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7

However, when she turned, she sputtered and reflexively brought her hand up to cover her mouth. Her whole body went into a tense stance. Through the shimmering pane of glass, her eyes met Elizabeth's and they looked at one other. For a very considerable

minute, none of them moved as they continued to look at each other in that manner. After then, Aunt Judith's fingers slipped away from her lips, and she started shrieking in terror.

Elizabeth was yowling in outrage as she dropped from the tree after being tugged out of the tree by something. She landed on her feet like a cat. Her knees received scrapes as they landed on the ground a split second later.

She reared back, her fingers curling into claws in preparation for an assault on whomever was responsible for it. Dominic repelled her hand with a swift smack.

She sought an explanation, saying, "Why did you grab me?"

He exploded, demanding to know, "Why didn't you remain where I placed you?"

They were equally enraged, and they scowled at one other. Then Elizabeth became preoccupied with other things. The screaming could be heard coming from the upper level, and it was now accompanied by rattling and hammering sounds coming through the window. Dominic pressed her up against the house so that they would be hidden from view when seen from above.

"Let's go away from this cacophony," he remarked hastily while gazing up. "Let's get away from this noise." He didn't bother waiting for an answer before seizing hold of her arm. Elizabeth put up a fight.

"I have no choice but to enter that space!"

He smiled like a wolf at her and then said, "You can't." "I mean it very literally. You are not permitted to enter that residence since you have not been extended an invitation."

Elizabeth, for a brief while bewildered, let him to drag her forward a few feet. Then she buried her heels in again.

"But I can't live without my journal!"

"What?"

"It's in the closet, under the floorboards. And I need it. I can't go to sleep without my journal." Elizabeth had no idea why she was making such a big deal about it, but it felt significant. "It's in the closet, under the floorboards."

The expression on Dominic's face changed from one of exasperation to one of relief. "Here," he said in a collected manner, his eyes twinkling. He took something out of the inside of his jacket. "Take it."

Elizabeth looked at his proposition with skepticism. "This must be your journal, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but that's my old one. I want my new one." "Yes, but that's my old one."

His tone was icy and forceful as he said, "This one will have to do since this is all you're getting. Come on before they wake up the entire neighborhood." His voice had returned to its previous state.

Elizabeth took a look at the book that he was holding. It had a cover made of blue velvet, and it was secured with a metal lock. Even if it wasn't the most recent version, she was already well acquainted with it. She came to the conclusion that it was appropriate.

She followed Dominic out into the darkness after she let him lead her.

She did not inquire as to where they were heading at any point. She wasn't really concerned about it. But she was aware of it.

the home on Magnolia Avenue, where Alaric Saltzman had made his temporary residence. the home on Magnolia Avenue, where Alaric Saltzman had made his temporary residence. Elizabeth licked her lips in a nervous manner.

Dominic responded quickly with "No." He brought her up a flight of stairs to an attic that only had one little window. He said, "This one's not for biting. There's something fishy about him, but you should be secure enough in the home. I've slept here before. Up here." It was

packed with things to be kept, such as sleds, skis, and even a hammock. An old mattress was lying on the floor at the other end of the room.

"He won't even know you're here in the morning. Lie down." Elizabeth complied with the instruction and assumed a posture that seemed normal to her. "He won't even know you're here in the morning." She clasped her hands over the journal that she was carrying to her chest while she slept on her back.

Dominic quickly covered her naked feet with a piece of oilcloth that he put on top of her. He advised her to "go to sleep, Elizabeth."

He knelt down next to her, and for a split second, she was afraid that he was going to... Take some action. Her ideas were much too confused to be coherent. But the darkness of his gaze engulfed her field of view. Then he said

she was able to take a breath again after being pulled back. The dim light of the attic began to cast a shadow on her. Her eyelids eventually closed, and she fell into a deep sleep.

She awoke gradually, gathering knowledge about her surroundings in a piecemeal fashion as she did so. It seems to be somebody's attic looking at it. What was she doing at this location?

