It wasn’t long before we headed inside. Everyone was sitting in the living room. They all looked up, with varying levels of concern. I walked around the room, smacking each of them on the back of the head.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to listen in on other people’s conversations?” I said through my teeth as I popped each of them.

“Ow,” Ethan said.

“She hit me.” Isaac declared, pointing a finger at me.

“She hit all of us.” Zeke pointed out, rubbing the back of his head.

Asher was the only one who didn’t complain, he nodded his head knowing he deserved it.

“She didn’t hit Miles,” Isaac said.

“No, she didn’t, but I do need a new phone now,” Miles announced, sitting on the couch next to Ethan.

I sat down cross-legged on the floor at the end of the coffee table.

Asher raised an eyebrow. “What happened to it?” he asked.

Miles half grinned at him. “She threw it in the pool.”

The guys smiled at that.

“Maybe you should get one of those waterproof ones,” Isaac suggested to Miles. “You know, just in case.”

“There will be no repeat of that,” I said, pointing at all of them. “That was rude and invasive. If I don’t want to tell you something, then respect that. I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

Mumbled apologies ran through the room, so I let it drop.

“Lexie, you still need to ice your back,” Zeke tried again.

All the other guys groaned, glaring at him. Asher threw a decorative pillow at his head.

“You seriously did not just say that?” Ethan moaned, his hand over his eyes. The silver rings on his fingers catching the light.

“Zeke, you need to stop while you’re ahead, man,” Isaac advised.

“Even I know that was a stupid thing to say,” Miles mumbled.

I took a moment to think about it. Zeke was right; I still needed to ice my back. It always felt better afterward, no matter how much it sucked during. If they could just not distract me, I could get through it.

“Go get the ice,” I agreed, resigned. Zeke got up as the others protested.

“You don’t have to stay in that position, Ally,” