by K. F. Breene
“What are you doing here?” Braiden asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“Looking for you. You need to go home. Now. You shouldn’t be here, Braiden. This is a dumb thing to do.”
His sweet breath dusted my face as he exhaled. One hand released my arm and the other slid along my back and around to my other shoulder as he turned, pulling me to his side. “You’re the one who shouldn’t be here.”
“That is also true. Neither of us should.” Ten feet farther down the path, the space opened up around four parked cars, spread to the sides of a circular area. Flashlights or small battery-powered lanterns spread a dim glow. Plants and bushes reached from the sides and weeds sprang up through the gravel.
An overgrown lane led away from the open area on the other side. A small crowd of people waited near Braiden’s car, some of them pantomiming fear with their hands raised near their chests, and others playing at courage. All of them looked our way. “None of us should, I mean.”
A beam of light zipped up from the ground and blasted me in the face. “What’s she doing here?” That voice could only belong to one person.
The light was ripped away and Dirk stalked forward with tense shoulders and balled fists.
“I’m glad one of us asked,” someone said in the crowd, and I was almost positive it was Buffy.
“This is stupid, you guys,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Shhh.” Someone of big stature raised a finger that was quickly lost in the shadows draping his face and upper body.
“News flash—the people in that house died a long time ago,” I said, shrugging out of Braiden’s protective embrace. I needed to lead this group, not hide in the shelter of the very person who’d embraced this madness. “Anything that can hear us already knows we’re here. Look, you guys, I know this seems like fun. It’s scary and forbidden and all that, but this is a terrible idea. Can’t you feel the energy in the air? The Old Woman will be out tonight. We need to be in our houses.”
The group shifted in nervousness before a guy muttered, “Give me a break.”
“This town is superstitious because of people like her,” a girl said, sticking her hand out and turning her back to me. “But none of it is true. Trust me. I’ve been here before. Like, in this driveway.” Her voice and actions seemed really familiar, but without seeing her face, I couldn’t place her.
“I have literally touched the house,” she went on. “Touched it. I mean…I have looked in the windows. That’s how close I’ve been. A few times, too.” She held her hands wide. “Do I look dead to you?”
“Death warmed over, maybe,” someone said. A few in the group snickered.
The girl turned around to face Braiden and me, the light splashing her face.
“Shana?” I said, shocked. “What are you doing here?”
She bent, and I recognized it as her I can’t believe you’re this stupid posture. “What’s your damage?” She gestured toward the house, the roof just visible over the tall vegetation. “Ever since we were kids, we’ve talked about checking out this house. I am not missing this for the world. I want to see what’s so scary about a deserted house.”
The crowd behind her shifted again, and I got the distinct impression that the rest of them weren’t so keen on finding out for themselves.
“You need to go home,” Dirk said, stepping forward again. I could barely make out his features at the edge of his flashlight’s glow, closed down into a hard mask. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“He’s right.” Braiden put a gentle hand on my shoulder. He turned, now facing me and standing close. “You should go.”
I stepped away from them both. “Everyone should go. Maybe you don’t all have weird things that go on in your homes, but some of you do. That’s a fact. Maybe one or more of you have seen the Old Woman wandering the streets. You don’t want to admit it. That’s fine. But that is not superstition. That is not your eyes playing tricks on you. How could it be, when so many of us have seen the same thing? When the kids whose houses she’s chosen have all disappeared?”
“You haven’t disappeared,” Buffy accused.
“That’s because I’ve armed myself with knowledge. I’ve read about the urban legends, and talked with others who felt the same things. They didn’t make it, and that haunts me, but still I’ve stayed strong. It hasn’t been easy, let me assure you. Which is why I’m here. If you trust anyone about all this, trust me.”
Shana turned back to the others. “So she says. If she’s lying, then we’re fine. And if she’s telling the truth, we’re still fine, because she’s the one this Old Woman seems to want, not us. I mean, are we seriously going to go back to school and say we didn’t go through with it because Ella—I mean, Fella—talked us out of it?”
