Page 67 of Phobia

“It’s a ghost, right? Isn’t that his thing?”

“He said it was complicated because of the linkhehas to us.”

“But that’s what I don’t get. We both did the magical bath. So why ishestill haunting us?”

“Maybe the attachment is to your grandma’s house since that’s where he died, and that’s why it didn’t work.”

Larkin glanced my way. “Does that mean we have to figure out how to give the house a bath now?”

“Maybe. Salt might work. I guess there’s always fire.”

“I’d rathernotgo to prison for arson, thanks.”

“Is that worse than dismembering a body?” I raised my brows at him.

“Wow. Didn’t think you’d stoop so low, Kincaid.” He kept his tone light but it didn’t erase the tightness at the corners of his eyes.

I took his hand and squeezed it gently. “That’s not what I meant. I’m on your side. I’m just trying to put it in perspective so we can think this through. If we can’t get rid of his body, getting rid of the house might be the only way to stop him. He’s leaving you creepy mementos. He almost drowned me. It won’t be long before he does something even worse. From my understanding, the longer he lingers in this world, the stronger he gets.”

“Do you have your magic rocks?”

I reached into the backseat and grabbed the bag of crystals and herbs, rooting through it. “Yep. And I brought something for you too.” I pulled out a sprig of lavender with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes. “Gee. Thanks.”

“If it helps, then you should try it.”

“I’ve seen enough of that psycho to last a lifetime. I don’t need to see any more of him.”

“You might. If something happens to me, you’ll need to be able to get away from him.”

It was his turn to squeeze my hand, kissing the back of it. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I wanted to believe him, but as the sign for Sunderland came into view, I felt less and less certain that I’d live to loathe another Halloween.

***

“Where are you going?” I asked as Larkin drove past his grandmother’s house and literally hopped the curb at the end of the street to drive out into the cornfield. An army of dry, yellowed stalks stood tall and unharvested, providing plenty of cover from prying eyes.

“I’m not leaving my car in plain view of the house, in case we do end up torching it,” Larkin replied.

No witnesses. Made sense. Although, I couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before our corpses were discovered after we were murdered by a killer ghost in the middle of a field.

On our way through the corn, I clung to the back of Larkin’s jacket, partly so I didn’t trip over the tangle of stalks and partly out of sheer cowardice. Cornfields were always creepy, but especially in the fall. Their golden stalks turned brown and scratched against each other, like greedy monsters rubbing their skinny hands together in delight, just waiting to snatch unsuspecting children and drag them deep into the dark earth. It didn’t help when you could hear things rustling all around you or when those dried-out husks snapped under the weight of something you couldn’t see.

Larkin pulled up short before we’d even reached the edge of the field, swearing under his breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“His fucking truck!” Without elaborating, he hurried over to the tree line separating his grandma’s house from the field and yanked bundles of dried stalks away from where it was more or less camouflaging a beat-up pickup.

While he ripped open the door and started tearing apart the interior, for what I had no idea, I wandered closer to the front and laid my hand on the hood.

“The engine is warm,” I said, casting a cautious glance around us. When Larkin didn’t respond, I walked over to the cab and smacked his bicep. “Ghosts don’t drive, Larkin.”

“I’m telling you, he’s fucking dead,” Larkin snapped, climbing out of the cab with an old plastic shopping bag wrapped around something hard, like a large book. “I butchered his miserable body like the fucking animal he was and dumped him for the coyotes to eat.”

“Then who is driving his truck? And those pictures you keep finding? Yeah, it could have been him, but I’m starting to think there’s more than a ghost behind this.”