That is, if Nolan will even take my call tonight. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, but all I can see is the look on his face as I told him how it felt when he touched me.
I open my eyes. Beyond the three buildings across from the mansion, I can make out the shadows of even more structures between the trees. Maybe luiseach had to apply to come here just like normal people have to apply to college. Maybe applicants had to write essays about why this was the luiseach training facility that best matched the kind of luiseach they wanted to be when they grew up.
Aidan lifts my bag over his shoulder and heads toward the dark mansion in front of us. I follow, adjusting the straps on my backpack. The house’s door is enormous, big enough for four people to walk through side by side, made of nearly black wood and covered in intricate carvings. As we get closer I can make out that almost all the carvings are different depictions of the sun. Bring the light indeed. There isn’t even a keyhole; whoever put this door in place wasn’t worried about normal things like locks and keys.
“Where did everyone go when they left?”
Opening the door, Aidan solemnly answers, “They joined the other side of the rift.”
His words echo through the empty house. Or maybe it just feels that way and they’re actually echoing through my head.
CHAPTER NINE
Home Sweet Home
I didn’t think any house could be creepier than our house in Ridgemont back when Anna and the demon took up residence there, but this place takes the cake. And I know takes the cake sounds like something someone about three times my age would say, but if the expression fits, wear it, right?
Unlike most of the other buildings in Llevar la Luz I’ve seen so far, the house is mostly made of wood rather than stucco. (I don’t know what to call this place—a campus? A compound? A complex?) The wood creaks as I step over the threshold, a haunting sort of hello. Directly across from the front door is an enormous staircase, so wide that a dozen people could walk up or down side by side. It’s so damp in here that the wood used to build this house still smells alive—it’s like stepping into a forest instead of out of one. Maybe there’s something to that. I can’t imagine just how many spirits have passed through these walls over the years, seeking out the nearest, strongest luiseach. Maybe all that activity has kept the wood in the walls vibrant, alive in a way.
I run my hands along the wall in search of a light switch, hit some peeling wallpaper, and get a paper cut on my fingertip.
“Ouch!” I cry and suck on the cut.
“Careful,” Aidan warns. “This place isn’t exactly in the best condition.”
That’s an understatement. I finally find a light switch and flip it, but nothing happens. Keeping close to the wall, I look for another switch, heading deeper into the house, and flip it too. Nothing.
Finally I crash into what sounds like a ball of glass shards. I look down and see the remains of an enormous crystal chandelier. Where it must’ve once hung from the ceiling there are now wires hanging down, like another set of vines to match the ones outside.
This must have been the living room. Do mansions have living rooms? Maybe they called it something else. I wrack my brain for the right words from all the old novels I love reading over and over again. The sitting room. The drawing room. Even in the darkness I can see the furniture has been covered in white sheets, like someone dressed it up as ghosts for Halloween and then never undressed it.
A setting perfectly fit for the ghost I see next. At first I think it’s a demon, covered in red and black peeling skin. I duck behind one of the sheet-covered couches. But then I realize it’s a woman, her skin badly burned. Way to be a good luiseach, Sunshine. Her name was Marcy, and she was killed in an industrial accident only a few hours ago. She was working at a chemical plant, fell into a concentrated vat of paint remover, and passed away before they were able to pull her out. Even after her death, her skin continued to bubble and sizzle.
It’s simultaneously terrifying and sad to see her badly burned and peeling skin. I want Aidan to notice her and help her, but he doesn’t. Instead I get colder as she gets nearer. I close my eyes, knowing she’ll appear behind the couch beside me at any moment. I’m being a wimp. This woman may look terrifying, but she needs my help.
I open my eyes, and there she is standing before me, her former appearance almost entirely dissolved in harsh chemical burns. I can’t make out her eyes as I reach out and touch her to help her move on. An amazing ball of light appears, and an overwhelming sense of peace washes over me, so much stronger than anything I’ve experienced before. I stand in silence for a moment as this woman’s spirit dissolves into the air.
I jump at the sound of Aidan dropping my duffle bag at the foot of the stairs. I turn around and make my way back toward the front door.