Page 43 of Confessions of the Dead

WE KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE—ARE YOU ALONE?!?

Not only did she have no idea who sent it, but the meaning of the wordWEwasn’t lost on her. From the sink above her, a soft gurgle rolled from the pipes, and Riley let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. With two shaky thumbs, she typed out a reply. Only five words, but she had to backspace and fix typos three times before she got it right:

No, my mom is here.

Riley clicked over to the home screen and opened a browser window, typed in some random letters, and hit search. If text messages were coming in, maybe the internet was back, but the window only hung there for about ten seconds with the progressbar creeping across the screen and freezing at about the midway point before returning apage cannot be displayedmessage. Riley hit refresh and got the same thing. She was about to dial her mom when the phone dinged with another text:

LIAR. WE SAW HER AT THE DINER.

Weagain. Riley’s heart thumped, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Highlighting the phone number with her thumb, Riley copied and pasted it into Google, hoping to find out who it belonged to, but she only received another internet error.

That made no sense. If the internet was down, how was she getting text messages? Maybe those things came from a different part of the internet?

From her spot on the kitchen floor, she could see the corner of the television in the other room. Most of Vanya’s pixelated face was gone now. Internet still down for sure. She quickly typed:

She came home early. She’s right here.

Riley barely hit Send when the reply came back—

LIAR!!!

A second later—

YOU NEED TO COME OUTSIDE OR WE’RE COMING IN

Riley barely processed the words when something struck the kitchen window above her head.

33

Matt

MATT HADN’T IMAGINED THAT—someone moaned.

He thumbed the leather strap on his holster and noiselessly withdrew his service weapon. With his finger resting on the trigger guard, he held the gun at his side and listened.

The room had gone quiet.

The harsh chemicals lofting through the air were giving him a headache, making him dizzy. The cold air didn’t help. Only a few minutes ago, it was a dull throb behind his temples, but it was quickly growing worse. He’d gotten migraines in the past, and this was well on its way. Today of all days, exactly what he needed.

He tried to will it away, and heard another groan.

Faint.

Eyes open.

The bright lights felt like a smack in the face.

Matt cleared his throat. “Ger? That you?”

No reply.

This is an old building, his mind muttered.Probably just the pipes.

Then he heard it again.

Deep, guttural. Louder this time.

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