The Haunting of Renegade X

by Chelsea M. Campbell

  “Wow,” Riley says, surveying all the decorations. “This looks great.”

  No wonder it took her so long to get everything ready. Fake spiderwebs stretch across the walls, along with some orange and black streamers. The dining table is covered in food. There are little bowls of candy, plus Sarah’s burnt ghost cookies, gingerbread zombies, a plastic bucket of chocolate dirt with gummy worms in it, and a couple dozen cupcakes that have been decorated to look like pumpkins and spiders and stuff. Some of them look better than others, but they’re all pretty detailed and must have taken a lot of work.

  It looks like she’s expecting a bunch of people to show up, which is kind of a relief, because that means I won’t have to be alone with just her and Riley. Not that the three of us don’t hang out a lot, but... Well, that was before Riley found out me and Sarah were maybe going to sleep together.

  Riley takes his coat off and hangs it on a hook on the wall. My sweatshirt’s pretty damp, but I leave it on, because my shoulder was bleeding earlier, and I don’t need Sarah asking questions. I head over to the dining table and pick up a cupcake that looks like a spider. “Don’t worry, Sarah,” I say as I stuff half of it into my mouth. “I made sure to take the worst one. Its eyes were crooked.”

  She folds her arms. “It doesn’t matter. Patty from the retirement home called ten minutes ago. Their van broke down today and is still in the shop, so none of them are coming. It’s just us.”

  “Wait.” I swallow down a bite of cupcake. “Are you telling me that everyone else you invited was from the retirement home?” Sarah’s been volunteering at a retirement home for supervillains as part of her self-appointed rehabilitation.

  “I’m making lots of new friends, and I thought it would be fun to invite them over.”

  “You didn’t invite anyone else, like, our age?”

  “I tried, but Kat didn’t answer my email. And Dad went to a work party.”

  “Yeah, he’s not exactly our age, either.”

  Riley puts an arm around her. “I’m sorry no one showed up.”

  “At least you guys are here. And maybe it’s a good thing the van broke down, because there’s been a lot of drama brewing between Agnes and Sheila, because they both like Andrew. And I wasn’t sure if I should invite all of them, but I didn’t want to leave anyone out or choose sides, either. But the three of us can still hang out. I have some Halloween movies on my computer.”

  Watching movies on her computer sounds kind of intimate, and like it might actually be code for “let’s make Damien feel like a third wheel.” And normally I wouldn’t care—I wouldn’t let them get rid of me so easily—but after everything that’s happened tonight, it just feels wrong.

  As if to prove my point about it seeming intimate, Riley kisses Sarah. It’s the kind of kiss where he puts his arms around her, and she leans into him, and it’s like they suddenly have no idea I’m here.

  Which I think is my cue to leave. “Everything looks great, Sarah, but I’m going to go.”

  She steps back from Riley. “You just got here. And it’s raining really hard.”

  “I was really only in it for the old people, and now that they’re not coming, I just don’t see the point.”

  Riley’s eyebrows come together. “X, come on.”

  I hold up my phone. “I just got a text from Kat. She wants me to come over.”

  Sarah squints at me. “On a school night?”

  I roll my eyes at her. “I’m just... You guys watch the movie, okay? I’ll go.”

  Sarah looks like she’s about to say something to that, but then Heraldo scratches at the back door, and she goes to let him in.

  Which is definitely my cue to leave.

  “X, wait,” Riley says. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Yeah, I do. You guys can have the house to yourselves and ‘watch movies’ on her bed. You really don’t need me here for that.”

  Riley’s face turns red. He glances over toward the back door, like he’s afraid Sarah might have heard, then back at me. “We’re not doing that.”

  “But you might. If I wasn’t here. So I’ll just get out of your way—problem solved.”

  He sighs. “After everything that happened earlier, you seriously think I’m going to... Look, it’s not happening right now. And even if it was, I don’t want things to be weird between us.”

  “That’s why I’m getting out of your way.”

  “No, I mean, I don’t want you to do that. You never would have had to run off like this before tonight, so don’t do it now.”

