The Haunted (Sleeping with Monsters Book 1) (17 page)

“What’s
going on? What’d you do to him?”

Daphne
worked at Becca’s knots. “That wasn’t him –“

“What
are you saying?”

“He’s
possessed.” She freed Becca’s first wrist, keeping an eye on the door. Becca
started laughing at her.

“He’s
right. You are insane.”

“How
can you not notice how he’s talking right now?”

“He’s
drunk is all. We woke up while you were sleeping and had a few and then he
wanted to do all this to me.” Daphne freed her other hand so she grabbed and
shook the rope. “It was just like he said online –“

“I
thought that was me?” Daphne helped the other woman off the bed. She was drunk
too and shaky.

“One
of you. You’re both fucked up.” Becca swayed, and Daphne caught her.

“It
doesn’t matter now, we need to leave.”

“I’m
not fucking leaving –“

“Yes,
you are.” Daphne started to drag her out of the room.

“Richard!”
Becca shouted at the top of her lungs – and Daphne heard stumbling footsteps
coming up the stairs again.

Daphne
yanked Becca towards the door – being caught in the hallway would be slightly
better than being caught in a room.

Richard
had reached the top stair by the time they were free. If they rushed him now,
could they push him down the stairs together? What if it killed Richard, but
not the Master?

“Richard
– you’re still in there, I know it. You remember me.” She held Becca back, as
the other woman struggled. “You don’t want to hurt us. You can push him out and
be yourself again, Richard. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

His
hands clutched at the railing, and she thought he was fighting for himself.
“Please – Richard, you’ve got to try. For me. For us. For our baby.”

Richard
thrashed, his whole body doing a herky-jerky dance, like he was on fire. It
distracted Daphne for half a second – long enough for Becca to break free.

“She’s
the one that untied me. I was willing to wait for you.” Becca clung to his
side, pointing to Daphne in accusation. “I didn’t want to leave – I wanted to
stay here with you.”

Richard
stilled again, and when he next spoke Daphne knew the battle had been lost.
“You will,” the Master moaned, with Richard’s mouth.

“Really?”
Becca sounded impossibly hopeful. The statues at the top of the stair behind
Richard watched everything, implacable.

“I
don’t want her,” he said, in seeming response. But Daphne could still see his
face by the moonlight and knew the Master was talking to her, not Becca. She
watched him bring his arms up, higher than they ought to be for a hug, and she
knew what he was about to do.

“Don’t!”
she screamed, as he broke Becca’s neck.

“I
only want you,” he moaned.

She
flew past him for the stairs and he lumbered after her.

Daphne
reached the front door and getting out of the house felt like resurfacing from
a sinking boat – she took huge gulps of air, like she’d never tasted it before.
Then she started trotting down the stairs and towards the main driveway.

The
road was open and the trees were low – Richard would be able to see precisely
where she was and come for her. She could out run him, but for how long?

Then
Daphne saw lightning strike a tall tree. It lit up the pre-dawn dark, sizzling
down, Daphne could hear it, and the smell of ozone cut through the air like a
knife. Thunder rumbled so loud she almost dropped to her knees.

It
was like the sky itself was chasing her back inside – she couldn’t run down the
driveway now, exposed to the elements and to Richard.

The
only other place she could think of to go was the stable.

Daphne
took off her heels once she reached grass and raced along one of the many paths
that Jason had tended. Jason – poor Jason – he was dead because of her. Because
the house had turned her into some crazy beast in heat for anyone – tears
streaked down her face as she ran, terrified and ashamed.

She
reached the stable and huddled inside of it, finally protected from the rain.
She’d hear Beth’s horn and run out and reach the car before he did somehow and
Beth would take her away from here – she could come back with police and sort
everything out under the safe bright light of day.

A
branch broke nearby – and she heard the shuffle of an unsteady foot being
dragged through mud.

She
stepped back into the darkness of the stable as Richard appeared.

“Pet,”
he croaked with a voice not his own. “I know you’re in here.”

