Page 3

Chance

‘C hance, are you even listening to me?’ my mother’s voice came down the phone line, frustration tinging her words.

I dragged myself out of my dissociated state long enough to respond, though my eyes refused to refocus and my brain was still moving slowly. ‘Sorry, Mom. I got distracted.’

Her sigh was full of unspoken emotions and opinions, but she wisely kept them to herself. She had been more interested in my life ever since we’d lost Kali, but now that Blake had remarried, she had another girl in the family to dote on.

I hated how quickly everyone had just moved on, like she’d never meant anything. I was pretty sure Mom only felt bad because she no longer had a daughter to go shopping with, but that had been rectified when Dakota had joined the family. I wanted to hate her. She’d replaced Kali in no time. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t bring myself to hate the genuinely sweet woman.

She wasn’t a problem. She just wasn’t Kali.

Not so long ago, a wet nose would have nudged my hand, demanding attention and jolting me the rest of the way out of my blank stare. My fingers automatically twitched to scratch behind Sage’s ears, until I glanced at the photo of him above the tiny blue urn, and my heart clenched with grief for my lost best friend. It was a theme in my life, it seemed, to lose those I cared about the most.

It took me a while to break through it and finally process what Mom was saying.

‘… orange shoes. I mean, who wears orange with pink? It was absolutely atrocious .’

Ashe. She was talking about Ashe’s sneakers that she’d changed into after wearing heels all day for Blake’s wedding. A wedding that took place two whole weeks ago.

‘Mom, her feet hurt. She changed them while she waited for the taxi so she wouldn’t have to walk over those cobblestones in her heels. I don’t think she cared about the colour. And she was going home anyway. What’s the big deal?’

Her scoff sounded extra loud in my ear. ‘Honestly, Chance. It’s like you have no respect for yourself by continuing to associate with people of her… status.’

‘Mom, life is about more than just money, you know,’ I reminded her, the argument one we’d had many times over the years. It was practically scripted at this point.

‘It’s not about the money, dear, it’s about how one presents oneself. Your little friend does not meet the standards of the family. We are esteemed members of our community, and we cannot continue to be associated with the riffraff. Not after…’

She didn’t have to finish for me to understand. She had always been uptight about the people I was friends with, constantly pushing men and women of a certain pedigree my way, and Ashe had never been categorised as high class. It was what I loved the most about her. But ever since Kali had gone missing – and eventually pronounced dead only a few short months ago, each month like a hot knife digging deeper into my soul – Mom’s distaste for anyone who could be considered beneath us (according to her standards) had increased tenfold. She figured that their smaller bank accounts meant they were criminals, ready and waiting in the shadows to snatch another one of us up.

Just like what we believed had happened to Kali.

Seven years later, and we were still no closer to answers. Her disappearance remained a mystery, but there was no denying that she was no longer with us. Evidence or no, we could all feel it in the core of our beings. She was dead and had been for a long time.

‘I just think you’d be better off with some real friends, with real jobs. You need a wife, Chance. Everyone is beginning to think you’re… gay,’ she whispered the last word like it was some sort of sin. If Blake had come out as gay, everyone would have clapped him on the back and offered up their gay friends as tribute. But he was the Golden Child. More than that, he was the youngest. As the oldest, it was expected of me to fall in line, marry first, produce an heir to our family’s empire, and continue on the legacy of greed. But that just wasn’t me.

My interests were obscure, and my career even more so. I wasn’t highly paid, but my trust fund was more than enough to ensure Ashe, Mike and I had the equipment and the funds we needed to continue our research. Research many considered bogus, but I’d had enough experiences with the occult to know that it was real. I just needed proof.

Proof that had eluded me, just what had happened to Kali.

My heart clenched as her face flashed in my mind. So open, sweet, and innocent. Dark lashes framing big blue eyes. Pink, pouty lips that pulled back to reveal perfectly straight, white teeth, and flawless skin that just begged to be touched. She was a stunner in more ways than one, and I couldn’t understand how Blake had moved on so damn quickly. She was everything to him once upon a time, just as he had been to her.

And now there was another woman in the house that Kali had picked out for them with the intent to raise a family. A family that had never even had the chance to exist.

‘Mom,’ I said, my tone firmer now that my best friend was being insulted and the memory of Kali had been brought up. ‘Ashe isn’t going anywhere.’

‘You should find a woman of your station, Chance. Before it’s too late,’ she continued to push.

I sighed, the sound long-suffering. ‘How many times do I have to tell you? Ashe is gay. We’re not together.’

But it was clear she wasn’t listening and didn’t intend to. She bulldozed right over my announcement, one I had made countless times over the years, ever since Ashe finally came out when she’d found her now-wife, Gloria. But, alas, when my mother had made up her mind about something, the truth no longer mattered.

