Ghosts of Halloween: A Dark Why Choose Romance

Part 2

He moves closer, gliding through the air like he weighs nothing, and I let out a terrified squeak. He’s dead. Jack’s dead, just like Noah, and I don’t… I can’t…

He reaches out his hands, face cruel, and I stop thinking. I duck under him and sprint down the stairs, my heart in my throat. Jack laughs behind me, and I whimper from terror.

Oh, God. I need out. A way out.

My legs take me to the kitchen. I’m so scared, I barely notice anything around me, and when I hit my shin against a broken piece of furniture, there’s no pain. Only terror.

Jack’s laugh follows me, and cold sweat pours down my neck.

I crash into the kitchen door, not even slowing down. I hope to barge through, but the door seems to be made of something sturdier than old wood. I cry out and land on the floor, sobbing out of fear and helplessness.

“You all right there, angel?” comes an amused voice, and I spring to my feet, facing the doorway.

I freeze, my eyes going wide with recognition.

“Silas,” I whisper. “Caden.”

They flank the doorway, both of them looking comfortable leaning against the wall. I have an urge to ask them for help, but then I realize they are dead, too. All three of them are dead, but… they are the ones who tied me up. Who touched me.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Jack is Groomer. Silas is Butcher. And Caden is Strangler.

I stare at them, my face blushing as my insides twist, terror, embarrassment, and awe mixing into an explosive cocktail that makes my knees shake and my cunt throb.

“You… But you…”

I can’t form words. It’s too much. They are dead, yet they are here, and just moments ago, they got me off. Silas guessed I was raped. Caden had his mouth on me. And Jack…

“Long time no see, little bird,” Caden says with a predatory smile, and I hiccup. “Tell you what. If you get caught, you’ll be fucked. Don’t want that? Don’t run.”

I gasp, my throat and chest too tight, my body thrumming with the electrifying fear. I’m confused, and at the same time, everything is so real. I am hyperaware of them, of the room, of the darkness pressing in, of how alive my body feels.

Silas takes a step closer, grinning, and then readies himself to pounce. I shrink against the back door, too terrified, too aroused, too everything to figure out what’s going on.

He makes as if he’ll jump at me, his wicked grin telling me he’s just playing, but at the same time, there is something so cruel in his eyes. I shiver from fear. I never even talked to Silas. Just a few words here and there. It blows my mind that he would be the one to… That he…

“But you’re dead!” I blurt out, my voice pleading. Begging them to make sense of it for me.

He takes a step to the side, and now, there’s an opening. Silas still looks like a prowling predator, his position braced for attack. He doesn’t say anything, only laughs, and a second later, he launches himself at me.

I don’t wait for him to reach me. I burst out through the door, brushing against Caden, chased by his whoop of triumph.

“Jack, she’s running!” he calls, following me, his heavy footsteps thudding behind me.

Jack. Of course, Jack is the one I ran from first. I dash ahead, picking the path to the stairs, knowing I can’t let myself get cornered. The last I saw, he was upstairs. Where is he?

Caden’s right behind me, his breath and steps a steady threat, and I run up the stairs, panicking. I’ll have to find a room to lock myself in, and even as I make this frantic plan, I can’t shake the fresh, terrifying memory of Jack gliding to me through the air.

What if he can go through walls?

But Caden’s on my heels, and I don’t have time to think. I tear through the upstairs landing and dive for a door at the end of the hallway. It’s ajar and still on its hinges. I run inside, slam it closed, and lean back against it with a sob.

A second later, someone pounds on the door so hard, it jumps against my back with every hit, and I close my eyes, tears streaming down my face.

“You got me good and hard, little bird,” comes Caden’s raspy voice. “The harder you make me fight for this, the better it’ll be.”

I shake my head, my body thrumming in rhythm with his every word, the terror feeling like a wild thrill. Blood rushes in my ears, my palm is sweaty, my chest tight, and I almost can’t stand it. The fear is like a vicious snake in my gut, slithering and biting, and I just want this to be over. It’s too much.

I wish he would catch me already.

Caden pounds on the door again, and I still can’t cope. He’s supposed to be dead! How is this real? Is it real? Am I hallucinating from the pills?

Suddenly, there is a pair of hands on my throat, wrapping around me from behind. I jolt, trying to get free, but they hold me good and tight, cutting off my air.

The door is still at my back, as solid as ever. As I thrash and fight, trying to break free, I also grapple with the realization that Caden’s hands…

Got me through the door.

“Ready to give up, baby girl?” he asks, his voice muffled even as his hands strangle me, and I pinch his palm as hard as I can, his skin warm and alive under my fingers.

Caden curses and loosens his grip just enough for me to shake him off. I stumble further into the room, frantically looking for a place to hide, taking in the bare walls, a broken bed frame without a mattress, and a window with jagged bits of the pane sticking out.

No closet, no hiding place, no weapons.

I turn around, thrilling terror buzzing through my body. I get ready to face him. To fight him. To give in.

As the door crashes into the wall, Caden’s dark silhouette filling the doorframe, another pair of arms wraps around my chest from behind. I breathe in Jack’s scent.

“Dibs,” he says, his voice triumphant.