Page 60 of Grave Possession

I take one last look around the mill, soaking up all that happened here and letting it roll through me. No longer getting snagged on every terrible thing that occurred. Crossing the dusty floor back to the doorway, I grip the handle and push it open.

The heavy wood is abruptly snatched from my grip and thrown open, a tall imposing shadow smothers out all the light. His chest heaves as he blocks my exit. The forest green of his eyes glinting beneath the mesh of the mask in the bright afternoon light. The tattoos on his hands snake up his arms, disappearing under his black t-shirt.

“Ghost,” I breathe, heart thumping in my chest as I wait with bated breath for what he’ll do. His hand shoots out, grabbing my throat and squeezing just enough to make my pulse race faster. I smile as he walks into me, aligning our bodies. Nox leans in close, and my tongue darts out to lick the mask.

“So filthy,” he drawls, and my smile only grows as liquid heat pools at my core. His other hand lifts the front of the mask before he crashes his mouth onto mine, devouring my very being, and stealing the breath from my lungs. Ghost pulls away, slides his mask back into place, and releases my throat.

“Run,” he growls.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Ghost

“Just went for a walk,” she says. Yeah, but what she neglected to mention was that she strolled directly to the mill. It wasn’t a casual walk, where she found herself coming upon it by chance. No, she purposefully left the house, walked to the mill, then went inside. I have no idea what went on in there, but when I heard her blood-curdling scream, I almost jumped out of my skin. As I started to make my way to the door, her screaming stopped as abruptly as it started. I wanted to save her from whatever was happening to her in there, but somehow I just knew she needed to be alone to find whatever she was looking for by returning to this place.

I fully intended to go to the office today, but the need to know what she would get up to while alone for the first time in almost two months was too hard to resist. I can’t imagine what possessed her to come here, of all places. She must have needed to confront her memories, and put her demons to bed. How do I know? There’s a gleam in her eye as I watch her slowly back away from me. Aconfidence in her body language, that wouldn’t be present if she was crumbling under the weight of this place. I’m confident she’s okay. It was good for her, coming back here. The smirk pulling at her luscious mouth assures me she’s not afraid anymore, or at least she’s not right now. Which works out perfectly for what I have planned. Time to replace each bad memory with a good one, just like I vowed I would months ago.

“What are you doing here?” she breathes, the vein in her neck thumping with anticipation.

“Stalking is an awfully hard habit to break, baby. Especially when I was deprived for so long.” I wince. I can’t believe I just fucking said that.

“Some say cutting off the addiction cold turkey is the best way to quit a nasty habit,” she replies, pulling her faded black band t-shirt off over her head.

“That may be true, but I have no intention of quitting you, little siren. Not now, not ever.

“Even if I’m bad for you?”

“Especially if you’re bad for me.” Oh, I want her to be so fucking bad. The image of her beneath me, being punished by my cock as my palm cracks off her ass flits through my brain, and my dick throbs. I grip myself over my jeans, eyes locking with hers as her face flushes. Her eyes flick to something over my shoulder, and when I turn to follow her gaze, she takes off, bolting towards the back door of the mill.

Unfortunately for her, that door’s been nailed shut.

She disappears into the shadows, but I wait her out, moving to stand in the centre of the massive room. The ancient machines with their long conveyors sit off to theside, dismantled from the water wheel outside when it’s not tour season. My uncle knew how to put everything back together so it worked seamlessly. He only showed me a few times how to reconstruct it, so I’ll have to hire someone to help me in the new year when it’s time to set up for the school kids again. For now, I’m in full Haunt mode. Thankfully, my uncle’s notes for all things party related are much more extensive than any notes he took for work, so booking vendors and the DJ is an easy process.

“What the fuck!” Mallory screams from the darkness at the rear of the building, and I chuckle to myself. Her escape plan has been foiled, and I can’t wait to see what she does next because of it. She never ceases to surprise me, her mind a never ending stream of intricate ideas.

Seconds turn into minutes as I wait for her to reappear, but she doesn’t. I want to go look for her. That’s what she wants though, so I don’t move a muscle. Listening intently to the silence engulfing us, waiting to pick up on any clue to her whereabouts.

Something falls, a clattering sound breaking the heavy quiet, and I make my way toward it. Steps light but deliberate, blazing a soundless path right towards her. Pulling a small flashlight from my pocket, I click it on and swiftly illuminate the area. A board lays against another on the ground, rocking up and down like a seesaw, but Mallory isn’t anywhere in sight.

There’s no way she got away from me that quickly.

The stream of light behind me wavers and then dims almost completely, cloaking the area in darkness. I whip around with my flashlight, and see Mallory’s shirthanging in front of the window next to the main doors. What the hell?

“Ow! Shit!” she whispers to herself from somewhere in the mill, and I smile.Oh, sweetheart, do you think you’ll best me that easily?

“You want to play in the dark, baby? Fine, let’s play,” I shout, the sound echoing around the area. The mill is large, with both a lower level to access the creek, and an upper one for an office and a break room. It’s not a full upper floor, more like a partial one with a mezzanine. It’s what allowed Ted’s victims to be written off as suicides—the women could’ve just as easily jumped from the second-floor balcony as been thrown off of it...always hanging from the same easily reachable rafter.

A creak sounds to my left, and I move across the room to close in on it, planting my foot on the first stair that descends down to the wheel house. Would she really try to get outside by crawling through an access door for the water wheel? Probably not.

The faintest shuffling sound catches my attention, and I spin towards it. The faint beam of my light catches the sight of her foot disappearing up the stairs into the darkness on the complete opposite side of the mill.Found you.

“Want to play hide and seek in the dark, little siren? Don’t you know that’s where the ghosts lurk? Moving through the shadows without being seen.” I taunt.

While waiting for a reply that will probably never come, I silently race across the mill. Standing at the foot of the stairs, I know she’s cornered. The thought absolutely thrills me. Slowly, I ascend the old staircase, thewood creaking and groaning beneath my weight. “Come out, come out, wherever you are, baby.” I sing-song.

Mallory’s keeping her lips sealed tight, not daring to give away her position. She knows it will irk me, shoot me from hungry to absolutely starving for her. I want to hear those little gasps of surprise, her panting breaths, and scream of frustrated defeat when I inevitably catch her.

“Mall-oryyy,” I creepily call out, the sound bouncing around the space.

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