“What time is it?”
“Almost three in the afternoon. I heard you had quite a night.”
“That’s an understatement.” I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. “Where are my parents?”
“They went to see someone.”
“The psychic?”
Shane laughed. “Occult specialist. Listen, why don’t you get up and I’ll make you an omelet with the works. I bet you’re starving.”
“I am.” I dragged myself off the sofa and went to the laundry room—which had essentially become my new closet—to get changed. Then I headed upstairs to shower. My bedroom door was shut. I suddenly couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept in my own bed. Was it just three months ago that I’d sat on the floor and marveled at living in a new, nonhaunted house? If I’d only known then the way my life was going to twist and turn, I’d have bolted for the door.
I took a long, hot shower and imagined all of the craziness and chaos of the night before washing off me. Then I got dressed and met Shane in the kitchen, where he was folding an extra-large omelet onto a plate.
“We’ll pretend this is brunch,” he said. “Dig in.”
Shane knew how to cook only two things: microwave popcorn and awesome omelets. He made the omelets on special occasions, like birthdays, so I was thrilled with the treat.
“Annalise called this morning,” he said as he poured me a glass of orange juice. “I told her you’d call back later.”
“Mmm.” I nodded and kept shoveling fluffy eggs with extra cheese into my mouth. I was ravenous, as if I’d come out of hibernation after a long winter.
“Jared called, too.” Shane sounded casual as he washed a spatula at the sink. “I think he was worried when you weren’t at school today that you might cancel on him. I told him we were still meeting tomorrow night.”
I almost choked on a mouthful of omelet. “You what? Shane, there’s no way I’m doing an investigation tomorrow. I’ve had enough paranormal pandemonium in my life for a while.”
“Yeah, I thought you’d say that.” Shane dried off the spatula and came over to sit across from me at the counter. “Do you really believe we’re going to contact Adam’s spirit?”
“No. But we might contact something else, and I’m not ready for that. I need to get a handle on the ghosts already invading my life.”
“You sure that’s your reason for wanting to bail on this?”
I stopped chewing. “Yes.”
Shane nodded. “Okay. Just as long as you’re not trying to run away from your problems.”
I set down my fork. “What are you talking about?”
He pointed to my plate. “Keep eating. I’ll talk, you listen. Just hear me out. Okay?”
I went back to devouring my eggs, knowing there was nothing he could say that would change my mind.
“My family owned a funeral home,” he began, “so I’ve been around death for a long time. My dad used to say that it’s not about the dead, it’s about the living. They come first.” He leaned in a little. “Charlotte, your friend Jared is hurting real bad. We can help him, but I don’t think we have much time.”
“He’s not my friend,” I said softly. “I barely know him.”
“He’s a guy who needs our help, kid. That’s all that matters.”
I finished my omelet and pushed the plate aside. “You said we don’t have much time. What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve seen this before, more times than I’d like.” Shane frowned and got a kind of faraway look in his eyes. “People can live under the weight of their guilt for only so long before they snap. I’ve talked to Jared. He’s about to lose it.”
“Last night, we picked up an EVP that said there’s no more time. Do you think the Pickenses are about to snap, too?”
Shane sighed. “No clue. But if they said it, they meant it. We can help Jared on Saturday and deal with your ghosts on Sunday. How’s that sound?”
“You really think I should do this?”
“I really do.”
“I’ll think about it.” I didn’t like it, but I knew Shane. If he thought it was urgent, then it was. Most of the plan was his responsibility, anyway. I basically just had to show up. Still, I wasn’t completely sure about the timing.
The doorbell rang and we both looked toward the foyer. I hopped off the stool where I’d been sitting and went to answer the door. Avery was standing on the front porch holding Dante in her arms, a purple leash dangling from his neck. As soon as he saw me, he began to growl.
“How are you?” Avery asked. “When I stopped by this morning your Mom said you’d been sick all night.”
“I’m feeling better,” I said, noticing the sky behind her. Dark gray clouds had begun to develop and seemed to swallow the sunshine. “Looks like it’s about to rain. Come on in.”
Avery tethered Dante to the porch, where he began to yap at some leaves blowing through the yard. “Be good,” she said to him, giving him a little pat on the head.
Shane was working in the living room, so Avery and I went upstairs. I hesitated before opening my bedroom door. Dad had taken most of the equipment out to analyze the data, but I wasn’t sure how much he’d left behind.
“I haven’t been in here for so long,” Avery said, brushing past me and walking inside. She looked around. “What happened to the mountains of clothes?”
I quickly scanned the room for cameras, recorders or any other strange devices. Nothing. In fact, my room looked cleaner than I’d ever seen it. The bed was made, the clothes were gone and someone had discreetly covered my scratched-up nightstand with a silk scarf.
“I tidied up,” I said as I sat on the edge of my bed.
Avery walked around my room and paused at the window. Outside, the trees thrashed in the wind. “Looks like it’s going to be a rough storm.”
“How was school?” I asked, but Avery seemed distracted. She picked up something off my dresser and held it up.
“What’s this?”
