Page 24

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I WAS MISSING SOMETHING. I COULDN’T figure out what, but I had a nagging feeling in the back of my brain that there was an important detail that I just wasn’t putting into place.

I voiced this to Kaci and Gemma on the front steps of the school before the bell. It was another hot morning, and I’d bunched up the sleeves of my shirt to take advantage of the slight breeze.

Gemma frowned. “What do you mean? Like something that was in the glimpse?”

I tugged on my hair, frustrated. “I don’t know.” It came out sounding like a whine. “Like there’s something there, just right outside my grasp.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and tapped my foot. “We have a possible when , but our who is tenuous at best. And we have no where to speak of. There are only five days left until the harvest moon. We’re running out of time, and I am a little stressed.” “A little stressed” was a comparative term, because in the grand scheme of things, I was a lot stressed. I looked down at my hands. “What is the point of having glimpses if I can’t do anything about them?”

“Okay, take a breath, partner,” Gemma said.

I did. But it didn’t make me any calmer.

Gemma pressed her small hand against my shoulder. “Cam, do you think you should read Juana’s future? We could totally plan it, and she’d be none the wiser. Juana and Val have been hanging out at Drip, and we could arrange an accidental touch.”

I shuddered. “I mean, if we have to? I’d rather not see that again, but if it would help us with more clues…”

Kaci pressed her lips into a thin line. “I’m going to talk to the ghost.”

Gemma turned wide eyes to Kaci. “I thought—”

“I’ve been working on it,” she said in response, in as close to a harsh tone as I’d ever heard from her. “She’ll be able to tell us what happened. And then we can be certain if Dennis is or isn’t involved.”

“Kaci,” I said, “you don’t have to do this.”

“I do. And I am.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’d rather talk to the ghost than force you to see that glimpse again.”

“That’s really thoughtful of you.” I bit my bottom lip. “But don’t do something you don’t want to on my behalf.”

“I want to,” she said with a firm nod. “Like you said—what is the use of having these powers if I can’t use them to help my friend? So I’m going to.”

“You have fun with that.” Gemma dropped her hand from my arm and heaved her backpack onto her shoulders. “I have research to do. You know what they say about real estate—location, location, location.”

“I don’t even know what you mean,” I said, shaking my head.

“I’m going to try and find our where .” Gemma smiled, then hopped down the stairs and disappeared around the corner into the side entrance.

“Are you sure?” I asked Kaci again.

Kaci threw the strap of her messenger bag over her shoulder. “Yes. I can’t promise I will be able to do anything. As you saw last night, I’m not that good. The first skill a medium is supposed to learn is how to implement psychic blocks, how to stop seeing them , and I haven’t mastered it.” She took a fortifying breath. “But I will try.”

A thought struck me then, of something that Edith and Alma had said the night before. “I don’t know how all this works, but Edith and Alma mentioned opening and closing portals. You’ve spent so much time trying to close the portal…. Have you ever tried opening it?”

Kaci blushed. “The portal is open. It’s always open, which is why I see them all the time.”

“Well, maybe you can try to open it wider?”

“Okay,” she said, nodding. “Yes. Okay. Let’s find her.”

She marched into the building, her messenger bag banging against her hip. I followed, tripping over my feet to keep up. We walked through the cafeteria, where students were eating breakfast, and then through the courtyard and into the gym.

Kaci stepped over the threshold of the entrance, her shoes squeaking on the freshly mopped surface.

The parquet flooring gleamed in the sunlight pouring in from the high windows, the logo of the Central Shady Hallow High Saints standing out in stark blue and gold at half-court.

The smack of a basketball against the floor reverberated throughout the space. I peeked over Kaci’s shoulder to spy Dennis shooting hoops alone. He had a rack of balls next to him, and he stood on the foul line, taking shots.

“She’s here,” Kaci whispered.

“Where?” I asked.

Kaci’s gaze zeroed in on the stands. “Right there.”

With renewed determination, she strode across the floor in a series of squeaks.

