Chapter 10.
"He was crying, and I think those boys were gonna hurt him."
Sarah spoke on the other line, her voice muffled because she was trying to keep her dad from hearing her. "You should tell your parents."
Her cousin had gone missing last Christmas, taken by a ghost inside an old treehouse, and Iden had been the one to rescue her. She had kept in touch ever since, even though Sarah lived in New York and Iden lived in Virginia. Dana promised one day they would go and visit.
"I know… but I think I'm not supposed to."
"Why?"
"I don't know. It just feels like this is… this is different."
"Could you tell where he was?"
"No. But it could be happening right now. It was dark outside, and raining."
Sarah was quiet for a moment. "Maybe if you see him again, you might see where he is, too. And then you could tell your parents."
"Not until this is over – until we find out what happened to Mora."
"Are they still fighting?"
Iden sat up, listening intently for a moment. She could just make out harsh whispered voices in the other room. "Yeah." She laid back down, putting her arm around Frankie. "I think he's alone, like me. I think I saw him for a reason."
"I wish I was closer. I could help you."
"Me too."
Iden heard a rustle outside and sat up again, her skin prickling. Frankie stirred and wiggled into her spot in the bed, going right back to snoring.
"I'll call you back," Iden said to Sarah, hanging up before her cousin could respond.
She crawled to the foot of the bed and peeked out the window at the dark yard, expecting to see some kind of monster – or a treehouse – lurking in the shadows.
But it was just a cat.
Iden unlatched the window and leaned out, watching a sleek black cat trot toward her from the trees. It was the same cat she had seen before, she was sure of it.
"Here. Come here." Iden leaned further, holding her hand out. "Here, kitty."
It was coming straight for her, its eyes glinting in the light pouring out from her bedroom. It might have seemed menacing if not for the strange instinct alive inside Iden. She thought she shouldn't be afraid, so she wasn't.
It came ever closer, slowing, its eyes locked into hers.
And then Frankie whined in her sleep and the cat turned and sprinted back into the woods.