The Guest House Hauntings Boxset by Hazel Holmes (novel books to read txt) 📕

“I saw the wreck and looked for you, but Brent—”

The only thing she could focus on was the icy clouds that formed close to his lips with every breath. “Where is he?” Sarah asked, the rush of fear returning at the mention of his name.

“It’s fine.” Dell turned around, pointing to the back of the squad car. “He’s in cuffs and not going anywhere anytime soon.”

It was hard for Sarah to see him through the tinted glass, but she was able to see the outline of his figure, those sloped shoulders and face made all the more ominous by the fact that she could only see his silhouette.

And then, like a lightning strike, Sarah remembered why Dell had left in the first place. She hopped up, grabbing hold of his arms in the same motion, her eyes growing as big as saucers. “The doctor! Did you—”

Sarah cut herself off after the expression formed on Dell’s face, and when he shook his head, all the hope she had allowed herself to feel on the way through the woods, that turning point that she was so desperate to embrace, completely shattered.

“He didn’t know how to cure her, did he?” Sarah asked, still keeping her hold on Dell’s arms, though now it was just to keep her knees from buckling.

“No,” Dell answered, looking past her toward the house. “He said that Iris cured herself.”

Sarah finally released Dell, spinning around and shuffling a few paces toward the Bell mansion high on the hill, her eyes falling on the one window in which a light flickered to life.

Dell appeared on her right-hand side, looking at her now instead of the house. “Sarah, going back up there is a gamble. If we can wait until I can get a few highway troopers up here, just so there are more witnesses, I think that’s the safest way to go.” He gestured back to the cruiser with his thumb. “We wait for them to back us up, and then we go in and find the cure.”

“You really think she’s just going to hand it over like that?” Sarah asked. “We both know that she’s been involved with whatever’s happening and has been involved for a very long time.” She shook her head. “There isn’t any amount of backup or people that are going to stop that.” She placed her hand on her left leg, squeezing it gently. “And if we bring more people into this, I think it’s only going to increase the likelihood of more casualties. We need to go inside, and we need to go in quickly.”

And as if whatever demon entity was causing all of this trouble had heard her, the pain in her leg spiked. She collapsed to the ground, clutching at the leg, eyes shut, but still able to see. The vision took her inside the house, up to the fifth floor, back into that room. Iris was there, sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in a white gown, that perfectly combed white hair flowing down her back. She looked tired and weak and disarmed.

She didn’t notice Sarah at first, but then she turned her head slowly and smiled. “Come inside, dear, and warm yourself. It’ll be over quickly.”

Sarah gasped, suddenly thrust from the vision back onto the road with Dell staring down at her, holding her hand to his chest.

“Sarah? Are you all right?” Dell asked.

A tug in her chest sucked her backward, and the last thing she saw before darkness descended upon her was Dell reaching out, his mouth opening in a scream, though she couldn’t hear anything. Not even her own screams.

75

The darkness lingered for a while, and Sarah felt as if she was floating, suspended between the world she had been taken from and whatever world she was being transported to. And then, just as quickly and mysteriously as the darkness had descended over her, it was lifted.

Sarah was back in the Bell mansion, on the fifth floor, in Allister Bell’s room. And just like she’s seen in her vision before she was pulled in, Iris sat on the bed, dressed in that white gown that ran all the way to her ankles, and matched the color of the sheets she sat on.

“I had you pegged the moment you walked into town.” Iris stared at the wall, smiling, not yet acknowledging Sarah’s presence, twirling the wooden sphere that dangled from her necklace between her fingers. “A little girl from the big city, on the run from a past that she desperately wanted to forget, looking for a place to start fresh, to start over.”

Iris turned, chuckling, and finally looked at Sarah. “I’ve been on this earth for eighty-seven years, Sarah. And I can tell you from my experience that you can never start over. You can never start fresh, because the past remains imprinted on you like dirty fingerprints that never wash off.”

“I know about the witch,” Sarah said, still keeping her distance. “I know about the others that you’ve pulled into this mess, but it’s all over.” She swallowed, the confidence she’d felt before waning. “The police know, and they’re on their way. It’s over, Iris. You’ve lost.”

Iris stood and walked to the end of the bed. She dropped her gaze to Sarah’s leg and then smiled. “I’m sure it’s spread to most of your body by now.” She squinted, frowning. “I’m sure the voices have told you all sorts of things.” She raised her eyebrows. “That feeling never goes away, though some of the scars remain.” Iris lifted the hem of her gown, exposing scars in the same shape of the pattern of scales that were currently consuming Sarah’s leg.

Sarah shook her head. “Why? I saw what happened with your family. I know all of the Bells have died. So why are you helping that thing kill people? How can you just lead someone to slaughter?”

“Because she made a deal with