Identical twins wouldn’t be hard to spot.
If I figured out where Jared and Lukas went to school, maybe I could track down an e-mail address or a phone number. It was a long shot. But I needed to do something—to take control of a situation that felt completely out of control.
By the time I closed the last creased leather cover, it was getting dark outside, and I didn’t know any more about Lukas and Jared Lockhart than when I started.
I should’ve been at home packing the rest of my stuff. A driver was taking me to the airport in the morning—a fact I had accepted before I found out what really happened to my mother.
I pulled into the last space on the street in front of my house, letting the engine idle as I listened to the last few verses of the Cure’s “Inbetween Days.” My world felt that way. Trapped in between the days before it fell apart and the ones I lived in now.
I glanced at my house, and my throat went dry.
Even with its Kelly green door and trimmed boxwoods lining the walkway, I couldn’t see past the dead girl in my bedroom.
Were there other spirits in the house? Could they hurt me if I was awake?
I got out, trying to summon the courage to go back in the house.
A black van was parked across the street, facing the opposite direction. It looked like the ones serial killers use to abduct their victims. The driver noticed me staring and jerked away from the window.
Part of me wanted to take off, but I couldn’t handle any more unanswered questions.
Walking up to a stranger’s car felt crazy, but there were plenty of university students on the sidewalks. Even a psycho wouldn’t kidnap me in front of witnesses. My eyes darted to the license plate for a second just in case: AL-0381.
I knocked on the driver’s-side window, my knees turning to rubber.
It rolled down slowly.
Jared Lockhart stared back at me, still wearing his green army jacket.
I must have been in serious shock last night because I didn’t remember him being this gorgeous. Pale blue eyes and full lips, balanced by a roughness that came from a fight or two, kept him from looking like your average pretty boy.
“How long have you been out here?” I couldn’t believe I’d spent the whole day trying to find him and his brother, and they were sitting in front of my house.
Jared shrugged sheepishly. “Awhile.”
Lukas leaned forward in the passenger seat, rolling a silver coin over his fingers. “Glad you’re happier to see us this time.”
“I’m sorry about last night. But I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Lukas threw me a crooked smile. “Apology accepted. I’m just glad we got there when we did.” He seemed sincere, and something inside me relaxed.
“You guys showed up out of nowhere,” I said. “How did you know I needed help?”
Jared’s eyes darted from me to his brother.
“We heard you screaming.” Lukas didn’t miss a beat. “Your window was open, remember?”
How could I forget—struggling to breathe, the pressure on my chest, almost suffocating. Screaming was the part I didn’t remember. They weren’t telling me everything. I just didn’t know why.
“Do you guys carry around a gun full of salt and shoot ghosts every night?”
Jared shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It’s kind of a hobby.”
A hobby? He made it sound like they were playing video games, and I was scared to walk into my own house.
“But I’m safe now? I mean, there’s nothing else in my house I need to worry about? Right?”
Jared frowned, his scar disappearing between the worry lines in his forehead. “Those are two different questions.”
Lukas’ smile faded. “Jared, we have to tell her. She’s in danger.”
My skin went cold.
What was inside? The ghosts of other dead girls?
“I thought you got rid of the spirit.”
“We did.” Jared stared into the growing darkness. “But he’ll send others.”
“Who?” My voice wavered.
Lukas stopped rolling the coin and looked at me. “The demon that’s trying to kill you.”
CHAPTER 6
Sinister Lullaby
Let me get this straight. A demon is sending these vengeance spirits to kill people?”
It was hard to believe we were having this conversation at the table where I ate my cereal every morning. It wasn’t that I had never considered the possibility of ghosts, especially after my mom died. I wanted to imagine her out there somewhere in a better place. But a vengeance spirit possessing my cat and murdering her was on a completely different level. And now we were talking demons.
Lukas watched me from across the table, measuring my reactions. “The demon isn’t sending them after just anyone. He wants them to kill specific people.” He hesitated. “And you’re one of them.”
It didn’t make any sense. “Why me?”