“Are you going to tell me what"s in that b-book? Where did it come from?” Beth said.
I held my breath and pulled down my mask, wiping my still running nose with the back of my hand. I replaced the mask before sniffing. My eyes ached.
“Later, I want to look around first,” I said. My hand rested on the doorknob of the other closed door. A part of me worried Cecil would return. The memory of the strange clearing at the back of the house came to mind – there was that too.
The hinges squeaked as the door opened. The small bathroom housed a toilet and sink. The toilet had no seat, and a trail of rust ran down the back of the sink. Water dripped at a steady pace like a ticking clock. Every drop echoed as it fell into the drain. I closed the door.
The strips of cloth were not effective, and I
