Page 51 of The Curse of Redwood

“If that’s an issue, you don’t have to return.” His guard was back up. I couldn’t read his true emotion as he stared at me.

“You’d really let me go that easily? Weren’t you just telling me how I made you feel alive again?”

Finally, there was emotion in his eyes. For a split second, I saw a deep sadness. But then it was gone, and he started walking. “Let’s continue.”

I sighed and trailed after him. Damn stubborn ghost.

“This place really is stunning,” I said, as we turned the corner and faced the long hall I’d seen in my very first vision of Ezekiel. The wall of windows let in the dark golden glow of the setting sun, and for that moment, I saw the beauty that used to be.

Then, like the time before, I reached out and glided my hand over the windowsill and ruffled the curtains.

Z halted in step and spun around to me, eyeing my hand. “Why did you do that?”

“Just wanted to,” I said, dropping the curtain. “Sorry. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

“No, you don’t have to.” He shook his head and squeezed his eyes closed before facing forward again and continuing down the hall.

“Z?” I took longer strides to catch up to him. We stopped at the grandfather clock, the same one he’d stood beside in the vision. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he answered, grabbing my hands and holding them firmly in his. That’s when I felt him shaking a little. “You just… reminded me of someone. Every time we walked down that hall, he’d do as you did. It took me off guard is all.”

The clock started to chime, startling me. It was six o’clock. From behind us, I heard a faint, ghostly moan. Was it the woman in the 20s style cocktail dress?

“You should go.” Holding my hand, he turned toward the entrance to the staircase. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

Chapter Ten

On the first day of October, everyone in Ivy Grove was in the Halloween spirit. Signs for the ghost tour were posted all over town, as well as advertisements for a Halloween-themed escape room and another for family friendly haunted houses.

“Dude, we should totally do an escape room,” Taylor said, as we walked down Main Street. “I think the one downtown is zombie themed.”

“Escape rooms kinda freak me out. Like, my stomach is all fluttery just thinking about it. I’ve seen too many horror movies.”

Taylor sipped the last of his iced coffee through a straw before shaking the empty cup with a pout. He then tossed it into the trash can. “You don’t actually get hurt if you can’t find your way out.”

“Yeah.” I arched a brow at him. “That’s what they said in the movie too before one of them was crushed between two walls.”

“Ouch.” Taylor winced. “Okay, so the escape room is out. How about a haunted house?”

Little did he know that I’d been spending a lot of time in an actual haunted house.

For the past week, Z and I had fucked every day, sometimes twice a day. On days I had to work, I went to see him early in the morning. No matter my busy schedule, I made time for him. My ass was wonderfully sore from the pounding he’d given me right before I’d met up with Taylor that evening.

“Sounds fun,” I finally said.

“Or.” Taylor flipped around to me on the sidewalk. “We could ditch the fake stuff and see the real thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Redwood Manor,” he said, then held up a finger. “Now, before you say no, I remember what you said about it being a dark place and stuff, but we don’t have to go inside. We can just walk around the property, maybe tell each other scary shit to make us piss ourselves, and then we can go home.”

“I don’t know, man,” I responded, as I moved aside so a family of four could pass by. I’d been there so many times that I no longer feared the mansion, yet I didn’t want to chance Taylor seeing Lady Death or something else horrifying. Because I’d feel awful if he got hurt.

“Please?” Taylor pouted his bottom lip, looking way too adorable for his own good. “Rich thinks Halloween and everything dealing with the paranormal is stupid. He’ll go to movies with me and stuff, but he has no interest in ghost hunting. You’re the only friend I have who actually likes this shit too.”

As I stared into his pitiful hazel eyes, I knew I couldn’t say no. He must’ve seen my weakening resolve, because he grinned and threw an arm around my neck. “That’s my boy.”

“Justoutside the manor, right?” I asked. “We can’t be inside it after dark.”