Fateful Signs (Ballad of the Seer, Book Three)

Chapter 31 - House of Horrors

Something woke Duncan early in the morning. A feeling that something was wrong. He rolled over to ask Lily if she had the same feeling. But she wasn't there.

"Lily?" he called out.

No answer came.

He pulled on his jeans and slipped his feet into his Converse, not bothering with socks or a shirt. He rushed out of the tent to see if she was sitting outside. She always woke up before him. She let him sleep as long as he wanted. He had gotten used to waking up to an empty bed - or sleeping bag, as the case may be.

Even so, this dreadful feeling made him nervous. He wouldn't feel better until he laid eyes on her. The sun was barely up; the sky was a pale shade of purple, mixing with the deeper blues of night and the bright pink from the rising sun.

Lily had a habit of wandering off with her camera when they were away, but he didn't think she had brought it on this trip.

He called her name again. Again, there was no reply.

He ran down to the lakeshore, hoping she had gone for a morning swim. It wouldn't have been a safe thing to do, with no one else awake, but she had a tendency of doing things without thinking them through properly.

The lake was still and quiet when he got there. He scanned the shore as far as he could see, in case she'd gone for a walk. Nothing. The more time that passed, the closer his anxiety came to panic.

When he returned to the circle of tents, Jack was stretching outside. He was dressed in tennis shoes and basketball shorts. "You're up early." he said. He looked Duncan up and down, taking in his appearance. "Is something wrong?"

Duncan locked his hands behind his head, looking all around. He wasn't sure. It was entirely possible that Lily had just gone for a walk in the woods. Duncan scratched his head all over, adding to his mess of bedhead. "Are you just going out or just getting back?"

"Just getting back." Jack said. "I run at five every morning. Unless I'm sparring with Jason."

"Whatever," Duncan didn't care about Jack's morning routine. "Did you see Lily out there?"

"Lily? No," Jack shook his head. "Is she not here?"

Duncan didn't answer. He went back to his tent, looking for a clue. Maybe she had left a note. She did that. Sometimes.

Her pink knapsack was leaning in the corner of the tent. She couldn't have gone very far without it. That actually made Duncan feel marginally better.

"Dude, what's going on?" Jack asked when Duncan exited the tent. "Where is Lily?"

"I don't know." he yelled. He was frustrated and scared. He didn't like this. They had joked about her being Superman, but she wasn't. She wasn't invulnerable. She was soft and frail. She could be hurt and broken. And there was someone out there who wanted to do just that. He didn't know what he'd do if Maxwell had gotten his hands on her. Right out from under his nose.

-

Carefully, Lily slipped out of Sebastian's lanky arms, cringing at his touch. The scent of blood was heavy in the room. She wondered if that was real, or if she was sensing his past deeds. A psychic imprint. The blood of his innocent victims stained on him for all time.