‘Just think about it? For me? You’ll be forty before you know it, and I’m still waiting on grandbabies. Lord knows Blake has been through enough, and you know that Dakota is having fertility issues. You’re my only hope.’

I didn’t know that, actually, but my heart went out to her. Dakota and Blake were constantly talking about what they’d name their kids, how they’d decorate a nursery, the type of toys they’d buy, etcetera, etcetera. It was sickening, but only because that was Kali’s dream, once upon a time. She’d always wanted kids. Wanted them with Blake. And now another woman was attempting to live out that dream, except she was struggling with it, too.

Blake sure did have bad luck that all the women he chose ended up with fertility issues, but that was also my bad luck. I was the only screw-up allowed in this family. If he couldn’t produce the heirs Mom wanted and Dad demanded, then I was once again dragged back under the spotlight. A spotlight that highlighted everything they detested about me.

The disappointment .

The black sheep.

The freak.

‘Well, I need you to be there for the charity luncheon. Dakota is going to be there, but Blake can’t make it. He has a big case at work. He’ll be in surgery for hours performing a groundbreaking new procedure. Understandably, he’ll be too preoccupied to attend, which means you need to step up, son.’

Ah, she was pulling out the big guns. She only ever called me son , a reluctant acknowledgement of our familial ties, when she wanted something from me. And that something usually meant putting on a suit.

‘I’ll be there, Mom. I already promised I would be.’

‘You’d better, Chance. Someone will be there that I want you to meet. She’s from a very prominent and well-respected family, and I expect you to make her feel very welcome,’ she informed me, her tone dripping with insistence and expectation. I pulled the phone away from my face so she wouldn’t hear me sigh. Great. Another one of her schemes.

‘I will be pleasant and welcoming to all the guests, Mother,’ I said, refusing to call her Mom when she was in one of her fix-it moods. I didn’t think I needed fixing, but my mother’s wants were the only ones that mattered, according to her. Overbearing didn’t even begin to cover it.

I couldn’t allow her to respond, however, or I’d give her an opening to keep shoving her demands down my throat. So, I politely informed her that Ashe was calling, and that I needed to go, then I hung up before her voice could become even more shrill.

The phone clattered to the table in front of me as I buried my face in my hands, fingers rubbing at my temples to soothe the throbbing headache that was forming. The one that hadn’t truly gone away since I’d gotten that call all those years ago that had brought me back home.

Home . It was such a strange word. And even stranger concept. What did it even mean? I’d heard some people consider it a place, like a town or a house, something tangible. I’d heard others, like Ashe, consider it a person or a group of people. A family. It didn’t matter where she went, as long as she was with her people, she was home.

For me, I’d never found any sort of home, either in a place or with people. The closest I ever got was with Ashe and Mikey as our crew travelled the world documenting and researching the paranormal. I’d always felt a sense of wrongness, like I didn’t quite belong, or like I was missing something vital to my being. That sensation grew from a small gap in my heart to a gaping hole in my soul the first moment I realised the Kali was never coming back.

Losing her was like losing a limb, not that anyone understood the scope of my feelings when it came to her. Kali Foster was my friend long before Blake had ever entered the picture, but no one seemed to care, or even remember that little fact. She was the one person on this planet who had grounded me, made me feel safe and wanted and secure. She’d never once condemned me for my interests, obscure as they were. Instead, she’d sat with me for hours while we mapped out the stars and their meanings. She’d researched local places that were said to be haunted, or urban legends with no explanation, giving me something to focus on when things were bad at home. She was patient with me when I went on one of my tangents, though she never once made me feel like I wasn’t worth listening to.

Ashe may have been my best friend, Mikey a close second, but Kali? She was so much more.

Living without her felt like existing without breath. Utterly impossible, yet I was somehow still here.

The phone buzzed on the table, the sound drilling into my head with a force that made me groan. Both from the sound and from the prospect of someone else needing me. It took a herculean effort just to reach out and flip the screen upright to catch the name of the incoming caller. I relaxed a bit when I saw it was only Ashe, but that didn’t stop the desire to curl up in a ball and wait until my body gave out. I already felt like I was withering away into nothing most days, why not die that way, too?

Alas, there were still people walking this earth that I cared about enough not to give up. Not totally.

I swiped right to answer the call, then pressed the button that put her on loudspeaker so I wouldn’t have to hold the phone. ‘Ashe.’

‘Uh oh. I know that tone. What happened?’

The breath I released felt shallow despite the length, the constriction around my chest refusing to allow enough air to enter my lungs in the first place. At least, that’s what it felt like. I hadn’t been able to take a full, deep breath in seven long years.

‘My mother called.’

‘Hit me with it.’

‘She hated your getaway sneakers at the wedding. You’re riffraff. We’re in a relationship, and she hates it. Oh, and she’s setting me up at the charity luncheon with one of her rich friends’ daughters.’

