by Kady Cross
“You must be afraid a lot.”
I laughed. He grinned.
Ben was quiet until we pulled into Nan’s drive. “I thought about eating a bullet once. My uncle found me with the gun and made me learn Tae Kwon Do instead. Beat me senseless, but it worked. Twisted, huh?”
I turned the keys and the engine cut out, leaving us in silence. I turned to him. “After I cut my wrists I thought about calling for help, but I couldn’t get to the phone.” Really, why was I telling him this? To make him feel better, or me?
“At that point you were committed.”
I smiled. “No, they committed me after I got out of the hospital.” Cue laugh track.
He glanced down at his sneakers. “No one else knows about the gun.”
“And no one else ever will,” I promised, and then opened the door.
Nan was there when we entered the kitchen. She said hi to Ben, asked if we needed or wanted anything and then made herself scarce. I loved her for trusting me enough not to hover.
“I’m going to grab the book,” I told Ben. “I’ll just be a second.”
When I walked into my room, the book Wren had brought back with her was on the floor, where she would have dropped it as soon as she returned to this dimension. She had a very difficult time holding on to things in this world unless she used me to help her.
I bent down and reached for the book. As my fingers touched the soft leather cover, a tingle ran up my arm. I didn’t know if it was in welcome or warning. All I knew was that this book was not of this world and it wanted to remind me of that fact. I had to be very careful with it and not let anyone else handle it. God knew what its energy might do to someone not linked to the dead.
I gathered the book up and held it to my chest—it was like holding a box of droning bees against me. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant, either.
Ben was on his cell when I entered the kitchen. He stood with his profile to me, one hand in his pocket. He really had changed since we were little. Would I feel so bad for being such a bitch to him if he wasn’t so gorgeous? Honestly, I didn’t want to give that too much thought, because I was pretty sure I knew the answer, and it didn’t look good on me.
“Okay,” he said to the person on the other end of the conversation. “We’ll meet you there.” He pressed the disconnect button and looked at me. “Kevin wants to have the séance at his house.”
“Good idea, since his parents are away.” Nan was great, but I figured even she would draw a line somewhere. Calling the dead into her house would probably be it. “We can mix up the ghost repellent there, too.”
“Ghost repellent?” To say he was incredulous would be an understatement.
“The groceries we bought. Ghosts are allergic to them, especially when they’re mixed together.”
That seemed to make sense to him. “Give me a lift back to the coffee shop? I need to get my car.”
We decided that I should drive with him so Nan wouldn’t be without a car. She drove us back to the coffee shop, asked me to text if I was going to be late and gave me a wink before driving off.
“She thinks we’re on a date,” I murmured. Even though I was standing there with bags of the weirdest groceries ever, and she knew there were ghost shenanigans going on, some part of my grandmother believed I was a normal teenager. That was nice.
“Don’t expect me to put out,” Ben joked, taking the bags from me. “I’m pretty, but I’m not easy. I’ll put these in my car.”
Hmm, I thought as he walked away. That’s too bad.
Maybe there was a little normal in me after all.
WREN
I wasn’t much of a help with research, but I watched over shoulders as the others tapped away on the keyboards and screens of their electronics. Amazing gadgets, really. I never tired of the living and their technology.
Although, I noticed that the living didn’t have a library that would bring you the book you wanted.
I wondered if Lark had found the book, and if she would bring it with her. Probably it would be for the best if no one else touched it. I didn’t know what sort of effect its energy might have on the living. I was fairly certain Lark would be all right, but I couldn’t say for sure, which made me nervous.
Speaking of which...I needed some time with my sister. Alone. I hadn’t really lied to her that morning when I told her I’d been in her room all night. I’d only spent a few hours with Kevin before guilt had driven me home. But never mind that. I wanted to know what had happened while I was gone, and if Kevin had said anything about me. I also wanted to know why Lark had chosen Ben to go with her.
