Page 97 of Beautiful Prey

He stilled as he held the spider before me. I thought I caught his hand trembling. Something in his manner changed. When I dared to catch his gaze, his eyes were bright, almost glowing. “I guess we should find a new home for it, huh?” he said softly.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll take him outside.” Emery started to move for the stairs, but I got in his way.

“Maybe…we let him roam upstairs. It’s too cold now.”

He didn’t seem annoyed by this idea, merely contemplative. “Alright. The garage then?”

I thought it over. Another idea wiggled into my brain, like someone unseen slipping a note under a door. “How about the attic?”

He nodded slowly. He started up the stairs and my heart flipped a little as I went to follow. He paused halfway when he noticed I was behind him.

I pursed my lips together. “Can I come too?” I felt like a silly child asking, but still I said, “I haven’t seen this place in so long. I guess…it would be nice to see it if only for…”

He glanced at me and I could see he was thinking it over, or rather having a private conversation in his head. I waited, expecting his refusal, then was surprised when he nodded.

“Alright.” He mumbled something but I didn’t quite catch it.

As I followed him, I imagined how the conversation with his ghosts must have gone. Him trying to convince them that it was just one time. That it didn’t matter because come tomorrow, it wouldn’t.Let me have this one slice of freedom, to look into the past before I couldn’t.

He pushed open the door and sauntered out. Cautiously, I stepped on to the landing and into the hallway between the garage and the kitchen. I couldn’t help pausing and looking over where the garage door was still wide open. Inside, I saw the truck. Beside it, on the ground, I noticed a gas can and a hose connected to the tank.

“You coming?” he said behind me.

I flinched and turned away. “Yeah.”

I didn’t let myself think about what he was doing as I continued to follow him over to the stairs leading to the second floor. I took in the house, still so dark despite the daylight as most of the windows were boarded up. Still, I could see some things in the dimness, the furniture left behind, like the dining table, the couches in the living room, chairs and a mirror. As we passed by, I almost paused again when I saw Dad’s old gin cabinet still sitting there in the dark. My hand tightened on the stair rail, telling myself to breathe as we climbed up in silence.

The second floor was as bare as the first. We slipped by my brother's room and I didn’t dare look inside, not wanting to see the emptiness.

I wasn’t surprised that Emery knew how to get to the attic; he must have scoured every corner of the house. He went for the guestroom on the left. I should have hurried to catch up but instead found myself lagging behind, my steps slowing the closer I got to my old bedroom.

I couldn’t help looking in this time. My feet refused to move as I stood in front of the doorway. My bed was still there with the empty cabinet opposite. My desk was still by the window, now bare. The full-length mirror to one side had started to collect dust and I could still see the outline of where my posters had once hung. Uncle Wes and I had rushed to get everything that mattered out of the house.

I heard the smallest creak of wood and turned my head to see Emery watching me by the guestroom door. I tore myself away from the doorway and met him at the guestroom.

Inside, it was brighter than the other rooms, and that was because the board covering the window didn’t fit the full length, leaving a small space to look outside.

I stepped over to the window and was glad that Emery didn’t stop me. I looked at the backyard, at the browning grass and piles of leaves. I could see the gravel path that went around the house and led down across the yard to a small empty fountain, then passed that, down to the river. There I saw the dock and the boathouse next to it. My dad’s boat was tucked away inside. The wide river looked darker than I remembered, a deep bluish green.

I felt Emery’s presence behind me, looking out too. I tried to ignore the heat of him at my back as my eyes scanned over to one side, seeing the woods.

The only boat was out closer to the Canadian side. Just a fisherman’s yacht. I was sure all they could see from their end was a dark, unoccupied house if they even bothered to look this way.

I turned away from the window and started for the door that was hidden behind the one to the room, a narrow door that led up to the attic. I opened it and looked into a pitch-black stairwell. I looked back at Emery with suspicion and was surprised to see him still at the window. He looked tense. He moved like a predator as he side-stepped into the shadows, keeping his body from the light while still peering out. His hand, still holding the spider, looked like it was about to clench into a fist and crush it without realizing.

I went to open my mouth, to tell him to be careful not to kill the spider, when I heard them.

Shouts coming from the back.

My heart flipped as I stiffened. Slowly, I came over to the window, then flinched again when Emery put out his arm, warning me to not get any closer lest I be seen.

Two men, a little older than me, appeared. A pair of kayakers. They passed the dock and turned onto the small shore at the end of the yard. It was surprising to see kayakers out this late in the season. Instead of wet suits or bathing suits, they wore sweaters and jeans, one wearing an orange beanie over his head, the other a black. They got their boots wet as they got out and dragged their kayaks to the shore, setting them on the grass.

I glanced at Emery whose vision was focused on the men below. I could only wonder what he was thinking. I gazed back at the men who now stood close to the shore, looking up at the house, one saying something to the other but the words muffled. My throat tightened as my anxiety rose. If I got closer to the window, if I just bashed my hands along the part of the glass that was visible and screamed, they might look up in time and maybe see…

I didn’t move. I stood by Emery and watched them for a solid minute as they talked. One pulled out his phone and took a picture.

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