The Gathering Darkness Read Online Free Page B

I wasn’t going to like it there.
    The stairs creaked loudly under our weight. I cringed at the sound and stayed close behind Marcus. How totally absurd this was—especially after my recent ordeal with Maggie. If Sammy had asked me to follow her up here, I would have told her she was crazy. But as if I couldn’t help myself, here I was, following this enchanting stranger into the attic of my nightmares.
    Paint cans scraped against the narrow passage walls, knocking loose paint chips onto the stairs. I gritted my teeth together. I didn’t want to get caught exploring, especially since I was supposed to be working.
    The stairwell turned a corner halfway up, leaving the light behind. Our shadows grew long on the wall, taking menacing shapes—a product of my overactive imagination. I wanted to turn back, but something in the back of my mind pushed me forward. I looked away from the shadows and focused on the back of Marcus’ hair, which was half tucked inside his collar.
    A moment later, he came to an abrupt stop and opened a narrow door. It opened with a groan, letting another gust of dank air escape—this time colder. He flipped on a switch, which shone much welcome light down the top section of stairs.
    “Couldn’t you just leave this stuff in an empty room downstairs?” I was even more nervous now, as I looked into the attic.
    “Maggie wants us to keep it up here out of the way.”
    At the mere mention of her name, another pulse of pain shot through my arm.
    Marcus stood inside the attic looking back at me. I forced my feet to move and joined him under the dangling light bulb.
    I sat my paint cans down beside some others and turned to leave, but waited on the top step while Marcus organized some stuff—no way was I going back down there alone. I folded my arms across my stomach to try to keep warm.
    Behind Marcus, gloomy daylight filtered through endless grime-coated dormer windows. No light reached the middle of the vast attic. In fact, the space was so expansive I couldn’t see either end.
    “Doesn’t it bother you to come up here by yourself?”
    “Should it?” His eyes, as always, were serious, but a slight grin adorned his face.
    With my bravest look, I said, “Um, I guess not.”
    “Do you want to look around?” Out of character, an eyebrow rose in anticipation of my reply.
    “No.”
    His grin expanded and his eyes softened. “Come on. I’m here.”
    How gallant of him. Clearly, there was a hidden meaning in those last two words, even if he hadn’t realized it. I felt protected and compelled to follow him. For the first time he seemed almost normal, in a quiet sort of way. He also smiled a lot more than Sammy had given him credit for. I couldn’t resist his charm. Had he lured me up here? Or had I come of my own free will? I had no idea. Except now, the attic didn’t seem as threatening anymore.
    “Alright, if you can find a light switch over there.” I pointed into the darkness.
    With a half-grin, he pulled a flashlight out of his back pocket.
    We walked out of the circle of light and into the dim, natural light filtering through the dirty windows. In front of us, layers of dust blanketed everything, turning the attic into a landscape of muted gray. At first we walked in silence, side-by-side. The only sounds came from the creaky floorboards and my accelerated heartbeat.
    It was difficult to stay in the natural lighting of the dormer windows at times; there was so much junk piled in places.
    “Have you been over here before?”
    Marcus shook his head. “No, but I’ve always wanted to check it out.”
    Funny, he didn’t seem like the check-it-out type, as most boys did. And why hadn’t he and Evan ever checked it out together?
    As we walked, we started talking about school and before I’d realized it, we were in the middle—where no light reached, except for the small glow from the flashlight Marcus held.
    It was in this shadowy section in the middle of the attic, that I came upon an