While Kevin and Gage discussed the best way to protect the group against ghosts—which apparently involved a phone call to someone named “Chuck”—I got my chance to do a little snooping.
“Can I talk to you?” Sarah asked Mace. “Privately?”
Mace wore that half surprised, half annoyed expression that most boys seemed to have when they were interrupted from doing something they thought was important. “Now?”
“Yeah,” she said—as though there wasn’t anything more important—“now.”
He didn’t look happy about it, but he stood up and followed her out of the shop. I drifted through the nearest wall and caught up with them outside. They had walked around back where they could have a little privacy, but not too close to the Dumpsters.
“What?” he asked, hands on his hips.
Sarah folded her arms over her full chest. The wound on her cheek stood out sharp and red, and her aura vibrated brightly with tension. Poor Mace. “Do you have a thing for Lark?”
His eyebrows shot up, then lowered into a scowl. “Seriously? You dragged me out here because you’re jealous?”
“I’m not jealous of some white-haired freak,” she shot back.
Careful, sweetie. That freak’s my sister, and she’s got nothing on me.
“Hey, don’t call her that.” My opinion of Mace went up another couple of notches.
“I’m sorry,” Sarah sneered. “Did I insult your girlfriend?” She really was jealous. Lark would have such a laugh over this.
“She’s my friend.” He didn’t sound convinced. I understood. Lark didn’t go out of her way to make herself likable. “Our friend. She’s helping us get out of this mess.”
“What mess? Other than a sore stomach or cheek, what else has this supposed ghost done?”
Mace stared at her as though she was joking. “So, I suppose you’re not having nightmares?” He frowned again. “And of course you haven’t experienced any weird stuff—like hearing someone talking to you or feeling like you’re being watched even when no one else is there? You haven’t felt like you’re coming down with a flu that feels like it’s in your bones?”
“That’s just paranoia. This ghost stuff has freaked us all out. That’s it. It’s nothing.”
He shook his head. “You weren’t there the other night. I saw what it did to her. I felt it. She’s putting herself in danger by helping us.”
Sarah snorted. “Please. She’s doing this because she’s horny for you. Or Ben. She couldn’t care less about the rest of us.”
The Dumpsters trembled. Neither of them seemed to notice. Bet she’d notice if I picked one up and crushed her with it. She wouldn’t be half so pretty with her insides smeared all over the pavement.
“Don’t be stupid.” He just looked disgusted now. “I’m going back inside.”
She grabbed his arm as he walked past. “Mace...wait.”
He stopped. “What?”
“I’m sorry.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m just scared.”
I watched as he seemed to debate for a moment, then put his arms around her. He was a good guy. Too good to date a girl that was manipulative, which was why I was going to keep an ey
e on Sarah. Sometimes being haunted changed people, especially if the ghost was able to influence them. It wasn’t quite possession, but it was close.
I left them standing there when she lifted her head in an invitation for him to kiss her. I drifted to the front of the building and looked around. There was a young woman walking down the road that was one of my kind—the sort people called a Woman in White. I wondered how many people had stopped to offer her a drive over the years? And in the distance, I saw a man dangling from a tree branch, swaying in the breeze like a lazy cat’s tail. Didn’t he get bored just hanging there?
My sister was standing near the door of the coffee shop when I came around. She turned and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. She was probably wondering what I was doing out there. Unfortunately, Mace and Sarah chose that moment to walk around as well, their arms around each other. I shrugged and smiled. She’d ask me about it later—and give me a lecture about eavesdropping. I’d heard it before.
The couple paused as Ben joined Lark. I smiled at the change in Lark’s aura when Ben stood next to her. She liked him.
“Get everything?” Mace asked.
“I think so,” Lark replied. “How goes the search?”
“We found three people sent to Haven Crest because of razor-related crimes. Gage’s still looking to see if there are any more.”
