Melissa came and sat down. “Tell me what happened.”
Dana went through it all, giving her sister every detail she could remember. The wounds of the apostles, Corinda’s warning, taking Ethan to meet Sunlight, the science club, Angelo chasing her, the ghosts. All of it.
“Okay,” said Melissa, “I am officially creeped out.”
“Tell me about it. They said, ‘The boy will die soon,’ ‘The girl will die first,’ and then I was going to die.”
“Yeah, well, if he comes after you, sis,” said Melissa with a steely glint in her eye, “he’s going to come up against a couple of red-haired witches, and the Scully girls don’t take prisoners.”
Dana nodded and tried to smile, but she did not feel as confident as Melissa sounded. “Okay … but which girl and which boy?”
“Ethan, maybe?” said Melissa, and Dana nearly had a heart attack.
“What if you’re right?” she cried. “Maybe the angel somehow knows Ethan’s working on this with me and is coming after us!”
“Will he freak out if you tell him what you told me about what happened in that house?”
“Probably. Who wouldn’t … though I don’t think he really believes much in this kind of thing.”
“That’s his problem. His uncle’s a detective with the sheriff’s department, right? Even if he doesn’t believe, it’s still worth warning him. Maybe his uncle can arrange police protection.” Melissa pursed her lips thoughtfully. “So who’s the girl? I don’t think it’s me, because they’d have said, ‘He’ll come for your sister,’ right?” She glanced at Dana. “Was this a real house or a dream house?”
“Real enough, I guess. The address was 313 Sandpiper Lane.”
Melissa stiffened. “I think I…”
She stopped, jumped to her feet, pulled the chair out of the way, and went out into the hallway phone. She made a call, and Dana came and listened.
“Dave?” asked Melissa when the call was answered. “Put your sister on. No, this is serious. Good. Oh, hey, Eileen … Do you know Karen Allenby? Yeah, Maisie’s cousin. You do? Good. Do they live on Sandpiper? What’s the actual address? That’s what I thought. Okay, what’s her phone number?” She snapped her fingers for Dana, who ran and fetched a notepad and pen. Melissa took it and scribbled down a number. “Thanks,” she said, and hung up. Dana tried to ask a question, but Melissa made another call. It was answered on the fourth ring. “Hello, Mrs. Allenby? This is Melissa Scully from school. Is Karen there? What? Oh yes, I’m so sorry about your niece.… Yes, we all liked her. No, I don’t believe the sheriff’s department is right, either. Maisie wasn’t the kind of girl to do drugs. She was a great girl. You’re welcome. Okay, I’ll wait.”
“What are you doing?” whispered Dana.
Melissa covered the mouthpiece. “Karen Allenby is Maisie’s cousin, remember? She’s the girl you met in school, the one you told me about. That’s Karen. That’s who lives in that house. I think those ghosts were trying to warn you that Karen is the next victim. Her mom just told me she was in the living room watching TV. Oh, wait.” She uncovered the mouthpiece. “Hey, Karen, it’s Melissa. Scully. Yes, from math class. Right. Look, this is going to sound pretty weird, but you know my sister, Dana, right? Uh-huh. The crazy one. Exactly. You know how she thought she saw Maisie in the locker room? Right, you talked to her about it. Well, Dana was walking home tonight and had kind of a weird vibe about you, and she thought she saw someone in your yard. Turned out to be nothing, but maybe you ought to, like, keep an eye out.”
There was a pause while she listened. Then she scowled. “Yes, I’m being serious. Dana gets vibes. What’s so weird about that? You seemed to believe her at school.… Hey, look, watch your mouth, okay? That’s my sister. Dana just wanted to help. You don’t want it, then that’s on you. Excuse the heck out of me for trying to keep you alive. Yeah, well, you too.”
Melissa slammed the phone down and said a few very ugly words with great emphasis. Then she shrugged and laughed.
“Some people get in their own way, you know?”
Dana said, “She didn’t believe you?”
“I don’t know. Karen’s a bit weird, too. I see her at Beyond Beyond sometimes. She takes yoga and some of Sunlight’s classes, and—hey—she even hangs around with Angelo sometimes.” She stared at the phone. “You think I should have told her about him? His tattoo and all?”
“I—”