CHAPTER 141

DARLENE

The wood house that my best friend called home was farther into the forest than I had thought it would be.

”Phew!” I exclaimed loudly, glancing about the debris-strewn clearing and blowing out my cheeks as I paused to catch my breath under the loom of the wood.

It looked like one of those houses that had character, like a freak of nature, the odd angles and slants of the place puzzling until I couldn't bear to look at it any longer, fixing my gaze instead, on the cherry red of the front door.

”Laura? Get your fat ass down here this instant!” I shrieked at the morose-looking palls of the overhead balcony, letting out a bitter laugh when the whistle of a passing breeze broke the silence.

No such luck, I watched for movement in the dark windows, disappointed when the house remained still.

Goddammit, was she really going to make me come up there? I felt my eyes twitch in their sockets, patting myself on the back when I managed to refrain from rolling my eyes.

“A decent woman shoul