Lark nodded, her jaw tight. I knew she was miffed that the two of them were out here when there was work to be done. My sister was a little...obsessive when she put her mind to something, and sometimes she expected everyone else to jump on board. I told her she’d be a lot less angry at the world if she didn’t do that. She told me to...well, do something sexual to myself, and then I’d probably be less annoying.
My sister started for the door of the coffee shop when another car pulled in beside us. It was an odd thing that looked like someone had smooshed a car and truck together.
“Hey, Chuck,” Mace said when a tall, thin man with black hair down to his waist and a tanned complexion climbed out of the vehicle in a cloud of smoke. Lark smirked as she sniffed the air. I sniffed, too. I’d smelled that acrid scent before, but couldn’t place it.
“Mace,” the man greeted in a deep, lazy voice. “I have something for Kev. Is he inside?”
Mace nodded. I moved closer to the man, still sniffing, trying to identify what was so amusing to the other four. Suddenly, the man looked right at me. Then at Lark. “Miss, does this little red-haired girl belong with you?”
Lark stepped back as though he’d slapped her. It wasn’t very often that someone saw me—even less that they acknowledged it. My sister looked at me, and me at her. Then she turned to Chuck. “Yes.”
He nodded, then said to me, “Miss, I don’t mind if you come closer, but you should know that I’ve got a good quantity of iron on my person, and I don’t want to cause you unnecessary discomfort.”
Well, wasn’t that sweet? Most people didn’t even know that iron had an effect on ghosts, much less worried about it. “Thank you.”
He glanced at Lark. “What did she say? I can see her, but I can’t hear her.”
Poor Lark looked a little dumbstruck. “She says thanks.”
Chuck nodded. “Sure thing. Nice to meet you.” Then he smiled at me and went inside.
Mace shook his head. “That was weird.”
My sister wasn’t so amused. “Who is that guy?” The unspoken question was whether or not he was a threat to me.
“That’s just Chuck. He’s harmless.”
Lark shot him a sharp glance as she made to follow after the man. “No one who can see Wren and knows how to hurt her is harmless.” She yanked the door open and stepped inside.
Sarah smiled a little as they followed. Sometimes I was glad I wasn’t alive because I didn’t have to deal with all the strangeness that came with being a mortal teenager. So much insecurity and pettiness. Honestly, I’d rather spend a day with a raging poltergeist than a teenage girl—other than Lark, of course.
Inside, Chuck was at our table, handing Kevin a small burlap pouch. Kevin gave him a couple of twenties and thanked him.
“You guys be careful,” Chuck cautioned, then he left. He nodded at me as he walked away. I waved.
Kevin emptied the pouch on the table. Nine iron rings clanked against the laminate. They were made from old nails.
Sarah stared at them. “What are these for?”
“Iron weakens ghosts,” Lark explained, picking up one of the rings and sliding it onto her finger as she sat down. “Not bad, Sixth Sense.”
Kevin glanced at her. “Gee, thanks.”
I poked her. She poked back, though I’m sure it looked like a twitch to anyone watching. At least she didn’t poke me with the hand wearing the ring. That would have been uncomfortable.
“What have we got?” she asked.
Gage, dark hair hanging in his eyes, took a drink from his enormous cup of coffee. “Okay, so far we’ve found three potential BBGs.”
BBGs?
Lark smiled slightly. “Big bad ghosts?”
He grinned. He was cute when he smiled and got the hair out of his eyes. “Exactly. Eva Mortimer, Josiah Bent and Thomas Stark.”
“What did they do, and do they tie into any hauntings?” Lark asked.
Gage continued, “Mortimer was a nurse who apparently went nuts one night and sliced some patients up. Bent killed six young girls with a straight razor, and Stark liked to carve himself and anyone else he could hold down with a hunting knife.”
Kevin leaned forward, finger flicking over the screen of his phone. “Eva Mortimer claimed she was made to do what she’d done by the ghost of an old patient, but she didn’t say who before she slit her own throat. Nasty. She died in 1932, and a lot of people say they’ve seen her on the grounds. Some kids that broke in in the ’80s say they saw a man with a blade coming at them, but they didn’t say if it was a razor or a knife.”
