Page 24 of Nightmare Island

Something rolls under my foot on my next step, nearly sending me sprawling, my stomach lurching. I stare down to see what looks like an old bottle, its glass cloudy with age. I bend down to examine the bottle, more out of a need to do something than actual curiosity. As I straighten up, my blood runs cold.

I’m being watched. I can feel it in the shiver that zips up my spine.

“Who’s there?” I say softly, immediately regretting it.Way to announce your presence to any psycho werewolves who might be around, genius.

Silence is my only answer, but it feels… expectant. Like the whole house is holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

I take a deep inhale, needing to calm my racing heart. Okay, maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. Time to find somewhere else to?—

A loud groan of wood cuts me off, the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the main room. I freeze, my throat constricting. The darkness seems to press in around me, and after a long moment, I swear I can hear something breathing in the house.

Slowly, carefully, I creep back toward the main room. The slight creak of wood under my feet has me cringing. I reach the doorway and peer out.

Nothing.

The room remains empty, moonlight streaming in through the broken roof. The wind has picked up outside, though, thrashing the trees and whistling through the broken windows and door. That must have been what I heard. Just the wind. Just the house settling.

I let out a shaky breath, relief flooding through me.

A door slams somewhere in the house, the sound like a gunshot in the silence. I yelp, spinning around so fast I almost give myself whiplash.

“Hello?” I call out. “Look, if this is someone’s idea of a joke, it’s not funny. I’ve had a really long day, and I’m not in the mood for?—”

A hot breath rushes across the back of my neck suddenly.

I freeze.

Shaking.

Struggling to take in air.

Every muscle in my body tenses.

I’m about to pass out, my body shuddering in terror. Slowly, so slowly, I turn around.

But there’s nothing there, only darkness. Yet I swear that’s where I felt someone or something…

I turn back around, ready to leave this building, when I come face-to-face with a skull, almost glowing in the dim light.

“Boo!” he shouts.

I scream.

All logic flies out the window. It doesn’t matter that my brain is telling me it’s Ghost—my lizard brain has taken over, and it’s screaming one thing: RUN!

I bolt, nearly tripping over my own feet in my haste to get out of the building. Terror leaches into my legs, spurring me on faster than I thought possible. I run blindly, not caring where I’m going as long as it’s away from here.

Outside, the wind is blowing a blizzard, and the town blurs around me, ruins looming out of the darkness like grasping hands. The weather howls.

Fucking Ghost… Of course he’d pursue and scare me.

I chance a look behind me, trying to see if he followed me. In that moment of distraction, I nearly miss the intact building ahead of me.

Without thinking, I dart inside, drawing the door behind me without a sound. My chest heaves as I try to gasp for air, ears straining for any sound of pursuit. My hands are shaking hard, my teeth chattering.

I turn to the room, which is dark, but as my eyes adjust, I can make out the shapes of old furniture, covered in sheets that look like pale ghosts in the dim light.

Rushing forward, I leave behind the main room and try once more to find a place to hide. As the initial panic begins to fade, embarrassment and anger take its place.

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