I withered where I stood. Shana had turned on me. Our friendship, such as it was, didn’t mean as much to her as doing something gossip-worthy with the cool kids.
I swallowed past the pain and disappointment. “You have no idea what you will be walking into,” I managed to say. “No idea. You might not believe in ghosts, or her, but the second you cross the boundary, that’s it. You’re in that world. And maybe it won’t seduce you. Maybe it won’t even scare you. But it will change the way you see ‘reality,’ forever. You don’t want that. Continue to live in ignorance. If you have an unwanted houseguest of the invisible variety, continue to ignore it as best you can. It’s better that way. Trust me. There’s no telling what you’ll find in that mansion, but if it’s anything like the rest of this town, it’ll cause you nothing but hardship and pain.”
Braiden shifted, leaning toward me. If I was reading his body language correctly, he was having second thoughts.
“I mean…” A guy took a step away from the group, moving toward the mansion. “We don’t have to go inside. We can just have a look and report back to the school.”
The others murmured, and I suddenly understood what Shana was saying. The whole school knew about their plans, including the teachers. To leave now would result in a lot of looks. Blaming me wouldn’t work this time. This group would join me as part of the punch line, and for a bunch of popular kids, that was a terrible fate.
I spread my hands. “Or you could just say the cops showed up. Going to jail for trespassing is no joke.”
“I thought you were supposed to be smart, Fella?” Buffy said, a hand on her hip. “This is a small town. And all the cops have kids. They’ll know no one showed up.”
“Then just say your parents wouldn’t let you out because the principal called them,” I tried, knowing by their collective shifting and shuffling that I was losing this battle. “Say you were grounded.”
Someone snickered, drowned out by two others laughing outright. “Seriously? Who gets grounded anymore?” a girl asked.
Me…
“Come on.” The guy who’d already stepped toward the mansion waved the others on. “This is stupid. I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” His reference to Ghostbusters brought more laughs.
“Go home,” Braiden told me softly.
I looked back the way I’d come, a black maw between walls of nature.
I’d done my part. I’d caught them, warned them in no uncertain terms, and implored them to do the right thing. To turn back. It wasn’t my fault they’d chosen to ignore me.
Yet something kept me from walking away. Something told me to stay.
Was it the same something that urged me to leave the house and follow the Old Woman every time she came calling? Or was it something else?
I chewed my lip in indecision.
“Ella,” Dirk said, stepping forward and grabbing my arm. “You need to get lost. If the Old Woman is out tonight, she’ll find you. And us with you.”
I stared up at him in confusion. “Since when do you believe in the Old Woman?”
“He lives on our street, Ella,” Braiden said in a rough tone, his gaze boring into Dirk. Dirk let go of my arm. “I told you he must’ve glimpsed her a time o
r two.”
Nate had implied the same thing.
“Fine, but why care now?” I looked between the maw of relative safety, and the small crowd of kids heading through the bushes to the mansion beyond. I needed to make a decision.
What decision? You need to get out of here!
“He’s always cared, haven’t you, Dirk?” Braiden asked, and it would’ve sounded like he was teasing if it wasn’t for the edge in his voice. He stepped between Dirk and me and handed me the flashlight. “Use this. Get home safely.”
I wrapped my fingers around the hard plastic, my skin glancing against Braiden’s. Electricity sizzled up my arm.
“Come to my house,” I begged Braiden. “Walk away. Seriously, if you ignore her, all you have to worry about is a fire hazard. And you’re definitely strong enough to ignore her. I believe that. As long as we walk away from here, we’ll both be fine.”
A cloud slid off the moon, and light highlighted Braiden’s handsome face. A smile slowly pulled at the corners of his lips. “I would love to go to your house with you,” he said, and his unspoken meaning sent hot shivers racing through my body. “But I can’t. I told you, I don’t know what this feeling is, but it’s strong. I feel drawn here, somehow. Like I can actively try and banish the threat…to keep you safe.”
