35. Dominic

THIRTY-FIVE

DOMINIC

I wake up to a cold, empty bed.

It's fucking typical of Camryn to run away every time things get intense. A part of me contemplates tying her to the headboard so that she won't be inclined to take off when she feels guilty about our situation.

After climbing out, I take a quick shower, dressing in a pair of gray joggers and a Nirvana T-shirt before running a hand through my damp hair.

I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the oval mirror propped on the dresser beside the door. There's a bruise on my chin, and my stubble is in need of a trim, but facial hair is the least of my worries.

Aron, Gwen, and Lily swing their eyes in my direction as I enter the kitchen and draw to a halt, bouncing my gaze between them all. "Did Camryn eat already?"

Aron sports a purple bruise around his jaw and and a black eye. He scoops up more cereal. "Camryn? She's with you, isn't she?"

My body turns to stone. "She woke up before me."

Gwen exchanges a concerned glance with Lily and Aron. Cat ears hold her blue hair away from her forehead, and her freckled shoulders peek out from beneath the cut-out sleeves of her black T-shirt. She skates her eyes back in my direction, and I know even before she opens her mouth that she doesn't know where Camryn is.

"We haven't seen her," Aron says. He puts the cereal in his mouth, chewing loudly in the ensuing tense silence.

"What do you mean, you haven't seen her? Of course, you've fucking seen her." My voice is laced with barely restrained hysteria.

Aron shifts on his seat so that he faces me and then he lifts his shoulders. "It means we haven't seen her."

I rush forward and haul him up by his creased shirt. "What the fuck did you do to her?"

He laughs, shoving me back. "I haven't done anything to your girl. Fucking chill."

I glare at him. Gwen steps between us, pressing her small hand to my chest to hold me back, imploring me with her eyes to back away, but I pay her no attention as I sneer at Aron.

"Boys," she says, "this isn't helping the situation."

The grandfather clock strikes the hour somewhere in the house. Aron crosses his arms. "Why are you so quick to blame me? She could be anywhere. Maybe she took a walk."

"A walk…" I scoff, pacing and scrubbing my face. Then I turn and point at the trees visible outside the window, shouting, "You think she went for a walk in the fucking forest?"

"Stop it!" Gwen snaps. "Both of you."

We glare at each other over her head. Fuck if I'll be the first one to back down. Gwen shoves Aron back a step, and he breaks eye contact as he gives her a questioning look.

"Stop stirring problems," she says in a firm, no-nonsense tone. "We all know she didn't go for a stroll through the woods. Let's focus. When was she last seen."

"We fell asleep around midnight."

Gwen turns to face me. "Was anything out of the ordinary?"

"Camryn thought she saw someone in the bathroom. I went to explore but didn't see anyone."

"Okay," she says, dragging the words out, then turns around to face the others. "We search the house."

Aron rolls his eyes, shouldering past me while Lily rinses the bowls. Gwen runs her hands down her face and presses her fingers to her temples. "She has to be somewhere. There's a demon out there. Camryn wouldn't just leave." She turns to face me, her eyes glistening with tears. "Right?"

"Right…" My throat jumps on a swallow, and I spin around to exit the kitchen.

I can't stand still while she's missing. At least if I'm throwing open doors and searching every corner of the house, I'm doing something.

That's what I tell myself as I do a second sweep of the upstairs. But she's nowhere to be found, and panic soon sets in.

I pace back and forth in the hall. Where could she be? I look out at the trees beyond the window, unease churning my gut.

She wouldn't have entered the woods.

She wouldn't…

Right?

"Anything yet, Dominic?" Gwen asks from her spot at the bottom of the stairs, and I tear my gaze away. Before I can drive myself crazy with worry, I join her downstairs, where we check the basement and the pantry.

There's no sign of her anywhere. She's gone.

We enter the living room, and Gwen lowers onto the couch, her hands trapped between her knees as she stares at the ashes in the unlit fireplace.

"What about the surveillance? Did anyone check it?"

Gwen lifts her gaze and then shoots to her feet, snatching my phone from my pocket. I peer over her shoulder at the screen. "Check from midnight and onwards."

"There's nothing," she says, perplexed.

"There's nothing?" I ask. "She's not in the house, so she must have left."

"The camera didn't pick up on anything."

"Maybe she left out the back?"

Gwen shakes her head. "There's nothing on that one either." She hands me the phone back, and I pocket it.

"I guess we're left with two options," Aron says, walking past us. "She either exited through a window, or she's still in the house."

"Why would she climb out of the windows?" Lily asks in a small voice, perched on the armchair. She tucks a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. "It's an old build. The windows are set high. It would still be a high drop if she left through a bottom floor window."

"What else do you suggest?" I ask, throwing my arms out. "That she's in the house somewhere?"

Her shoulders lift.

Aron looks out the window. "If she's playing hide-and-seek, she's damn good at it."

"She's not in the house," Gwen says, rubbing her temples as she paces in front of me. "We would have found her."

"And we would have seen on the camera if the demon took her," Aron says as he turns over his shoulder. "Unless she willingly climbed out the window."

"Fuck!" I roar, reaching for the nearest object, a flowerpot, and hurtling it across the room. Restless energy sizzles through me. I need to break something. Fight something. Fucking do something.

Aron looks at the broken pieces and soil, then shakes his head with a chuckle. Lily leaves the room in tears, but we pay her no attention.

"Let's pray her mother doesn't return any time soon," Aron says, fighting laughter.

I look away so that I don't smash his smug face in. But he sure as fuck likes to stir the pot.

His shoulder brushes mine as he walks past, and he has the nerve to smirk at me. "I better go check that she's okay."

