Poppy had done her chores, and called her patients apologizing for the delays. She’d have to think of somewhere to continue her appointments. There was one voicemail from her mom saying she was stopping by her friend’s house and that she would be in later. Since her mother wouldn’t make it in time for dinner, she’d whipped up lasagna and garlic bread. Not knowing what to feed Troy and Trent, she asked them if they wanted lasagna.

They both barked at her and she took that as a yes. Without dog dishes, which something told her they wouldn’t appreciate at all, she served up their portion on plates. Pulling out two chairs from the table, she asked if they’d like to sit with her, both wolven jumped up and waited for her. She smiled and brought her meal to the table.

They all ate, although the boys ate much faster than she did. Which meant most of her bread kept getting offered to them because they made her feel guilty with those big puppy dog eyes.

“You two get away with a lot don’t you?”

Trent gave a coughing laugh.

“That’s what I thought. Well, I won’t tell anyone your secrets.”

She gave them bowls of ice cream and they set up shop in front of the television. It had started to get dark and she’d gotten one text from Zane saying he didn’t know how long he would be or when he could text again. She replied that she understood and would see him when he was back.

There was no sense having him worried that she needed him. She wanted all of his attention on his work.

Seeing that the boys were content watching re-runs, she stood up. “I’m going to go take a long hot bath.”

Normally announcing her intentions to animals wasn’t something she would consider. But these guys would get it.

Troy raised his head at her and gave a sniff. That was a clear dismissal if she ever saw one.

She stopped by her room to pick up her clothes and took them into the bathroom. She wasn’t about to wander around in a towel like she normally did with her guests downstairs.

She turned on the faucets checking to find the right temperature, put the stopper in, and flicked the switch for the fan. The home was old and the fan was really more of a novelty since the bathroom would fog up in a matter of minutes.

Poppy added some perfumed salts and a healthy dose of bubble bath. This was a routine that she would never get rid of. Bubble time was her meditation. Though in the future she’d have to see if her new man might want to join her. Although he’d never fit in this tub. She wondered if they made tubs his size.

Stripping off her clothes, she made sure her towel was close at hand and went over to the mirror. It was just starting fog over when Poppy reached for a hairpin to try and start taming her hair for the bath.

Glancing up at the mirror she got the first pin in and she saw something pass over the mirror. It wasn’t behind her it was in front of her. Like the fog had suddenly gotten darker. Then it went back to the normal condensation on the mirror. She put in another pin and then the color reappeared. This time it didn’t fade away.

“Promised…” a deep sinister voice whispered to her.

Poppy felt her heart stop beating. Her breath was stuck in her throat. The shape of her shadow man was there in her mirror staring back at her. Where his eyes should have been were glowing sockets of white in a sea of black.

“I’ve been watching you, promised…” Each word had a hissing sound to it. Like he was exaggerating his speech.

Poppy found her voice. “Go away!” He was in her mirror maybe that meant he couldn’t hurt her. Or that he wasn’t really there.

“You’ve been naughty. I tried to make this easy for you. You could have gone quietly in that little shack. But you’re a fighter aren’t you?”

“Go away before I scream!” she said this even though there was no bravery in her voice. Not even a little. She was terrified and could only think of Zane.

“I wouldn’t if I were you. Mommy wouldn’t like it.”

What did he mean mommy? “I don’t understand.”

“Sorry your mother missed dinner. But she had another appointment with me. I haven’t hurt her yet. But what happens next depends on you. I want you to meet me at the abandoned house three blocks over. The one with the red picket fence. If you come, your mother goes free, no harm shall come to her. You don’t come, you alert those mongrels in your house, well then, your mother will know nothing but hell for the rest of her days.”

Poppy’s mind was racing. He had her mother, or at least he said he did. He could be lying. Or she could risk her mother’s life by assuming he was. She could call Zane, but then her mother might suffer the same fate. This was a beast that had already murdered thousands of women. What was one more?

“They’ll know if I leave,” she whispered to the shadow on the mirror.

“You’re a clever girl, you’ll think of something. You give them too much credit, you know. They aren’t much better than pets.”

Poppy wasn’t about to argue with him. “Fine, fine!” She heard a horrible chuckle come from the shape. He was having fun. Torturing her was bringing him pleasure. There could be no trust with a demon like that.

The shadow man disappeared and Poppy took her first full breath. She couldn’t think of him with the name that Zane had given him. He’d always be the stuff of her nightmares.

Setting down on the toilet lid she tried to calm her shaking. Her body was one giant tremor as she covered her face with her hands. The tub was still filling and she hadn’t turned off the water yet. Putting her clothes back on, she thought for a moment about calling Zane.

But it was too much of a risk. She loved him, she knew it was true. But her mother had loved her for all of her life and she couldn’t be the reason she would be hurt or killed. It seemed that life wasn’t going to be fair to Poppy Woodall. Just because you had found your soulmate didn’t mean you’d get to keep them.

Reaching for her necklace, she slipped it over her head and hung it on the knob of the medicine cabinet where that evil face had just been. Hopefully, Zane would find it and realize that she did it for her mother and that she knew what she was sacrificing.

Opening the window above the toilet, she did her best to do it slowly and quietly. Once it was open as far as she could get it, she turned off the water and reached for the small radio and turned it on. Soft music poured out and added another layer of noise that she hoped would cover her departure. Standing on the toilet, she hefted her leg up over the edge of the window and positioned herself so she could flip on her stomach with her legs dangling out the window. She felt with her left foot for the vine that was creeping up the lattice that was on that side of the house. The last time she’d snuck out this way she’d been fourteen and had fallen and broken her wrist. She didn’t have time for such things right now.

Finding her toehold, she slid down and held her breath to see if it was going to hold her. It did as she made her way down, trying to be as quiet as possible. Poppy knew there was a car parked out front that had an SPD officer in it and Zane had said there would be two staying overnight. She just had to hope that the other officer wasn’t in the back of the house.

The shadow man had mentioned a house that was three blocks over if she used the streets. But she knew that she could cut through the backyards and get there without walking through the bright street lights.

Sneaking through the bushes to go to Paulette Crosby’s party while her parents were out of town was a much more exciting reason to be traipsing through people’s yards. Going knowing good and well that you might not be coming back, felt like more of a death march than Poppy liked to admit.