Dennis whipped his head around.

“What are you doing here, seer?” he demanded, ball on his hip, a sneer on his face. “Come to tell my future?”

“No and I prefer ‘clairvoyant.’?”

Kaci strode across the floor without pausing. “I’ve come to talk to your ghost.”

Dennis dropped the ball. His face paled so suddenly, I thought he was going to pass out. “What ghost?” he said weakly.

“The one that follows you around.” Kaci stopped at the bleachers and crossed her arms, staring at a space about a third of the way up the steps. “The one who is right here .”

“You can’t be serious,” he said, though he’d scuttled backward to where his bag lay on the end line. “I’m supposed to believe you can see ghosts?”

“She can.” I stood at half-court, shoulders back, straightened to my full not-impressive height. “And there is a girl covered in bloody cuts who haunts you. I’ve seen her too.”

Dennis scooped up his bag. “Stay away from me,” he snarled. “Both of you. Or I’ll report you for harassment.” And then he ran out the back door.

That was weird and not at all incriminating.

“Is she still here?”

“Yes.” Kaci set her jaw. “What are you trying to tell me?” she whispered. She clenched her fists at her side, then squeezed her eyes shut and leaned forward.

I couldn’t see what was happening. I had no idea what Kaci was doing. If it was even working. And I couldn’t deny that it all looked a little comical with her willowy figure and her scrunched face.

“Louder,” she said again, turning to press her ear against the air. “Please. I want to hear you.”

There was a pause, followed by a gasp and a flinch, then suddenly Kaci screamed. It wasn’t a kids-playing-outside kind of screech, but a horror-movie-jump-scare shriek.

I abandoned my place at the half-court line and sprinted across the court just as Kaci yelled “stop,” then crumpled to the ground.

“Kaci!”

I slid to her side on my knees, my ripped jeans providing my skin little protection. I’d surely have friction burns, but that was the least of my worries.

Kaci’s eyes were closed. She was breathing, which was good, but she didn’t appear to be conscious.

I tapped her shoulder, which garnered no response. Then her cheek. “Kaci,” I said again. “Come on. Don’t do this to me. I’m stressed enough as it is. I’m going to have a heart attack.”

No response.

Fuck.

Shit.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and hit call on the topmost contact.

Al’s voice came over the line. “Hey, where are you? I thought we were supposed to meet on the steps, like, ten minutes ago.”

“In the gym! Kaci tried to talk to the ghost, and I don’t know what happened, but she passed out and we need help!”

“We’re coming right now!”

I set the phone on the ground, hitting the button for the speaker. A jumble of panicked voices and words erupted from my cell as Mateo’s, Al’s, and Reese’s voices overlapped.

All I managed to hear was that I needed to make sure she was breathing.

I scooted closer just to make sure, and the bare skin of my wrist brushed her fingertips.

I sucked in a breath. Oh no. I tried to imagine every metaphor to stop this from happening—slamming a door, raising a castle drawbridge, shutting a window—but it was too late. I fell down a dark tunnel.

And woke up outside the local hospital.

Ambulance sirens echoed around me. The flash of red and blue lights swept across the entrance to the emergency department. The asphalt glittered with raindrops from the glow of the illuminated signs, and the cool air nipped at my exposed skin. I whirled around, my damp hair whipping across my skin, looking for someone in the darkness of the night, my heart beating fast. But they weren’t there on the sidewalk in front of the automatic sliding glass doors, and they weren’t in the parking lot, either. My stomach sank.

“Where is he?” Mateo demanded.

“I don’t know,” I answered in Kaci’s voice. “We left him right here. He was only going to make a call.”

“But he’s not here now!”

“He’s not inside, either.” That was Gemma. She sounded tired and upset.

Mateo stalked forward, coming to stand beside me. “Something has happened. I know it.”

I took a deep breath. Fear and anxiety swept through me, making my hands tremble. I knew what I had to do, even if I had only just mastered controlling my access to the beyond. “I have to open the portal.” I squeezed my eyes shut, steeled myself, and imagined grasping the handle of a door and yanking it open. Then I opened my eyes.

