Darkness Released (Darkness Series Book 2) Page 7

  “Why are you whispering? And whose phone number is this?” She snickered.

  “Oy. I will explain later. Listen, I need you to come and get me…I will be walking down Hollow Lane. Hurry.” Pat hung up before Hailey could ask anything else.

  She stared at her phone, confused.

  “Okay, boys. Let’s finish our ice cream in the car. We have to pick up Uncle Pat.”

  Without any further discussion, they made their way to the car as the boys licked on their ice cream.

  “Get any ice cream on my seat, and I’ll kill you.” She eyed the boys.

  Her nephews just looked at each other and laughed, knowing not to take her seriously.

  As Hailey drove down Hollow Lane, there was no chance she could miss Pat. Not with the way he was jumping up and down, waving at her and looking behind him like a serial killer was on the loose. She pulled up next to him, and before she came to a complete stop Pat was already opening the door. Once he got in and closed the door behind him, he ducked down in the front seat and said, “Drive…just drive.”

  “Okay, well, you’re coming to the cemetery with me then, because I planned on going to visit my mom’s grave for a bit.”

  Pat looked at her, confused. “Your mom?”

  “Yeah, but no changing the subject. What the hell did you do?”

  In the backseat, the boys giggled to each other. Looking in her rear view mirror at them, Hailey turned up the music and told them to listen to that, not her.

  “Oh my God,” Pat said as he slowly sat up and looked around. Once he realized they were clear of Hollow Lane, he finally sat up and got comfortable. “Talk about a date from hell…” Pat leaned in to her and whispered, “He had a boyfriend! And, get this, he showed up this morning!”

  Trying to keep herself from laughing, she said, “Well…that explains a lot. But, hey, look at it this way. It’s just another experience for you to check off your bucket list.” She winked at him.

  Pat fought back a smile as he said, “Oh, that’s just not funny. Honey, karma is going to eat you alive.”

  “Um, I do believe that’s what just happened to you…or wait, did you do the eating last night? I really have no idea how any of that works for you…”

  Punching her arm, Pat said, “Oh, shut it.”

  Though they were still smiling, as they pulled into the cemetery their laughter died down. Hailey drove as close as she could to her mother’s grave before they got out of the car.

  “Do you boys want to come, or no?” she asked. She wasn’t sure if Alex had taken them there before or not.

  “Yeah, it’s okay,” James said as he took his last bite of his ice cream cone.

  “Did I ever tell you how much graveyards creep me out?” Pat asked as they all walked together to the tombstone that rest on her mother’s grave.

  A large willow tree cast shade on the nearby graves, blocking out the summer sun. A breeze blew.

  Standing above her mother’s grave, Hailey held the necklace that dangled just above her heart. She felt grateful for what her mother had done for her, yet guilty for how she treated her memory. At the same time, she was relieved that Alex hadn’t call last night, saying the baby was born on the thirteen.

  Smiling, she whispered, “Thank you, Momma.”

  As if on que, her phone rang loudly from her back pocket. Somehow, she knew it was Alex, so she didn’t even bother to look at the ID before answering.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “Hey, sis.” Alex’s voice was filled with joy. “I think little Lilly is ready to meet her big brothers.”

  Smiling brightly, she told him that they would be right over and hung up.

  “Guess what, boys?” she said. “Your sister’s name is Lilly.”

  As the boys cheered amongst themselves and Pat talked about how what a good name Lilly was, a deep voice called to her from within the shadows.

  Chapter 15

  Looking up, she instinctively moved Mason and James behind her, telling them to run to the car. Without hesitation, they obeyed.

  Pat stood next to her, his mouth open.

  “It's not enough, Hail,” the deep, frail voice said. “It’ll never be enough…”

  Her father stood within the shade underneath the willow tree, and he wasn’t alone.

  “They won’t stop. You need to understand this…it’s you or her. I'm so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He started to cry.

  At least a dozen ghostly white hands covered him as several of the Dark Ladies crawled all over him, stopping only to glance at Hailey before scattering to the other side of his body.

