The Messenger

46

Amanda obeyed the man with the gun. He turned the light on, and she saw Rebecca, bound and gagged, lying awkwardly on the floor. Her face was scraped and she was bleeding from a cut on her chin. Seeing her cousin mistreated, knowing this man had shot Tyler, seeing Tyler’s blood on his hands and clothing-all combined to make Amanda feel suddenly more angry than afraid.

Rebecca, pale and wide eyed, looked relieved to see Amanda until she saw the man just behind her. Amanda hurried to her cousin and tried to move her to a more comfortable position. With some effort, she managed to help her sit up. Rebecca seemed woozy. She leaned against Amanda.

“What did you do to her?” Amanda asked.

“Shut up!” he said.

Rebecca made a little screeching sound behind her gag, but she wasn’t looking at either Amanda or the man with the gun. When Amanda followed the direction of Rebecca’s gaze, she saw her aunt and uncle hovering nearby.

“Shut up, I said!” their captor repeated.

“Are you the one called Evan, or are you Daniel?”

He was shocked to hear her mention their names.

“You told your names to Brad, remember? Uncle Jordan and Aunt Cynthia, is this Daniel?”

“You aren’t fooling me with that old ‘someone is behind you’ stunt,” he said.

But behind him, the ghosts were shaking their heads. Rebecca cowered against her.

“Evan it is, then,” Amanda said.

“Look, you, I don’t know what kind of trick you’re trying to pull on me, but I told you-”

She saw his uncertainty, his fear, and decided to keep him off balance. “Are your parents living, Evan?”

Evan was so taken aback by this question, he answered, “No. Dead for years.”

“Well, if their ghosts suddenly appeared in this room, wouldn’t you screech?”

“Leave them out of this. You don’t know a thing about them!”

“True, although I’m sure they’re both very disappointed in you, wherever they are. The point is, the ghosts of Rebecca’s parents are right here, right now. Just behind you.”

He glanced nervously in the direction of Rebecca’s gaze and took a step sideways.

The ghosts seemed suddenly distracted and turned their heads as if they had heard a noise. They disappeared.

Amanda felt a little of her confidence go with them.

A moment later, though, she heard noises downstairs.

Evan heard them, too, and stepped into the hall and shut the light off. While he was distracted, she used her free hand to reach for Tyler’s cell phone and, without holding it up to her face, pressed redial.

Evan heard the sound of Alex’s voice answering hello on the other end, though, and turned back toward Amanda in a fury, snatching the phone from her and ending the call. He stepped back, then threw it hard at her, and although she tried to shield her face, it clipped her near the eye, then it slid under the bed, out of reach.

One of the stairs creaked.

Evan stepped out into the hallway, gun held nervously before him. He started to walk toward the stairway. Amanda gently left Rebecca’s side, ignoring her soft sounds of panic. She looked for something to use as a weapon and saw a large vase filled with dried flowers on top of the dresser. Taking hold of it, she crept out of the bedroom.

Evan was just ahead of her, standing at the top of the stairs. If she aimed it just right…

Amanda heard a low growl.

“Shade, no, he’s got a gun!” she shouted, throwing the vase at Evan, which clipped him on the side of the head before it shattered somewhere below.

She turned on the hall light, hoping to help the dog see the gun.

But Evan was already firing at the dog. Shade kept coming. Evan turned the gun on Amanda.

Shade leaped, knocking him to the floor, then, moving between her and Evan, stood bristling, growling at him.

Evan hurriedly came to his feet. He raised the gun again.

Shade leaped again and sank his fangs into Evan’s throat.

The man burst into flames. His body, his arms, his legs, his face-all afire. His mouth opened as if to scream, and then he vanished.

Amanda stood frozen in shock.

The stairs showed no sign of burning. There were no ashes anywhere. Had she really seen…? Yes, there was Shade.

Shade looked up at her. For a brief moment she wondered if he was going to attack her next, but there was nothing fierce in his gaze. He sat calmly, as if he knew she was not ready to be approached.

“Don’t think me ungrateful,” she said, hearing her voice tremble, “but that scared the hell out of me.”