  “But—”

  “We’re all friends. You don’t have to run away from your friends.”

  Heraldo comes bounding into the living room, soaking wet and covered in mud. He runs straight over and jumps up on me, knocking me back a step and getting pawprints all over my sweatshirt.

  “Heraldo!” Sarah scolds. “Down.”

  He gets down, then shakes himself off, spraying me with cold water.

  “Ugh.” I wipe droplets off my face with my sleeve.

  “Damien was just telling me that he’s staying,” Riley says.

  Sarah brightens at that. “You are? What about Kat? Is she coming over?”

  “Uh, no. But I got another text, and... I guess I can stay.”

  Heraldo pushes his nose into Riley’s hand, though of course his giant tail smacks my leg as he wags it back and forth. Then he barks and takes off for the front door, right before there’s a knock.

  “Stay,” Sarah tells him. Once he’s behaving himself, she opens the door.

  “Hi, Sarah,” Zach says.

  Amelia pushes past both of them, not waiting for an invitation. “It’s so cold out there!” she says, wrapping her arms around herself. Both her and Zach are wet from the rain and, well, bedraggled is the word that really comes to mind. Amelia’s hair hangs in soggy clumps. She’s wearing her coat, but she’s obviously wearing the ugly bridesmaid’s dress underneath. She must have changed after we left. There are patches of white and gray face paint on her cheeks and forehead, but it looks like it’s mostly coming off, and her mascara’s running like crazy.

  Zach has similar patches of face paint, and it looks like he sprayed his hair silver again, but it’s partly washed out from the rain. He’s not wearing his Brogdon the Third costume with the extra tentacle arms—just a Halloween themed T-shirt and jeans.

  “So,” I say, “I assume you guys won best costume.”

  Amelia’s mouth turns down, like she just ate something sour. “Shut up.”

  “The party sucked,” Zach says.

  Amelia squeaks in outrage. “It didn’t!”

  Zach gives her a look.

  Her shoulders slump. “Okay, it totally sucked. We went as a zombie Prom couple.”

  I raise my eyebrows at Zach’s jeans and T-shirt. “That’s what you’re wearing to Prom?”

  “Mom would kill me if I got paint on my nice clothes.”

  “And you wore your bathing suit to Homecoming,” Amelia says to me, “so I wouldn’t talk if I were you.”

  “Tell me you at least won cutest couple.”

  She punches me in the shoulder.

  White-hot pain erupts where that laser sliced into me earlier. I gasp and try really hard not to look like I’m in agony, which, judging by the way everyone’s staring at me, I’m totally failing at.

  “Are you okay?” Zach asks.

  “I’m fine. Amelia just doesn’t know her own strength.”

  “Whatever,” Amelia says, taking off her coat. “I’ve had the worst night—you don’t even know. So don’t make fun of me.”

  She’s had the worst night? Me and Riley exchange a glance.

  “Nobody could tell what our costumes were supposed to be. And I overheard some girl—who Kim didn’t even invite; she just tagged along with a friend—saying that we should win worst costume, and someone else actually laughed. Even though it wasn’t funny.”

  “You weren’t exactly invited to this party
,” I tell her.

  “But Riley was, and Zach’s his brother, and I’m Zach’s girlfriend.”

  “Uh, I was invited, and I’m your brother.”

  “I’m not tagging along with my brother.” She shakes her head, like that would be ridiculous.

  “Right.”

  “We were just about to watch a movie,” Sarah says. “I guess if it’s all of us, I should hook it up to the TV.”

  She has to order Heraldo off the couch twice as everyone takes their shoes off and settles in to watch. Everyone except me, anyway. I step into the kitchen and get out my phone to call Kat.

  It rings for a while, but I don’t hang up. I feel this huge wave of relief when she answers. “Damien?”

  There’s music playing in the background, and I can hear people laughing and talking. “Is this a bad time?”

  “I was bobbing for apples, and I couldn’t hear my phone. I hate that game, by the way.”

  I laugh. “I didn’t think people really played that.”