I flip him off. Gwen looks at me and then sits on the couch, staring straight ahead at a spot on the wall with a faraway look. "What's happening, Dominic?"

"I wish I knew."

"What if it has her?"

My jaw clenches. I can't let my thoughts drift in that direction. I'll drive myself insane with the what-ifs.

"And if it comes back. How do we stop it?"

I sit beside her and rest my elbows on my thighs, looking at her over my shoulder. Gwen's tear-filled eyes meet mine, and she slowly leans in to rest her head on my shoulder. "Please tell me we'll find her."

"We'll find her," I reply tersely. "And we will kill the fucking demon."

Just then, a sudden scream echoes through the house. We look questioningly at each other for a brief second before dashing for the doorway and crashing to a halt when we see Lily with a knife protruding from her abdomen. Lifting her terrified gaze, she stumbles forward. I catch her fall, glancing over her head at Gwen. "Where's Aron?"

She stares at me for a beat, at a loss for words, then spins around. "Aron?"

With my arm around Lily's shoulder to steady her, I grab my phone from my back pocket to phone an ambulance.

I swipe the screen as she sways into me, cursing beneath my breath at the daunting realization. "Gwen, we have a problem."

She turns around, defeated, and wipes tears from her cheeks.

"I can't make phone calls. Not even the emergency services. Something is jamming the signal."

She checks her cell, tapping the screen with frantic fingers. When she looks at me, her chin wobbles. "I'm scared."

"Whoa," Aron blurts in the doorway, holding his hands up by his sides as he stares at the knife in Lily's stomach. "What happened?"

"Where the fuck have you been?" I ask as my nerves and rage skyrocket.

"Bathroom, dude."

I narrow my eyes, which he ignores as he walks closer. "Are you going to remove the knife?"

"What if it cut through an artery?"

She sways into me while I guide her to the couch in the living room and help her lie down, swiping her matted hair away from her cheeks.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" I ask.

Her eyes slide past me to Aron, who points a finger at himself and laughs. "Me? Oh, that's fucking rich. I was taking a fucking piss when you were stabbed."

Shooting to my feet, I square up to him. "You left to see if she was okay."

Aron purses his mouth, his eyebrows knitting together. Then he chuckles, but it lacks humor. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Remember Brittany? Benny? They did it to themselves."

Gwen crouches down before Lily to inspect the wound, as her friend winces in pain.

"Maybe the demon is in you," I point out.

"Please don't fight," Gwen urges. She trains her soft gaze on Lily. "Why don't you tell us what happened."

"I don't remember," she responds, flicking her nervous gaze to Aron. "I was upset, and then the room started spinning. There was this shape—a man. I couldn't make out his face." She coughs, her face contorting in pain. "He plunged the knife into me."

I grind my teeth to dust.

"What do we do with the knife?" Aron asks, and Gwen stands up.

"We could do more damage if we remove it," she replies. "We can't stay here. And since we can't phone for an ambulance, we need to do something. I'm going to get us help." She leaves the room, and I glance at Aron before turning my worried gaze on Lily. Everything is a mess. Camryn is missing. Lily is bleeding all over the couch.

She takes my hand in hers, and I return her weak smile. She's scared—I can see it in her eyes.

Gwen returns minutes later, pale as a ghost. "The door won't open."

"What about the?—"

"The back door won't open either. I know. I already tried."

"What the hell?" I squeeze Lily's bloodied hand, then stand up and hurry past Gwen in the entryway. She shifts sideways to let me pass, but I'm already gone, running for the front door. I try the handle, but of course, it won't turn. "What the fuck?" I try to yank on it. When that doesn't work, I drive my boot into the hard surface. Once, twice, three fucking times.

How is this possible? No phone signal. No escape routes.

My gaze skates to Gwen, where she stands in the doorway. She used to have such a vibrant, no-shit attitude, but now she looks… broken.

I slowly slide my eyes back to the door. A fly crawls over the peephole.

Fuck this.

I stride past Gwen and give the back door the same treatment. Nothing works. It's the same story with the windows. None of them open. I even toss a chair at the glass, but it strikes it with a resounding thwack and falls to the floor. Ramming my fist into the glass did little good, either. Now I'm left with injured knuckles and blood on the glass, but not even a crack. Nothing.

Gwen rests her shoulder against the doorway. We stare at each other across the room. "It's useless," she says, trembling. "Camryn is missing. Wilfred's farm is the closest for miles. By the time we finally get out of here and find help for Lily…" She drifts off as her gaze drops. "It'll be too late."

"There must be something we can do." I walk back into the living room, and Gwen follows.

"Perhaps your mom will arrive back soon. She could hopefully open the door and?—"

"There's nothing wrong with the doors!" I shout, picking up a fire poker and throwing it at the nearest window. "We're being hunted, Gwen. It's trapping us here."

She wipes away tears, nodding. "I know."

"Can you not stitch her up or something."

The look she gives me is flat. "I told you last time—I'm not a nurse. I don't know how extensive her injuries are. If we remove the knife, we could do more harm than good. It's not worth the risk."

I sink my fingers into my hair and groan. When I lower my hands, I nod. "Fine…"

Gwen watches me walk closer.

"If this thing is hunting us, we need to figure out what it's doing."

Crossing her arms, she stares unseeingly at my chest. "I guess it's biding its time, feeding on our fear. Growing in strength."

"Or maybe it's playing with us. It's a demon. They kill for entertainment."

"Maybe," she says before breaking down into tears. I pull her to me and wrap my arms around her, nose buried in her hair, my eyes trained on a photograph of a smiling Camryn at graduation last year.

"She can't just vanish," Gwen sniffles.

"We'll find her. I promise."