The Haunting at Grays Harbor (The River Book 8) by Michael Richan Read Free Book Online Page A

added.
    “Let’s go check it out,” Steven said, turning to go back
upstairs.
     
    ◊
     
    They walked outside and around to the missing side of the
house. It looked odd to see it neatly sheared off, exposing the interior of the
walls, as though a giant blade had descended. Steven shuddered at the idea of
being in the room when the blade came down.
    The walls themselves didn’t contain anything but empty space
– no studs or insulation or any kind of materials they’d expect to see inside a
wall. Suddenly the lights brightened, and instead of looking like nighttime, it
was more like the middle of the day. Steven held up his hand to shield his
eyes.
    “This light thing is starting to drive me batty,” Roy said.
    “What could do something like that, take off a wall so
cleanly?” Steven asked as he walked closer to it, looking straight inside the
drawing room. He was faintly aware that he’d walked into the area the legend
shelf had shown in yellow.
    “I’m guessing the systems that run the place are screwed up
somehow,” Roy said, joining him as they stepped up into the drawing room from
the ground outside. “Either they fucked up on their own, or something from the
outside has fucked them up.”
    “The earthquake must have caused it, somehow.”
    “Probably. Things seemed to be pretty stable before that.”
    Steven turned and stepped back into the yard, and felt a
coldness pierce through him. He hadn’t felt anything like it since they’d been
in the Unser Estate above, many months ago. It sunk into him and made him feel
isolated and alone – it expanded into his arms and legs, and then his fingers,
making him shiver. He clutched at his chest.
    “Steven?” Roy asked. “What’s wrong?”
    Steven saw movement in the yard, a lone figure drifting
beyond the bushes at the far end of the landscaped area. He recognized it even
from a distance. He turned and stepped back into the house, and ran out of the
drawing room and into the hallway.
    Roy followed him, confused. “Steven?” he called.
    Steven ran to the other side of the house, not stopping until
he reached the kitchen. He heard Roy coming right behind him, calling his name.
    “Did you see her?” Steven asked as Roy rounded the corner
into the kitchen.
    “Who?” Roy asked.
    Steven grabbed at his chest, pressing his palm into it,
trying to alleviate the coldness. He winced.
    “What is happening to you?” Roy asked, walking up to him and
placing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you having a heart attack?”
    “Cold,” Steven replied. “Just like before. It’s her, I’m
telling you. I saw her out in the yard.”
    “Who?”
    “Anita,” Steven said, remembering the ghost of James Unser’s
mother, how she’d tortured him and terrorized the others when they first visited
the estate. “She was just beyond the bushes. You didn’t see her?”
    “No, I didn’t,” Roy said. “I’m going to go back and check.
Are you alright if I leave you for a second?”
    “How could she be back?” Steven wondered aloud as he dropped
to the kitchen floor, sitting with his back up against a wall. “We got rid of
her. Could the objects have brought her back?”
    “Wait here,” Roy said, walking out of the room. He returned
to the library, looking into the drawing room from the hallway, scanning the
horizon for any sign of Anita – or any other movement. He didn’t see anything
in the yard, so he walked into the drawing room itself and up to the edge of
the floor. He scanned the trees and bushes that made up the west side of the
house, looking for Anita. Nothing.
    He walked back into the hallway and to the breezeway, then
walked to the back yard, continuing his search. Everything appeared normal. He
walked to the banyan tree, past the graves. From here he could see the small pond
and the place where he, Steven, and Eliza had taken on Anita and defeated her. It
was silent.
    He walked around the other side of the house and made his way
to the front, scanning