“Banishing won’t work in this place. Rushing to the source of the problem is not the right way to answer it.”
“Then what is?” His voice was so soft. The trail of his fingertips along my jaw scorching hot.
My breath caught in my throat as he bent. As his lips neared mine.
I let my eyes flutter closed, expectant but anxious. Excited but terrified. Relishing in a tightness I hadn’t felt before, throbbing in my middle.
“Ella?”
I wrenched away from Braiden.
Scarlet stopped pedaling her bicycle and planted a foot to the ground. “Ella,” she said again. The beam of her flashlight waved dramatically, hitting each car in the makeshift lot before blasting across Dirk’s face, making him reel backward. Braiden stood tall within the glow, his arm wrapped around me again. When it was my turn for scrutiny, I clicked on my loaned flashlight and met her beam for beam.
We squinted at each other. “I was just trying to warn them away, that’s all,” I said. “I was about to leave.”
I wasn’t even sure that was a lie.
“Well, at least it’s just a few of you.” Scarlet swung her leg over the bike before kicking the kickstand. “Wait.” She swung the light on the cars again.
“I thought she was supposed to be good at math?” Braiden said, turning me and giving me a small shove toward Scarlet. “The two of you need to get going. I’m just going to check things out and—”
“Braiden,” a girl called from within the wall of plants nearest the mansion. “Are you coming?”
“Yes,” he answered. “Ella, go with Scarlet. Go home. I’ll check in tomorrow, okay? You can show me your room.” Then he was marching off, Dirk following close behind.
“You guys are making a big mistake. Remember the old mill, Braiden?” Scarlet called after them. “Remember that? I saw the look on your face. That freaked you out. Do you think the mansion is going to be any better? It won’t. It’ll be— And he’s gone. What a fool.” Scarlet shook her head, her light trained on the spot where they’d disappeared. “I mean…Ella, maybe we should’ve physically stopped them.” A ghastly expression covered her face. “Will we ever see them again?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lights danced and bobbed from the driveway. A car came rolling in, and I recognized it immediately.
“Oh good, at least we can get a ride back,” Scarlet said.
Odis stopped just behind Scarlet with the engine running. He stepped out of his parents’ Oldsmobile. “Ella? Scarlet, what are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same question,” Scarlet said.
“You should be at home,” Odis said.
“I came to make sure Ella didn’t do something stupid.” Scarlet pointed at me. “What are you doing here, Odis? This is a terrible way to try and be popular, you know. I expected more from you.”
“I’m not trying to be popular.” Odis shook his head. “Ella, get in the car. I’ll take you home.”
“How’d you know she’d be here?” Scarlet asked him, training her flashlight beam on his face.
He put his hand up to block the light. “She didn’t answer my 9-1-1 page. And she hates when people don’t listen to reason. Would you take that thing away?”
I stood frozen in indecision, feeling the pull of the mansion. And additionally, the need to go after Braiden.
Something occurred to me. My inability to leave had to do with him. I wanted to stay with him. To stick by his side. Something in me felt that we’d only beat this together.
But was that because I was crushing on him, or because something paranormal was pushing us together?
“Ella, hello?”
I turned to Scarlet. “What?”
“Are you coming? Odis can take us home. We’ve done all we can. We can’t stay out much longer.” She squinted up at the sky, blinking rapidly as a gust of wind rolled over us. “I feel restless. That usually means bad things for the paranormal activity meter. We need to go.”
“The what?” Odis asked.
“The energy in the air, yeah.” But I couldn’t step toward the car. I couldn’t willingly head in that direction.
A scream tore through the night.
