Page 20 of Hot Ghoul Summer

HOLDING THE CERBI’S leash is... weird. He is (they are?) a nice little dog—dogs?

Whatever I call him, walking behind him is adorable but surreal. His three little heads bobble in unison as he trots on short, stumpy legs. He keeps looking back at me and giving me three sweet doggy grins. I haven’t had a dog since Gary came into my life. His allergies were the reason my beloved collie, Cocoa, went to live with Aunt Sherry for the last years of her life, and nursing school meant no time for a dog.

If I get out of here alive, I’m getting a dog. No more waiting for life to start. It could end while you’re waiting—didn’t I see that enough in clinicals?

Moving cautiously, afraid that Toby is actually lurking somewhere close to play a game of cat-and-mouse with me, I make my way down the hall, heart going at 180 beats per minute. My legs are weak, and my hands are cold. Panic will do that.

I can’t be weak. Have to get out. Three Heads here might be my best chance. I’ll use him as a puppy shield to make my getaway. We trot down the stairs together.

The window in my room wouldn’t open, but the door at the front of the house opens easily. I wonder if it’s something to do with the dog, or was Sera inside at some point and left it unlocked?

This is too easy.

And when it’s too easy in the horror movies, that’s when it gets a whole lot worse.

I don’t have my keys. I don’t have my purse.

My heart is thudding so loud that I can’t even think. Go back inside? Run like hell to the neighbor’s house, or the gas station I passed a mile or two back?

“Hnhnnn!”

A triple whine breaks my concentration. The corgi-hellhound mix is straining on the leash and snapping at the air.

Moths. Fireflies. The lawn is full of them. The moths seem to be following Sera around the yard, her gentle glow attracting them like a porch light.

What was it Sera said about this dog? He likes to chase things. And if he bites something—or kills something—it turns into a ghost? Jesus Christ, I’d better not get bitten.

I drop the leash and move silently away, not daring to run, but walking fast, staying low.

“Musketeer! No! No, down, boys! Not the moths! No bugs! Bugs bad!”

I break into a blinding run and hear Sera’s startled cry as she realizes that the dog is with her and I’m not with the dog.

I know she can probably pop over in front of me in a split second, but I don’t care. I see headlights on the road near the house.

Salvation.

“Help! Help me!” I screech loud enough to wake Toby’s victims.

I fly past the mailbox and into the street where a speeding black SUV stops hard enough to send gravel flying into my arms and face. The tiny stings don’t slow me down.

The doors open and two men get out, looking around as they reach for me. “You have to help—”

“Get in!” One of them grabs my arm and begins to haul me to safety as I start to sob. I’m safe. I made it out of that house alive.

“What the fuck is that?”

The car revs into reverse, and I look through the windshield, expecting to see Sera.

My heart drops and a scream shudders out of my throat as I make out an enormous black-cloaked figure in the road, skull head covered in flames and his scythe swinging in a sweeping arc.

I suddenly feel hard fingers around my arm, and my body flies backwards, ass skidding and bouncing on the grass as the black SUV becomes airborne, slipping sideways and then flipping with two horrible, screeching thuds.

Sera is next to me, human face whiter than milk as she clutches my arm. “Are you okay? They almost got you.”

I almost got away.

Everything is numb. The fight goes out of me, and cold and horror set in.

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