Page 63 of Black Curtain

He sat up, propping his upper body up on his arms and hands.

I watched him look at Dalejem, then at Jax, then back at me.

“It’s this fuckinghouse,”Black growled, louder. “Thishouseis the reason we’re sight-blind. That sick vampire fuck did something to it.”

Dalejem nodded, his eyes as hard, as rage-filled as Black’s.

“Yes.” Jem pointed at his head, then around at the walls. “YES,” he repeated, emphatic.

It struck me, looking at him, that Dalejem was having trouble speaking.

“That’swhat’s wrong with this place,” Dex muttered.“That’sit. Okay. Okay.”

He looked at all of us when we looked at him.

He motioned around like Jem had.

“Ifeltthat,” he said. “I felt something wrong here. I felt it. There is evil here.”

I shivered at Dex’s words.

They felt true.

“That’s notallthat’s wrong with this house,” Jax said, looking at Dexter. “You are right, my brothers… but that is not all of it.”

I saw Dex look at Jax, eyes sharp. Dalejem looked at him, too.

So did I. So did Kiko. So did Nick.

So did Black.

Thinking about their words, looking around at the dark walls, the fading, old-fashioned wallpaper, the sun-damaged and dusty paintings of people who struck me as vaguely familiar, though I knew none of their exact faces… I felt the same thing.

I felt what Jax meant.

I felt what Dex felt.

There was something wrong with this house.

Something more than whatever sight-restraint field Brick put over it. Something more than the fact that we’d been left here high on seer space cakes, all of us kidnapped out of the resort in New Mexico and left for reasons that made absolutely no sense.

Something more than Brick telling us this was his childhood home.

Somethingbadhad happened here.

My mind tilted, trying to comprehend it, to make sense of what I felt.

In the end, I could only process the feeling one way.

This house wasn’t right.

This house was fucking evil, like Dex said.

10

ORGANIZED CHAOS

“Calm the fuck down!” Dalejem’s voice rose over all of ours. “Everyone needs to just take a breath… stop talking! STOP TALKING!”

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