Where originally there were three others with me, there were now dozens .

Rows upon rows of ghosts stood around us. They were everywhere—some dressed in hospital gowns, others in clothing from across the spectrum of history. Some were bloodied with skin torn, while others were pristine. In a horrifying visual, they all swiveled around to stare at me, as if they sensed I could see them and interact with them. I bit back a scream as their voices penetrated my head, garbled sounds tumbling over one another in a torrent.

I smacked my hands over my ears and imagined closing the door slightly, narrowing the gap until the voices decreased to merely a few.

I met the gaze of a girl in front of me. She had blood smeared across her face, some dripping from her mouth, and a slow ghostly smile stole over her features.

“Ask me,” she said, her voice low and distorted, her teeth stained crimson. “I’ll tell you.”

I jerked awake.

I was on the basketball court. Al, Mateo, and Reese stood over me. “Kaci?” I said, my voice bordering on hysterical. I’d just seen her at the hospital. Was she okay? What was going on? “Kaci!”

“Right here,” she said from where she sagged against the bleachers. She limply waved.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I opened the portal too wide.”

Oh. Oops. I winced.

“The rest of us don’t know what that means,” Al said, gesturing to the two of us. “Care to explain?”

“Yeah. Now that you’re both awake,” Reese said, his hands on his hips. “What the hell was that? What happened?”

Kaci groaned and pressed the heel of her hand to her temple. “I tried to talk to a ghost.”

I struggled to a sitting position, opting not to take the hand that Al had offered and giving a quick shake of my head. They apparently understood and didn’t take offense.

Once sitting, I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, head dropped lower than my shoulders, eyes closed. “How did it go?” I asked.

Kaci shrugged. “She screamed at me.”

“She screams at everyone,” I muttered.

“But I heard it this time.”

I opened my eyes and turned my head. Kaci beamed, her eyes shining with pride. “I couldn’t ask her anything, and I didn’t even make out what she said. But I heard her scream.”

“Congrats.”

“Wait, that’s a good thing?” Reese asked, his eyebrows raised.

“It’s progress,” Mateo answered. “Kaci is gaining control of her powers.”

And based on my glimpse, as well as the rattle of voices in my head and the fact that Kaci had interacted with one of the ghosts milling outside the hospital, she would have great command of them in the future. At some point. But thank goodness it wasn’t today. I couldn’t handle an emergency department visit along with everything else.

“But you didn’t get any information about who she is, and why she follows Dennis, and if we should worry that he’s some kind of aggressive, knife-wielding maniac?”

Al elbowed Reese hard in the side.

“Ow! What? I was just making sure.”

“No,” Kaci said softly. “I failed at that part. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Kaci.” I heaved myself to my feet. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” I gave her an encouraging smile, despite not being sure at all.

“What about you?” she asked. “What did you see?”

The entire group looked my way. They were all tense and stressed and… I couldn’t heap more on them. I couldn’t add another thing to their already full plates. And besides, it looked like they had all been fine in the glimpse, just frantic about something. I could let them know later if needed. But for now I decided to keep this one to myself.

I shrugged. “We were all hanging out.”

Kaci brightened. “Oh. Outside of school?”

“Yeah,” I said, which was not a lie. “We were.”

“That’s nice,” she said with a smile. “I’d like that.”

Reese looked skeptical, but for once he didn’t voice it. “Yeah, whatever,” he said, his hoodie askew, as if he had run just as fast as Mateo and Al. “But can we do it after we have this current dilemma wrapped up?”

“Of course!” Kaci said, eyes crinkling with a big smile.

I wholeheartedly agreed with Reese. We needed to figure things out. And fast. Time was running out, and we were no closer despite all our hard work.

At lunch, Gemma slammed a yearbook onto the table and flipped it open to a page. She pointed with her pink, glitter-tipped finger. “Is that your ghost?”

