Page 108 of The Ghost of Ellwood

“Carter…”

“Whatever, Ben. Just drive.”

I backed out of the parking spot and pulled onto the main road. “Aren’t you scared you’ll see Lady Death if you go? I thought that’s why you haven’t gone back.”

“It’s why I haven’t gone back alone.” Carter brought a leg up and rested his knee on the glove department while the other leg stretched out in the floorboard. “If I’m meant to die, I’ll die, whether I go back or not. She just acts as a warning or whatevs. I thought going with you would give me courage. Hey, you’re going the wrong way home.”

“We’re not going home,” I said, checking my rearview mirror before switching lanes.

“Aren’tyouscared of her?” he asked. “You were totally freaked when you heard the legend.”

“I’m alive, aren’t I? Maybe the myth is a load of bull.” I didn’t fully believe that, but I didn’t want to admit I was still afraid of some stupid story. “If doing this helps ease your mind, then I’ll help. I have your back, remember?”

Carter peered at me, his green eyes big and watery. “Yeah. Same, dude.”

My little bit of courage faded when I pulled onto Sycamore, the street leading to Redwood Manor. The closer I drove to the place, the more uneasy I felt.

“We’ll get arrested if they catch us trespassing,” I said, cutting the headlights on the car.

“They only have people looking after the place in October because that’s when break-ins are common,” Carter explained, taking off his seatbelt. “The rest of the year, they come to keep up with the yard, but no one has night watch.”

“How do you know this?”

“Research. Duh.” Carter flicked his tongue ring against his teeth. “And I might’ve fucked a guy who used to work the grounds.”

“You really get around, don’t you?” I asked, grinning.

“Hey, I don’t judge you for banging ghost boy. Don’t judge me for my whorish ways.”

“You don’t judge meanymore,” I said under my breath. He’d cast plenty of judgment in the beginning.

I drove past the front gate and parked near one of the tall shrubs, trying to conceal the car as best as I could while still being close enough to the mansion for Carter to get inside.

“You waiting here?” he asked, hand on the door handle.

As much as I wanted to say yes, I couldn’t let him go alone. The mansion was like a maze. What if he got lost? Or ran into trouble?

With a defeated sigh, I opened the door, stepped out, and softly closed it. Carter got out with a bounce in his step and softly shut his door too.

“Thanks, Ben,” he whispered, as we approached the gate. “I owe you one.”

“You really think he’s in there?” I swept a gaze over the dark mansion before us.

The only light came from the moon, so the shadows stretching around us made the already dark shapes more menacing.

“You and Theo are the ones who said Z is probably a ghost,” Carter pointed out. “This is the only place in Ivy Grove Ihaven’tlooked for him. He has to be here.”

“Okay.” We were in front of the locked gate. “How are we going to get inside?”

“Are you athletic?” Carter asked, lifting a brow.

I was almost afraid to ask.

“Why?”

“Time to climb, buddy.” His shit-eating grin was the last thing I saw before he jumped up on the fence and climbed up.

Chapter Twenty