Page 1 of Dark Obsession

CHAPTER ONE

“Do you think the French version of this song is s’il vous plaît monsieur, s’il vous plaît?”

Demetrius turned away from studying the small, dark house across the street from where they parked. “What?”

“This song.” Cody gestured toward the radio where Olivia Newton-John was singing “Please Mr. Please” in a breathy vibrato. “Do you think the French version goes s’il vous plaît monsieur, s’il vous plaît?” He whisper-sang the lyric in a high register, then scrunched up his nose and shook his head. “Doesn’t fit.”

“Yeah, I don’t…I never really thought about it.” Demetrius frowned. “Why are we listening to 70s pop songs?”

“Because I’m bored.” He propped his back against the driver’s door and bent one leg to rest his knee on the center console. “And don’t diss 70s pop songs. Some great music came out of that era.”

“And terrible fashion.” Demetrius returned his attention to the house. In the moonlight, shadows clung to the faded siding, and every window was dark. A line of overgrown brown and dry shrubs stood along the side. By the curb was a rusted mailbox with the door open like something old and evil awaiting a meal. He tipped his head side to side, stretching the muscles in his neck. Something popped and something else crackled, standard noises for him these days.

“Neck hurt?” Cody asked.

“Just stiff.” Demetrius glanced at him. “Like usual.”

Cody was quiet for a beat. “It wasn’t all terrible. The 70s.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Leisure suits?”

“How do you know about leisure suits? We were born in 1987.”

“My parents are almost ninety.”

“What about crop top jerseys and short shorts for guys?”

A corner of Demetrius’s mouth curled up. “I know you liked those for girls.”

Even in the dark truck, Demetrius could see Cody’s cheeks redden. “Well, yeah, but…”

“But I would have liked to have seen you in them.”

Cody snapped back to the usual smarmy grin Demetrius loved. Turning away, Demetrius checked out the house again. Still nothing unusual. Wind pressed against the truck, jostling it. A plastic grocery bag whipped past his window and became tangled in the branches of a shrub at the house’s far corner, near the cracked and weed-choked driveway. If he were forced to pick a place in all of Parson’s Hollow that was most likely to be haunted, this one would be at the top of the list.

“What’d that lady say when she called about this house?” Cody asked.

“Something has been raiding garbage cans, and some pets have gone missing. She lives a couple of houses away and keeps hearing sounds around this abandoned house.”

“No sightings?”

“Not that she told me about.”

“Are we charging her for this?” Cody asked.

Demetrius nodded. “Yeah. But she’s the first monster-related call we’ve received, so I charged her our typical fee for critter removal.”

“We should probably up that price,” Cody said.

“Yeah, but it’s early yet. People are still skeptical.”

“Even after everything that’s happened.” Cody shook his head.

After another stretch of silence, Cody said, “That chipmunk today was really quick. Like, superhero fast.”

“Yeah, or we’re slowing down.”

“Bite your tongue. I’m just leveling up.”