They reached the gates and stood there, staring at them as though electricity ran through each iron bar. On the backside of one of the brick pillars to the right of the gate was a covered box with a button inside it.
“Press it,” Jess said.
The others watched as Gage reached for the button. Why did he feel as though it really would electrify him if his finger made contact?
He paused.
“See?” Bryan said. “It won’t let us leave.”
Allison was nodding in agreement, her arms drawn up against her chest.
“It’s not going to bite us,” Gage said. “Relax.”
“So, press it then!” Bryan insisted.
Gage stared at the small and silver button covered by an aluminum overhang.
It was just a button. Not a keypad like he’d expected. Nothing with a combination to try and figure out.
Press the damn thing already!
He tried not to think of the house or Riley or anything else for that matter. His finger reached just a little closer.
Almost there.
Allison shoved him aside.
“What the hell, Allison?” Gage snapped.
Ignoring him, she stepped forward and pressed the button. Mashed it several times to be exact. They all looked at her, with shock or adoration, Gage wasn’t sure. Maybe a little of both.
Who knew the girl had it in her? Sure, she was prone to outbursts now and then, but usually nothing involving going up against the house.
But the gates didn’t open. No electric current. Just
nothing
. The gate stood before them. Closed.
Gage jabbed the button himself this time. No sound of anything mechanical clicking into place as it prepared to open the gates, only the persistent choir of nighttime crickets and bullfrogs.
Bryan tried his luck next, followed by Jess. No dice.
“I told you,” Allison said. “The house isn’t going to let us leave.”
Anger began to boil inside Gage. “To hell with that.” He gripped the gates and tugged. When they gates didn’t budge, he tried pushing them. Going over the top was of no use—the bars were all vertical—nothing to get a leg up on.
He stepped back. “Maybe it’s just broken. Or Brandt’s done something to it from inside the house.” He eyed the gate and the surrounding wall. “We’ll go around.”
“In the woods?” Jess asked. “At night? I don’t think so.”
No one else spoke, which probably meant they were agreeing with her. Even Gage had to admit he wasn’t fond of the idea.
That’s stupid! Think of what’s inside that house and then grow some stones, chicken shit.
But he knew he couldn’t leave. If Jess wouldn’t go with him, he wouldn’t leave her behind. Not even to go find help. Who knew how long it would take to find someone? If they thought Riley would be pissed once they freed the twins, how mad would he be if one or even two of them got out and left the others behind? What would he do then?
No. They had to stay together.
“Dude, as bad as it is, we don’t have a choice,” Bryan said. “We’ve got to go back. Just get this over with.”
“It’s had us from day one, hasn’t it?” Jess asked.
Bryan shook his head. “Meaning?”
“She means,” Allison interrupted, “That the house got inside our heads from the first day we stepped foot in the place. We let it. We were either all open to it, or instantly afraid of it. Either way, Siler House played us. It played us against ourselves and our weaknesses.”
“The bond we share,” Jess said, taking Gage’s hand into hers. “It’s using that, too, isn’t it?
Allison nodded. “It’ll hurt any one of us if it thinks another won’t do as it wants.”
Gage glanced at Jess and gave her hand a little squeeze. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. House or Riley be damned, he wouldn’t. He’d figure something out.
Allison smiled as though reading his thoughts. “But it’s bigger than the two of you. It’s bound the four of us. I don’t know how I know, but if something happens to one of us, it’ll make the others weaker. At least, that’s how the priests broke the demons inside me. One by one.”
Bryan frowned. “You mean, divided, our abilities are weakened somehow?”
She nodded. At one time, he’d have blown off Allison’s words. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her; it was just that everything had always sounded over the top with her.
Gage sighed heavily and nodded.
He turned and looked up at the house. It sat against a steel-grey sky. Looking at it was like seeing something different for the first time. Something evil like some dark, growing cancer. For once, he thought Allison’s take on the house was an understatement, or maybe that’s because she was trying so hard to reel in the crazy. But even he could see that the place wasn’t just brick and mortar. The house really had fooled them all. It was a living, breathing entity of its own. It didn’t matter if it’d become that way the day Riley came to live here or if it had evolved into a monster since then.