It sounded like rats or mice were scurrying about someplace in the heaps of stuff that were covered in oilcloth, but the noise didn't worry her at all. Around the corners of the window that was covered with shutters, there was the barest hint of a pale light. After removing her homemade cover, Elizabeth climbed to her feet to find out what was going on.

At any rate, she did not recognize the attic as belonging to any of the people she knew. She had the impression that she had been unwell for a very long period and that she had only just regained consciousness from her sickness. Which day is it today? She questioned herself.

She was able to pick up on sounds below her. Downstairs. Something cautioned her to use caution.

and silent. The thought of causing any type of commotion filled her with dread. She carefully opened the door to the attic without making a sound and then down the stairs to the landing with caution. When she looked below her, she could make out a living room. She was familiar with it since she'd used it herself at one of the parties that Alaric Saltzman had hosted. She was now present at the Ramsey home.

And Alaric Saltzman was down there; she could make out the top of his sandy head from where she was standing. His voice confused her. After a short while, she had the realization that it was because to the fact that he didn't seem stupid, inane, or any of the other ways that Alaric typically sounded in the classroom. He was not.

babbling incoherent nonsense about psychology, either. He was communicating with the other two individuals in a calm and decisive manner.

"She may be anywhere, even right in front of our eyes. Most likely, she is somewhere outside of town."

though. Perhaps far in the forest." however. Perhaps in the surrounding forest."

Elizabeth wondered to herself, "Is that Dr. Feinberg? What's he doing here? What am I doing here?" The second guy claimed that the first two victims had been discovered in the woods. "Remember, the first two victims were found near the woods," he said.

"No, it's more than that," Alaric was saying, and the other men were listening to him with respect, even reverence. "The woods are linked up in this," Alaric said. "The forests are bound up in this," Alaric said. It's possible that they have a hideout somewhere out there, a lair from which they may escape to earth if they are found. If there is, I will locate it if there is."

"Are you sure?

", Dr. Feinberg said, to which Alaric responded, "I'm certain."

The headmaster continued, "And you believe that Elizabeth is at that location. However, do you think she will remain there? Or is it possible that she will return to the city? "

Alaric moved a few paces and picked up a book from the sofa table before responding, "I don't know."

table, absently running his fingertips over it in a distracted manner, and said, "One method to find out is to monitor her friends." Denis McCullough and the girl with the dark hair, whose name is Merit. There is a good chance that they will be the first people to view her. That's the typical way things go down."

And when we finally do find her, what then?

" Dr. Feinberg inquired.

Alaric murmured in a low and gloomy voice, "Leave that to me," and then he softly closed the book and set it down on the coffee table with a sound that was unsettlingly definitive.

The headmaster took a quick peek at his watch before saying, "I'd best get going; the service begins at 10 o'clock." I'm going to assume that the two of you will be there. He hesitated on his approach out the door and glanced back, his demeanor indicating that he was undecided about what to do. "Alaric, I hope you can handle this." When I called you in, events weren't as far along as they are now. Now I'm starting to wonder-"

"Brian, you don't need to worry about it. I've told you before; just give it to me. Would you rather have Robert E. Lee High School featured in all of the local newspapers not just as the setting for a tragic event, but also as "The Haunted High School of Boone County"? A meeting spot for ghosts and goblins? The educational institution frequented by the living dead? Is it the type of attention you want after all? "

Mr. Newcastle dithered and chewed his lower lip before finally nodding while retaining his miserable expression. "All right, Alaric. But do it in a hurry and without any mess. "I'll see you at the church," he said, and then he and Dr. Feinberg went their separate ways.

After what seemed like a long period of time spent looking into space, Alaric eventually gave a single nod and exited the building through the front entrance on his own.

Elizabeth made her way back up the steps at a sluggish pace.

She needed to know what day it was, why she was here, and why she felt so frightened. She needed to know why she felt so intensely that no one must see her, hear her, or notice her at all. Now what had all that been about? She felt confused, as if she were floating loose in time and space. She needed to know why she felt so intensely that no one must see her, hear her, or notice her at all.

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