Gage piped up next. “But in 1966, a girl who was admitted as a patient insisted that there was an older man hovering over her at night, and that he kept telling her he wanted to cut her up.”
Lark nodded. “The entity I encountered felt male, but I couldn’t tell for certain. It was definitely angry—and mean. Mortimer sounds more like a victim than who we’re looking for.”
“My aunt and some of her friends sneaked in about fifteen years ago,” Roxi added—she’d arrived while Lark was gone. “She said one of the other girls insisted that a ghost slashed at her with a knife, but they thought she was making it up since she didn’t have any wounds.”
Not ones that were visible to the living, at any rate.
“What happened to her?” Lark asked.
Roxi shrugged. “I don’t know.” She was lying. Or at least, there was something she wasn’t telling the rest of them. Were Lark and I the only ones who noticed? If I had to guess I’d say that one of the aunt’s friends died shortly after that trip to Haven Crest, but Roxi didn’t know if it was the one who was attacked by the ghost or not, and didn’t want to upset her friends.
Lark looked at me, and I knew she was thinking the same thing. Then she turned back to the table. “Everyone take a ring. If our ghost manifests around you and you see it, the ring will help fight it off. I have a salt-and-iron mix for you to carry, as well. Also, when we summon the ghost, you need to at least pretend you’re not afraid and that you mean no harm. Ghosts are attracted to fear and negative emotion. It makes them aggressive.”
“Like when your sister freaked out at Kevin’s,” Sarah said. “She picked up on our worry about you and Mace.”
I would have liked to manifest right then and punch her in the face. She hadn’t been worried about Lark at all.
“No,” Lark corrected her. “It was Wren’s worry for me that caused her to manifest, and you’re lucky. If it had gone th
e other way you’d all be in much worse shape right now.” I wished she hadn’t said that.
“Wait.” Gage put his phone down. “You’re saying your sister is dangerous?” And that was exactly why I wished Lark hadn’t said it.
Lark frowned at him. “She’s a ghost. You don’t need to be afraid of her, but her power is something you should remember and respect.”
He shook his head, long hair brushing against his face as he looked in my direction. “Glad you’re on our side, badass ghost girl.”
I laughed. Lark smiled.
“So, what’s the plan?” Mace asked, bringing everyone back on track.
I could tell from the way Lark looked at him that she was surprised by his gruff tone. “We go to Kevin’s, summon the ghost, find out what we’re up against, and then we go to Haven Crest, I find the remains and destroy them. That’s the simple version.”
“Why do we even need to summon him?” Sarah asked. “Isn’t that just asking to be attacked again?”
“It’s the only way to be sure we have the right ghost,” Lark said. “It will come out for all of you.”
“But it came out for just you and Mace, didn’t it?”
“But I didn’t see it. With all of you there I think it will be forced to manifest.”
Mace put his arm around his girlfriend. “You don’t have to do it.”
“Yeah, she does,” Lark announced. “You got into this together, you stay in it together.”
“What difference does it make if one of us doesn’t hold hands around a table?” Mace demanded. He and Lark glared at each other. If this was one of those soap operas my mother liked to watch, they’d kiss.
“You think Ben or Roxi or Gage want to do this?” my sister asked. “If Sarah doesn’t have to do it, no one has to, and then it will end up me and Wren looking for a ghost-needle in a fucking ghost-haystack. And I’ll be in the Haven Crest graveyard digging up and burning all three graves just in case. That’s if I’m lucky.”
“I’d help,” Kevin volunteered.
Lark didn’t look at him, but I did. I smiled. My sister kept her gaze locked on Mace, who stared back. “That’s great, but you weren’t there the night they got jumped, so while your abilities might be helpful, there’s no guarantee you’d find the right one, either.”