‘Good. True. Gross. And is she hot?’

I snorted out a half-hearted laugh. ‘I have no idea.’

‘Chance, if you have the opportunity to get laid, take it. Please, dear god, just take it. You need a decent fuck before your brooding turns you to stone.’

‘I get laid,’ I argued.

‘Your hand doesn’t count. You need a real woman. One with a wet, warm vagina for that tiny prick of yours.’

‘I take offence to that. Also, you’re beginning to sound like my mother.’

‘Your mother talks about your tiny prick?’

‘No. You know what I meant.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’

I clicked my tongue, done with this conversation. ‘Why did you call, Ashe?’

‘We’ve got a new job. It’s close, too, so you can still make it to all those family functions your mother keeps dragging you to. Honestly, Chance. I don’t know why you don’t just cut ties already. She’s a fucking soul-sucking leech.’

‘No arguments there, but you know I’m not sticking around for her.’ Blake was the only reason I came back, and he was the only reason I was staying. Despite everything, I loved my little brother. It wasn’t his fault our parents preferred him over me.

Ashe’s tone gentled as the topic took a turn she knew would set me down a dark path if she didn’t tread lightly. ‘He’s married now, Chance. Let Dakota take care of him for once.’

‘He’s married again ,’ I corrected. ‘And Dakota does enough for everyone as it is. If I can help, even if it’s just getting Mom and Dad off her back for a little while, then I will.’

‘I know,’ she breathed, the sound dejected. I tried not to think too much about why. ‘Okay, well, this job is in Klamath County. It’s only a few hours’ drive away, so you can still be there when the she-devil summons you.’

‘Klamath County, huh?’ I asked, my interest piqued. ‘Tell me more.’

‘There’ve been accounts of a strange man loitering around the Little Deschutes River down in Gilchrist. Sightings have been reported up and down Highway 97.’

‘Okay…’ I drew out the word, waiting for the punchline.

‘Apparently, according to witness statements, people are dying left and right, and this guy is always at the scene. Yet, nobody can identify him, there’s no evidence of him left behind. Not a single footprint, fingerprint, or strand of hair. Some even claimed that, as soon as they spotted him, he disappeared into thin air.’

‘Wait, so this guy is killing people? Like… still?’

‘I don’t know. That’s the mystery of it. The cause of death for a few of the victims were released, and they all drowned in the river. But get this, there are signs of a struggle, but no signs of anyone holding them under. It’s like they were drowned by-‘

‘A ghost,’ I finished for her, a flicker of excitement alighting within me. We’d never had a case like this. Most of our research and discoveries were from the past. Ghosts were nothing but echoes of the past that manifested in the present. Some could create cold currents in the air. Others were able to whisper their secrets in your ear. Never had any spectral being had access to the physical realm enough to kill, however. It was unprecedented.

Unless…

‘Not just any ghost,’ she continued, her tone dramatic. ‘A poltergeist. ’

‘Fuck,’ I breathed the word, barely above a whisper. The implications of such a discovery were insane. But also dangerous. ‘Whatever this is, it’s not just a ghost. If it turns out this killer is alive, or even if they are a spectral being, people are dying, Ashe. Are you sure this is a case you want to take?’

‘I’ve already cleared it with Mikey and Gloria. They’re in, Chance. You’re the last piece of the puzzle. Say yes.’

I blew out a long breath through pursed lips. ‘I don’t know, Ashe. This could be more than we can handle.’

‘Don’t you worry about that, my friend. We’ve got it covered.’

‘How?’ I asked, unconvinced.

‘Mikey’s already been in touch with a priest that’s been known to perform successful exorcisms, and Gloria’s agreed to come with us on this one. Apparently, business is low and won’t pick up again until spooky season, so she’s willing to use her psychic powers for us.’

‘Seems like you’ve already got things figured out,’ I snarked, though there was no venom in it.

‘Come on, Chance. You know you want to. Just say yes.’

‘You’re not giving me much of a choice,’ I admitted. ‘I can’t let you lot go off half-cocked, even with a priest and a psychic in your arsenal. Knowing you, you’ll get the killer’s attention, and not in a good way.’

Her chuckle was way too mischievous for the accusation. ‘I know, right? Tact isn’t exactly my forte, which is why we need you.’

‘Yeah. You got me. There are so many ways this can go wrong, but… I’m in.’

‘ Yes,’ she hissed, and I could practically see her fist-pumping the air. ‘You’re the best, Chance! I love you!’

My lips tilted up in a smile at her genuine enthusiasm, the hole in my heart filling a little even if the one in my soul was too big to ever be sealed. This, right here, was what kept me going every single day. My best friends. The thrill of hunting ghosts. It made it at least a little bit worth it.

Worth it enough to stay.