Chapter 3 Whispers in The Dark

Evie suddenly woke up, heart already thumping.

The room was murky, just a weak glow leaking from the busted streetlamp outside the bookstore window. Shadows sprawled across the wood floor, twitchy and long, jerking a little when the wind rattled the glass.

Her breath came shaky, skin sticky with sweat.

A nightmare.

No. Not a nightmare. Something dug up from way back.

Bits flashed in her head, fuzzy and slipping. A woman's voice, soft but pushy. Warmth that got yanked away fast. Words she couldn't pin down, lost forever.

"You gotta keep it safe, Evie. Don't ever take it off, no matter what."

Her mom.

Evie swallowed hard, fist closing tight around the pendant.

Never took it off. Not once in her life.

Now she got why.

A floorboard groaned outside the door.

Her pulse kicked up, loud in her ears.

Nathan?

Or somebody worse?

She slid off the mattress real slow, bare feet whisper-quiet on the creaky wood. The doorknob twisted, too damn slow, like whoever was out there was feeling it out first.

Her breath caught, stuck in her throat.

The door banged open.

A big shadow filled the frame, tall, still as stone.

Evie stumbled back, heart slamming against her ribs.

The figure stepped in, dim light hitting his face.

Nathan.

Relief hit her, but it didn't stick.

Something was off. Way off.

Those sharp blue eyes of his, always cutting right through you, looked foggy, faraway. His stance, usually all tight and sure, was stiff, like a board.

He didn't blink.

Didn't say a word.

Just stood there, creepy as hell.

"Nathan?" she whispered, voice barely there.

Nothing.

Her skin crawled. This wasn't right.

Then his mouth opened, and a voice came out, not his, all wrong and cold.

"Give it to us."

Ice shot down her spine.

He lurched forward another step, and Evie half-tripped scrambling back, slamming hard into the wall.

"What's wrong with you,damn it?" she yelled out,voice cracking."Wake up already!"

He reached for her, hand slow and sure.

She didn't think, just grabbed the lamp off the crate and chucked it hard.

It smashed on his shoulder, ceramic bits flying, but he didn't even twitch.

His hand darted out, fast, too fast.

Fingers clamped her wrist, tight as a vise.

Evie yelped, yanking against him, but it was like pulling on steel.

His lips moved again, that freaky voice spilling out.

"The key's ours. You can't run."

A cold wave hit her, deep, wrong, not natural.

Something was in him.

Running him.

Her brain screamed: Break it. Now.

Her free hand shot to the pendant, squeezing tight. No clue why, just gut telling her it's all she had.

The second she gripped it, a hot jolt ran through her, sharp and alive.

Nathan jerked back, like something hauled him off.

His hold slipped.

Evie twisted free, shoved him hard with everything she had.

He staggered, body shaking like a busted machine, then gasped, big and ragged.

Those eyes snapped clear.

He dropped to his knee, clutching his head, breathing heavily, like he'd just come up from drowning.

Evie leaned against the wall, panting and trembling.

Nobody said nothing for a stretch.

Then Nathan looked up, eyes locking on hers.

Back to normal. Wide. Freaked out.

"Evie," he rasped, voice shot. "What just happened?"

Her chest heaved. "You tell me, damn it."

He shoved up, shaky, raking a hand through his hair. Grabbed the counter with the other, steadying himself.

"I don't..." He blew out a hard breath. "I don't remember a thing."

Evie swallowed, throat dry as dirt. "You came in here. You weren't you. Something talked through you, wanted my pendant."

Nathan froze up.

Then muttered a curse, low and pissed.

She watched him turn, pacing the room, all wound up tight.

"Possessed," he said under his breath.

That word hit her like a punch, fresh fear curling in her gut.

Possessed.

Like a damn puppet.

Her stomach flipped. "By who?"

Nathan let out a sharp breath, scrubbed the back of his neck. "Not who. What."

Evie's fingers dug into the pendant again, metal warm now. "What's happening to me, Nathan?"

He swung around, faced her.

"You're stuck in a war you didn't even know was real," he said, voice dark. "And you just ticked off something old as hell."

Her heart pounded, loud and fast.

The nightmare. That memory. This possession crap.

She'd thought tonight was as bad as it got.

But nah.

This was just the start.

Who, or what, just hijacked Nathan? And how's Evie tied into it?