Page 26 of Feral Possession

Dark shadows spanned the space. Silence wrapped her in its suffocating embrace. Her skin tightened, feeling constrained. She wiggled on the uncomfortable leather sofa. Every inch of Vivian’s mansion was plush. Built for comfort. Steele Tower, not so much.

Tink!

Her ears twitched at the high-pitched sound.

Was that—Tink, tink, tink.

Piano keys.

“Steele?” she whispered. If Steele was up, that meant she was totally busted. Goddess help her if he extended her sentence. She bolted upright. “Listen, I can explain.” To nobody, since she was alone.

With wide eyes, she scanned the room. By the piano, nothing stirred. The space surrounding the glossy black instrument was vacant.

What could have made that noise? Maybe it was a mouse. Yes. This was totally plausible. She snickered a nervous laugh. Ha, ha. Steele Tower is infested with mice. Wouldn’t that burn Marcus’s butt. The eerie piano playing was just a cute little mouse, walking across the strings. Maybe she’d catch him. Name him Nibbles. With that thought bolstering her courage, she rose from the sofa and went to investigate.

She hugged her waist, skating her fuzzy socks along the slick floors. Shadows spanned the walls, stretching from floor to ceiling. As they often did when she was a child, those shadows took shape like some crazy ink-blot test. Her creative mind saw horrifying figures in every corner. Unfortunately, being a necromancer, not all the creatures who went bump in the night were imaginary. Creepy things crawled from her closet. Monsters stirred under her bed.

Stop looking at them before you freak yourself out. She locked her eyeballs on the grand piano.

The majority of the spirits she’d encountered didn’t have the strength to affect the physical world. Still, there were a few who walked close enough to the edge to have an impact on the living. Like the spirit who’d terrorized her bedroom the other night. The bedroom she’d warded, then thoughtlessly abandoned.

Dang it. She’d been so focused on freedom, she’d forgotten all about her creepy chain-rattler.

Next to the piano, she peered beneath the propped-open lid. “Here, mousey, mousey,” she whispered. Inside, there was no scurrying, scampering, or anything else to indicate the presence of a rodent.

She shivered, gaze drifting back to the inky shapes. One shadow resembled half of a torso, its thick arm extended across the wall and down the floor. Funny, if she stared hard enough, it almost seemed to move. Creeping closer. Closer…

Against her nape, a frigid breath exhaled. “Holy crap.” She stumbled, flailing her arms around her head to fight off her invisible assailant. Brimstone burned her nostrils, and she coughed, spinning in a circle, finding nothing.

When no further attacks followed, she froze, holding out karate hands. What the heck was that? “Get a grip, girl. Maybe… maybe it was just the ventilation system kicking on.” Darn it, listen to her. There she went, explaining away the supernatural.

Her chest squeezed, a heavy weight pressing down on her. She was being watched. No. More than watched. Static prickled down her glyph, and the fine hairs on her neck stood at attention. She was being haunted.

Menacing energy slithered over her skin. Thick and oily, like nothing she’d ever felt before. Before she could sort it out, red eyes peered back at her from the corner of the room. The spirit’s predatory stare burned into her. Its massive body solidified, taking the shape of a mountainous man-beast. Her heart pounded in her ears. This was no simple poltergeist.

“Bye, bye now. Time to go,” she squeaked.

“Stay,” snarled a low, growly voice.

Like hell. She spun and bolted—or tried to. Her fuzzy socks did a burnout on the slick floors. “Crap. Crap. Crap.” Her legs shot in opposite directions, and she struggled to get traction. Like Bambi on ice, she skated around the piano, gripping the edge to remain upright.

Dark laughter rumbled from the creature. Butthole. This was not funny.

Inky shadows slid beneath her, an ever-growing puddle of black. How was he doing that? For a moment, her feet found traction. She lurched forward. Yes! Her shin connected with the side table. No! Pain shot up her leg, and she cried out.

Behind her, she registered the sound of shattering glass but didn’t dare stop to investigate. Smokey tendrils curled around her waist, the shadows clinging to her, propping her up, slowing her progress. Peter Pan and his shadow had nothing on this guy.

Was it helping her? No. Not likely. It was reeling her in. “Get off! Get off!” She smacked the mystical tethers. The tendrils disintegrated as she swiped her hands through them, brushing them off like cobwebs. Recovering her balance, she sprinted for her bedroom door.

“Stay!” the monster bellowed. Wood exploded against the wall. Dove flinched, ducking her head, but still managed to remain upright. Was it slinging furniture at her? Who cared when she was almost home free? Her doorway loomed. Magical warding, don’t fail me now!

Icy fingers raked down her spine. She shifted her weight, kicking her feet out in front of her, sliding across the threshold of her room like it was home base. Safe!

Behind her, lightning struck. Thunder rumbled the floors. She flopped onto her stomach and looked back. Her shadow monster punched the invisible ward. Sparks flew, and the beast recoiled. Locked out.

“It worked.” Dove grinned. Next time she saw Celeste, she was kissing her full on the mouth.

Angry, red eyes glared back at her, retribution in their depths. Shadows spun in a cyclone, and the creature vanished.

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