Cole: Mind of Madness: A Prelude (A Phoenix Club Serial Thriller)

Chapter 5

Ezra barely ate any dinner and then went straight to bed. Straight to his bedroom. He didn't get in bed. Instead, he wrapped a blanket around himself and sat by the window, watching the woods, terrified that Daniel Pruett would emerge into the pale moonlight and come for him. Did he suspect it was Ezra spying on him? Had he even heard the door fall? To Ezra, the sound was deafening because he was scared shitless. But maybe it wasn't as loud as he thought. Maybe Daniel hadn't heard it.

Maybe didn't ease his fears and help him relax. He huddled in the chair at the window until his eyes began to droop from plain exhaustion. Even then, he struggled to stay awake, sick with worry that Daniel would come for him in his sleep.

You don't even know what you heard... not for sure. Maybe Daniel had a small tv down there and was watching porn. A lot of people watched porn when they masturbated. Maybe the other sounds were from the tv.

More maybes that offered no comfort.

There had to be an explanation. A rational, non-terrifying explanation. Didn't there?

Ezra didn't know just when he dozed off. When he opened his eyes, it was just past dawn. A heavy fog blanketed the land and engulfed the woods. It looked the same as it did every morning, but today it gave Ezra the creeps as if it was cloaking something—or someone—sinister.

Stop it. There's nothing... and no one... out there.

Tossing the blanket on the bed, Ezra changed his clothes and went downstairs, his stomach tied in a knot. Henry expected him to come over today. When the school shut down for the week before Halloween for maintenance purposes, Ezra had promised Henry they would see each other every day. With the loss of Henry's mom, Ezra didn't want to spend even one day apart from him. Henry was holding up under the loss, but the hurt was still there. He needed Ezra.

Downstairs, Ezra found an empty kitchen. Odd; his foster mom was usually up early to make breakfast for her husband and Ezra. His foster dad didn't have to work today, but he still rose early even when he wasn't working. Ezra looked out the kitchen window. The driveway was empty. They must've gone to town first thing.

Ezra considered making breakfast, but his stomach still churned from last night. He grabbed a pop-tart instead and walked out on the porch, slipping into his jacket. Thick fog choked the woods. Ezra stared at the trees; his feet rooted to the cold wooden planks of the porch. He had to go; he had to check on Henry.

He couldn't move, his eyes glued to the congested forest. Never had he been scared to walk through the misty woods, but today fear paralyzed him. There's nothing to be afraid of. Ezra wasn't so sure... not after yesterday. The sounds coming from the cellar haunted his mind.

It was just Daniel. Your ears played tricks on you because you were scared.

Try as he might, he couldn't convince himself.

If Daniel heard the door drop, wouldn't Ezra be his first suspect? Who else would've been on the property? In the barn? Maybe he didn't hear. Ezra had no way of knowing.

He fingered the braided leather bracelet. Boyfriend bracelets.

"You have to go," he whispered with a tremor, his breath steaming the chilly morning air. He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets with the packet of unopened pop-tarts. The thought of eating anything made him nauseous.

Ezra took a deep breath of the icy air and forced his feet to move. He walked down the frosted porch steps and headed for the woods. The fog swirled up around his legs, slowly engulfing him as he passed into the trees.