I grimaced. “That’s a thermal camera. My dad must have left it up here.”
She turned it over in her hands. “How does it work?”
“It picks up on electromagnetic energy. It shows temperatures.” I didn’t know how much technical stuff she wanted to hear, but I didn’t think she was really listening. She set the camera back on the dresser.
Something was definitely on Avery’s mind. She was too quiet, too preoccupied. I wasn’t sure what to say. Before I could ask her what was wrong, she sat next to me on the bed.
“After Adam died, I called his cell phone,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I called dozens of times every day, just to hear his voice. It became a habit. Then, one day, it was turned off.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.”
“Avery, I’m so sorry.”
She looked at me. “I know Jared came here. I know he asked you for help. He wants you to contact Adam, doesn’t he?” There was no anger in her voice. Instead, she sounded tired, as if she was simply stating a sad fact.
“How did you know?” I asked softly.
“I saw him walking toward your house last week. I’ve been waiting for you to mention it.”
“I didn’t want to upset you.”
“Are you going to help him?”
“Maybe.” I almost whispered the word. It felt like a betrayal for so many reasons. I had kept a secret from Avery after I’d promised I wouldn’t. I had conspired with her enemy. I had essentially demolished her trust in me.
Thunder rumbled outside and I could hear Dante barking from the porch. Avery heard him, too, and stood up. I thought she was going to leave without saying anything else, but when she reached the door she turned around.
“Jared is a murderer,” she said. “And the fact that you would even consider helping him…” Her words were choked off by her tears. I sprang from the bed and went to her.
“Please, Avery. Please listen to me.” I tried to put an arm around her but she pulled away. “You don
’t know what really happened.”
“Neither do you!” she sobbed. “And Jared has no right to get another chance at talking to Adam. I want answers, Charlotte, but not from Jared. Not anymore.” She wiped at her eyes. “I hate feeling this way. I hate not knowing. It’s a cold, empty kind of hell.”
I ushered her back to the bed, where she slumped down. She looked defeated, as though she’d given up pretending that she could deal with things on her own.
“I keep living in that moment, the last time I saw him. I keep thinking if I’d just stayed at the party, then the accident would never have happened.”
“You don’t really believe Jared crashed the car on purpose, do you?” I asked gently.
“I didn’t, at first. But he looked me in the eye and admitted it. He said he was jealous of Adam, of his relationship with me.” She sighed. “There’s something else, Charlotte.”
I waited, although part of me knew what she was about to say.
“The thing is, when Jared kissed me that one time? I wasn’t quite so innocent. I kissed him back.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “That’s not the worst thing in the world.”
Avery wiped a tear from her eye. “It shouldn’t have happened. Adam was in Rome, I was feeling lonely and Jared was just…there, you know? Afterward, he wanted to tell Adam, but I wouldn’t let him.”
“Sounds like you were trying to avoid hurting Adam,” I said. “I think you did the right thing. I mean, one meaningless kiss during a weak moment shouldn’t ruin everything.”
Avery shook her head. “It wasn’t meaningless. That’s the problem.” She looked toward the window. A jagged sliver of lightning illuminated the black sky. “I loved Adam, but I had feelings for Jared, too. They were so much alike. But Adam had been so preoccupied with college and scholarships. It was hard for us to find time together sometimes.”
“Do you still have feelings for Jared?”
“No!” Avery said fiercely. Then she looked down. “I don’t know. Maybe. But there’s too much I don’t know. I want some answers.”
“So does Jared,” I said. Suddenly I knew what needed to be done. “Let’s make that happen. Let’s do something about it. Tomorrow.”
It took me a while to convince Avery to meet with me and Jared and the others. She didn’t want to be in the same room with him, let alone sit across a table from him. But I knew it was the right thing. Neither Avery nor Jared would truly be able to move forward until things were settled between them. Maybe they would never be the friends they’d once been, but they didn’t have to avoid each other forever, either.
Finally, she agreed that she’d seriously think about it.
“That’s it, though,” she warned me. “I don’t want to feel forced into doing anything.”
It was the best I could do, but I thought there was a good chance she’d show up.
We went downstairs. The wind was picking up speed and rattling the windowpanes. Shane was standing at the front door, peering out the window.
“Thought I heard something,” he mumbled.
I introduced Avery to Shane and they shook hands. “She might be joining us tomorrow night,” I said.
He nodded. “Glad to hear it.”
I gave Avery a quick hug and opened the front door. Dante immediately jumped into Avery’s arms and burrowed into her chest with a whimper, startling both me and Shane.
“What is that?” he exclaimed.
Avery giggled. “This is my darling little dog. He’s just scared because of the storm.”
“Whew.” Shane smiled. “For a second there, I thought we were being attacked by mutant squirrels.” He laughed. “That would be pretty cool, actually.”
We said our goodbyes and I watched as Avery walked down the hill toward her house, Dante cradled safely in her arms. As they became smaller and smaller, something occurred to me. I gasped. It was like a piece of the puzzle had slammed into place.
Adam had grabbed the steering wheel, causing the car to crash. He was trying to avoid something in the road. Something small, like a squirrel. Something he had made Jared promise not to tell Avery about just before he died.
