Page 37 of If Anything Happens To Me

“He knew my last name.”

“Couldn’t he have figured that out because of the Cat Castle? If it was online? He’d heard about your family?” I asked.

“Yeah, and that’s what I figured. Hayley was mad at me for talking to him, so she stormed into the Castle. Left me alone in the yard. There was a fence between me and the guy. I saw him watch her go. But we were just talking and he seemed cool.”

I felt nervous, waiting for whatever she would say next.

“He said he had driven over from Connecticut, that it was really great to meet us. He said he was an animal person. He said he loved cats. I guess I felt flattered because he just stayed there, talking for the longest time, acting as if he liked me. He kept reaching through the fence to play with this little yellow kitten, and I started to think . . .”

“That you’d let him in,” I said.

Iris nodded. “Yes.”

“And did you?” I asked, feeling almost sick, knowing that she could have stopped it right there.

She nodded. “I told him to go around the front of the building, but he pointed at a door in the fence. We only use it to get to the dumpster in the alley. But he asked if he could just come in that way.”

“So you unlocked the fence door,” I said.

“As soon as he came in . . .” She paused. “He said, ‘I know you have a security camera in front. Do you have them here, too?’ Looking around, he asked, ‘So you can watch the kitties from inside?’ I knew the question was bizarre, but I answered him, anyway. I told him no, we didn’t.”

My stomach clenched—I wished she had lied to him. It might have scared him away if he thought he was on video.

“I knew right away I’d made the biggest mistake. His face changed completely. His eyes turned black—that might sound crazy, but they did. He went from being so friendly to looking like a monster. He told me to get Hayley. I said no. He pulled out a hypodermic needle, held it to my neck. ‘If you don’t get her, she’ll find your dead body out here. And when she finds it, I’ll do the same to her.’?”

I felt horror, wondering how close her experience was to what had happened to Eloise.

“He kept talking,” Iris went on. He said, ‘You’re perfect. Two perfect sisters, exactly what I need. AB negative—did you know there’s a registry? You’re both in the database. Now, be good and get Hayley.’?”

“And you did?” I asked.

Now it was as if Iris was in a trance. She recounted the rest, and I was numb, listening.

“?‘Get your sister,’ he said. ‘We’re going to do it quickly and calmly. There are rules. Rule number one: You can’t scream. Rule number two: You can’t call the police. NO POLICE. If I see or hear police, you die, she dies, and so do your parents. Everything you do from now on will make a difference, Iris. The difference will be whether you and Hayley stay alive. It’s up to you. You’re the big sister. Her life is in your hands.’

“?‘What would you do to her?’ I asked, terrified by his words and by the look in his eyes.

“?‘The same thing I did to Eloise Parrish. You probably heard about her. The girl who’s missing, down in Connecticut? It’s all over the news.’

“I’d read about Eloise online—there were reels and TikToks of Eloise with her friends; her sister, Oli; and the grandmother they lived with.

“?‘What did you do to Eloise?’ I asked.

“?‘You don’t want to find out,’ he said, still holding the needle to my neck.

“So I did what he asked. I called Hayley to come out. He immediately grabbed us both and shoved us into his blue van. He was so strong, it was scary. Hayley and I jumped on him—we fought him, knocked him down. He hit the floor hard, and while he was down there, we tried to open the van doors—but we couldn’t unlock them. There were childproof locks. Something a kidnapper would use to keep victims from escaping.

“When he got back up, he said he wouldn’t forget that we’d attacked him. He said we’d pay for it. He put zip ties on our wrists and ankles, wrapped scarves around our eyes. Hayley and I both kept screaming, trying to escape, but no one heard us. We had made him angry. I heard him jab Hayley’s arm with the needle first. Then he did the same to me. It hurt, and that was the last thing I remembered until the van stopped—something partly woke me up—the sound of the brakes, I guess. And being dragged out, lifted up, made me less groggy. I felt myself being carried up all those stairs. I wound up next to Hayley in a room with panels painted with three classical-looking girls in white gowns, with dead birds hovering overhead. I didn’t know then, but eventually I learned it was an attic.”

When Iris finished talking, I realized my hands were fists. My nails had dug into my palms. Tears were running down my cheeks. I bowed my head, thinking of Eloise. I felt Matt touch my shoulder. I squeezed my eyes tight, wanting to press the images out of my head. I stood there on the hill in Pequod, overwhelmed by grief and anger.

“Do you remember anything after that?” Matt asked Iris. “What happened in the attic? How you ended up in the woods?”

“Not yet. It’s still fuzzy. But I think it will all come back soon.” She drew in a big breath. “Let’s go.”

“To Newport?” I asked her, opening my eyes. “Home?”

Iris shook her head. “I want to go straight back to the ghost signs and do what we said we’d do before—knock on those doors until we find someone who knows what they mean. Those sibyls are the answer to where Hayley is.”

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