Freda and Augustine pressed their lips together, holding their breath. Though the exterior lights of the building glowed faintly, the inside remained shrouded in darkness and decay.
"Freda, are you still there?" the Commissioner asked through the phone, his voice cutting sharply through the silence.
Startled, Freda quickly pressed the phone against her jacket to muffle the sound.
"Who's there?" a rough male voice called from within the abandoned house. "Don't you dare trespass on my property because I won't tolerate it!"
Augustine leaned closer to Freda and whispered, "Do you think that voice belongs to Reuben?"
Freda shook her head. "Maybe not. It could be someone working with him. I need to alert the cops before things—"
Freda couldn't finish her sentence because footsteps began to echoed from inside the house, slow but heavy and it was drawing closer.