Dante.
eighteen
I didn’t sleep that night. Instead, I turned on all the lights and watched TV while Shane set up a sleeping bag in the living room.
“You can take the guest room, you know,” I told him, but he just shook his head.
“If you’re going to be on the first floor, then so am I,” he replied. I was secretly glad. Even after Shane fell asleep and began snoring, I felt better knowing he was close by.
I called Annalise while I waited for my parents to return from their latest visit to the psychic. I knew my sister stayed up late and wouldn’t mind.
“I have great news!” she squealed.
“You’ve located Charlotte Pickens’s grave and I can get rid of my stalker spirits?”
“Oh. Well, not exactly, but we’re getting closer.”
“We?”
“That’s my great news. I’ve met someone!”
His name was Mills, and he was a grad student who worked at the library and had been helping Annalise with research. She described him as tall and lanky with glasses.
“And you know how much I love a guy with glasses.” She sighed.
I did know. My sister could have dated any jock she wanted, but she always gravitated toward the shy, nonathletic guys. If she had to choose between the star quarterback or the president of the chess club, it was an easy decision. I kind of understood the attraction. I wasn’t really sure what kind of guy was my type. I had been hoping that was something I could soon discover, but my time had been divided between schoolwork and the supernatural.
I let Annalise gush for a while about how smart and sweet and intense Mills was before filling her in on everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours, starting with the ghosts in the kitchen and ending with what I’d figured out about Jared’s secret.
“Wow,” Annalise said when I was finished. “That’s heavy stuff. Why did you let me go on and on about my new boyfriend?”
“I like hearing you happy, I guess.”
“Thanks.” Annalise was quiet for a moment. “Okay. Let’s get down to business. I do have information for you. Got a pen?”
Mills had been searching for Alanzo de Paula but had found nothing. He had decided that, like many immigrants, Alanzo had changed his name at some point. It was a good guess, and he uncovered information about an Alan Paul, who had married a woman named Charlotte in 1887.
“Mills found property records that showed they lived in Ohio for a while,” Annalise said. “And they had a daughter named Elizabeth.”
I wrote down everything Annalise told me. It all seemed to fit. “What happened to them?” I asked.
“We’re not sure yet. We can’t find death certificates for them in Ohio, so they must have moved somewhere else.”
I thought about the ship and how Charlotte and her daughter had been dressed in mourning clothes. “Maybe they went to Italy,” I said. “Alanzo died first. Maybe he requested that they bury him in his home country?”
“Okay. We’re on it.” I could hear Annalise typing something.
“What about the parents? Do we know where they’re buried?”
“Not yet. Mills doesn’t think they died in Charleston.”
I sighed. “So we have no idea where any of these people are, but we’re supposed to bring them all together? Wonderful.”
“It’s not over yet. We’ll figure this out. Don’t give up, okay?”
I told Annalise I would try to stay optimistic, but I felt as if every time we took a step closer to solving the mystery, we ended up right back at the beginning.
A few minutes later my parents’ car pulled into the driveway. I said goodbye to Annalise and told her to call as soon as she found out anything.
My parents looked completely exhausted when they walked in the door, and I realized they hadn’t sle
pt at all since the day before. Dad just nodded at me and headed upstairs while Mom collapsed next to me on the sofa.
“Rough day, huh?” I asked.
She closed her eyes and smiled. “That’s one way to describe it.”
“What did you find out?”
“That your father has a low tolerance for concepts that aren’t based on science alone.”
I laughed. “I thought you knew that already.”
Mom opened her eyes and rubbed at her neck. “I thought Beth offered us real insight,” she said. “She knows things, but more important, she understands things.”
Mom explained that the psychic was convinced that time was running out to perform the Circle of Seven ceremony. It had to do with the Pickenses’ connection to me. Beth felt that they were weakening, probably because they were using all their energy to communicate with us. If the Pickenses weren’t released soon, Beth said, they might end up stuck in the living world forever.
I told Mom about what Annalise had discovered regarding the name change and how I thought Charlotte Pickens had possibly traveled to Italy with her daughter for Alanzo’s funeral.
“That makes sense.” Mom yawned. “I think we’re on the right track.”
“The Circle of Seven,” I murmured. I thought about who would be a part of that circle: Mom, Dad, Shane, me, Annalise and her new boyfriend. “We still need one more,” I said to Mom, who looked half-asleep. “Can Beth be there?”
“I already asked. She’ll try, but she lives a few hours away,” Mom murmured. “She might not be able to get there when we need her.”
“Oh.” I wanted to ask more, but I knew Mom needed to sleep. I got up, and she lay down. I covered her with blankets, then turned off the lamp next to the sofa.
I felt wide awake. The storm from earlier had passed through, but it was still raining lightly. I stood on the front porch for a while and hugged my arms across my chest. It felt good to breathe in the clean, earthy scent of the rain-soaked night. The streetlights cast an orange glow over the wet road, making it look shiny, and the soft, steady beat of the raindrops relaxed me.
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