CHAPTER 6
“Don’t answer,” Jack snaps.
The voice comes again. Older. Louder. Everywhere.
“Jessica.”
My phone buzzes on the bed.
UNKNOWN: you don’t belong to him
Jack’s hands curl into fists. “That’s them.”
“Who are they?”
“The house,” he says. “What’s left of it.”
The walls flex. The ceiling groans.
UNKNOWN: he’s a mistake UNKNOWN: you woke a wrong thing
“I didn’t mean to,” I say, because I don’t know who else to say it to.
Jack steps in front of me.
“He’s not wrong,” the voice says. “You shouldn’t exist.”
Jack laughs. Sharp. Angry.
“You didn’t say that when I kept her safe.”
The floor drops an inch. Books spill. Glass shatters.
“Safe?” the voice echoes. “You’re the reason she’ll burn.”
The smell hits first.
Smoke.
Real this time.
The hallway fills fast. Too fast.
“Fire!” my dad yells from downstairs.
Jack grabs my wrist. Solid. Real.
“Go,” he says. “I can slow it.”
“No,” I say. “I’m not leaving you.”
His grip tightens. “Jessica.”
“I choose you,” I say. “You told me to.”
The house screams.
