Page 97 of Marked By Shadows

“That number sent me a map,” I said.

“Forward it to me so I can send it to the detective. Donotgo there.”

“They have Alex,” I said as I got in the car and plugged the phone into the computerized console.

“And are dangerous. Micah! Be reasonable. What will you do to stop them? You’re not a secret ninja or anything. Just because you dress up as one sometimes, does not mean you’re a hero.”

Ouch. That stung more than I thought it should. But that was part of it, wasn’t it? Why I ran around New Orleans following ghost stories, and played with things most other people avoided. Not for a lack of fear, but because I felt like a coward. That was a virtual kick to the nuts of reality. I clung to Alex because he wasn’t afraid of all the things that terrified me. And no matter how much I might pretend that it was all nothing, I still trembled in terror at night when the noises began.

Fucking noises. Nothing but sound. I’d wished to be deaf sometimes, when the screaming started, or Jet walked agitated around my apartment while I tried to block out the terror with a craft. All leading back to one event.

Something had taken me, holding me for months and doing who knows what. Then I’d returned home to a life shattered and tormented by stupid night noises. I spent my evenings terrified, hiding, cowering in the corner of my home. How useless was I?

I backed the car out of the parking spot and headed toward the lot entrance to a flurry of chatter over the line. It was the least I could do, right? If someone was angry at Alex, wanted to hurt him because I’d left the group, that was on me. Cowering in the hotel room would not save him.

“I’m tracing your phone, Micah,” Lukas warned. “If I have to send every cop in the state of Texas after you, I will.”

“Good. Maybe they’ll save Alex,” I grumbled into the otherwise silence of the car. It was a short trip on the highway, then off a side road, toward the state park, which made my pulse race. That was the last thing I wanted. Wandering in some national park alone at night. Lukas and Sky chattered through the phone, though I turned them down until I couldn’t hear more than the tone of their voices. Sky was trying to soothe, and Lukas was ranting. I didn’t need either of their comments right at that moment. Terror rolled through my veins, even as my brain demanded courage. It was very contrary and frustrating. So many memories and thoughts at once, it was a wonder I could stay on the road. I glanced in the rearview mirror and almost ran off the road.

I slammed on the brakes and pulled over to suck in air and stare into the reflection. Slowly I turned my head, hoping it was just a trick of light, perhaps a play of the headlights over the highway. But no, it wasn’t.

There was a fluffy white cat sitting on top of the covered sewing machine like it didn’t have a care in the world. It didn’t look like a ghost. Everything about it looked 100% legit, fur, blinking eyes, twitching ears, and all.

I gasped, trying to breathe for a minute. Then whispered, “Precious?”

The cat’s head turned my way, glowing orange eyes meeting mine. Its tail flicked a few times before it turned away and stared at the backseat. Was something else in the car? My stomach heaved and I stared at the spot too, expecting something to appear. Only nothing did.

The GPS droned on about getting back on the road. I let out a long sigh of air and pulled back out onto the road.

“Micah?” I heard Lukas again, but was annoyed so I hung up on him. Alex was missing. There was a fucking ghost cat in the car. And a possible psycho killer was directing me to a state park. Did the presence of the cat mean it was Freya? Could the night get any worse?

Chapter 28

The lot the GPS directed me to wasn’t the main entrance of Sam Houston State Park, it was one of those outlying road stops, with little more than a dirt parking spot. No other cars were in the lot and there were no streetlights nearby, just my headlights. I sat in the car staring out into the woods for a minute.

Was that a light in the distance? Was that Alex? I turned off the headlights and put the key in my pocket. Even taking a second to unplug my phone. Had to turn the sound off since Lukas kept calling, and texts began to roll in from Sky. Nothing from the person who sent me the map.

I got out of the car, slamming the door and locking it. For a second I glanced back inside to see if the cat was still there, and it was. Only it wasn’t alone now. A child sat in the backseat, only half illuminated and semi-translucent, by the pale moonlight.

It stared forward into the trees, blank, lifeless looking, and absently stroking the back of the cat. Something out of a horror movie. Eyes nothing but black voids.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I stumbled backwards, falling on my ass and breathing hard, expecting it to follow me, or suddenly appear beside me. Only it didn’t, and when I got up and could see back into the car, both the child and the cat were gone.

I trembled and sucked in air, the smell of pine, dirt, and leaves eerily familiar. In the distance there was a faint light. It didn’t move, change or shake. Perhaps it was another parking lot.

Or Alex.

Or the killer.

I balled my hands up into fists, gripping my phone in one and ready to turn the flashlight on at a second’s notice, then made my way into the darkness.

There was something about the dark, stretching distance of woods at night that really messed with a person’s senses. Shifts in noise, owls, rustling leaves, branches, all of it echoed into the darkness in a roll that didn’t seem to really provide direction. I did my best to not trample through the brush like I was marching to my death. I also didn’t text the unknown person back to let them know I had arrived. No need to give them a chance to randomly shoot me or something before I even got close. Was Alex here somewhere?

I tried his phone again, a text, and then calling, hoping I’d hear the ring. Only there was nothing. Just the wind and a vaguely increasing sense of doom. It took a few minutes and a half dozen meters of distance to realize it wasn’t anxiety projecting that feeling in my gut, the heaviness was back. Warning bells inside my head screamed I wasn’t alone, something was watching me.

Twice I glanced back and thought I’d seen the child again, only to freeze, double check, and find nothing there.

“I’m going insane,” I whispered mostly to myself. “Going, ha, already there.” Coming here, following the directions of some unknown who might be a murderer, that was insanity. I should have stayed at the hotel. Waited for Manning or some other cops to arrive. Lukas would have gotten them moving, even if they’d have brushed me off. I tried to convince myself that doing this meant I wasn’t a coward. But that was a lie. I was really good at running away. It’s why my relationships didn’t last, and I never lived in one place for long, hard to run away with commitments.