“Kat?” Someone gently took the camera from my hands. I took a deep, shaky breath, blinking rapidly.
“What are you doing?”
Jamie frowned slightly. “I was talking to you. Didn’t you hear me?”
“Oh sorry.” I shook my head, trying to get rid of the buzzing noise. “I’m just, um, distracted.”
“Do you mind if I film this part?” Jamie held up the Elapse.
“No, but why?”
“Just want to try it.” Pretending to inspect the back of the camera, Jamie lowered his voice. “And because you look like you did in the catacombs yesterday, like you’re going to faint. If you don’t want to talk about whatever’s going on, that’s fine, but I thought you might want to get some water and sit down for a minute.”
I swallowed. “Okay. Thanks.”
“No problem.” He glanced up at me, a smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Although, you know, if you ever do want to talk about it . . .”
I couldn’t help smiling back. “Yeah, maybe later.”
Trying to look nonchalant, I headed over to my backpack and sat cross-legged on the grass. Rocks littered the area around the tree, dark gray and shiny. I picked one up and examined the marbled pattern, half listening as Oscar interviewed Abril. Should I tell Jamie about the whole Ana Arias thing? I knew it would hurt Oscar’s feelings if I confided in Jamie but not him. But if Oscar knew I suspected Ana was following us—if he knew she might even be possessing me—he’d find a way to get the whole story on the show, even if I resisted. Just like with the web series.
When Oscar and Abril finished, Jamie filmed Hailey reading an entry from Brunilda’s journal. I sat with my eyes closed, turning the rock over and over in my hand as I listened.
“The willow tree behind the church has long been a favorite spot of mine to read and be alone with my thoughts. But even this place, it seems, is no longer safe. I see the shadow in the church nearly every day now, dancing and writhing in the corner of my eye, always vanishing when I turn to get a better look. Only in the church, though . . . until this morning, when I visited my willow tree.”
I rubbed my arms, my skin prickling with goose bumps despite the heat. When Hailey finished reading, everyone moved to sit around the Ouija board. Reluctantly, I pulled the tripod from my backpack and set it up before taking the Elapse from Jamie. (I’d tried “forgetting” the tripod back at the hotel so that I’d have to film the séance rather than be on camera, but Oscar had helpfully reminded me.)
After turning the camera on, I adjusted the angle, trying to get everyone in the shot. I kept thinking of the shadow I’d seen in the viewfinder a few minutes ago and wondering if I’d imagined it. Imagined her. “Ana Arias,” I murmured to myself as I tightened the base of the tripod. “Why are you following me?”
I squeezed between Jamie and Hailey and placed my fingers on the planchette. As usual, Jamie took charge of the séance. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on his voice and not on the quiet whir coming from the camera.
“Brunilda Cano used to sit under this willow tree and write in her journal,” he began. “Hailey’s going to read the rest of that entry, and I want everyone to imagine Brunilda right here with us. Concentrate on her words, her thoughts, her emotions.”
There was a long silence, and I peeked through my eyelashes. Hailey sat solemnly, staring at the journal in her lap. When she spoke, her voice was much softer than usual.
“The monster followed me here, lurking just out of sight, revealing itself only when I sat beneath the willow. I looked up and saw it hanging there in the branches, hollow-eyed and smiling.”
A chill raced up my spine. I had to resist the urge to tilt my head back and stare up into the branches. But I could imagine it there, some shadowy thing lurking behind the leaves, watching us. Watching me.
“I realized this monster is always with me, and always has been. It’s not trying to hurt me; it’s protecting me. It’s not trying to steal my soul; it’s trying to save it.”
Terror seized me. My heart was hammering so loudly, I could barely hear Hailey. I sat frozen, suddenly positive that if I opened my eyes, I would see . . . something. Brunilda’s empty-eyed monster grinning down at us. Or maybe Ana Arias, covered in dirt from her grave. Dozens of horrifying images flickered through my mind but I knew, I just knew, that whatever was with us right now was worse.
Hailey continued reading, her voice trembling a little. Dimly, I wondered if she’d realized a monster had joined our group right there in broad daylight.
“The clergy wants to perform an exorcism. I think I mustn’t let them. I think perhaps it would be best if this beast stayed with me.”
The planchette began to crawl slowly, slowly across the board.
Hailey fell silent. I forced myself to open my eyes, but my vision was blurry. The buzzing noise was back, too. I sensed it, whatever it was we’d conjured, hovering between the camera and me. But I was too petrified to look at it. All I could do was stare at my fingers, which felt magnetically attached to the planchette.
“I . . . ,” Jamie said as our hands stopped over the letter briefly, then moved on to the next. “W . . . A . . . N . . .”
Stop, I wanted to scream.
“T . . .”
Oscar said something I couldn’t make out through the deafening rush of blood in my ears. But I knew what he was saying, because I was thinking it, too. We both knew what the final three letters would be.
Without thinking,
