The Gathering Darkness Read Online Free Page A

detached from the lower half. Pain swiftly replaced the coldness where Maggie had touched, sending shooting stabs of agony through my arm. I wasn’t crazy. Maggie had come in here purposely to scare the crap out of me, and she’d succeeded.
    “Well, if you’re sure you’re alright, I’ll let you get back to your work. I’d forgotten what I came in for anyway.” Maggie’s face was that of an innocent little old lady once again. She turned and hobbled out of the room on her cane, which a moment ago she hadn’t had.
    I sat heavily on the bed after she had gone, rubbing my arm where she’d touched, confused as hell. I grabbed the hem of Sammy’s T-shirt and looked up at her.
    “What is it, Brooke?”
    “That woman is … crazy.” Sammy looked at me as if I was the crazy one. “I’m serious, she’s … oh forget it, just don’t leave me alone in this creep pit again, you got that?”
    A look of confusion spread across her face. She nodded, as if to humor me.
    Sammy and I finished making the bed together and then went to the next room. I heard movement in the hallway, a clattering of something metal. I stretched my neck past the door frame, but saw nothing.
    Even after promising not to leave me, Sammy went down the hall to the washroom. Unable to stay in the room alone, I grabbed a pile of sheets and went to the linen closet in the hall where I had a clear view of the washroom door. I heard the clattering sound again.
    It grew closer.
    A few seconds later, someone with dark, tousled hair rounded the corner carrying paint cans and other supplies. My heart leapt to my throat. Marcus was coming this way. Nerves replaced fear. I opened the linen closet door and tried to act casual. He drew closer. The opened door created a barrier between us. Casually, as if I hadn’t seen him coming, I peeked around the door—it was inevitable, he had to pass at some point.
    He lifted his gaze from the items he carried and looked at me. His step hesitated briefly, then continued. Clearly, he hadn’t expected to see me there. My heartbeat quickened. Suddenly shy, I forgot for a moment about creepy Maggie and where I was.
    He spoke first. “Hi.”
    “Hi,” I mimicked.
    “Are you working here with Sammy?” The deep smoothness of his tone made me forget for a moment about the icy pain in my arm.
    “Yeah, I am.”
    I smiled. Marcus smiled back. Like mine, it seemed genuine, not forced. How cute he looked as he stood before me in jeans and a faded denim shirt, splattered with paint, and a white T-shirt peeking out at the neck.
    I played nervously with an end of my hair, twirling it between my fingers, unable to look directly into his eyes. How pathetic.
    “So, you’re working here too?” Of course, that was obvious. How stupid of me. I would have rolled my eyes at myself had he not been looking at me.
    He nodded, still smiling.
    “How do you like Deadwich?” he asked.
    “Deadwich’s alright. I’ve been coming here since I was little. School’s better than I thought it would be.”
    A moment of awkward silence passed.
    “Well, I’d better get this stuff put away.” By now he had relieved one hand of the paint cans he’d been carrying, setting them on the hallway floor.
    He opened a door beside the linen closet, which I hadn’t noticed before. A gust of cold, musty air rushed out, taking my breath away. I peeked in. It was dark. Marcus reached in past my shoulder and flicked on a light. Inside the door I saw a narrow staircase, twisting upward.
    An icy pulse of pain shot through my arm, making me grimace.
    “Where does that go?” I stared, wide-eyed into the stairwell.
    “It goes to the attic. We store our stuff up there.” He bent to one side and began to pick the stuff back up he’d been carrying.
    Without thinking I asked, “Do you need any help?”
    “Sure, if you want.”
    I picked up the two remaining paint cans and followed Marcus into the stairwell that led to the attic of the Ravenwyck. I had a feeling