“It’s like it’s watching us,” Jess said as they walked away from the gates.
Gage looked up at the windows. They’d left enough lights on, but he didn’t believe any amount of lighting could chase out the darkness that walked the halls within Siler House.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“Screw it. I say we take care of Gracie and Emma first,” Gage said as they headed back.
What?
Jess stared at him, incredulous.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” he went on. “If this doesn’t go down the way we want, we won’t have time to cross over the girls.”
He had that determined look on his face, the one that said his mind was set. He also looked mad. She’d never seen him like this before.
“Besides,” Gage went on. “It’ll piss off Riley, and right now, that’s fine with me. It might even work in our favor.”
Jess frowned. “You
want
to piss off Riley? Are you nuts?”
Gage picked up the pace as he headed for the back lawn instead of the front door. “I refuse to let that little prick have us run around as if our heads have been handed to us. If we’re not thinking clearly, Riley and Siler House will have the upper hand.”
“So, how’s getting Riley angry going to help?” Bryan wanted to know.
“We turn the tables. If he’s angry,
he’s
the one not thinking clearly,” Gage replied.
Bryan laughed. “Yeah. And when he’s flinging knives or taking over one of us, what are
we
going to do?”
Gage stopped once they reached the oak, his face tight and eyes dark. “You think it’s going to get any easier once we’ve pulled Riley through? It’s not. And right now, he and this fucking house have us running scared. You think he’s not going to pull out all the tricks? You think he’s going to follow all those baby-game monster rules you had when you were a kid? That if we don’t stick a leg or arm out of the covers the monster under the bed has some code of ethics where they won’t eat us alive? I’ve got news for you, guys. Pissed or not, he’s coming after us. And he’s not going to play fair.”
Like the others, Jess stared at him. She considered what he’d said and had to admit he had a point. They needed an advantage. But what? “If we put Gracie and Emma to rest now, we lose any chance they’d help us with Riley.”
Gage let out a small laugh. “Sweetheart, if they could do something to stop Riley, I’d bet they’d have done it by now.”
That was true, too.
“I say we go dig up some bones,” Gage said.
Bryan sighed deeply. “When?”
Without so much of a pause, he replied, “Tonight. Now.”
“
Now?
” Jess nearly shouted in protest. “No way, Gage! No. We’re
not
going in there.” She expected a reaction, some wisecrack, some angry retort. But Gage simply looked at her, unwavering, determined. The thought of stepping foot back into those woods, going back to the spot where Riley had killed the girls was too much. She drew her arms up against herself. “No, Gage. Just…
no
. Especially in the dark. Not a chance.”
Gage shrugged. “You don’t have to, then. Stay here with Allison. Bryan and I will go. Just tell me where to look.”
“Gage, that’s impossible!” Bryan said. “How are we supposed to find the same spot? We need Jess to show us.”
All eyes turned to her. They were asking too much on this one. Her mind scrambled to find some excuse. If she didn’t, Gage and Bryan were going to do it, anyway. She didn’t like the idea of them out there, either. “Guys, I can’t.
We
can’t! It’s dark. We don’t have a shovel or even a flashlight.”
“It’s the only way, isn’t it?” Allison said in that resolved, trance-like voice she got into now and then that set Jess’s bones on ice. “I don’t like it either, but what choice do we have? The sooner we do this, the better.”
“Why can’t we do this in the morning? We’ll find some other way to get him angry,” Jess protested. Great. Three against one. There was no winning this one, no matter how she tried. She’d thought Allison would be on her side, but now, Allison just looked…
defeated
.
Bryan leaned one shoulder against the oak tree and closed his eyes. “Jess, you know Gage is right.”
Gage nodded. “Besides, even if we could wait, we’re burying a kid’s skull…in the cemetery, which is sectioned off with a padlocked iron fence. Brandt might be getting a little weird on us, and the dude’s all about the experiment, but I don’t think he’s going to stand by and let us dig up Gracie or Emma’s grave tomorrow.”
