Chapter 5
There was no time to think it through. Every second counted. I threw the basket off us, grabbed River, and ran for the east room, the bedroom where Grandma had lived for decades.
The moment we pushed open the door, a large hand clamped over both our mouths from behind.
“Hope, River, don’t scream. It’s me.”
The familiar voice hit us like a shockwave. Finding our father in the most dangerous moment of our lives was like drowning and catching hold of driftwood. Tears poured down our faces before we could stop them.
But Wade Callaway made no move to comfort us. His expression was all cold calculation and sharp authority.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll make this quick. Every time that thing enters a room and catches someone, it leaves. It doesn’t keep searching. That means if all three of us hide in the same room, even if one gets caught, the other two survive.”
Grandma’s words slammed back into me.
Three left.
She’d known all along that our father had snuck back. She’d already counted the extra person.
The realization hit me like a bolt of lightning.
“I know who did this to Grandma. The one responsible is right here with us. No matter how hard we try, there’s no escaping it. Dad—”
He squeezed my shoulders hard.
“Hope. I know I haven’t been much of a father all these years. I never checked in on you and your brother. This is the first time I’ve come back just to sneak a look at you two during the holidays, but you have to trust me completely. I will protect you. I promise.”
The panic that had been clawing at my chest finally eased. I nodded firmly.
He leaned in close, his voice low and deliberate.
“I’ve watched your grandma hunt. She’s old. She can’t bend down. She never searches low. You and your brother will be safest under the altar table.”
By then, Grandma had already finished searching the south room. Her footsteps were heading our way.
At Dad’s signal, I pulled River under the altar table without a second thought. A red cloth hung all the way to the floor, hiding us completely.
The room went so quiet I could hear nothing but our hammering hearts and the slow shuffle of Grandma pushing the door open.
Then the mysterious voice sighed.
Your father told you to hide under the table, but he climbed on top of the wardrobe. He’s using you two as decoys. That thing crawls along the ground.
The voice’s words dropped into the dark, cramped space beneath the altar like a block of ice.
That thing crawls along the ground.
My breath hitched. The hands holding River’s shoulders turned completely numb. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to reject the truth, trying to hold on to the desperate, pathetic hope that my father had finally come back to protect us.
But the memory of his cold, calculating eyes when he ordered us under the table flashed in my mind. He hadn’t looked like a father protecting his children. He had looked like a man baiting a trap.