Kaci and I both leaned in. It was a senior portrait from five years ago. She looked different, but there was no denying that it was the girl who followed Dennis around.

“How?” I asked.

“Dennis’s older stepsister died in a car accident right after her graduation. She had a different last name, and their parents weren’t married long, so when I did my background check on him, she didn’t show up. But if that’s your ghost, then Dennis didn’t have any hand in her death.”

I set my cheeseburger on my tray. The group of us were at our regular table, all gathered around, in various states of thought. “Oh wow, that’s great,” I said.

“Great that our prime suspect is cleared?” Al asked. “It sends us right back to the beginning. What are we going to do?”

“I think…,” I said, rubbing my brow, “I need to glimpse Juana’s future.”

Mateo straightened. “Cam—”

“No, look. I’ve thought about it all morning. We’ve been spinning our wheels since that day in the coffee shop, and we’ve gotten nowhere.”

Gemma scoffed.

“No offense,” I said. “I’m not discounting your work.”

“Offense taken, though,” she muttered.

“But we’re running out of time.” I ticked off the points on my fingers. “First, our prime suspect is no longer a suspect. And second, trial and error has shown that it really is easier to glimpse a future when the subject is focusing on it. And yes, that first glimpse was random, and we don’t know who touched me, but Dennis would actively have to be thinking about Juana or, in the case of Mateo’s scenario, thinking about me. But he has no connection to Juana, and he never interacted with me until after my powers were revealed. It’s not him.”

The rest of the group stared at me with a variety of expressions, but no one spoke, so I plowed on.

“Third, we know we can’t stop the glimpse from happening, but we can be prepared for it. We need more information, and we should get it from the source.”

“But she’ll know.” Mateo’s voice was soft.

“She won’t have to,” I said, drumming my fingers on the table. “It can be an accidental touch. And I’ll try to focus on the event and get more clues. And then we can decide if we want to tell her and let her prepare for it herself.”

Gemma hummed and shoved the yearbook back in her bag. “We can do it at Drip. Juana has been hanging out there with Val.”

“That’s a little too public for me,” I said, twisting my fingers into a knot. “I was a mess after that first glimpse, and if I have to see it again, I want to see it somewhere I can freak out afterward. Quietly. On my own.”

“Our date,” Mateo said, eyes fixed on the table. “I’ll ask Juana to drive us, and I’ll plan for something quiet.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. This is juicy. You two are dating?” Reese asked. “When did that happen?” He narrowed his eyes and wagged a soggy fry in our direction, little splashes of ketchup littering the table. “Wait, is this for an alliance? I know the sprites have only sent the fruit basket, but we can do better if we need to.”

Mateo growled.

Kaci shook her head. “That’s not nice, Reese.”

“It was a joke.”

Joke or not, that small seed of doubt I’d had when Mateo had originally asked me out sprouted into a tiny plant. Any excitement I’d had for Saturday absolutely evaporated. I’d kept the promise of the date tucked away in my thoughts like a fragile secret. Since Mateo had asked me out, so much weirdness had happened, but the assurance of something good had still been there, a silent motivation to get me through the week. And I didn’t want it ruined.

Thanks to both Mateo and Reese, it was well on its way. Yet the glimpse had to be done. I couldn’t ignore that fact. I couldn’t run away from it.

“Great,” I said, feigning excitement. “That works.”

Al frowned and tapped their fingernails against the table. “The rest of us should be nearby.”

I balked at that. It was bad enough that Juana was tagging along on our date. I didn’t need the rest of our weird friend group there as well.

Al leveled a glare at me. “We should be there to hear all the specifics again fresh. It may spark a clue. And as you said, you were a mess after the first time. You might need moral support. Especially if you break down again.”

Ugh. I hated that Al was right. “Fine.”

“Okay.” Gemma leaned in. “Meet after school at the car pickup loop, and we’ll hash out details so we’ll all be prepared for Saturday.”

The bell rang, and we all parted ways. I trudged back to my third block, disappointment seeping from every pore.