“I’ll go fetch the shovel.” Bryan shoved off from the tree. “I noticed a couple of them just by the side of the house. They must belong to the renovation crew.”
Gage leaned in and kissed the top of Jess’s head. “Stay here with Allison. We’ll get the shovel and some flashlights and be right back.”
He and Bryan set off across the lawn. Jess opened her mouth to complain, but to what end? The others were set on doing it now, and eventually it had to be done.
Jess wanted to tell him to not go. Instead, she called after him, “Be careful. Don’t get caught.”
By anyone.
Or anything.
He turned, walking backward. “Never,” Gage said as he offered that devastating grin of his before turning once more and walking off toward the house.
Jess stared after him, never realizing until now just how large Siler House truly was.
Allison stood next to her. “How’s he going to get the flashlights with Dr. Brandt in the house?”
“No idea. But he’ll be right back with them. They’ll be okay.”
She hoped.
“It’s getting more dangerous.” A small breeze blew wisps of hair across Allison’s face, but she didn’t seem to notice. “For all of us. It wasn’t Brandt or some faulty switch that stopped us at the gate. It was the house.” She turned her head in Jess’s direction. “It watches us. It’s watching now.”
Jess stared up at the house, taking it in. It was bleak and cold against the night sky, void of color.
You see what it wants you to see.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. Just days ago, Jess would have argued Allison’s point. Not tonight. Not ever again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
After what seemed like an eternity, Jess heard Gage and Bryan’s voices. Gage flicked a flashlight on and off, letting them know they were okay. She and Allison had been sitting quietly at the oak’s base, neither talking much.
Relieved that they’d returned, Jess got to her feet as they approached. “I see you didn’t have any problems getting the flashlights.”
Gage shook his head. “None. Brandt wasn’t in his room. The door wasn’t even closed.”
“Where was he?” Allison asked.
“We don’t know.” Bryan shrugged. “We never saw him. We just got in, grabbed the flashlights and took off.”
Gage turned to her. “Want to give us some direction?”
Jess let out a long sigh. They’d be forever if they went in by themselves. Or at least, longer than Jess was comfortable with. Who knew what else was out there.
She felt a chill despite the temperature. “I’ll show you. Just everyone stay close, all right?”
They each nodded.
Gage handed her a flashlight. “I’ll be right beside you.”
She silently chastised herself for going along with this. “This way.” She motioned for them to follow and headed for the woods, her heart pounding so hard her chest ached.
The woods looked every bit as eerie as it had when she’d last been here. Although the flashlights helped, their stark circles of light only managed to illuminate how much scarier everything looked in the dark. Shadows danced and shifted, giving Jess the illusion that whatever had been in her flashlight’s path a moment before had darted into the nearby darkness.
She stayed in the most open of areas, just as she and the girls had done. Twice, she doubted her sense of direction until finally Jess spotted a familiar, shorn tree trunk with a hollowed base in the middle of an otherwise empty path.
“Over here,” she said, taking a right. Wordlessly, everyone followed her another couple hundred yards. Jess stopped when she recognized the two small saplings whose limbs crossed the pathway in front of them like an arch.
It’s just ahead. Only a little farther.
Adrenaline coursed through her.
“Are you okay?” Gage asked, concern evident on his face. Behind him, Bryan scanned the area with his flashlight. Like Gage, he’d put on a brave face.
Jess let out a quick breath, willing her heart not to explode from fright. “Yeah. We’re almost there.”
Gage walked ahead of her, taking her slowing pace and choice of words as a sign that she wasn’t willing to lead any longer, although she wasn’t any more thrilled to have him walk into the area, either. She stayed close as he pushed onward.
“Here,” she said once they’d reached the spot. She scanned the area with her light. Leaves and twiggy debris covered the ground, but one area stood out the most—a cleared patch of upturned earth. A small, whitish item that, in this lighting could be anything—a pale leaf or a rock—protruded from the ground.
Or bone. She knew it was bone.
“There.” She wiggled the light, coming to rest on the object.