Woke up on Xander’s hardwood floor, panting and sweating. A couple of kernels of popcorn stuck to my face. Scrambling to a seated position, I rested against the base of the couch and stared at the closed front door, wiping the buttery detritus from my cheeks. The locks remained in place—untouched.
“Holy fuck,” I wheezed, running my hands through my hair.
After a few minutes of allowing my body to settle, I stood and trotted to the front door and peeked through the eye hole. Nothing was out there. No one. Turning my back so it rested against the door, I slid down it and sat on the hardwood and stared across the living space. Serendipity continued to play. In fact, I hadn’t even missed that much of the movie.
Glancing at the floor in front of me, something caught my attention—something that reflected the overhead lights in the foyer. Crawling forward a few feet on my hands and knees, I noticed two sets of wet footprints.
One of them, for sure, belonged to a child.
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Also by Alex Gates
Have you read them all?
Joseph Hunter Series
Shadow Hunter: Joseph Hunter Book 2
Pre-Order Today for a limited discount
Stand Alone Novels
The Demon of Decay
A broken man. An evil bargain. Will he corrupt his soul to rebuild his life?
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Mask of Silence Duology
Mask of Silence: Book 1
They thought they’d lived through hell. Until it came calling from the grave…
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What’s Left of the Night: Book 2
Some secrets you take to the grave… some secrets take you there.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to thank you, the reader for the time you spent in my twisted, dark world. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.
Second, I would like to thank my wife, Madison. Without her confidence and support, I would be a burnt-out English teacher in some under-funded classroom. But she allows me to live my dream.
