My heart turned over at the look on his face. After everything he’d seen and heard since his arrival last night, I couldn’t blame him for needing answers or for questioning my sanity. I wanted to assure him that all would be well, but I had my own doubts so I merely nodded.
Devlin was still staring down at me. “What you said earlier in the cemetery is eerily reminiscent of the things my grandfather has been saying lately. Yet the two of you have never met.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ghosts. Demons.” He shook his head as his gaze deepened. “I still can’t give credence to any of it, but I also can’t deny that something strange is going on. Until I can figure out what he’s up to, I need you to promise me you’ll be careful. I’ll be back as soon as I can, hopefully by nightfall. In the meantime, just sit tight. Don’t go back out to the cemetery or to Rose’s house alone. It’s not safe.”
I nodded vaguely as my mind churned with more questions. What had his grandfather told him about ghosts and demons? And how could any of it possibly be connected to me?
Forty-Seven
Dr. Shaw was dozing when I came back into his room. I slipped quietly into the chair beside his bed and opened the paperback novel I’d found in the waiting room. Perhaps it was the sleepless night I’d spent or the pressure I’d been feeling for days, but I found myself growing drowsy as I tried to make sense of the story. Twice I nodded off only to jerk myself awake. The second time I opened my eyes, I found Dr. Shaw watching me.
“I thought you’d gone,” he said.
I set the book aside and tried to shake off the grogginess as I got up to fuss with his covers. “I’ve been here the whole time. Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m fine, my dear. I’m still feeling a bit done in. I think I may try to go back to sleep for a while.”
“That’s an excellent idea. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
He reached for my hand. “There’s something I must tell you first. Something you need to know.”
“What is it?” He motioned for me to come closer. I sat down on the edge of his bed and leaned in. “What is it, Dr. Shaw?”
His skin felt icy as his fingers closed around mine. I wanted to pull away, but I was afraid of upsetting him. “You have to go back.”
The urgency in his voice startled me. “Where? To Charleston?”
“To the cemetery. You have to find a way to free them.”
My breath caught at the look on his face. “The ghosts?”
“Think how long they’ve been waiting. How long we’ve all been waiting for you.” His eyes glazed and his voice softened. The chill of death descended and I began to tremble because I knew that I was no longer speaking to Dr. Shaw. I tried to wrench myself free, but those glacial fingers tightened around me. “You’re the last of us, child.”
My heart pounded so hard I actually felt faint. “What do you mean? The last of who...what?”
“The Wysongs. The chosen.”
Something fearful skittered down my backbone and I shivered.
“You’ve always known you were different. You’ve always felt the ghosts even when you couldn’t see them. Now as you come into your own and your energy strengthens, more and more will come, drawn by your light and the promise of release. Others will come, too, child. The pernicious and the sly. They will also be lured by your light, but the dark ones will seek to destroy the very thing that attracts them.”
I thought of the entity beneath Rose’s house, the feel of its phantom fingers in my hair, the taunt of its ghostly tongue against my face. I drew a shuddering breath. “Why are you telling me this? What is it you want me to do?”
“You must hunt them down, the dark ones. You must find a way to contain them.”
“How?”
“Use the key. Study the stereogram. Let the numbers guide you.”
I jumped and startled myself awake. The book slipped to the floor with a thud and I looked around in confusion.
A nurse stood at the side of the bed writing something in Dr. Shaw’s chart. She smiled when she saw that I was awake. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “You were both sleeping so peacefully I was hoping not to disturb you.”
I sat up in the chair. “What time is it?”
“A little after five. Are you all right? You seem disoriented.”
“Still half-asleep, I guess.”
“Why don’t you take a walk and stretch your legs? We’ll be bringing the dinner trays in soon. Maybe you’d like to go down to the cafeteria and grab a bite. You don’t need to worry about Dr. Shaw. He’s in good hands.”
“Thanks.” As I reached down to pick up my backpack from the floor, I thought of the stereogram that Devlin and I had found in the headstone.
Use the key. Study the stereogram. Let the numbers guide you.
My gaze shot to Dr. Shaw. Had I dreamed the conversation or had Rose somehow spoken to me through my old friend?
As I hovered at his bedside, he opened his eyes and smiled up at me.