Page 16 of Shadow and Skulls

I hurl myself out the car window. “It’s not okay. Everything is not okay,” I choke.

He hurries after me. “Kelsie, calm down. Talk to me.”

Taking a deep breath, I turn to face him. “You’re right. I … it’s just that I know the necklace is important to everyone.”

“Hey.” He brushes my hair away from my face, holding my cheeks in his hands. “Accidents happen. No one is going to blame you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I pull away from him. “Maybe it’s in my car.”

“I’ll help you look.”

We spend a considerable amount of time searching, but no luck. I drop him off at the farm before heading home. My parents are both sitting at the counter when I walk in.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. I bumped into Ash after school, and I gave him a ride home.” I quickly make my way through the house as I speak.

My father’s snap echoes through the house when my foot hits the first step. “Park it.”

My shoulders fall at his order. Reluctantly, I back up and plop down beside him.

His big hand wraps over my forehead. “Charlotte said you went home sick today. Your mother didn’t get a call from the school.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, it was right before the final bell rang, so I just left without telling anyone. I’m sorry. There were only a few minutes left in the day,” I lie.

“What’s wrong with you?” my mom asks, her gaze darting between my father and me.

“Cramps,” I blurt out.

My mom bounces on her toes. “Kelsie,” she warns, looking at her husband nervously. She knows I’m lying.

“Yeah, well it came early.”

“Why are you lying to us?” she asks, not backing down. She does look to my dad for support.

When I don’t respond, he runs his big hand down the back of my hair. “You can go to your room and think about it,” he says, shaking his head sadly.

When I stand and head for the steps, he hollers after me, “I don’t want you spending any more time alone with Ash. Do you understand?”

I open my mouth to argue, but the look on his face makes me snap it shut. Giving him a little nod, I run up the stairs and slam my door shut.

The curtains suck through my open window. I storm over to it.Were my parents snooping around my room?

I’m about to slam it closed when the flicker of a small light along the dark tree line catches my attention. I place my hands on the windowsill, squinting my eyes. Something digs into my palm as I lean against the wood. I roll my hand over to find the dragonfly necklace I lost.

I jump back, pulling it to my chest. My heart beats fast and my ears begin to ring as my focus returns to the small light across the lawn. A dark figure tosses it to the ground, snuffing it out.

Is he stalking me?

My eyes pull away from him to roam over my room. My bed is rumpled as if someone was sitting on it, but other than that, nothing seems amiss. My phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out, expecting to see a message from the twins, but that’s not who it’s from.

Unknown: Make sure you remember to lock your window tonight. I would hate for someone to get in.

Slowly, my gaze goes back to the open window. My heart is beating doubly fast now. My thumb bounces over my phone as I block his number. Then I rush to the window and slam it shut, locking it as quickly as I can.

The dark figure slowly backs into the trees as I pull the curtains closed. The phone vibrates in my hand.

Swallowing hard, I glance at the screen.

Unknown: Good girl.

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