Page 87 of Possessed By Shadows

“Dion’s on her way. Gonna help you cleanse,” he said softly.

“If the cops don’t arrest us first,” someone added.

My dad was shining a light in the windows, trying to see inside.

“Will you stop that?” someone asked.

“My son is missing,” Dad said. His gaze met mine.

I’d have said something, but there was a familiar presence standing a few feet behind him lingering in the shadow between the houses. Micah stiffened. Did he see it too? Or feel it? I squeezed his hand, and he returned my grip. He saw it too. Fuck.

We gave you an anchor, but you belong to us,the black-eyed child said.The others can’t keep you.

“Is my brother here?” I asked them. Or was this another blip on the whole I’m-fucking-nuts radar for me?

A slight nod.Only a bit longer.It looked off into the darkness between the houses. That sounded really fucking ominous.

I squeezed Micah tight before letting him go and heading for that space between the houses, a bit overgrown, the fence looked like it had been damaged in the last storm. The wood was soft and malleable under my fingers as I grabbed the top edge and struggled to climb my way over.

“Oh, fuck me, we’re all going to get shot,” someone said.

My dad helped shove me over, and Micah appeared a few seconds later. I snagged him as he half landed on me, knocking me back into the fence. Everyone was following me tonight, since one by one, the rest of the crew began to make their way into the overgrown side-yard.

“You should go back,” I told Micah. “Should have stayed home where it was safe.”

“Right. ‘Cause I’m a damsel to be rescued?” His look was unfriendly, but adorable in the pale light of moving flashlights. I couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Your boyfriend is crazy,” I reminded him.

“So is yours,” he threw back. “Where’s that piece of shit kid? Little fucker better not be running off after leading us to break and enter. I know you heard him, it, whatever, say something.”

It hadn’t led me here. Whatever that had been in the attic had brought me here. Maybe taken me over for a bit, but been unable to truly separate my soul from my body? I glanced around, annoyed to find the overgrowth and little else even as we moved away from the expanding group.

“They said Lukas is here.” My gut clenched. Butonly for a bit longer. Fuck.

“Then we find him,” Micah said.

“Rich white people and their cookie cutter crap,” my dad grumbled from a few feet away as he bent to shine his flashlight in a narrow window along the ground. “There’s standing water everywhere. Bet the basement was flooded. Who has basements in New Orleans?” The ground squelched beneath our feet as we moved.

Jason’s light went out and he cursed. “Just had a full battery. Something drained me. How are the cameras?”

“Blinking low. Should be an eight-hour charge. The trek here only took forty-five minutes max.”

“Keep filming,” Jason said. “I think we’re gonna get gold tonight.”

“If we don’t get killed,” someone else said.

I followed close behind my dad, clinging to Micah, and trying not to slip in all that water even while it soaked through my shoes. There were only a handful of windows near the level of the grass. Around the back of the house was a small patio area and a closed in yard, with a door that appeared to lead to the garage.

“Might be a crawlspace,” my dad said peering in through one window. “Doesn’t look very big. But it’s dark and hard to see anything.” He moved around stealthily and shined a light through the garage door before trying the handle. It didn’t turn. His gaze met mine, something resolved in them. “You sure your brother is here?”

The child appeared right next to him. Standing beside my dad looking as real as he was. “No one sees them but me, right?” I asked pretty sure I was nuts.

“I do,” Micah grumbled, his grip on my hand going tight enough to hurt. “They can’t have you.”

“Who?” My dad turned, shining the light around. It went right through the kid like it wasn’t there. “Lukas?”

“Is my brother in there?” I asked pointing toward the house.