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.I felt dizzy and had to lean against the bed frame.My cell phone rang.I opened it without looking at the caller ID, my eyes still sweeping the bedroom.“Charlotte? It’s Michael.Are you okay?”“Yeah, I’m fine.” I looked over to my desk, where my laptop lay split in two pieces, as if it had been sliced in half.“My room is another story.”“I had a weird feeling, like something angry was near you.”Streaks of dirt marked the carpet and my shredded comforter was bleeding tufts of white batting.“I think you’re right.And I think it was in my room.” I looked at the window, which was wide open.No, not wide open—it was gone.“You should probably come over,” I whispered, overcome by a wave of nausea.“I think I need your help.”“I’m on my way.”I held the phone to my ear long after Michael had hung up.It felt safer that way, for some reason, as if I wasn’t exactly alone in the mangled space.I went to touch my bracelet, then realized it wasn’t there.I had left it on my nightstand that morning.I looked over.The lamp had been knocked to the floor and my clock blinked noon even though it wasn’t.The bracelet was gone.I stepped closer, and felt something beneath my shoe.It was a single Apache tear.I bent down to pick it up and saw more scattered on the floor.I stood up, relieved that at least the pieces of the bracelet were still there.The comforter could be replaced, the carpet cleaned.Maybe the computer could be repaired.But there would be no way to hide the missing window from my dad.The window frame had suffered only minimal damage.Chipped paint dotted the sides and a few splinters of wood stood out like jagged fingers.Leaning forward, I tried to get a better look at the glass below.The heavy window looked as if it was intact, somehow.What had happened? Someone—or something—had entered and exited through the gaping, square hole.But how had the window been removed so completely? And why hadn’t Trisha heard anything?Slowly, I closed my phone and placed it in my pocket.Then I left my room, careful to shut the door behind me.Downstairs, Trisha was still in the dining room.“Trisha?” Her back was to me and she was humming.“Trish?”I tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around.“Charlotte!” She removed two earbuds, and I heard a blast of bass emanating from them.“Sorry.I had my music on.”No wonder she hadn’t heard anything upstairs.“Um, have you seen Noah today?”She looked at her watch.“He’s still in school.Oh!” She smiled.“I forgot to tell you.He left me a note saying he doesn’t need a ride home today.Some AV project.”I thanked Trisha and decided to wait on the front porch for Michael to arrive.My hands were shaking, my heart pounding with relentless fear.I remembered Beth’s words from the week before, about how nothing had happened yet but we had to be prepared.Well, something had happened.And I definitely did not feel prepared.TRISHA WAS STILL HAPPILY humming when Michael’s black car drove down our street.I watched from the porch as he kept going and parked halfway down the hill.I appreciated his discretion: if Shane came home and saw an unfamiliar car parked in front of our house, he would get suspicious.I walked down the steps to meet Michael—and was surprised to see that he was not alone.“Bliss?”“Hey, Charlotte.”I looked from Michael to Bliss.“You two know each other?”“Sort of.” Michael’s gaze was fixed on my house.“Let’s go inside.We’ll fill you in.”“Sure.” After what had happened in my room, I didn’t know why seeing the two of them together should have unsettled me, but it had.As soon as we entered the foyer, though, I remembered what was waiting for us upstairs.I led the way, feeling anxious but also stronger now that I had two people with me.I opened the door to my room and let the others go in first.“Whoa,” Bliss said.“It looks like a wild animal attacked your bed.”“And computer,” Michael pointed out.“And window,” I added, stepping inside.“Mind if I take some pictures?” Bliss held up a digital camera.“Sure.” Was she working as Michael’s assistant?He was studying the window frame.“Could you get some shots of this?”Bliss immediately went over to him.He said something softly and she nodded.He knelt down to get a better look at the dirty marks lining the carpet.“Doesn’t look like footsteps,” he mused.“It’s almost as if he was dragging something.”“He?” I asked.Michael looked up.“Yes.”Bliss knelt down next to him and took a few pictures.“I’m definitely getting something.”“Getting what?” I was losing patience.“What’s going on with you two? How do you know each other?”Michael stood up, but Bliss remained where she was and continued to take pictures.It was like watching one of the investigations my family normally organized, but this time I was the distressed subject looking for assistance.“I met Bliss a couple days ago,” he said.“I ran into her on campus when you were visiting your mom.That’s why I was late.”“You were late because you were socializing?”“It’s not like that,” Bliss said.She was still on the floor but had moved closer to my bed.“He was helping me with something.” She frowned.“What were you keeping under your bed?”I froze.“No.” I got down on the floor next to Bliss and peered under the frame.My box of cameras and paranormal tools was gone.I reached around, hoping that maybe the large box had been pushed aside, but I knew deep down that it was gone.Then I checked the rest of my room.It was a futile search.“What was under there?” Bliss asked again.She pointed to the streaks.“It must have been heavy, because it looks like it was dragged across the floor.”I pushed back frustrated tears.“It was a box of investigative equipment.Thousands of dollars’ worth.”It wasn’t the monetary value of the tools that bothered me, although I knew Dad would be upset by the expensive loss [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]