A love rekindled...or a deadly reunion?
Even after a decade, Sarah Hampton is haunted by the night that nearly ended in a bloody massacre and destroyed her high school romance with handsome Tyler Grant. Now the horror has returned. Its a reckoning from the events of that terrifying nightand a love they never let go. Only this time Tyler must protect Sarah from the killer hiding in the darkness...or lose her forever.
From New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham!
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author HEATHER GRAHAM has written more than a hundred novels. Shes a winner of the Romance Writers of Americas Lifetime Achievement Award, a Thriller Writers Silver Bullet and, in 2016, the Thriller Master Award from ITS. She is an active member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, and is the founder of The Slush Pile Players, an author band and theatrical group. An avid scuba diver, ballroom dancer and mother of five, she still enjoys her South Florida home, but also loves to travel. For more information, check out her website, www.theoriginalheathergraham.com, or find Heather on Facebook.
Also available by Heather Graham
Law and Disorder
Into the Shadows
Out of the Darkness
Dying Breath
A Perfect Obsession
Darkest Journey
Deadly Fate
Haunted Destiny
Flawless
The Hidden
The Forgotten
The Silenced
Visit millsandboon.co.uk for more information
Out of the Darkness
Heather Graham
www.millsandboon.co.uk
OUT OF THE DARKNESS
© 2018 Heather Graham Pozzessere
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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Version: 2020-03-02
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For Saxon and Joe, two of the nicest and most talented young men I know.
May their move to New York be filled with dreamsand, of course, all kinds of visits from West Coast friends!
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Author Bio
Booklist
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Author Note
Extract
Extract
Prologue
What Davey Knew
The Bronx
New York City, New York
Ten Years Ago
The eyes fell upon Sarah Hampton with a golden glow; the womans mouth, covered with blood, split into a diabolical smile as she cackled with glee, raising her carving knife and slamming it down on the writhing man tied to the butcher block in the kitchen. Blood seemed to spurt everywhere. Screams rose.
And Sarah, laughing at herself for her own scream, grabbed Daveys hand and followed Tyler Grant out of the haunted house.
Fun! Tyler said, laughing, catching his breath.
It was fun. Though Sarah had to admit she was glad she was here as part of a party of six. Fun? Yes, sure...
And creepy! The weapons had looked real. The scare actors could have passed for the real thing quite easily as far as she was concerned.
Ah, come on, the guy on the butcher blockhis screams were nowhere as good as they should have been, Hannah Levine said. He must be getting tired of screaminglong season, long night. But I guess it is Halloween.
Yeah, I imagine that the poor kid has been at it awhile, Sean Avery agreed. He looked at Sarahs cousin, Davey. Then again, this place opens for only four weekends, with Halloween weekend, the last, being the boss. Coolest thing ever, Davey!
Davey gave him a weird little half smile.
Suzie CornwallSarahs best friendfrowned. Whats the matter, Davey? Was the haunted house too scary for you? We were all with you, you know.
That one was okay, Davey said.
But now...drumroll! Were moving onto the major attraction! Sean said.
No, no, no! Davey shook his head violently. Im scared! He clearly didnt want to go into Cemetery Mansion, another of the haunted houses; he seemed terrified.
Sarah looked at her cousin with dismay.
She loved Davey. She really loved him. She had never met anyone who was as kind, as oblivious to what others thought, as willing to help others.
But Davey had Down syndrome. And while most of Sarahs friends were great, every once in a while they acted as if they didnt want to be with her, not if she was bringing Davey along.
And tonight...
Well, it was almost Halloween. And she and her friends had scored tickets to Haunted Hysteria in a radio contest. It was the prime event of the season, but one they couldnt actually afford. Well, to be honestand they all had to agreeit was Davey whod won the tickets. Theyd asked him to dial the radio station number over and over again, and Davey hadnt minded.
The place itself was fabulous. Decorated to a T. Bats, ghouls, ghosts, vampires, witches and moreyoung actors and actresses, of course, but they walked around doing a brilliant job. The foam tombstones looked real and aged; the makeshift mortuary chapel was darkened as if older than time itself. Lights cast green and purple beams, and fog machines set in strategic places made for an absolutely immersive experience.
