Page 54 of Eldritch

“But there’s something else.” Sybil couldn’t shake the feeling in her bones. “Something that kept you from connecting to him as an adult.”

Surprise crossed Pauline’s features. “After I finished my degree...Bachelor of Arts in Fucking Off and Almost Failing degree…he wanted me to come home and help take care of Lina.”

“And you didn’t want to.”

“Nope. Dad had to keep finding new healthcare help for her because some of them quit. She was so abusive. No way was I doing that.”

Silence stretched before Sybil said. “You didn’t want a complicated job. You did something easier. Like cleaning houses for what? How many years?”

“I’m thirty-seven now. So off and on since I was twenty-three. Jesus.” Her face hardened. “What? You think I’m a lazy asshole?”

Sybil reacted deep inside to the woman’s confrontational tone.

Placate her. Do and say whatever it takes so she won’t be mad.

Instead, she came from authenticity. “I think you’ve been through a lot. Family dynamics. You’re surviving. No one can blame you for that. You didn’t give up.”

Sybil had spoken the truth, but she didn’t say other parts out loud.

Pauline, you’ve given up on dreams. Like I have.

“Is there something you want to do with the rest of your life?” Sybil asked.

Pauline snorted, then laughed. “Yeah. Finish cleaning this house. Then take a hot bath and drink some whiskey.”

Sybil grinned. “I hear that. The sooner we clean the place, the faster we can relax.”

To Sybil’s surprise, they finished the ballroom by four o’clock. Time to call it a day. They’d gathered their supplies and started toward the north doorway when Pauline looked to the left and came to a dead stop.

Sybil stopped, too, and looked at Pauline. “What’s up?”

Pauline’s lips parted, but at first nothing came out. She pointed. “Do you see that?”

Sybil pivoted to the left and glanced toward the large windows. Someone pressed their face to the glass. A woman’s face with smooth, young features, wide eyes, and abject fear etched into expression.

Sybil froze. “Who is that?”

Pauline dropped her stuff and took off at a half run toward the north door. Taken by surprise, Sybil also abandoned her supplies and exited the north door at a trot. Pauline’s stride ate up the corridor. Pauline turned the corner and Sybil did the same. No one was there.

“You go around the other side, and I’ll cut her off from the other side,” Pauline said.

Sybil took the advice, wondering who the hell was lurking in the hallway and making a face in a horror movie. She ran, hurrying to meet Pauline near the landing connecting to the stairway.

Pauline came to a stop near the stairs. “Nothing. I didn’t see anyone. What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone either.”

A door down the corridor opened, and Letisha came out of her room. She headed their way. She looked sleepy and disheveled.

“What’s wrong?” Letisha asked.

Pauline and Sybil gave her a quick rundown.

Letisha looked bewildered. “That’s nuts. There has to be someone in here.”

“That’s what we said the last time we chased someone around the house,” Sybil said with frustration.

Letisha rolled her gaze to the ceiling for a moment. “Well, then let’s look around this floor. They must be hiding somewhere.”

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