Threatening Souls (FREE PREVIEW)

CHAPTER FOUR

Rebekah: Marywood, Florida

Not a day went by when Rebekah didn't feel like she made a huge mistake. For six weeks, she was confined to the mobile home, the only socialization she had being Holly and her parents. She wasn't allowed outside, nor were Jake and Mandy even allowed to physically see her. Frequently, she texted them, and each one stated that Holly would not allow them to see her. Jake claimed that Holly was psycho. Mandy just claimed that Holly wasn't herself.

After the display six weeks prior, Rebekah suspected that there was something else going on. She did not see the figure from the bus at all during those six weeks, convincing herself that the figure was somehow linked to Holly. Perhaps she was safer secluded from the outside world, but she did not like living in such a way.

What Holly said about her family, though, was what really got to her. "Their minds aren't their own," she had said, but every time Rebekah brought up the subject, Holly wouldn't elaborate.

It was the last day of school before Winter Break, and as a consequence Holly was absent from the mobile home. Much to Rebekah's chagrin, so were her parents, which ruled out any form of socialization for the day. Jake and Mandy rarely texted during school hours.

Rebekah's fingers hovered over her parents' contacts, and then her brothers'. If Roseway was anything like Marywood, she suspected her brothers were in school right now, and her parents...perhaps they were at work. She had to give it a try, if only to hear their voices, since neither of them had tried to contact her once.

Her mother was the one she decided to call.

Rebekah held her breath as she heard the phone dial her mother's number. For a moment, she contemplated backing out and hanging up, but before she could do so the line connected, and a soft, "Hello, Rebekah," caressed her ear.

"Mom?" Rebekah said, somewhat gleefully. "Mom, it's me."

"I know it is, honey," the sickly sweet voice said, a voice Rebekah barely registered as her mother's. "I'm so happy that you will join us soon."

Rebekah then remembered the date of her departure. It was the day after Christmas, the first Christmas she would be spending away from her family. The prospect of seeing her family again excited her, but the date was still many days away. "Why haven't you called?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"He told us not to," her mother said, and all trace of warmth was gone.

"Who told you not to?"

Another pause.

"You shouldn't have called me," her mother then said. "He will be very angry that you called."

"Mom, you're scaring me," Rebekah cried. Holly's words played in her mind over and over again. "Dad wouldn't be angry." Her dad wasn't controlling, and he loved her. He wouldn't try to keep her mom and brothers away from contacting her.

"Not your dad, sweetie," her mother said in an almost bored tone.

"Then who?" The only other ones she could think of were her brothers, but she couldn't see them doing such a thing either.

Her mother's answer sent chills down her spine: "The Master."

Then the line went dead.

~~~

Both of Holly's parents arrived home before Holly did. Aside from the brief exchange of hellos to her, the two of them mainly kept to themselves. Rebekah did not know if Holly had privately filled them in on what was happening, but if she did they gave no indication.