“Where are you? I’m totally freaking out.”
I didn’t know where to begin. Elle had never doubted me before, but demons were a lot to dump on anyone. “I need to tell you something, and it’s going to sound crazy.”
“I’m fine with crazy.”
It was like ripping off a Band-Aid. The only way to do it was fast. “I saw a ghost.”
“You saw your mom?” She didn’t sound surprised.
“No—” I hesitated. “It was the ghost of a dead girl. I saw her in the cemetery one night and then again in my room.”
I waited for her to rattle off a list of the symptoms of depression.
“Is that why you ran away?”
This was the hard part. “The ghost killed my mom, and it tried to kill me. I know it sounds completely insane, but it’s true.”
Please believe me.
I held my breath, waiting for her to say something.
“Is that who trashed your house? The ghost?” It was the same matter-of-fact tone Elle used when she grilled me about the latest social scandal at school. She wanted the details, which meant she believed me.
“You don’t think I’m losing it?”
She sighed dramatically. “I’ve watched Paranormal Encounters. I’m not a total idiot. So was it the ghost or what?”
“No, it was… something a little different.”
“Did you dig up a graveyard?” Her voice rose, and I could practically see her yelling at the phone.
“I don’t really understand everything, but the guys I’m with do.”
“Who are these guys?”
I didn’t plan to start talking salt rounds and secret societies. I was already pushing it. “They track violent spirits and destroy them.”
“Like Ghostbusters?”
“More like exorcists.”
Her bedsprings groaned, the way they did whenever she fell back onto her bed. “Please tell me you aren’t possessed.”
I almost laughed. “I’m not. But the spirits are dangerous, and I need these guys to help me get rid of them.”
“How many guys are we talking about?” She perked up.
“Three, but one of them is only fifteen.” I could see the wheels spinning in her mind. “There’s another girl here, too.”
“When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know.” My throat tightened. “But you can’t tell anyone you talked to me. Okay?”
She didn’t respond.
“Elle!”
“You know I won’t say anything.” She pretended to sound offended.
Alara peeked through the sheets.
“Elle, I have to go.”
“Be careful,” she pleaded.
“I will.” I hung up and held the phone to my chest, wondering when I would see her again.
When I came back, the four of them were packing it in for the night. I handed Lukas his phone and straightened the stacks of newspapers. I didn’t want to look completely useless.
Jared tipped his chin toward a mattress in the corner. “You can take my bed. I like the couch.”
“No, it’s okay—”
“I like the couch,” he repeated.
I was too tired to argue—and too cold. The warehouse was freezing, and I still didn’t have a jacket. I rubbed my hands over my arms.
Priest noticed and tossed me a hoodie from his shelf. “You’ll need it. This place is a meat locker.”
As I slid my arms into the sleeves and lay down on the bed, I relaxed for what felt like the first time in days—until I noticed Jared coming back.
Maybe he changed his mind about letting me have his bed.
I started to get up when he pointed at the pillows. “Mind if I take one?”
“Sure—I mean no.”
He held up his hands, and his T-shirt slid up, exposing a few inches of skin above the waistband of his jeans. My cheeks grew warm and I tossed him the pillow, hoping he wouldn’t notice. He stood there for a moment as if he wanted to say something, before he walked away.
It was a sharp contrast to the crooked smile Lukas gave me as he flopped down on the mattress across from mine. His fingers flew over the controls of a video game. He noticed me watching him. “It’s Tetris.”
“He plays it all the time.” Alara walked by and rolled her eyes, twisting her hair into a loose knot.
Lukas didn’t look up from the screen. “It requires hard-core spatial abilities and pattern recognition.”
“I’m sure it does,” she said sarcastically.
Priest laughed and closed his eyes, still wearing his headphones, as Jared stretched out on the couch. It seemed like he was on the opposite side of a boundary no one could cross.
I wondered what happened to Jared—who hurt him. But his walls were even higher than mine.
Alara switched off the lights. I listened to the muffled music from Priest’s headphones and the pinging sound of Tetris, wishing I could turn off my thoughts as easily.
I was lying on a mattress in a warehouse with four people I barely knew—four people who seemed to know more about my life than I did. Was it possible they knew more about my mom, too?