Experiment in Terror 09 Dust to Dust(50)

I walked right over to it and was shocked to see that it was now dark outside. In the span of an hour it had gone from eleven AM to eleven PM. That couldn’t be right. But regardless of how time was spinning, there was a little ladder hanging outside of the window. Either Michael had an escape route growing up or it was put here just for us.

I turned to say something to my mother and sister but just saw Michael leaving the room, closing it behind him. He never looked back at us.

“Mom,” I whispered, turning to her. “Call dad.”

She nodded and brought out her phone. The three of us huddled by the window while she tried to dial.

Ada was staring at me with a blank look in her eyes. “I’m dreaming, right? Totally dreams. Totes.”

My brows furrowed in sympathy. “I wish we were. All I know is this isn’t a house and you guys need to get out of here right now.”

“Damn,” my mother swore, hanging up the phone. “No service at all. No nothing. The phone doesn’t even work.”

We quickly tried Ada’s and mine but the same thing happened. They were useless electronics.

There was a polite knock at the door and a shadow spilling out from under the frame. It looked far too large to be little Michael’s. Shadowy fingers trailed down my spine.

I turned back to Ada and my mom, making sure they were looking at me. “Listen, you have to go now. I’ll hold the ladder and make sure it’s steady. But I don’t think the kid was joking when he said this was the only way out. We don’t know what’s downstairs but I know we all know it’s not of this world.” I made sure to look at my mother long and hard. “Mom, I know you see it. I know you can’t explain this away, so don’t even try.”

To my surprise her eyes started watering, from sadness or from fear I didn’t know. I had forgotten how terrifying all of this could be if you weren’t used to. Hell, I had never been in a situation like this before. Ghosts I could handle, but this was something so beyond my understanding that I didn’t even know how to combat it or if it was even possible. It was larger, and deadlier, than anything I’d known.

She sniffed and it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen my mother cry in a long time. With a thin, shaking hand she wiped away a tear and said. “I’m sorry, Perry. For everything.”

Oh, and now she was going to make me cry. Of all moments, she was choosing this one.

“Mom, it’s okay,” I said, my eyes imploring her to stay calm and focused. “I just need you to leave and go find dad. Bring help, bring someone, but you have to get out of here and now.”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you,” she said, her voice cracking, more tears spilling down her cheek. In the shadows of the room they looked like they were rivers carving out her skin. “More than that, I am so sorry I didn’t believe my mother.”

I softened, feeling a pain in my gut. Pippa.

“I wish she was here right now,” she whispered. “I would tell her so many things. I keep waiting for her to show up but she hasn’t.”

“I know,” I said gently, rubbing her back with the butt of my palm. “I do too. But I think she’s gone to a better place. It’s what she wanted and what we wanted for her.”

The knock resounded again on the door. I didn’t want to turn around and look. It was far too solid and coming from a higher place on the door for it to be Michael.

At least, not Michael as a kid.

“Guys,” Ada said. “Seriously, let’s go.”

I nodded and ushered them to the window. Ada pushed up the bottom with ease and it rose soundlessly. Even though the roped ladder was attached to two solid hooks, I still held the end while Ada climbed over the edge.

“Take care of mom, okay?” I whispered to her.

She nodded and looked down beneath her. It wasn’t a far drop and unlike the garbage cans under another window, there was nothing beneath us but the brick path between this house and the neighbours. “You’re coming right after, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “Hell yes I am. As soon as I get Dex and Maximus, we’ll be right behind you.”

Ada raised her brow, as if she didn’t believe me. Or maybe it wasn’t that, it was that it seemed impossible at this point. Then she dropped the five feet to the ground, landing on her two feet with ease.

“You’re next,” I whispered urgently to my mom.

“Perry,” she said, paused at the sill, “this doesn’t make sense. You should go next. I’ll find Dex.”

I shook my head. “This isn’t your battle mom. You shouldn’t have even been here in the first place.”