Page 89 of Their Little Ghost

How does she know the guys’ nickname for me?

She storms past, bashing into my shoulder with her entourage in tow, leaving me staring after them and wondering what fresh hell I’ve got to look forward to next.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SIX

ERIN

I struggleto get comfortable on Doctor Warner’s lumpy couch. Faded landscape paintings hang on his beige office walls, and a metronome swings back and forth on his desk. The ticking is supposed to be relaxing, but it only makes me fidget more.

“Why do you think you’re here, Erin?” Doctor Warner asks, reclining in his chair to study me.

People say talking about your problems helps, but it doesn’t change the facts: Sarah’s missing, Dad’s a psychopath, and I’m… well, I guess I’ve always been whoever my father wants me to be. I’ve tried so hard to be the perfect daughter. Until now.

“Because my dad found me looking for Adderall,” I lie. “I’ve been under a lot of stress recently with schoolwork.”

“Hm…” He scratches his chin. “I understand it was recently the anniversary of Sarah’s disappearance. Has that added to your stress?”

“Yes, it was—the anniversary, I mean—but that’s not why I’m stressed,” I say. “College is coming up, and I’ve had a lot on my mind. I was only looking for pills to help me study. I’m sorry to be wasting your time. You should be speaking to people who are actually sick.”

Do I sound convincing enough?

Doctor Warner scrawls something in his notebook while the metronome ticks on. His unreadable expression gives nothing away.

“Why don’t we talk about your sister?” Doctor Walker suggests. “It must be difficult having so many unanswered questions. It’s natural for emotions to get repressed during times of immense trauma.”

“I’ve already spent hours speaking to professionals about what happened,” I say, putting an end to the subject. “There’s nothing more to say.”

I don’t want to share my precious memories with another stranger. I want real answers, not hearsay speculations or cryptic clues from my psychopathic stalkers. Aiden claims I’ll find out the truth about what happened to Sarah at Sunnycrest, but where do I start? He should have given me her diary. There must be something useful in there, if they went to the trouble of obtaining it from Officer Blackwell. Yet, as usual, Aiden seems intent on seeing me suffer.

“Humor me,” Doctor Warner says. His impenetrable stare tells me he won’t let this go. “What was Sarah like?”

“She was fun,” I say. “She liked having a good time and always spoke her mind, even when other people didn’t like it.”

“Are you similar?”

“Me and Sarah?” I laugh. “No, we’re opposites. I follow the rules, and Sarah liked to break them. She was the life and soul of the party, and I’d rather stay at home. She had lots of friends, and I’ve never been popular.”

“I see.” Doctor Warner takes more notes. “Your father claims you’ve been acting out of character recently. Has anything unexpected happened?”

“Nothing,” I say. Well, unless you include three hot guys escaping from an asylum and invading every aspect of my life. “Dad’s probably referencing a party I went to. I drank too much,and he was mad. Nothing out of the ordinary, though. Just normal teenage stuff.”

“Hm.” He nods. “I see.”

“It was a mistake,” I say. “It won’t happen again. You can tell him that.”

Doctor Warner puts down his pen, and his glasses slide down his nose. I squirm, uneasy under his scrutiny, and tune into the metronome.Tick.Tick.Tick.The noise slows my breathing, and I stifle a yawn.

“You’ve done talking therapies before, so perhaps a different approach will be useful,” he ponders. “Have you ever undergone hypnosis, Erin?”

I shake my head.

“Let’s try it,” he says, taking out a tape recorder and clicking the record button.

Who even uses tapes anymore?

“You’re recording our session?” I ask.