  “What the…” Pat managed to get out.

  “I’m so sorry, baby…” Her father stepped closer to her, holding his hand out. The shadow surrounding him grew darker. “It’s not enough…”

  Backing up, Hailey grabbed Pat’s arm and pulled him with her. Once she felt she was at a safe distance, she turned around and ran with him.

  They jumped back in the car with Mason and James. Pat turned to her and asked, “What the hell was that?”

  “My dad,” she replied.

  “Aunt Hailey, I’m scared,” Mason said.

  “I guessed that much, Hailey,” Pat said, “I'm talking about th—”

  Hailey cut him off. “No,” she snapped as she shook her head. She nodded to the back seat. “Later.”

  Pat didn’t say anything else. So she knew he understood.

  “Oh, baby,” she said to Mason, “No, there’s nothing to be scared of. It was just some crazy old man.”

  When Mason just said, “Okay,” she was relieved that he hadn’t seen the Dark Ladies. Either that, or he just wasn’t saying anything.

  ***

  When they arrived at the hospital, Pat and Hailey put on smiles for the boys, pretending nothing had happened. Before they went into Emily’s room, Hailey leaned down and whispered to the boys.

  “Now, you have to be quiet, okay? Lilly might be sleeping but even if she’s not, babies don’t like a lot of loud noises, okay?”

  They smiled and nodded enthusiastically. When the entered the room, Emily sat in her bed holding Lilly. Though she was obviously exhausted, she still had that beautiful new mom look about her.

  “Hey,” Alex said with a smile as he knelt down, holding his arms out for his sons. The boys ran across the room, ignoring Alex, and ran to their mom’s side.

  “Well then.” Alex stood up and brushed off his knees.

  Hailey and Pat stayed by Alex as Emily introduced the boys to their baby sister. They were sharing smiles as their small hands gently rubbed Lilly’s head.

  “Glad everything turned out okay,” Hailey said.

  “Oy, I need to sit down. I’m either hungover or still drunk…who knows after the shit today.” Pat walked over and sat in the chair the hospital had, where new fathers normally sat.

  Alex looked at her questioningly, but she just waved it off. “No worries with NICU then?”

  Alex grinned from ear to ear. “Definitely not. I would have called as soon as she was born, but it was the middle of the night, and after getting some rest, Emily wanted some one-on-one time with Lilly. Can’t blame her. Lilly came out all sorts of tangled up in her cord, but thank God she’s a perfectly healthy baby.”

  “Wow, that’s scary.”

  “Yeah…tell me about it.”

  Hailey leaned in and gave her brother a hug, “Well, congrats again, Daddy.”

  “Thanks.”

  When they separated, Hailey narrowed her eyes curiously.

  “So, what time was she born? You said the middle of the night, so that leaves it wide open.” She laughed.

  “She’s one determined little girl…a lot like you, in a few ways. She was born at eleven fifty-eight last night. Apparently she wanted to be another Friday the Thirteenth baby.”

  A chill ran across her body as her chest tightened up from her heart skipping a few beats.

  Alex must have noticed, because he asked her if she was oka
y.

  “Yeah…I’m all right.” She put on her best smile.

  Thankfully, Emily beckoned Alex over, so he couldn’t ask her any more questions. She glanced over at Pat and saw him snoring as he lay in the chair.

  Alex came walking back in her direction with the boys.

  “Since they’ve already had ice cream today,” he said as he narrowed his gaze at her but smiled, “I’m going to take them down to the cafeteria for some lunch. Do you want anything?”

  “No, I’m okay, thanks. And it was all their idea,” she said.

  “No, it wasn’t,” the boys protested.

  “Yeah-huh.” Hailey laughed and rubbed Mason’s head, “I’m just kidding, kiddos.”

  “All right, we’ll be back. And Emily has a surprise for you,” Alex said before they left the room, leaving her to wonder.

  “Hailey,” Emily called for her. “Come here.”

