Page 7 of Heart, Haunt, Havoc
The same two words from last night sparked in the bathroom. “Get out,” growled and snapped, accompanied by the click of teeth. That suspended eye crinkled angrily, canine and furious, before it disappeared, abandoning Colin’s reflection.
“You comin’?” Bishop hollered. Plates clinked and grease popped.
Colin left the bathroom, grabbed his laptop, and pressed his feet firmly against each stair, searing what he’d witnessed into his memory. The house strained, crumbling inward to watch him—to make himfeelwatched. Beams and walls and foundation followed his long strides through the hall like a cat following a fly.
He stepped into the kitchen, sweetly scented and stove-warmed, and ignored the many gazes peering at him from hidden places.
“The wolf,” Colin said, immediately. He watched Bishop pause, go rigid, lock up. “Have you seen it?”
“Him,” Bishop corrected. They cleared their throat and angled a spatula, sliding fluffy pancakes onto a plate. “He has masculine vibes, don’t you think?”
“So, you’ve seen him.”
“Couple times.”
“Bishop.”
“Colin,” they sighed his name, then shot him a tight glance. “Low-sugar maple syrup or blackberry jam?”
“You’ve hired me to clean your house, but I can’t properly assess the situation if issues are being kept from me.”
Bishop clenched their jaw, finally relenting. “The weird wolf-man has appeared a few times. Once on the staircase, once in my bedroom, once in a reflection on the window while I was cleaning—”
“Last night in the hallway,” Colin added, matter-of-factly. He took the plate fixed with cakes, crispy bacon, orange slices and juicy green grapes.
“I thought it was a dream. I didn’t… The wolf-man wasn’t who Isaw.”
“And who did you see?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Bishop said. They sat at the table and cut into their pancakes, stuffing their mouth with sticky pastry. “You’ve got the footage. That’ll probably help you a lot more than whatever I dream about.”
“You’d be surprised. Dreams are uniquely informative.” Colin sat across from them. He glanced at his dry pancakes and cocked his head. “Is there…?”
Bishop pushed the syrup toward him. “You never answered me,” they quipped.
He narrowed his eyes, took the bottle, and poured a generous amount over his cakes. He dragged a piece of bacon through puddled syrup and brought it to his mouth. “Where were we? Right, dreams. You’d rather not share, I’m guessing?”
“Yeah, we’ll skip that.” Bishop’s fine features twisted into an unpleasant frown. “Footage,” they prompted, gesturing to Colin’s laptop. “Can I see?”
Colin lifted an eyebrow. “Eager.”
“You would be, too.”
He opened his laptop and clicked on the archived recordings from the previous twelve hours, setting the speed to triple, then fast-forwarding until Bishop left their bedroom and walked into the hall. Colin slowed the video and turned the laptop, watching the tension drain from Bishop’s expression, replaced by something close to sadness.
They stared at their captured image. Stepping into the hallway. Reaching into the darkness.
No wolf-man stood with them. No ghost appeared. But Bishop reacted to a touch, a presence. Their body language melted into pliant familiarity, and their voice came through the speakers, weak and timid.I’m sorry.The video played through Colin’s interruption and Bishop’s awkward shuffle back to their bedroom. Colin stopped the recording.
“Unfortunately, the apparition didn’t translate on video,” Colin said. “But you certainly saw something. I did, too.”
“Certainly.” Their breath quivered, but they shielded apprehension, pain, grief, whatever they’d refused to share, and faced their breakfast. “Do you have any ideas?”
“About your house? Standard ideas, yes. Nothing concrete.”
Bishop met his eyes, waiting expectantly.
“Honestly, I think whatever we’re dealing with is attached to you, not the house. It’s sentient, obviously. Protective, maybe. I wouldn’t say nefarious if I didn’t already know it’d driven you outside in the middle of winter.” He paused, rolling the next word around in his mouth before adding, “Jealous. Envious of you, I think. Whatever it is, it’s powerful enough to evade being recorded, and brave enough to show itself to me.”