And now they were all hereshe, Davey, Tyler, Sean, Suzie and Hannah. Suzie, tall and well-built, perfectly proportioned to be dressed up as Jessica Rabbit for the night, was her best friend. Tyler was the love of her life. And most of the time, both of them were truly wonderful friends. Tyler had even told her once that he knew right off the bat if hed like people or notall depending on the way they treated Davey.
Hannah was a stunner, olive skinned and dark hairedand as an evil fairy, she was even more exotically beautiful than usual. Sarah was pretty sure shed caused one of the scare actors to pausetoo startled by her beauty to scare her!
Sean...Sean was charming, the old class clown. Apropos, he was dressed up as the Joker. Every once in a while, his wit could be cruel. Mostly, though, he was a great guy, and the five of them had been friends forever, even though Sarah and Tyler were the only duo in their group.
She had come in steampunk apparel; Tyler had matched her with an amazing vest and frock coat. Davey had come as his all-time favorite personalityElvis Presley.
They were all nearly eighteen now. Come October of next year, theyd be off at their different colleges, except shed be at NYU with Tyler, as theyd planned. But for tonight...
It was fricking Halloween. Aunt Renee had asked her to take Davey with her. Yes, of course, Sarah was very aware the tickets really belonged to Davey.
Sarah always tried to be helpful. It was easy to help care for her cousin.
Aunt Renee wasnt in any kind of financial troubleshe had a great job as a buyer for a major chain storeand she had household help and could afford to send Davey to a special school.
But Aunt Renee wanted Davey to have friends and spend time with people his own ageSarahs age. Aunt Renee wanted a wider world for Davey; she did not want his mom to be his only companion.
Sarahs friends were usually happy to have Davey with them.
But now Sarah could feel that Davey was holding them all backand they were kids, with a right to be kids. The others were looking at her. Sure, they loved Davey. They were good people. But she could see them thinking screw it! Theyd come to Haunted Hysteria; they were going in the haunted houses, and Sarah was welcome to sit outside with Davey.
Tyler, of course, had the grace to look guilty. He wasnt eighteen until January, but he was already over six foot three, heavily muscled in the shoulders and extremely fine in the face. Hot, yes. Tyler was hot. And he loved her. He really did. Then, she hoped she wasnt exactly dog chow herself. She was, she admitted, the typical cheerleader to his football hero. Yes, she was blonde and blue-eyed, the fault of her genetics. She was a good student and coordinated enough to be a great cheerleader. She liked to believe shed been taught by her family to be a lot more, tooas in decent and compassionate and bright enough to see and understand others.
She thought Tyler was like that, too. No matter how cool he was.
They were just right for each otherand their group of friends was nice, too! Something she considered extremely important. Tonight, they wanted to be seniorsthey wanted to be a little bit wicked and have a great time.
But being Daveys cousin had long ago taught Sarah about the importance of kindness in the world. Patience, sharing, caring...all that.
All that...
Seemed to go out the window right now.
Davey, I know you were scared in the first house, but were all with you, she said.
Hey, buddy, Tyler told him. Im bigger than the damned ghosts!
You can go between Sarah and Tyler, Suzie said. Theyll protect you.
No! Nothe things in this housethey were okay. They werent real. But that house...that one, there. There are things in it that are real. That are bad. Theyre evil! Davey said.
Oh, youre being silly, Hannah said.
Its true, Davey said.
How do you know? Sean asked him.
My father told me! Davey said. He helps me see.
Sarah bit her lip. Daveys dad had died over a year ago. Aunt Renee was alone with Davey now. Daveys dad had been a marine, and he had been killed serving his country. Her uncle had been a wonderful mangood to all the kids. Shed loved him, too, and shed known he loved her.
Davey, your father isnt here, she said. You know...you know your dad is dead.
Davey looked at her stubbornly. My father told me! he insisted.
Davey, Sarah said softly, calmly, of course, the point is for it all to be very scary. Vampires, ghostsbut theyre not real. Its a spooky fun place for Halloween. There are all kinds of made-up characters here.