The Grownup Read Online Free PDF

an old tomcat. Susan pointed to it.
    “Look what he did…to poor Wilkie!”
    I looked again. At the cat’s back haunches was only a frayed tuft of fur. Miles had cut off the cat’s tail.
    “Susan, do you have a laptop? I need to show you something.”
    She led me up to the library, and over to the Victorian desk that was clearly her husband’s. She clicked a switch and the fireplace whooshed on. She hit a key and the laptop glowed. I showed Susan the website and the story of the Carterhooks. I could feel her warm breath on my neck as she read.
    I pointed at the photo: “Does Robert Carterhook remind you of anyone?”
    Susan nodded as if in a trance. “What does it mean?”
    The rain spattered at the black windowpanes. I longed for a bright blue day. The heaviness of the house was unbearable.
    “Susan, I like you. I don’t like many people. I want the best for your family. And I don’t think it’s me.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, you need someone to
help
you. I can’t help. There is something wrong with this house. I think you should leave. I don’t care what your husband says.”
    “But if we leave…Miles is still with us.”
    “Yes.”
    “Then…he’ll be cured? If he leaves this house?”
    “Susan, I don’t know.”
    “What are you saying?”
    “I’m saying you need more than me to fix this. I’m not qualified. I can’t fix it. I think you need to leave tonight. Go to a hotel. Two rooms. Lock the adjoining door. And then…we’ll figure it out. But all I can really do for you is be your friend.”
    Susan stood dizzily, holding her throat. She pushed back from me, murmured
excuse me,
and disappeared out the door. I waited. My wrist was throbbing again. I glanced around the book-filled room. No parties here for me. No referrals to rich, nervous friends. I was ruining my big chance; I gave her an answer she didn’t want. But I felt, for once, decent. Not telling-myself-I-am decent, but just decent.
    I saw Susan flicker past the door heading down the stairs. Then Miles swooped immediately after her.
    “Susan!” I yelled. I stood up but I couldn’t will myself to go outside the room. I heard murmuring. Urgent or angry. Then nothing. Silence. And still nothing.
Go out there.
But I was too afraid to go alone into that dark hallway.
    “Susan!”
    A child who terrorized his little brother and threatened his stepmom. Who told me calmly that I would die. A kid who cut the tail off the family pet. A house that attacked and manipulated its own inhabitants. A house that had already seen four deaths and wanted more.
Stay calm.
The hallway was still dark. No sign of Susan. I stood. I began walking to the door.
    Miles suddenly appeared in the doorway, stiff and upright, in his school uniform, as always. He was blocking my exit.
    “I told you not to ever come back here, and you came back—you came back again and again,” he said. Reasonable. Like he was talking to a child being punished. “You know you’re going to die, right?”
    “Where’s your stepmom, Miles?” I backed away. He walked toward me. He was a small kid, but he scared me. “What did you do with Susan?”
    “You’re still not understanding, are you?” he said. “Tonight is when we die.”
    “I’m sorry, Miles, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    He laughed then, his eyes crinkling up. Complete mirth.
    “No, you misunderstand me. She’s going to
kill you.
Susan
is going to kill you and me. Look around this room. Do you think you’re here by accident? Look closely. Look at the books closely.”
    I had looked at the books closely. Every time I cleansed in here, I looked at all the books, I coveted them. I pictured stealing one or two for my little book club with…
    With Mike. My favorite client. Every book I ever read with Mike over the past few years was here.
The Woman in White, The Turn of the Screw, The Haunting of Hill House.
I’d congratulated myself when I’d seen them—how clever I was to have read so many of