Page 373 of Evil Hearts

While the vast empty space slowly revealed itself to me, I raised my gaze up to the ceiling and listened for the sound of pipes turning on. Whether it was from the heat kicking into gear after so many months of dormancy or the waterline being turned back on, I didn’t care. I just neededsometype of noise to assure me that Andy was here.

There was nothing for several long minutes. No footsteps from the floor above or shuffling in the back room. It didn’t help ease the tension of that painful knot in the slightest bit.

“Hello?” I jammed my hands into my jacket pockets. It took so much strength to pry myself free from my spot, especially when it was still difficult to make out most of the room. The idea of exploring this darkness left the hair standing on the back of my neck, so I opted for following the light trickling down from upstairs.

With any luck, I’d find Andy hustling around up there. Perhaps he didn’t hear me because he was so caught up with proving to me that the two-hour drive out here had been worth it,especiallywhen it already checked off several things I required for my business to get off the ground.

My footsteps were the only sound to shatter that silence. It did absolutely nothing to ease my nerves. The frazzled energy continued to run rogue inside my soul as I crossed the main space and started up the steps. “Andy?” I tried again. “Are you up there?”

Silence answered me.

I tightened my grip on the railing. “Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I was overjoyed with this space. It was certainly worth the journey here. Granted, it did foul my mood up a little bit to walk into muggy cold air rather than the promised warmth. I could let it slide if Andy had a valid reason for not owning up to that part of his word.

I just hoped it didn’t mean that the heat was broken. Just because I was coming into this business deal with a nice cushion didn’t mean that I wanted it all used up to ensure I didn’t freeze my ass off. I wanted to maintain that healthy amount for problems further down the line.

The sound of buzzing off in the distance was enough to leave me halting on the top step. Every single muscle in my body went tense as I listened to it continue. It took a little too long for me to realize that it was a phone. From the way it seemed to echo around me, the small device had probably been left on a wooden surface.

Gritting my teeth, I immediately pressed on with a sense of urgency in my steps. “I told her that he’s here already. There’s no reason for him not to be, not when he’s so convinced—” The rage had pulsed through my veins with so much strength, joined by the familiar mixture of impatience and raw adrenaline, that I couldn’t even process the sight that waited for me once I emerged back into the daylight.

It was the heavy smell of iron in the air that drew me to a halt first. That odor sliced through the strange haze that had consumed me, leaving my steps to slow to a full halt. I blinkeda few times as my gaze strayed around the room. I don’t know what I had expected to find on the second story, but I didn’t anticipate finding plastic tarps hanging from every single inch of wall space up here.

Even the floor was completely covered.

That should’ve been my first clue to turn right back around and haul my ass down those stairs. Yet I stood there with my mind struggling to take it all in. I couldn’t figure out where the strange odor was coming from until my eyes swung over toward the corner on my right. Only then did I finally see all the wet crimson lines painting the tarp.

Andy lay amongst it all with his entire chest air stained red and those brown eyes staring up at the ceiling. It was difficult to tell through the pool of blood that had gathered there, but I could spot little bits of silk poking up with shredded skin peeking through the massive hole. Long trails of blood carried on well past his body. There were even some lines on the tarp that looked like arterial spray while the rest didn’t look natural.

It was almost like someone had dipped their fingers into his blood and started painting various things. Messy messages glared back at me with hearts filling up the space in between them. Hearts with chillingly familiar initials inside.

His cellphone lay nearby, the screen still lit up with my number displayed on the screen.

Nausea swept through me. It struck so hard that I was helpless against the way it weakened my knees, leaving me to stumble back against the doorframe. My vision grew hazy. Every single one of my senses were left completely overwhelmed. I could do nothing more than slide down with a whimper.

Shock evolved into confusion, only to give away to an intense tsunami of utter horror.

The cell phone kept vibrating for another thirty seconds before the vibrating ceased, leaving that surreal echo to continue on around me without the source.

“Do you like it?” The voice was so soft that I almost missed it entirely. Footsteps headed in my direction with the tarp wrinkling under each one. “I wanted to give you the perfect gift…to celebrate you coming home.”

Was that what this was? Where I had seen this location as a chance to write a brand new chapter in my life — with a fresh start that I desperately needed — Ryan believed it was a sign that I was accepting his twisted love. That I waschoosing him.

Oh my God, I’m such a fucking idiot.I should’ve never accepted Andy’s location proposal.

I didn’t have to raise my gaze from those black combat boots, not when the man who had spoken left horrified chills ripping down my spine. It was the same sound that had initially left me dismissing him as a harmless love struck city boy. Only that velvet touch was misleading, like a venus trap encouraging the gorgeous butterfly to drift closer until it was stuck. “W-What did you do?” I rasped.

Ryan’s movements faltered for a moment. He seemed flustered by the fact that I wasn’t springing up into his arms and pelting him with kisses. The fact that I seemed to press myself back into the doorframe seemed to shatter the illusion he’d made for himself.

He was desperate to cling to it despite the truth.

The air shifted as a mixture of emotions tore through him. He resumed walking, each step now pulsing with a touch of rage. The heavy weight behind it all threatened that, if I didn’t play this dangerous game, then he would spiral out of control even more than he already had.

I shrank away with a whimper as the tall man stooped down before me, forcing me to take in the sight of all the blood thatcoated both his exposed skin and his black clothing. The smell of iron had become so much stronger. It was enough to leave my eyes blurry from the disgust washing through my veins.

Confusion broke out across Ryan’s face. He raised a hand with every intention of running his fingers along my jawline. Each one was covered with Andy’s blood, no doubt from when he’d decided to use it as his paint for the tarp. His movements ceased when I jerked from the sight. Those bushy eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t you like it, Ryse?” His voice was hoarse.

The way Lisa’s nickname launched off his tongue left a foul taste in my mouth.

---