Page 55 of On Edge

And somewhere in the depths…

Nell is waiting for me with open arms.

The nightmare shatters me awake.

My eyes open, but all I see is utter blackness. My head throbs. The room is too quiet, the air thick with something dark and suffocating. As I lie there breathing hard, my head threatening to explode, wanting to curl up anywhere but here, I hear it…

A creak outside my door.

And then another.

Then a soft click of the door opening.

Raw panic claws through my veins. I stay still, holding my breath. After the longest minute, there’s the sound of the door closing. I wait, counting to ten, just to be sure. Then, I draw in a ragged breath and let out a strangled sob.

Someone was checking to see if I was in bed.

My heart feels fluttery as I flip on the bedside light, wincing as the thunder behind my eyes flares, enough to make my eyes feel like they’re bleeding.

I’ve got another headache coming on, I can feel it.

They always start slow and then, by the time I’ve realized it’s too late, it’s full-blown and pulsating, making my eyelids twitch, and my stomach want to empty itself. I fumble for my pills and swallow one with a gulp of lukewarm water. The warm glow of the lamp and the water on my throat help chase away some of the evil hanging over me.

Then I lie there desperately waiting for the drugs to kick in.

They don’t. Not that well, anyway.

My mouth feels parched again. I reach for my glass a second time, but it’s nearly empty.

The knife I grabbed at dinner is under the bed with me. It’s a bit blunt, but I feel a lot better having it near. Slipping out of bed, I tiptoe over to the door, clutching the weapon in my hand. When I don’t hear anything outside, I open my door with a creak and head down to the kitchen.

The darkness feels frigid and thick, pressing against my chest as I move through the house at night. Goosebumps prick up my arms like cold fingertips, even with my cardigan on.

There are no lights on.

All the rooms Kathy brought me through earlier, including the kitchen, are shrouded in darkness. Moonlight peeks in at the windows, shining on the floorboards so I don’t trip over my own feet.

Using my phone as a torch since it’s pretty useless otherwise, I head over to the sink, put down the knife, grab a glass from the drainer, and fill it with water from the tap. I gulp down a large mouthful of cold water, staring at the moon.

There’s not much else to see or hear.

Just the sound of my breathing….

And the wind rattling the house like it wants to come in.

But then, there it is. That sound from the other night. It’s a steady thump thump thump like someone is trying to tear the walls down. I’ve heard it most nights when I first got here, but then it stopped for a while…until now.

Where’s it coming from?

Cocking my head, I listen until I figure it out. It’s coming from below my feet, but nearer the back pantry. Taking my phone and the knife with me, I walk to the storage shelves. I don’t really know why I’m going towards the source of the sound. But here I am. Shining the torch through the shelves, I scan the floor and walls, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Iwas at least expecting to see dust and spiders. In fact, the room is spotless.

But there.

Light emits from a slight gap in the ornate wooden paneling. I trace the torch around the edge of it; it’s a door. And the sound is coming from the other side of it.

Where does it lead? It’s not in the hallway; it’s on the wrong wall for that.

“Lumen.” Suddenly, every light in the room blinks on. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that to work.