  Walking over to the bed, Hailey was finally able to get a good look at her niece, Lilly.

  “She’s so stinking cute,” Hailey said as she sat at the foot of the bed.

  Her niece was wrapped in a pink and purple blanket, with a matching hat. She was sleeping in her mother’s arms. Her tiny arms were curled up toward her face as she sucked on a binkie.

  “Here.” Emily sat up further, slowly moving her arms out to Hailey.

  Hailey understood the gesture and held her arms out, wrapping them underneath Emily’s as Lilly was passed to her.

  “I thought you’d like to hold your new godchild, Hailey Lillian Marie.”

  Hailey’s face softened as she looked up at Emily. “Really?” she said.

  Emily just smiled and nodded. “Yeah, Alex wasn't into the two middle name thing…but the mom always gets the last say.” She winked at Hailey.

  Hailey rocked Lilly. She looked down at her niece and said, “Hi, little Hailey…”

  She knew she would be the godmother; she was for both of the boys. But having her goddaughter, and niece, named after her was something completely different.

  It felt amazing.

  As she looked at Lilly, she knew she would have to be there for her a lot. She would have to be around as much as she could, so she could take out every Dark Lady that came close to the little girl. But thankfully she had years before she had to worry about that. Maybe she would manage to get all of them before they could go after Lilly.

  Hailey smiled as determination filled her soul. She wouldn’t hide from them anymore. She wouldn’t try to avoid them.

  No, she would go after them head-on.

  Chapter 16

  Lilly’s little eyes opened, and it only took a few seconds before she started to cry.

  “Yup. I know what that means,” Hailey said as she handed Lilly back to Emily.

  “Shhh.” Emily tried to soothe Lilly as she readied her breast for feeding.

  “I’m up, I’m up,” Pat said as he rolled over in the chair.

  Once Lilly was attached and eating, Emily placed her hand on Hailey’s knee.

  “Hey,” she said. “Alex was up all night, not just with the labor, but with Lilly so I could get some rest. This isn’t his first rodeo, so I was thinking that maybe I could send him home with the boys tonight and maybe you could stay here with me?”

  Even without Emily’s hopeful and pleading smile, she would have said yes. She agreed to go back to her apartment and get herself some comfortable clothes to wear at night, and a change of clothes for the next day.

  It neared seven o’clock at night by the time Hailey made it back to the hospital, and truthfully she didn’t mind leaving Pat’s hungover ass back at the apartment. If he wasn’t sleeping, he was trying to talk about what they saw at the cemetery. And she still wasn’t ready for that conversation. Its one thing to talk about what someone sees when they’re undergoing hypnotherapy, but when that same vision became reality, she didn’t know how to explain it. She had done her best to avoid Pat, even if she felt horrible for doing so.

  As she walked back into Emily’s room, Alex walked out with the boys.

  “Moving in?” he asked as he looked at the blanket and pillow she held in one arm, and the duffle bag that hung over the other.

  “Hey. I brought the necessities…”

  With a smirk, he kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Hail.”

  “Anytime.” She smiled at him before attempting a serious look at the boys. “Now, behave for your dad, munchkins.”

  With no words, just giggles, the boys led Alex out of the room.

  Such happy kids. They were almost always laughing.

  Hailey walked over to the bed and saw Emily laying down, covered up with a single sheet. She realized she was close to falling asleep, so she didn’t sit on the bed, but instead she walked over to the hospital bassinet and peeked over it so she could get a glimpse of sleeping Lilly. Feeling satisfied that her niece was safe and comfortable, she went over and sat down in the same chair Pat had occupied earlier, and set her stuff on the floor next to her.

  “Hey,” she whispered. “Go ahead and get some sleep. If she gets hungry I’ll wake you up.”

  Emily closed her eyes and smiled. “You have to be the best sister-in-law in the world, you know.”

  “Oh, trust me…I know.”

  It didn't take long for Emily to fall asleep. As a woman who’d through labor not too long ago, and the simple fact that she’d been a mother for years, it was understandable.