Daphne
held her breath as her heart raced. He lumbered in. “I can smell your pussy,
pet. Ready for me, again.”

She
took another step back – and kicked a rake, betraying her. His head tilted and
he took two more steps into the darkness with her. Lightning flashed close
behind him, and she threw up an arm against the light.

“Richard
– please – stop this –“

“There’s
no Richard in here anymore.” He took another step forward, closing the gap
between them. He spoke with slurred deliberation. Daphne swallowed – and ran
for the stairs to the workshop.

He
was faster now – as she reached the top stair, he grabbed hold of her ankle and
almost dragged her down, but she kicked free. She scrabbled out onto the
workshop’s wooden floor, feeling splinters shove inside her hands, as she got
to her feet, and Richard came up through the door. Water dripped through the ceiling
in places, and moonlight shone through wide cracks.

“There’s
no where you can run, pet.” He lumbered to standing, blocking her only route of
escape.

“How
are you doing this?”

The
Master chuckled. “I am as willful in death as I was in life. I only needed
blood, sex, and an opportune form to become whole.”

Daphne
looked around for exits. There was a rope hanging from the ceiling, perhaps it
brought a ladder to an attic down.

“What
– what happened to the girl?”

“For
years she was too young, I had to bide my time. Then, when she was old enough,
she rebuked me.”

“And
the horse?”

“Horses
can always sense spirits. I merely went to say hello, and it spilled her and
all her brains.”

“That’s
awful –“

“Is
it? Is it worse than being trapped here, watching people live lives that I
cannot for decades?”

Every
other word he moved closer to her, and she moved back, like they were dancing.

“Why
me?” Daphne asked, her voice rising in fear.

“I
had given up hope, until I saw you, Daphne, the imprint of you in this foolish man’s
mind. You’re the kind of woman that needs fucking, that craves it. You were
wasted on him. You wouldn’t be on me.” His voice became more smooth as his
control of Richard improved, and he flashed her a wicked smile. “Do you know
what you do to men? What it’s like being in the same room as you? No man sees
you and doesn’t wonder how you taste, how you smell, envision your legs around
his waist and his cock thrust deep. A woman like you comes along once in a
century, pet. I should know.”

The
workshop table was at her back. There was no place else to hide.

“All
I need to do is fuck you one last time as him, and this body will be mine.”

Daphne
took a deep inhale. This was her superpower. It was the reason her mother had
kept her locked inside for her own protection, like a modern day Rapunzel, and
– on some level – why Richard had hidden her away out here. People who met her
wanted her – and then they didn’t want to share. “Okay.” She hopped up onto the
workshop table, feeling the sharp tips of rusty woodworking tools poke against
her thighs. She pulled up her skirt, and felt in control again. “Take me.”

“Yes,”
the Master said, his voice a hiss. He opened Richard’s robe, revealing the
erection pushing out.

She
squirmed backwards, as if afraid. “Be gentle –“

“That’s
not what you want, pet – and we both know it.” He brought himself up to the
front of the table, and grabbed her hips to pull her towards him. He was
staring down, looking for the moment when his cock would enter her and seal his
devil’s deal – which was why he didn’t see her grab up an awl and plunge it
into Richard’s right ear.

The
Master made an unholy sound, swatting at her hand, as Daphne scooted back
again, knocking tools to the side as she skittered on crab legs down the table
and away from him, hopping off at its far end to run for the rope hanging down.
Two tugs like she was ringing a giant bell, and the dusty ladder to the roof
fell down. She scampered up it to stand on top of the stable, exposed to the
storm.

She
huddled down, bare feet and knees scraping against the rough wet shingles,
trying to hang on. She saw a hand appear at the edge of the hole with horror,
as the Master hauled himself up, the awl still poking out of one ear.

“I’m
so sorry Richard. This is all my fault – I’m so sorry!” she shouted at him,
hoping her husband could somehow hear her.

“Did
you think you could kill me?” The Master said, pulling himself to stand on the
roof’s flat center. He took three more steps towards her as she scooted back,
looking over her shoulder. Soon, death would be her only escape, just as it’d
been the girl’s.

