Free Eerie by C.M McCoy Page B

and hollowing out her stomach.
    Just let go , she heard herself think. Just let go, and let the darkness come. Why stay here when they’ve all gone? Holly is dead. Pádraig is gone. Nobody cares . . .
    Pádraig. She never called Fin by his real name . . .never called him “Pádraig.” Clenching the iron bars of the railing in tight fists, she sobbed hard, throat aching as the image of a noose flipped through her mind like a cartoon, complete with instructions on how to tie one.
    These thoughts weren’t hers—
    Subtle , she fired back at it in her head, but despair washed over her anyway.
    â€œHolly,” she sobbed, and she folded her hands, praying to God for strength but hoping for a miracle.
    Just as she squeezed her eyes shut, she felt the air grow dense. She felt him approach—the kind Envoy, the one she trusted. He chased the intruder out of her mind, and Hailey’s thoughts were once again all her own.
    The kind Envoy stood on the balcony behind her— his proximity raising the hair on her back. But she couldn’t bear to look at him. She re-gripped the iron rails, staring defiantly at the road, which looked distorted through her tears.
    â€œIs Holly okay?” she squeaked.
    â€œNo,” he said stoically.
    â€œDid you —kill her?” Her sobs broke her accusation in half.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œIs she—dead?”
    â€œYes,” he answered, again devoid of compassion.
    â€œHow do you know?”
    His silence widened the gap between them, and Hailey squeezed her eyes shut. “Did an Envoy kill her?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhy didn’t—you stop him?” she sobbed, enraged and still staring at the street, with no idea who “him” was.
    The Envoy placed his hand on her shoulder and like a blanket, hot from the dryer, it chased her shivers away. She should have shrugged him off, but instead she raised her shoulder, tilting her head until his hand brushed her face.
    â€œI could not stop him,” he said, and he slowly withdrew his hand.
    â€œCouldn’t? Or wouldn’t?” she demanded, shivering again and still refusing to look at him. She could feel him standing very still behind her, and when he didn’t answer she fired another, equally wrenching question at him.
    â€œDid she suffer?”
    Silence.
    And then he abandoned her too.
    Hailey slid to the floor and curled into a ball, resting her head against the gritty concrete as she cried and ached and seethed.
    An engine rumbled in the distance, growing steadily louder for a time, and Hailey recognized it immediately. Fin’s car screeched to a halt in front of the townhouse, causing the neighbor’s dog to go bananas. Bursting out of his Shelby, Fin sprinted toward the house, stopping midway when he heard Hailey sniffling on the balcony.
    â€œHailey!” he called to her.
    She didn’t answer. She didn’t even look.
    â€œCome and open the door, Hailey!”
    She could hear him jiggle the handle to the front door, which was right under the balcony, but she just didn’t care.
    â€œHailey!”
    Something scraped along the outer brick wall, and the next thing she knew, someone lifted her up and was carrying her inside. It smelled like Fin, but her eyes were swollen, and she couldn’t muster the energy to open them enough to see. Not that she cared.
    â€œHailey, I’m so sorry . . .” Fin was saying, but his voice faded in and out. “ . . .freezing cold . . .in the house . . .” Hailey heard, but sleep thundered through her mind and claimed her for its own.

Chapter Nine
    Hailey’s Nightmare
    â€œReality is never as bad as a nightmare, as the mental tortures we inflict on ourselves.”
    - Sammy Davis, Jr.
    Churning skies of violet greeted Hailey when she succumbed, still sobbing, to her dreams. Hailey’s soul, like all human souls did, had wandered