Page 1 of Be Very Quiet

Prologue

Ten Years Ago.

Something was very wrong. Liliana Lima could feel it in her bones as she neared the off-campus house she shared with her roommate, Erin Simon. She’d texted Erin an hour ago, letting her know she’d be late. Erin always left the porch light on for her, but the front was eerily dark.

Liliana had met Erin during their freshman year, and they’d been close friends ever since. Erin had inherited the charming bungalow, located near a picturesque lake, from her aunt. She had generously offered for Liliana to bunk with her and only asked her to contribute to utilities. Saving on housing costs was worth the five-minute walk to the bus stop and the ten-minute ride to campus.

Liliana had been away for over a week with the university dance squad, attending a bowl game for the football team. She’d had a great time in New Orleans but was ready to sleep in her own bed. Liliana fished out the key and started to insert it, but the door was already unlocked.

That was strange.

Erin was a stickler for always keeping the door bolted. Two women living alone in the woods could be scary sometimes, so they took security seriously.

The hair on Liliana’s neck prickled with awareness. Everything felt . . . off, like something sinister was waiting to ambush her. It took five minutes to talk herself into going inside. She needed to make sure Erin was okay.

Liliana finally twisted the handle and eased the door open. The living room was dark, with the only light coming from the hallway leading to the two bedrooms. The haunting notes of an intricate piano aria drifted toward her. Erin hated classical music.

More strangeness.

Liliana placed her bags on the ground and pulled out her phone. She dialed 911 but waited to hit the call button as she crept closer. Maybe Erin had met a man, and they were burning up the sheets. Liliana hoped that was what was happening.

The light and music were coming from Erin’s room, and her door was ajar. Liliana kept her thumb on the call button and used her fingertips to push the door wider.

She froze. Her brain couldn’t process the scene in front of her. She heard screaming and realized it was coming from her.

Erin was naked on her bed, and a man was applying makeup to her closed eyelids from a kit. Erin wasn’t moving. At all.

The man’s head snapped toward her. “What the hell?”

Liliana turned to run, but the man was on her before she could reach the front door. His body weight slammed into her and crushed her to the carpet. She fought and struggled, but he was bigger and stronger. He manacled her hands together behind her back and roughly jerked her upright. It felt as if her shoulders had popped from the sockets.

“My, you’re a pretty one, aren’t you?” He fingered a lock of her long black hair and then yanked it, causing her head to snap back violently and forcing a tortured cry from her lips. “Now shut the hell up and walk,” he growled in her ear.

Tears hazed Liliana’s vision, and she couldn’t see where she was going. “W-who are you?”

“Would it be cliché to say your worst nightmare? Because, sweet thing, I am that. But you can call me The Mortician. Everyone does.”

Terror seized her muscles, and Liliana stumbled. She’d heard the news reports of the man stalking and killing women in Minnesota. He raped and strangled them. That was before he jabbed a needle in their jugular and drained all the blood from their bodies.

Liliana’s heartbeat pounded like hummingbird wings, making her lightheaded. She had to get out of there. He would kill her too.

“I’ve been watching Erin for days, and you never made an appearance. Bad timing on your part that you showed up now.”

“Y-you killed her.” They were the only words she could manage.

“No.” He dragged the word out. “I sent her to her heavenly reward. ‘There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.’”

What was he talking about? His words made no sense, but they sounded like scripture.

She didn’t have time to interpret his speech. He tried to tug her back toward Erin’s bedroom, but Liliana dug in her heels. She couldn’t go in again and see her best friend like that. Her stomach roiled, and she feared she would be sick.

“Get moving.”

Ding-dong.

The Mortician flung Liliana around and slapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a gasp. Someone was here! She’d meant to call the police but had frozen in shock when she’d spotted her roommate. She had no idea what happened to her phone.

The music stopped suddenly, and the instant silence was jarring.

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