Conversation was awkward at best. Dad seemed distracted and his cell phone went off a couple of times. Finally, he grabbed it from his pocket.
Oh my God, was he actually texting?
Shane laughed under his breath, but pressed his lips in a thin line when Dad frowned at him.
My only saving grace was Miss Akin who kept the mood upbeat, and conversation flowing, even if she was the one doing most of the talking. She brought in a plate of shortbread cookies for dessert. Shane grabbed a handful. “It’s been nice, but I have some homework to finish.”
Yeah right.
Dad pushed back from the table. “Oh, hey before you go, I’m headed out to London tomorrow for a few days. How much money do you need for the week?” Dad asked, already pulling out his wallet.
He was leaving again? Was Shane right? Was Dad seeing someone?
Shane held out his hand. “Whatever you’re willing to part with.”
Dad smiled, shoved some bills in Shane’s hand and ruffled his hair, his awkward attempt at showing affection. It was almost painful to watch.
Kade glanced at me and smiled, but I recognized the sympathy there.
It wasn’t hard to tell that my family put the D in dysfunction.
“See you at practice tomorrow,” Shane said to Kade.
“Sounds good,” Kade replied, wiping his mouth with his napkin and setting it on his empty plate.
Dad placed a few bills in front of me. “I’ll leave Miss Akin the credit card.”
“Thanks,” I murmured.
Sliding his wallet back into his pocket, Dad sat down and asked Kade a few questions, two of which he’d already asked before dinner. I was relieved when he finished his tea and then excused himself, saying he had business calls to make.
“I should get going,” Kade said, stealing a few cookies off the plate. “Delicious, Miss A. Riley wasn’t kidding when she said you were an excellent cook.”
Her eyes lit up.
I walked Kade to the front door.
My dad’s office door was open, and I heard him typing away on his computer.
“I had a great time. Thanks for having me,” Kade said.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re being nice.”
“No, I really did.” He gave me a hug. “You have a nice family.”
“It was nice to meet you, Kade,” my dad called from his study.
Kade’s eyes widened. “You too, Mr. Williams.” He kissed me softly. “That would be my cue to leave.”
The day had been perfect. No interruptions from Laria, and aside from the awkward dinner, Kade seemed to like my family, which was important to me. Even more, my family liked him.
I waited at the door until Kade got in his car and pulled out of the driveway.
“He’s a nice young man.”
Dad stood at his study doorway.
“Kade is nice. You’d like his family, too.” I was relieved he liked him. “Mr. MacKinnon said he’d like to have you over sometime.”
“That’s very nice. I’ll have to take him up on the offer one day soon…when things aren’t so hectic with work.” He shifted on his feet. “Did your mom ever talk to you about protection?”
Oh my God. Talk about awkward.
“I mean, you’re at that age, and I thought that maybe, I mean—considering you have a boyfriend.” His gaze dropped to the floor between us.
“I’ve been on birth control pills since I was fourteen.”
His eyes widened in horror.
I suppose it made sense that my mom had never mentioned me being on the pill to my dad. What dad wants to hear that? “Because my periods were so irregular,” I blurted, feeling my face turn warm. “It’s common. A lot of girls are on the pill for the same reason.”
“Well, okay then,” he said, sounding relieved. “Good night.”
“Good night, Dad. It’s good to have you home.”
Chapter 15
I awoke to voices coming from Shane’s room.
Had one of Shane’s friends dropped by last night after I’d crashed? A screeching noise sounded, like furniture being dragged slowly across the floor. I sat up, listening intently.
The voices continued. A strange whispering, and I swore to God I heard a girl’s voice.
Was Joni here?
I rested my ear against the wall.
A horrible sound came from the other side—like a growl that sent shivers down my spine. I couldn’t understand what had been said…but it wasn’t good.
Reaching for my robe, I threw it on, and taking a deep, steadying breath, left my room and walked to Shane’s bedroom door. I considered knocking, but instead opened the door.
I smothered a scream.
Shane was levitating a few feet off the bed—his body stick straight, his shaggy hair falling away from him.
“Shane,” I said, taking a step closer. Without looking away from my brother, I felt for the light switch and turned it on.
The bulb flashed and went out.
A lava lamp was the only light in the room, casting the room in a bluish glow. Behind me, the door creaked shut. I swallowed hard and took a step closer. “Shane.”
Once again, nothing.
The window was open, the drapes fluttering softly in the breeze. Shane never slept with his window open. I knew that for a fact. His whole life he’d always been terrified of the dark and paranoid about the boogieman, even climbing into bed with me. There’s no way he’d open the window. No frickin’ way.
My brother’s body started moving from a horizontal position to a vertical one; slowly, inch by inch he floated up toward the ceiling.
I was frozen with fear. I didn’t know what to do. “Shane, please wake up. Please…”
When his head bumped the ceiling, his neck began to bend in a strange, unnatural, and yet all too familiar angle.
Laria. How many times had she appeared to me in that same, broken neck position?
Shane’s eyes snapped open. The usual blue orbs were dark brown and fathomless as he stared at me without blinking.
