Chapter 39 STELLA

“Pick up the fucking phone, Teddy.” The creepy cries and cackles bounced off the windows that overlooked the courtyard as Tessa danced all by herself to the melody in her head. Even for a man like Haldir, who had been everywhere and done everything, her behavior was beyond bizarre.

With his arms crossed against his chest, he rolled his eyes as he kept watch and listened to another of his calls go unanswered.

He wasn’t blind to her deteriorating state, and short of keeping her by his side night and day, there was little he could do without Teddy releasing her.

When the hallucination set her free at last, she slumped down by the pool and breathlessly repeated the routine. Hearing her hum the tune for about the hundredth time today was like fingernails down a chalkboard, and he threw the phone on the stand as he finally gave up on Teddy. “Damn you.”