Page 62 of Shiver

Riley paid for the room and accepted the key she offered. They followed her up the stairs to a quaint room on the third floor, decorated with too many flowers and way too much pink. “I have a cat whose been stuck in the car for days,” Devra started.

“There’s a greenhouse out back. You can let him roam in there.” Mrs. Hutchinson’s lips drew tight as if pulled by an imaginary string. “It’s perfectly safe, no predators or man-eating plants, probably just an extra-large rodent or two to keep him company.”

Devra arched a brow and shuffled uncomfortably under the woman’s narrow gaze.

“We would really appreciate that,” Riley said, giving Devra a nod before following the woman back downstairs to unload their bags and get Felix settled in the greenhouse.

Devra parted the lace curtains and stared down at the street below as she tried to relax the tension in her shoulders. From the outside, Rosemont, Washington, was the perfect Americana small town, where everyone knew one another and nothing bad ever happened. But it had. And she had a terrible feeling that now that she was back, it was about to happen again.

She watched the wind kick up and give the tall pines a good shake. Black clouds raced across the sun darkening the sky. A chill raised the hair on her arms. Riley stepped behind her and placed his arms around her waist. She leaned back against his chest and sighed.

“Come on, let’s lie down,” he whispered.

She nodded and followed him to the bed.

He stretched out on his stomach and then turned to look at her. “Do you trust me, Devra?”

She looked into his eyes and saw how open he was to her, how much he wanted to believe. “Yes,” she said softly. “I trust you. I trust you with my life.”It’s my heart I’m not so sure about.

“Any more secrets?”

She stared at him. “There are so many things… I’ve been afraid for so long.”

He pulled her next to him and within minutes she drifted asleep with his warm smell offering a comfort she knew was only temporary. Secrets? There were so many.

* * *

He walked slowlythrough the woods, following a narrow path that looked as if the forest had almost succeeded in reclaiming it into its fold. He stepped around a massive tree and the house came into view. It was a small house badly in need of repairs. The siding had come off in places and several of the windows were boarded up or broken where the boards were missing.

He was humming, a familiar tune that nagged the back of her mind. An overwhelming sense of fear flooded through her. It entered her mouth, her ears, her lungs. She couldn’t breathe.

Please, don’t go near the house!

She tried to run, but couldn’t. The tune danced across her mind. A sick, torturous melody—somehow distorted, somehow wrong.

The boards had been removed from the front door. He reached out his hand and turned the knob.

“No!” her mind screamed.

The door swung open.

She saw the room as it was before—hardwood floors gleaming, a round rug that she knew would feel rough beneath her hands and knees. Her vision blurred and suddenly she could see him placing daisies in a dirty glass on a warped table. The rug was gone, the floor splintered and beyond repair.

“Daisies for my Devy,” he whispered.

Her throat tightened. He picked up the glass with the flowers and turned toward the kitchen. As he walked, she thought she saw him stepping in something on the floor. What was it?

Pain erupted in her chest. It hurt. She wanted to cry, to scream.

Blood. There was so much blood.

Mama!

A strangled cryerupted from Devra’s throat. She sat straight up, coughing, unable to catch her breath.

“Devra, what is it? What’s wrong?”

She turned to Riley, unable to comprehend the horror of her dream or the certain knowledge that it was more: a premonition, a memory?

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