“Shane,” I said, jumping onto the bed, grabbing his legs and trying to pull him down, but he only choked harder. My efforts seemed to be making matters worse.
He flinched, blinked, and started choking and even reached for his neck. Terrified, I ran down the hall toward my dad’s room and opened the door. “Dad, help! Shane’s choking.”
“What?” he said, already out of bed.
I ran back toward Shane’s room and stopped in my tracks. Dad ran into my back.
Shane stood in the hallway right outside his room, and he was facing me with a blank expression.
“Shane, are you okay?” Dad asked.
Shane’s gaze flicked to Dad. “Of course I’m okay.”
“But you were—” The words died on my lips.
His head tilted slightly and his eyes narrowed as he looked at me once more. I clamped my lips together. There was a strange expression on his face, one that let me know it most likely wasn’t my brother staring back at me.
“Is everything all right?” Miss A asked from the far end of the hall.
“Yes, everything is fine, Miss Akin,” Dad said, scrubbing his stubble. “Go back to bed. We’re sorry to have disturbed you.”
She nodded and went back into her room and shut the door.
“Sorry, I thought I heard Shane choking,” I said. “I went into his room and he couldn’t stop, so I panicked.”
Dad gave an exaggerated sigh. “Well, he’s fine now. Aren’t you, Shane?”
Shane glanced at Dad. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“There, you see…your brother is fine, Riley. Now get back to bed. You have school in the morning.”
Settling back into bed under my dad’s watchful gaze, I tried to calm down. Laria’s threats came back to taunt me. She was doing whatever she could to get to me, and now she was using Shane. I knew that without a doubt. I lay on my side, facing the door.
On the other side of the wall, I heard whispers
again and I placed the pillow over my head.
“Riiiiiileeeeeey.” The voice itself was hair raising, a deep-throated growl that made me want to cry.
Over the growl, I heard a woman’s laughter.
***
The following day at school I couldn’t focus on anything. All I could think about was the look on Shane’s face when he’d been levitating. It’s like he had been completely possessed. I’d never even watched a horror movie that dealt with possession. The idea that someone could be taken over by an entity had been too scary.
After first period I walked into the bathroom, and knew something was up when I walked out of the stall to find Joni crying. Mascara ran down her face, and her girlfriends rallied around her.
Seeing me, they fell silent.
“Are you okay?” I asked, turning on the faucet and washing my hands.
Joni’s friend, a stocky girl with frizzy dark hair and freckles put her hands on her hips and lifted a brow. “Your brother is an asshole.”
I opened my mouth, ready to defend him when Joni shook her head. “It’s not Riley’s fault. Don’t take it out on her.”
I hadn’t really gotten to know Joni, and now I was kind of glad I hadn’t. I didn’t need to get involved in my brother’s love life. “For what it’s worth—I’m sorry,” I said, before walking out in the hallway.
In the distance I saw Shane talking up a cute brunette.
He definitely didn’t waste any time. No wonder Joni was so upset. This is one of those times I wished my mom was still alive, or that my father actually gave a shit about what was happening in our lives.
But the hard truth was…my mom was dead and my dad may as well be for all that he cared about the two of us. If it wasn’t for Miss Akin we would be on our own.
***
Things went from bad to worse when Cait met me in the hallway after third period.
“Your brother completely lost his shit in Mr. Cameron’s class today.”
Alarm rushed through me. “What happened?”
“He called Mr. Cameron a prick and tossed the exam paper back in his face. He almost punched him but Richie stepped in. Rumor has it he’s been suspended for three days.”
Shane might be a smart-ass, but he usually always respected teachers and had never been in any kind of trouble before. Well, aside from hitting a teammate for talking shit about his girlfriend.
Nor had he levitated.
I couldn’t walk ten feet down the hallway without someone mentioning Shane.
At lunch, I went straight to the library. I breathed a sigh of relief to see only one other person on the computer. I took a seat at the table furthest away from everyone and typed signs of spirit possession into the search engine.
Sweat formed on my forehead as site after site said similar things and gave a list of symptoms that implied a person had been taken over by a spirit. Shane had the majority of the signs, but then again, so did I…and so did Anne Marie. I remembered Shane telling me before Ian had left that he’d been having strange dreams and felt a heaviness around him, which went along with spirit possession.
I continued reading.
Over and over again I read that spirits normally were attracted to sensitive individuals, particularly those who were weak—meaning physically weak, like those who were sick or had lowered immune systems, or those who were spiritually weak.
I didn’t consider my brother weak by any means, but he was sensitive to spirits. He had felt Laria, even if he’d been unable to see her. Hell, he hadn’t even slept at the inn for days on end because of strange dreams he’d been having. I thought of Anne Marie who had suffered through the same thing. Laria had found a way to literally get inside Shane. Had she done the same to Anne Marie? Is that why Anne Marie had left town so abruptly?
“Whatcha doing?”
I jumped a foot and put a hand to my racing heart. “You scared me.”
Peter stood beside me, looking all wide-eyed and innocent.
“Sorry,” he said, not sounding at all sorry. He leaned forward and squinted at the screen. “Signs of spirit possession, huh?”
