I shake my head, ignoring the fact that my entire body is trembling. “I—I don’t know.”
The shrieking stops on the other side and an eerie silence greets us. It’s almost as if the creature has vanished completely.
“Let’s not stick around to find out,” Wade says, dropping the door handle and grabbing my hand.
Together, we race for the house, putting as much distance between us and the boathouse as possible. The moment we get to the door of the manor, we open it and dart inside. Without a second thought, we both turn around, thrusting our arms out and slamming the door shut. With Wade still pressing it closed, I flip the lock on the handle and set the deadbolt.
Removing his hands, Wade takes a step back, pressing his hands to his mouth. “Holy shit. That was—”
“Scary?” I breathe, slumping to my knees.
“Intense,” Wade says, nodding and sliding to the floor with his back against the door.
“What the hell was that all about? I mean, was that really him? Or?” I clutch at my chest, trying to take a deep, cleansing breath and failing miserably.
Wade shakes his head, his own breathing jagged. “No clue. Sure as hell looked like him, though.”
“So, what do we do now? I mean, he can’t stay in the boathouse forever…”
Wade shudders. “Who knows if he’s still in there now. Did you see the way he materialized? It was like his ashes were somehow melded together and reanimated.”
“Yeah, that was crazy. But if you really want to know whether or not he’s still in there, we can go back out and…”
“Nope, nope…” Wade says, shaking his head. “I’m good with assuming he’s trapped. At least until we figure out what to do next.”
I bite my lip, thinking through possible scenarios. “What if we call the authorities?”
“And told them what? Hey, guys, there’s a dead guy trapped in the boathouse and we could use some help. Granted, he was recently turned to ash, but he’s now running around like a spry chicken. Wanna come and check it out?”
“They have people who can handle this. They have to, right? So, what if we just told them we have a revenant locked in the boathouse? We don’t have to say who we think it is. Do we?”
Wade considers for a few seconds. “I’m pretty sure it’s part of their job to figure it out. Then all that stuff I was just talking about gets even worse. Not only were we at the Mistwood Point cemetery when the others attacked—now this. Royally screwed comes to mind.”
“Why are they targeting us?” I ask, wishing there was an easy answer.
Wade shrugs. “God, I wish I knew.”
I sigh, shifting around to sit beside him. Tipping my head back to rest against the door, I lean into him and place my hand on his thigh. The beautiful, sexy moment between us has passed, but an absurd giggle escapes my lips.
I shoot Wade a sideways glance and stifle another laugh. “Well, nothing like being chased by a dead grandpa to kill the mood.”
He snickers, shifting himself forward into a crouching position, then stands up. “Right? We just can’t catch a break.” Wade extends his arm, offering a hand and helping me up. “Come on, let’s see if we can find any magical rules about revenants.”
“Like what kind?”
“Like, if they materialize out of ashes, do they keep their form once they’ve corporealized…or not?” he says, screwing up his face.
“Good point,” I say, taking off down the hallway. “Do you want to go back to the school? Or do you want to do it from here? There could be something in my Postmortem Communication classwork, or maybe even Advanced Life Energies.”
We turn the corner, heading back to my bedroom. Wade keeps his eyes trained on each window as we go past, as if he’s expecting the revenant to come bursting through at any moment.
“At this point, I don’t know,” he finally says. “If we do any research from here outside your lessons, we have a digital trail back to us. If we go to the school, there’s still a good chance it will come back to us if the feds search their databases for anything specific. We have to log in with our student IDs.”
“What if I try to summon Abigail again? Maybe if I can get her—”
Wade shakes his head. “I don’t think she’s willing to dish out information when I’m around. But I guess you can try.”
I stop walking to grab hold of his wrist. “What makes you say that?”
Wade narrows his gaze and bites his lower lip. “Just a feeling I get. She really only comes to you when I’m not around,” he says, shrugging. “But I could be wrong.”
There’s more to his hunch than he’s letting on. I can see it in his face. But I think back, trying to figure out if she’s ever been active when Wade’s been around. Nothing comes to me—at least, not where she’s been helpful. “Hmmm, you might be right.”
Wade shrugs and starts walking down the hall again. I follow quietly after, my mind whirling with the recent events. The revenant, the attack, everything Wade’s said about being suspected of this. Plus, this thing with Abigail. If it’s true, why would it be? She was with me, helping me to bring Cat back. But other than that, she’s never really been active unless I’m alone.
Stepping out in front, Wade opens the door to my bedroom, then moves back. “After you.”
I shoot him a wary smile, walking into my bedroom and heading over to my desk. “So what do you want to do? Look in my lessons first? Or do a search?”
Again, Wade’s phone sounds, but this time it’s like the Tardis has landed as his ringtone blares out. He shoots me a confused look, pulling his phone from his pocket and wiping it across his pant leg.
“Dammit, the screen’s cracked,” he mutters. “Guess that’ll teach me to leave it in my back pocket.”
“Yeah, because you
