Lourdes closes her eyes and tips her head back. “Lennox,” she calls. “Lennox, we’re here to wake you. Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
I don’t want Lennox to come out. Not at all. I sip nervously from my drink and dart my gaze in every direction, waiting for a white apparition to float in, scaring the shit out of me. The others quiet, but I wish they wouldn’t. I want them to laugh, acknowledge everything is normal and that waking up ghosts isn’t an actual thing. Not even at a memorial. I take another drink, and then my bottle is empty. I set it aside in the grass and look over at the others, startled when I find them watching me.
“Do you hear him?” Lourdes asks, her eyes glassy and wide. My entire body has started to shiver, my lips have gone numb. I’m about to tell her I want, no, I need to leave, when there’s a rustling in the bushes.
I snap my head in that direction and jump up from where I was sitting at the fountain. My heart rate explodes, pure panic rushing in. Before I can even scream, a figure appears and I think I might faint. I smother my mouth and fall back a step, the world starting to spin.
But as the apparition comes into focus, the others start to laugh. The shaved head, the green jacket. It’s Jerome from the roof, holding four bottles in each hand. He looks directly at me, smiling broadly. “Did they get ya?” he asks.
I can barely catch my breath, still shaking too hard to talk. I look at Lourdes and she stands, throwing her arm over my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Audrey,” she says through her laughs. “We did the same thing to Tanya when she came here. Scared her senseless.”
Tanya nods emphatically. “Had nightmares for a week,” she says. “This one”—she nods at Joshua—“decided it’d be even funnier if they all turned off the flashlights first. I fell in the damn fountain.”
“Blood everywhere,” Joshua says, making wide circles with his arms. He notices Tanya glaring at him. “It was sad,” he adds unconvincingly. Tanya swats his shoulder and stands from his lap, going over to sit with Casey and Warren instead. She’s not mad, though; she’s laughing at herself with the others.
“Sorry, darlin’,” Jerome says. “Lourdes thought you’d appreciate a little initiation.” He leans in to kiss her cheek, attraction plain on his face. Lourdes winks at him and takes one of the drinks he’s holding. Jerome walks over to talk with the others, and my fear is fading into an adrenaline rush.
“You’re not mad, are you?” Lourdes asks tentatively. She lowers her arm and stands back a step to look me over. “I didn’t mean to—”
“I’m not mad,” I say. “Honest.” Now that I know a real ghost isn’t traipsing in to take over my body, I’m having fun again. I grab another drink, and the others burst into laughter every time they look at me, and eventually none of us can keep a straight face.
“Was there really even a Lennox?” I demand, turning to Lourdes.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “I made him up.” She pauses, looking at the Ruby and taking a swig from her drink. “No one tried to help them out of the ballroom that night. They just let them all burn.”
Chapter 7
I’m not sure how long we’re outside, but Tanya and Warren have sneaked off into the trees, while Casey and Joshua are laughing and whispering on the other side of the fountain. Although Lourdes hasn’t abandoned me, she and Jerome keep exchanging glances that I’m not part of. She reminds me of Daniel, the way everyone’s drawn to her. Only she handles the attention with humility rather than pride.
I wonder what time it is. I never know what time it is anymore.
My drink is empty, and I make the conscious decision not to have any more tonight. As it is, I’m not sure how I’ll feel when Elias is done with his party. An ache starts in my arm, deep in the bone. It’s the same pain I had before bed. I roll my shoulder.
“You okay?” Lourdes asks, turning to me. From the bushes Tanya and Warren stumble back in, midlaugh.
“My arm hurts,” I tell Lourdes like it’s no big deal. “I’m fine, though. Probably just pulled a muscle.”
Lourdes hands Jerome her drink and climbs to her feet. Joshua leans forward, checking to see what’s going on. “Come on,” Lourdes says to me. “It’s getting late.” She turns to look at where Joshua and Casey have gotten close. “And weird.” Joshua chuckles. “If your arm hurts,” Lourdes continues, “I have some muscle relaxers in my room that should do the trick.”
“That shit doesn’t work,” Tanya says, dropping down next to Jerome. Her face is flush, even in the meager shine of the flashlights.
“It’ll work for her,” Lourdes responds quietly. “She’s not as desensitized as the rest of us.”