  Riley pokes his head into the kitchen. “We’re about to start the movie.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute.”

  He nods and ducks back out.

  “You want to tell me what’s up?” Kat says. “Because you sound kind of weird, and you’re obviously in the middle of something.”

  “I just wanted to tell you happy Halloween.”

  “And?” she says, sounding skeptical.

  She knows me way too well. My throat gets tight, and I swallow. “And that I love you.”

  Silence. And then, sounding kind of freaked out, “Damien, are you okay? Did something happen?”

  “No. I mean, I’m okay.” Mostly. “Nothing happened. I was just thinking about all that crap with Pete—”

  “Oh.”

  “—and I just wanted you to know that. That I love you.”

  “I love you, too. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah.” I suck in a deep breath, and I keep my voice low. “I did some awful things to Pete. I’ve just been thinking about it. About how I treated him.”

  “It wasn’t your fault, what happened that night. That was all him.”

  But maybe Pete was right about me having a hand in it. “I wasn’t a good friend. Neither was he, but... it’s not an excuse.”

  She’s quiet for a second. For a really long, agonizing second. “We’ve all made mistakes. I was horrible to you.” She whispers it, too ashamed to say it out loud.

  “It’s in the past. It’s not who you are now.”

  “The things you did to Pete, the way you guys treated each other, that’s in the past, too. It’s not your fault he’s dead.”

  “I know.” At least, I mostly do. Some days it still feels like my fault. Especially today.

  “You’re a good boyfriend, Damien. And a good friend. To me, to Riley, to Zach, and... even to Sarah.” I can hear her making a face at that. “Pete’s gone—you can’t fix things with him. But you can be there for everyone who’s still here.”

  I close my eyes, thinking that over. I run a hand through my hair. “I wish you were here. Or that I was there.”

  “Come over this weekend.” It’s not a question.

  “I’ll be there.”

  Someone shouts something at her in the background—something about it being her turn to pin the stem on the pumpkin or something—and she tells me she has to go. We say our good-byes and hang up.

  Everyone’s waiting for me in the living room. Amelia’s in the armchair, and Zach’s sitting on the floor in front of her, with Heraldo pretty much lying on top of him. Sarah and Riley are on the couch. Sarah’s on the far side, with her laptop, and Riley’s sitting in the middle. He’s obviously saved a spot for me, and he jerks his head toward the free space next to him when I come in.

  “It’s about time,” Amelia whines. “Just because you and Kat are having drama doesn’t mean the rest of us should have to suffer.”

  I put a hand to my chest as I sit down on the couch. “Thank you, Amelia, for enduring the hardship of having to wait two minutes for me. It’s brave men and women like you who make this country great.”

  She looks away. “Shut up.”

  “I’ve got three movies on here,” Sarah says. “Do you want kind of scary, Japanese horror, or cheesy?”

  “Cheesy,” me and Riley both say at the same time.

  “Yeah.” Amelia sounds relieved. “Anything but Japanese horror.”

  “Aw, man,” Zach says.

  “We can get to that next,” Sarah tells him. She fiddles with her laptop, getting the movie set up.

  “Uh, Sarah?” I lean forward and tilt my head at her. “Two movies on a school night? Let’s reign it in.”

  She ignores me. “Here we go. I think you said this one was your favorite, right?” She says that part to Riley.

  The movie starts up on the TV. It’s the same one we were watching earlier at his house—I Know How You Killed Me.

  Riley freezes next to me.

  I feel like I can’t breathe.

  “Oh!” Zach sounds really excited about it. “I love this one!”

  Amelia grins at him. “Me, too.”

  “We watched this already,” Riley says.

  Amelia scowls. “Only part of it. And me and Zach haven’t watched it together.”

  Zach shoots his brother a concerned look. “Come on, Riley. It’s not Halloween without it.”

  “It is this year,” I tell him.

  “We shouldn’t have to miss out just because Damien hates it.” Amelia folds her arms across her chest and rolls her eyes at me.

  “How can you hate this movie?” Zach asks. “It’s so awesome.”

  “What can I say? I have no taste.”

