacted with a solid chest. I didn’t think it would normally be enough, but I’d surprised my attacker and the grip loosened on my ankle.
I didn’t hesitate. I scrambled up and half crawled, half ran up the stairs.
My hand clasped around the door handle as I heard him coming up behind me. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to open it, that he’d catch me before I could, just like in some stupid horror movie. But he didn’t. I made it through the door and slammed it behind me, throwing the lock just as it rattled and a body crashed against it.
I thanked everything that was holy that the previous owner of the house had been paranoid and put a lock on this door.
I didn’t count on it holding, so I sprinted across the marble hallway.
“Duke!” I screamed. The entire house was bathed in darkness, with only the dim moonlight creeping in to chase away total darkness. As I passed a window, I noticed the dull light from streetlights far down the driveway.
Not a power outage , my terrified mind realized. This person cut the power. They’d planned this.
I couldn’t think of that; I couldn’t let fear paralyze me.
“Duke,” I called in a shaking voice as I skidded into the living room.
My scream was muffled when my hands instinctively went over my mouth as I spotted his prone body lying by the window, illuminated enough so I could see the pool of red oozing out from underneath.
I ran to him, sinking painfully to my knees as I reached him. “Duke. Don’t be dead,” I pleaded, touching his body with my shaking hand.
I
“Oh chutes and ladders,” Mom cursed. “Rocko, how did you get out of bed? Wait, that is not for eating! Got to go, doll. Love you.”
“Love you,” I called into empty air.
I frowned down at my phone, making a mental note to call Zane later on tonight to make sure everything was okay. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I was about to bend down to grab my basket of clothes when the room went black.
“Great,” I muttered into the darkness. Power outages were unusual, but they happened, even to the glitzy neighborhoods. Though they normally didn’t last for long considering powerful people didn’t like to be inconvenienced and they were the most vocal about it.
I sighed and fumbled to get my phone from my pocket when I heard it—the unmistakable sound of a door opening and closing.
I froze.
“Duke?” I called, though I knew it couldn’t have been him. He was upstairs, eyes glued to the game. It wasn’t the door that opened to the upstairs that I’d heard. It was the one to the outside. No light glinted from it. Somehow my sensor lights, which ran on batteries, not electricity, were out too.
My blood turned to ice as I felt it, that malevolence from the day of the funeral. Only it wasn’t just a shadow of the feeling, fleeting and easy to shrug off as an overreaction. No, this filled the air, drenched it. My heart was in my throat as I blinked rapidly, trying to make my useless eyes see through the darkness.
Someone was in here. Someone was right here .
On that thought, my fight-or-flight response kicked in and I dropped my basket and ran in the direction of the stairs. It was dark, so I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew where they were, and I just hoped and prayed that I’d somehow be able to climb them blind without falling.
I stumbled on the first step but caught myself before I fell. I scrambled up as fast as I could. A cold hand circled around my ankle when I was halfway up the stairs, and I came down painfully, my head cracking on the corner of the wood.
I screamed now, realizing that’s what I should have done before. My house was big and the living room was at the other side, but Duke’s ears were sharp. He’d hear me. He had to.
I kicked out at the body behind the hand as warm blood trickled down my forehead from where I’d landed. There was a grunt as my slipper-clad foot impacted with a solid chest. I didn’t think it would normally be enough, but I’d surprised my attacker and the grip loosened on my ankle.
I didn’t hesitate. I scrambled up and half crawled, half ran up the stairs.
My hand clasped around the door handle as I heard him coming up behind me. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to open it, that he’d catch me before I could, just like in some stupid horror movie. But he didn’t. I made it through the door and slammed it behind me, throwing the lock just as it rattled and a body crashed against it.
I thanked everything that was holy that the previous owner of the house had been paranoid and put a lock on this door.
I didn’t count on it holding, so I sprinted across the marble hallway.
“Duke!” I screamed. The entire house was bathed in darkness, with only the dim moonlight creeping in to chase away total darkness. As I passed a window, I noticed the dull light from streetlights far down the driveway.
Not a power outage , my terrified mind realized. This person cut the power. They’d planned this.
I couldn’t think of that; I couldn’t let fear paralyze me.
“Duke,” I called in a shaking voice as I skidded into the living room.
My scream was muffled when my hands instinctively went over my mouth as I spotted his prone body lying by the window, illuminated enough so I could see the pool of red oozing out from underneath.
I ran to him, sinking painfully to my knees as I reached him. “Duke. Don’t be dead,” I pleaded, touching his body with my shaking hand.
I
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