  Hailey made her bed for the night in the chair. As she got comfortable, she pulled a book out of her bag and decided to read. If there was one thing that could keep her awake, it was a book. She didn’t know how many times she would keep telling herself “one more chapter,” but it was never just one more.

  Nearly an hour had passed when she heard a soft knocking on the door. Instead of yelling for them to come in, Hailey got up and opened it.

  “Fancy meeting you here.” Chad stood with a broad smile on his face.

  Smiling back, Hailey asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, I am a doctor…and I tend to know things.”

  “Yeah, right. Nice try.”

  Chad leaned up against the doorframe, his hands in his jean pockets.

  “You’re right,” he admitted. “I couldn’t reach you on your cell phone, so I figured the baby had to have been born by now and called Alex. Surprisingly, their home number was on whitepages website, otherwise I’d be lost.”

  She couldn’t be more impressed with Chad. After everything last night, and then staying around the hospital even longer so he could see her, made her heart melt. She grabbed his arm and nodded for him to come inside the room.

  “Come on. You have to see little Hailey,” she boasted.

  “Baby Hailey, huh. They must really like you to name their kid after you. I mean, of course! Who wouldn’t!”

  “Shut up.” She gently slapped his chest before guiding him over to the bassinet.

  “Can I hold her?” he asked as he stared at the sleeping beauty.

  “Yeah. Go ahead. She’ll want to eat soon, anyway. The nurses said—”

  “Every two hours,” he finished for her.

  She looked at him, questioning.

  “Pediatrician, remember?”

  “Ah, yes. How could I forget?” Hailey’s voice was filled with sarcasm.

  She watched as he picked up Lilly and gently rocked her, as he swayed side to side. If she didn’t know better, she would think he was a parent himself. But she knew it was just the pediatrician in him.

  “He was right, you know.”

  A look of confusion swept across her face and she narrowed her eyes.

  “What?”

  “Your dad…he was right.”

  A chill ran down her spine.

  “How did you—”

  “Know?”

  He looked up at her and when his eyes met hers, she no longer saw the sweet man she thought she knew. His eyes darkened. There was something more sinister behind them.

  �
��I’ve always known, Hailey.”

  “What…” She was too scared and baffled to form a complete sentence.

  “I’m always around. I’ve kept my eye on you for years, just as I did with the others ever since the deal was made. But no matter how many you trap, they will keep coming. There are more than you could ever imagine.”

  In that moment, she knew. She knew that somehow he was the deal-making demon from all those centuries ago. She never believed in anything of the sort until she’d gotten her memories back. Fear coursed through her veins. Only, her fear wasn’t for her.

  Her eyes kept moving from Chad’s to her niece, who still slept soundly in his arms.

  “Don’t worry,” he said as he laid Lilly back in the bassinet. “I won’t hurt her…not as long as I get you. I’m a man that knows how to get what he wants. Now, Hailey, you know that.”

  Though she was relieved when Lilly was back and safe in her bassinet, she didn’t move. Her eyes followed Chad as he made his way back out the door without another word. Once the door closed behind him, Lilly started to cry. Instinctively, Hailey rushed forward and picked up Lilly. Her eyes filled with tears as she kissed her baby niece.

  “Feeding time, is it?” Emily’s voice snapped Hailey back to the present.

  “Yeah,” she replied, trying to blink away tears.

  Emily got up and walked over to sit in the rocking chair in the corner of the room. Hailey walked over and placed Lilly in her arms. Emily caught her eyes and looked at her with concern.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  Hailey shook her head. She thought she had figured everything out. How could she let someone in that was so evil? How could she have trusted him? He was right there, he’d held Lilly in his arms. The thought made her stomach churn.

  She thought she could keep Lilly safe by using her necklace.

  Her heart skipped several beats as she thought about the truth.

  She’d told herself that she could save her niece, but she knew she couldn't.

  She knew he was right. No matter how many Dark Ladies she grabbed, or how long she fought, they wouldn’t stop coming. There truly was only one way to save sweet baby Hailey.