  “His friend died,” Amelia fake whispers, really loudly, to Zach. “He’s super traumatized. He can’t even talk about it.”

  Zach and Sarah’s eyes both dart over to me, while Riley makes a point of looking anywhere else.

  “Do you have anything that’s about an amazing brother killing his really horrible sister?” I ask through clenched teeth. “Because I should probably watch it before it happens in real life.”

  They’re still staring at me. Sarah pauses the movie.

  “I’m fine, okay? But I am changing my vote to Japanese horror.”

  Riley nods. “Me, too.”

  “Yes,” Zach says.

  Sarah shrugs. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

  “Unless it’s about a ghost,” I add.

  She raises her eyebrows at me. “It’s Japanese horror, Damien. Of course it’s about a ghost.”

  Great. “What’s the third option?”

  “Sleeping Zomb-beauty. It’s a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, except when everyone in her castle wakes up, they’re flesh-eating zombies. She’s the only one who’s not, but it turns out the prince who woke her up was a werewolf, and now she is, too, and she’s the only one who can save everyone. But she has to fight her way out of the castle first.”

  “He kissed her, and now she’s a werewolf? Or he actually bit her? You know what? It so doesn’t matter. This is the one.”

  “Uh!” Amelia screeches. “No way! That one looked so stupid. And it doesn’t even make sense to be called that if she’s not a zombie.”

  “It’s supposed to have a lot of sex, violence, and unrealistic action scenes,” Sarah adds.

  I point a finger at Amelia. “You weren’t even invited to this party. You don’t get a vote.” I nudge Riley with my elbow. “Back me up on this, Perkins.”

  His eyes go wide, like he didn’t expect to be dragged into the middle of this. “I don’t... I’m not saying anyone doesn’t get a vote. But I do want to watch this movie.”

  “Zach does, too. Right, Zach?”

  Amelia scowls. “If I don’t get a vote, he shouldn’t get one, either!”

  “Let’s watch it,” Zach says.

  “Okay.” Sarah nods and pokes at her computer. “Sleeping Zomb-beauty it is.”

&
nbsp; “I hate you.” Amelia glares at me. “And this is so the worst night ever.”

  “Maybe for you,” I tell her. And yeah, Pete’s ghost dredging up all that stuff from the past and trying to kill us was definitely a low point. But he’s gone, and I’m here, surrounded by my friends. Kat loves me. Riley still wants to hang out with me, despite all the reasons he shouldn’t. Sarah didn’t want me to leave, Zach thinks I’m great, and there are a couple dozen cupcakes on the table that are all up for grabs. And despite what she said, I know Amelia doesn’t really hate me.

  So maybe for her it’s the worst night ever. But for me?

  It’s definitely looking up.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This story started out as part of the kickstarter for The Betrayal of Renegade X. For one of the stretch goals, I said I'd write the Renegade X holiday special, and backers would get to vote on which holiday I wrote about.

  I was picturing something cheesy and light-hearted—a short story that was only 10–20 pages. Even when the votes were overwhelmingly in favor of Halloween, and I knew I wouldn't be writing, like, Damien saves Christmas or anything, I still thought it would be short and light. I had no idea it would turn into a super-intense, 100-page novella. But I'm glad that it did.

  So, a huge thanks goes out to all the kickstarter backers, because without you guys, this story wouldn't exist.

  Thanks also go out to Chloë Tisdale, who, as always, discussed every aspect of this story endlessly with me.

  And thanks to all the fans who love these books and keep asking for more. Your support means the world.

  About the author

  CHELSEA M. CAMPBELL grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains a lot. And then rains some more. She finished her first novel when she was twelve, sent it out, and promptly got rejected. Since then, she’s earned a degree in Latin and Ancient Greek, become an obsessive knitter and fiber artist, and started a collection of glass grapes.

  Besides writing, studying ancient languages, and collecting useless objects, Chelsea is a pop-culture fangirl at heart and can often be found rewatching episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Parks and Recreation, or dying a lot in Dark Souls. You can visit her online at www.chelseamcampbell.com.