“Homework,” I replied.
“Liar,” he said under his breath, a smile on his lips.
A girl at another table glanced over at me, her brows furrowed together, reminding me that I was now talking to myself. I needed to speak with Peter telepathically.
“Can you take over a living person?”
His brows furrowed. “What do you mean, exactly?”
“Like possess someone. Manipulate their thoughts and their bodies.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I think my brother is being possessed by Laria.”
Maybe it was my imagination, but Peter didn’t look at all surprised.
Sliding into the chair next to me, he leaned close. “I know that some living people have taken on the personality of a spirit. There are a lot of us in spirit who are trying to communicate. We’re pushing thoughts and feelings toward the living, hoping to receive some kind of response.”
“How can a person keep a spirit from taking them over?”
“They can’t really. I mean, for whatever reason the person is open to it—whether they know it or not. There’s protection, but only that works so much.”
Hardly encouraging. I personally knew how strong Laria was. She terrified me with her strength and her ability to shift personas. She had warned me before that she would hurt those I loved, and I had no doubt that she was doing exactly that. If she couldn’t get in me, she’d get inside my brother.
“How can I stop her?”
He chewed on his lower lip and shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s very powerful.”
I was disappointed. I needed help and real answers. I ran my hands down my face. I needed to talk to Anne Marie. I needed to talk to someone, and someone living. Someone that had interactions with ghosts like me. Madison immediately came to mind, and yet I didn’t exactly feel comfortable pulling a twelve-year-old girl into my living nightmare.
But Madison knew Laria. She had told me as much herself. And what about Hanway? Would he talk to me? I wondered. Could he give me insight and tell me how to fight Laria…or were they friends?
“I don’t know if Hanway will speak. He never leaves the castle. You’d have to go to him.” I looked up at Peter in surprise. I forgot that oftentimes ghosts could read our thoughts.
“Why don’t you go to the castle?” I asked, since the question had been eating at me for awhile.
He shrugged and looked down. “There are areas in Braemar I don’t dare go, one place being the castle. There are spirits—who are not good. They are cruel, not only to the living but to the dead as well. So I stay where I am comfortable.”
“Is there more than one mean spirit in the castle?” I thought of Randall Cummins.
“There are mean spirits everywhere…just as there are mean people everywhere. A person doesn’t change who they are when they die. If an earthbound spirit was cruel in life, then that spirit would be cruel in death.”
That made sense to me. “Will you always stay here…I mean in the school?”
“I don’t know.”
One day I hoped I could talk Peter into passing over into the light. Even though he seemed happy, I wanted him to pass on.
“If you don’t mind me asking—how did you die?”
“Tuberculosis.”
“That affects the lungs, right?”
Peter glanced up toward the door. “Uh-oh.”
Kade walked into the library. He scanned the room, and seeing me he grinned.
I hit the computer’s Off button and closed my notebook. I didn’t want to have to explain to Kade why I was searching about spirit possession.
“There you are,” Kade said, glancing at the computer.
“I thought I’d get a jump on homework. I’ve been slammed lately and the last thing I need is bad grades.” I ran a hand through my hair, and twisted the ends around my finger.
“I thought maybe you were ignoring me,” he said jokingly, but I could see a certain vulnerability in his eyes that surprised me.
“Of course I’m not ignoring you. I had fun this weekend,” I said, and immediately he seemed to relax.
“I did, too. In fact, I was hoping maybe we could get together tonight…after practice.” I could tell by his body language that he was nervous. “Do you want to come to my house for dinner? We can have Shane and Miss A over too.”
How sweet of him to think of Miss A and Shane. Honestly, given what was going on with Shane, it probably wasn’t the best time to accept the family invite.
“I’d love to come to dinner.”
He actually breathed a sigh. “I’ll pick you up at 6:30.”
“All right,” I replied, happy he’d asked. I wanted to spend time with him, and I was grateful for the chance to go to his house, and hopefully talk to Madison.
He helped me to my feet, his fingers sliding through mine. We walked toward the door hand in hand. My heart raced as we walked out into the hallway. I could see people watching us, the surprise on their faces. Kade glanced at me, a soft smile on his lips.
I guess this meant we were officially together.
Dana’s friend was standing at her locker. Seeing us, she dropped a book. She picked it up and rushed down the hallway, no doubt to tell Dana.
“I had a dream about you last night,” he said softly.
I tensed. “I’m almost afraid to ask if it was good or bad.”
“Mostly weird,” he said with a strained laugh that didn’t exactly put me at ease. “We were in the castle, searching and rummaging through boxes.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What were we looking for?”
“A book.”
“A book?” I repeated, excitement rushing up my spine.
“Yes, we finally found it…in a chest. The chest my mom keeps in her study, or what we like to call the catch-all.”
“What did we do with the book?” I asked.
“You have it in your room,” he said matter-of-factly. “Hidden away.”
Adrenaline coursed through my veins. This was just further proof to me that Kade was Ian. He had to be. How else could he know about that night in the castle and about Laria’s journal?
When I didn’t say anything, he cleared his throat. “Completely mental, right?”
The Haunted Page 9
