A moment later, Lou and Rufus pounced on the cloak. They both grabbed handfuls of it and then threw themselves in opposite directions. The cloak ripped in half, and then fluttered to the floor lifelessly.

Nina, Lou, Rufus, and Jason stared at it, waiting for it to do something more—stitch itself back together, or maybe rise up into two different pieces, equally strong and equally angry. But all that happened was a slight tremor that rattled the room.

Then Nina let out a cry. “I can see my house!” she said, glancing around. “I think I’m going home too!” Her eyes appeared to be focused on what the others couldn’t see. Her mom? Her aunt? Briefly, Jason imagined Connie out in the darkness. He sidled up to Lou and watched as Nina became a dim version of the girl they’d briefly known. “Thank you all,” she said before fading away.

A massive jolt rocked the master bedroom, and Lou and Rufus stumbled into each other as the canopy bed shuddered across the floor.

CHAPTER 31

GRAY BLOTCHES APPEARED on the walls and spread rapidly, like ink on tissue paper, reaching up to the ceiling and down to the floor. The rot chased Lou and Rufus as they raced for the bedroom door, Jason right behind them.

In the hall, he stepped ahead. “This way!” Jason called out. Lou and Rufus followed as if they’d heard him. The group ran as one.

The house rattled and roared. Lou stumbled and cried out. Jason went to catch her, but his hand bounced off her body. Rufus pulled her up, and they all kept running. Recalling the floor plan of the dollhouse, Jason raced down passages and around corners until he was certain that they were far from the collapsing wing.

Soon, the sounds of destruction quieted behind them, and silence throbbed in his ears. Looking around, he noticed they were in a gallery space on the second floor. More creepy portraits of Connie’s father stared out from the walls, but there were no windows. No glass through which the others could see Jason.

Lou sat down, wheezing. Rufus glanced back in the direction they’d come from. “Are we safe here?” he asked.

“No,” Lou said softly. “We’re not safe anywhere.”

“It’s just the two of us now.”

Lou nodded. Jason knelt beside her. He held his hand several inches over her own, trying to feel the warmth of her skin. Then Lou added, “We’re not alone. Can you feel it? My brother is here too.”

Rufus inclined his head. “He wants to help. Just like before. You trust him now?”

“I do,” Lou said, glancing at Rufus. “I feel him like a memory of a voice in my head.” She sighed. “Jason told us before where we needed to go in order to find the last of our objects. We’ve got to destroy them before the creature can refocus.”