Twenty-two
I TOOK A DEEP, shaky breath, rubbed my face, and looked up to see Derek’s figure filling the doorway.
“If you think someone might have heard, we should grab our things and go,” I said, my voice remarkably steady. “We’ll leave him where he is, so he’ll be found and buried.”
As I spoke, I had this crazy idea that Derek might actually be impressed by how I’d finally handled it. But he just stood there, fingering the scratch on his cheek.
“I’m sorry about that,” I said. “I panicked when you—”
“I gave you the option of leaving earlier. I said if that”—he gestured at the corpse—“was a problem, we’d find another place.”
“And I thought it wasn’t a problem, as long as I didn’t summon any ghosts.”
“But you did.”
“What were you dreaming?”
I remembered and went still.
“You dreamed that you summoned him, didn’t you?”
“I—I didn’t mean—” I rubbed my face. “Normal people can’t control their dreams, Derek. If you can, then I guess you really are smarter than the rest of us.”
“Of course, I can’t. But it was a bad situation—you being close to a dead body. You should have known that from the crawl space.”
I did know that, especially after the incident with the bats. My gut had told me to leave, but I hadn’t had the nerve to admit my fear. I was afraid of being weak. Afraid of being mocked by Tori, of pissing off Derek, of disappointing Simon. In trying to be strong, I’d been stupid.
I wanted to own up to my mistake and tell Derek about the bats. But when I saw his expression—the intolerant arrogance that said he was right and I was a silly little twit—there was no way I was admitting anything.
“Everything okay?” Simon stood behind Derek, trying to see past him.
“It’s … he’s gone,” I said. “The ghost.”
“Good, because I think I heard someone coming.”
“And when were you going to warn us?” Derek snapped.
“I wasn’t going to barge in and interrupt Chloe.” He turned to me. “Are you okay?”
“Of course she’s okay.” Tori came up behind Simon. “She’s the one who summoned that thing. She should be asking if we’re okay, after being woken in the middle of the night and totally traumatized.”
“You weren’t too traumatized to grab your hairbrush,” Simon said.
“As a weapon, okay? I—”
I stepped between them. “Did someone mention we’re in danger of being discovered? Let’s grab our stuff and move.”
“You’re giving orders now, Chloe?” Tori said.
“No, I’m making suggestions. If you choose to ignore them, that’s fine. Stay behind and explain the dead body to whoever’s coming.”
“Yes,” said a voice behind me. “Maybe you should explain that, little girl.”
A figure stood across the room, only his outline visible in the dark. I turned back to the others, but no one had moved. They were all just looking at me.
“Chloe?” Simon said.
A man stepped from the shadows. His long hair was only streaked with gray, but his face was so lined he looked eighty. My gaze dropped to his sweatshirt, emblazoned with a Buffalo Bruins logo. Then I looked at the skeleton on the floor, twisted just enough for me to see the same logo, faded almost to nothing on the tattered shirt.
“Chloe?” he said. “Is that your name, brat?”
“I-I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to summon you.”
Simon jumped in front of me. “Look, ghost, I know you can hear me. It was an accident.”
The man lunged through Simon. I fell back with a yelp. Simon spun, but Derek yanked him aside.
“Who’s Chloe talking to?” Tori asked.
“The ghost she summoned,” Simon said.
“Grab your backpacks,” Derek said. “We need to get going.”
As Simon and Tori took off, Derek followed my gaze, figuring out where the ghost stood. “She didn’t mean to raise you. She apologized, and we’re leaving, so it won’t happen again. Go on back to your afterlife.”
The ghost strode over to glare up at Derek. “You going to make me?”
“He can’t,” I said. “And he can’t hear you either. I am sorry. Very—”
He wheeled on me. I shrank away again, but Derek put his hand against my back, stopping my retreat.
“He can’t hurt you,” Derek whispered. “Stand firm and tell him to go.”
“I’m very sorry.” I straightened and moved forward. “I didn’t mean to summon you. It was an accident—”
“Accident! That was no accident. You and your punk friends thought it would be funny to drag me back into that— that thing.” He pointed at the corpse. “You think I haven’t dealt with kids like you before? Drive me out of my sleeping spot for kicks. Roll me for my boots. Now you come here, conducting your satanic rituals …”
“Did you hear that?” said a distant voice. “Someone’s in there.”
Derek swore, then gave me a shove toward the back of the building. Simon and Tori raced in.
“Two men,” Simon said. “Cops, I think. Coming up the front—”
“Back door,” Derek said. “Move.”
The front door banged open. Simon spun and headed for the rear. We followed.
“Hey!” the ghost yelled. “Where do you think you’re going?”
A shove from Derek kept me moving.
“Oh no, you don’t, little girl,” the ghost said. “I’m not done with you yet. You’re going to pay for that stunt….”
He snarled threats right on my heels as we snuck out the back door.