Page 14 of Haunting the Hunter

Yes.

“No,” I reply.

Cade and Jack are still upstairs going over theirmaster plan—as if there is such a thing—while my demon surrounds me. I’m about to take my coffee back upstairs, ignore what is so clearly happening around me, when I hear:

“I should…”

In a blink every cabinet door flies open. I suck in a breath, heart pounding, as I stand there for a moment—wide-eyed and in shock—before rushing over and closing them one by one.

I grab my coffee and run to the library down the hall, slamming the door shut behind me. I place my back against it and hold my hot mug of coffee to my chest like a safety net.

I take a few deep breaths as I try to calm my pulse—feelings of dread sinking into my bones. I slide down the door, hands trembling, still gripping my cup, eyes shut tight.

I feel the floor begin to vibrate under me, the room closing in on me.

I hold my breath as blackness dances across my vision, limbs chilling as the vibration picks up, like an earthquake isolated to this one room.

There is a roaring. I’m convinced this is all in my mind… I need to control myself. Fuck.

As my heartbeat increases, I can feel the energy build, and then—it bursts out of me.

All I can do is keep my eyes shut, pray that I can hold it back. But the room is in chaos, thudding books flying off the shelves, falling to the floor.

Stop. I plead.

“Stop!” The scream rips out of me.

I feel a banging against my back, and my eyes jolt open as I gulp in deep breaths.

“Calli? What the hell is going on?” I hear Jack’s muffled voice from the other side of the door.

I look around the dark room, books littering the floor around me. I set my mug down and slowly stand. My face is wet from tears. I didn’t even know I was crying. I open the door slowly.

Jack looks both white as a sheet and ready to take on the world. When my eyes meet his, I’m met with concern.

“Are you okay? Calli, your nose is bleeding.” He runs back to the kitchen and returns with a washrag. He flicks the light on and begins wiping my nose. I grab it from him and back away.

Holding the rag to my nose, my shoulders droop. “I’m sorry. I—I don’t know what happened.”

He looks around the room, examining the mess, and walks over to me. He wraps me in a tight hug, and it only takes a moment before I sink into him. I’m still crying. My chest heaves as I let it all out.

“I’m… scared, Jack,” I say between breaths.

“Shh… It’s going to be okay,” he says, holding me tight as he gently cups my head with one hand, the other tenderly tracing circles on my back.

No. No, it won’t be okay. He would never believe me if I told him what happened. Neither of them would.

I’m in hell.

Trapped in this house, this cursed body, this life. I’m losing whatever little of myself I had left. The only word that comes to mind isdespair. My tears begin to ease as the familiar numbness washes over me. I stand in his arms, staring at the wall behind him. My nose burns from the blood still trickling into my sinuses.

How depressing. Who the fuck do I think I am? I’m lucky to be alive at this point, even if it means miserably going about my days without purpose. A broken thing, a ticking time bomb. Nausea bubbles in my gut. I despise self-pity—and this pathetic state I find myself in.

I keep falling, keep backpedaling—every step forward I take, my mind and body push me back three steps. I’m not alive. I’msurviving.Constantly waiting for the next bad thing. My arms are cold and heavy. The pain in my chest reverberates through my body.

Everything Cade is doing, whatever the fuck is haunting me, it’s petrifying, but even that takes a back seat to the overwhelming anxiety. I barely eat, I can’t sleep without the nightmares waking me up. I need to show them I can handle this. Even if it’s just to prove it tomyself. I’m done wasting away.

I pull away from Jack. Accepting that there is nothing he can do. I’m on my own with this.