Devil in the Details

Chapter Twenty Five

Evelyn took a deep breath and released it a little at a time. Her cereal bowl clinked as she set it in the kitchen sink. Her anxiety was up, though she imagined it had been since she found out Walker had escaped. It had been three days. Three days since he had killed the two sheriff's deputies. She could hardly sleep, the feeling in the pit of her stomach growing. At first, she had believed his escape was what she had felt, but the feeling hadn't gone away. Instead, the sense of dread only grew. Something was still coming. It was coming and it would not be stopped, would not be slowed down. She had a sense that this event was unmovable. She would not be able to stop it. Going to the fridge, she got yet another bottle of water.

Outside, the snow was falling. The cold had worked its way into Garret Falls and now winter was coming. As far as most of the citizens were concerned, winter was there. Evelyn rubbed at her burning eyes and leaned all her weight on the counter. There was no denying she was tired. She was beyond exhausted. Out of the corner of her eye, something moved across the windows that faced the back porch. She realized, though she didn't look at it dead on, that it was the form of a person.

Evelyn crouched down, looking around the butcher block. She couldn't see anything now. She slipped forward and looked outside. There was no light on in the back, just the full moon. It was enough, with the thin layer of snow on the ground. It reflected the moonlight enough to see there were no footprints there. She sighed and sat down the rest of the way, crossing her legs. She rested her elbows on her knees and wondered if she should call Diana.

Diana was in the next town over, looking into several tips where they thought they'd seen Benjamin Walker sneaking around. James didn't think they were real. Sighing, Evelyn pulled herself up off of the cold kitchen tile. It was possible what she had seen was another vision- a spirit asking for help. It was also possible it was a hallucination brought on by a lack of sleep. She was hoping for the latter.

Padding across the floor, Evelyn paused. The feeling in her stomach was stronger now than it ever had been. Goosebumps raced up her arms. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. This time, she didn't see the spirit out of the corner of her eye. She was looking dead at it when it moved across the living room. It was certainly a spirit, its legs not completely formed. She sucked in a breath and tried to repress the shudder as it went down her spine. Evelyn licked her lips. In the silence, she heard something she never hoped to hear. Her doorknob shifted and rattled. She stilled, listening.

It occurred to her in a breath that if she were hearing the door; she was in trouble. From where she stood in the dining room, she'd be seen right away. Her phone, weapon, and radio were all in her room. She leapt to the side without a sound, crouching beside the buffet there. She held her breath and listened to every sound around her. Her senses seemed heightened by the adrenaline pumping through her body. She could hear the drip of the leaky faucet in the half bath beneath the stairs. She could even hear the tick, tick, ticking of the clock Diana's grandmother had passed down. Evelyn felt like she could even hear the blood in her veins rushing through her body.

She swallowed. Her throat hurt. It was dry and her tongue felt like it filled her entire mouth. Then it happened. The door creaked open. There was no jingle of keys, no light turning on. She didn't hear any of the usual sounds Diana made when she came home, and she still had hours to go. There was a thump and then stillness. It sounded like someone had walked into the coffee table. Evelyn licked her lips, listening for more sounds. She was thinking she had imagined the whole thing when she heard movement again. This time it was a gentle creak of a floorboard- she guessed the bottom step. It drove Diana insane.

Every muscle in her body was tense as she leaned forward and peered around the doorway. Her fingers gripped the door frame tightly, stabilizing her. She had put a nightlight in the hallway, outside the guest room. It wasn't much, but it was enough that she could see the silhouette of someone climbing the stairs one at a time. Her grip tightened even more. This person was tall and broad shouldered, probably a man. Her heart pounded in her chest, banging into her rib cage. She heard the door to the guest room open first. There was silence.