I was running before I knew what had happened. Branches and leaves slapped my face. A twig scraped my cheek. I burst through the shrubbery and stumbled into wild, knee-high grass. High-pitched, babbling voices sounded to my left. I hurried in that direction, stepping as carefully as I could, lest my foot land incorrectly and send me sprawling.
“Ella, wait,” Scarlet yelled after me.
“Go back,” I said.
The mansion stood beside me, a looming shape. Dark windows overlooked the land, some of them cracked. A seething presence hung heavy near the walls, something wicked and sinister and pulsing.
“Go back,” I yelled again as I neared an overgrown hedge with wild, reaching limbs. There was no way to get through. I’d have to go around.
Another scream, suddenly cut off. Silence descended, thick and gooey.
“What was that?” Odis asked as he caught up, faster than I would’ve given him credit for. He’d never been great at gym.
“You need to get out of here,” I said, more out of breath from fear than from running.
“Only if you come with me.” But he didn’t slow or turn back. He kept pace, his expression anxious and eyes wide.
We saw them near the front of the mammoth house, clustered together and staring at the porch. Braiden was in the middle, his body rigid and shoulders set, his determination not to feel fear clearly fighting said fear.
“What is it?” Odis asked quietly as I slowed.
Heat crept into the air around me, and I knew this was the beginning. Things were on the verge of transforming, and those who still didn’t believe in the paranormal were about to have a change of heart.
“She just appeared!” one of the girls shouted, pointing. I couldn’t tell who it was. Flashlights and lanterns had been turned off. “I swear, she just appeared out of nowhere.”
“I screamed because she screamed.” Another girl shifted and chuckled—Shana. “I didn’t see anything.”
“What are you seeing?” a guy asked.
“What do you mean, what am I seeing?” the first girl demanded. “Are you blind? Look at her. Right there.” Her finger waved in the air, mostly a blur in the darkness.
“I’m blind, yeah. It’s dark. Why aren’t we using our flashlights again?”
“Because we don’t need someone calling the cops, you idiot.” That was most certainly Cliff. “We’re trespassing.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” someone muttered.
“She’s gone. S
he’s gone!” The first girl backed away from the porch. “She was there…and then she disappeared.”
“You’re seeing things.” The comment was accompanied by a loud huffing sound.
“I am not seeing things. I have very good eyesight.”
“You also freak out easily.” Buffy’s voice. “So if you ‘saw’ something that disappeared before anyone else saw it…” I would bet a hundred dollars that Buffy had rolled her eyes.
“Whatever,” the first girl muttered. “I know what I saw.”
Scarlet paused beside me next to the end of the wild hedge. She wiped sweat off her brow. “What was it?”
“Someone thought they saw a ghost,” I whispered.
Another scream ripped through the darkness. Two hands flung up, pointing at us. “Ghost!” someone shouted.
A guy in the back took off running, faster than a shot. A gust of wind grabbed his baseball hat and tossed it up behind him. He didn’t seem to notice.
“Bobby, what the hell?” Cliff yelled, turning to watch his friend bolt across the dead grass.
“Wow. And I thought you were fast,” I said to Odis.
A click announced the blast of light a second before it hit my face. Another blast doubled the horror and I reeled back as though struck.
“Oh. It’s just Fella and her entourage of nerds,” Buffy said. One of the lights clicked off.
“To stay or to go, that is the question,” Scarlet whispered. “I vote go.”
“If we go, we’ll look like losers,” Odis said.
“Our entire high-school career has been spent looking like losers. Why would this one self-saving incident change that?” Scarlet pulled on my sleeve. “I vote go.”
I nodded, still blinded by the light. But I didn’t turn away. That same something as before held me to the spot.
“I vote stay,” Odis said. “They didn’t tell us to get lost. When will we get another opportunity to hang out with these guys?”
“Well now, that is a serious change in motive.” Scarlet crossed her arms. “What happened to making sure Ella was okay? Or is that just something nice guys say to try and get what they want? It was never about her at all, was it? It was about you, you sonuva—”