“Come
here and let me fuck you –“ he crooned, blood spilling out of his ear and down
the side of his neck.

She
didn’t want to die. But she didn’t want to live here, forever, with him.

Daphne
stood, trying to swallow down the bile of her fear and praying for strength. “I
give up. I’ll come back with you.” She patted the air between them as if
attempting to calm a rabid dog. “You’ve won.”

Richard
stood straight, triumphant – and she looked over her shoulder one last time.
The fall would kill her, wouldn’t it? It had to –

Thunder
boomed just as lightning struck. Daphne screamed at the nearness of the sound,
as the roof beneath both of them shook like an earthquake. She whirled – and
saw lightning hitting Richard, the tallest thing for miles, sparks shooting
away from the awl in his ear. He danced like a spastic marionette until the
lightning was done and he crumpled down to slide off the roof.

Daphne
crawled over, profile low, and tried to see him. Richard was dead now – but how
did you kill a ghost?

In
the distance, she heard a car horn honk.

Daphne
ran on shaking legs back to the ladder and then down the stairs and out the
stable’s door. It was on the other side of Richard’s body – she didn’t want to
see what the Master had done to him – and she raced through the woods again
until she reached the front of the house, where Beth was standing on the porch,
about to knock on the door.

“Don’t!”
Daphne shouted.

Beth
turned, saw her, and jumped. “Daphne? Are you okay?”

Daphne
caught the other woman’s arms. “Don’t knock. Don’t let it know you’re here –
take us away.” She pulled Beth towards her car and reached for the passenger
door handle.

“What
the hell happened to you?” Beth asked, turning the engine over as Daphne
fumbled with her seatbelt. The engine coughed, once, twice, but the finally
took, and she sagged.

“Just
drive – I’ll tell you everything later.”

“Okay.”
Beth took them around the roundabout and then back down the driveway.

“Faster
–“

“It’s
raining –“

“Faster!”
Daphne pleaded, and Beth pushed the gas pedal down.

The
car sent up tails of water from puddles in the driveway’s worn ruts, and Daphne
could see the gates coming up – they just had to reach them in time, before the
Master tried to drag them back – Beth slowed down to take the final turn onto
the main road – and the car was full of a sensation of heat, as though it were
being cupped by the hand of an angry god.

“It’s
too late for you, Daphne -- you’ll never get away from me!” The Master’s voice
rang inside her head. Beth hit the gas again and the car strained forward, but
the rear fishtailed as though someone were trying to hold it back.

“What
the –“ Beth protested.

“Go!
Go!” Daphne shouted, covering her ears with both hands, trying to keep the
Master’s voice out. He was laughing now, an awful sound, and it echoed inside
of her head – then the car broke loose and leapt through the gates.

“Oh
my God,” Daphne said, reacting to the sudden silence. She twisted to look back,
and saw a dark figure standing just inside the metal bars, the same one that
was visible in the picture of the poor horse-girl. “We’re free. Take me to the
nearest police station, please.”

“What
the hell happened?” Beth asked.

Daphne
inhaled. How could she ever explain things? Jason and Becca and Richard were
dead – would the police make her go back? She couldn’t. If she ever went back,
the Master would never let her leave --

The
bile rose in her stomach until it couldn’t be denied. She rolled down the
window and barely leaned out of it in time, puking outside, and then sagged
back into the car.

“I’m
so sorry –“ she blotted her lips with the back of one hand.

“Don’t
be,” Beth said. “It’s still raining – it’ll wash off.” She looked over at
Daphne with fresh concern. “Are you pregnant?”

Daphne
blanched, put both hands to her stomach, and knew with the certainty that some
women get that she was.

“Yes,”
she said, her voice shaky and cracking.

Richard’s?

Jason’s?

“Congratulations,”
Beth said, looking Daphne over again. “Right?”

His
?

“Right,”
Daphne said in a quiet voice, entirely unsure.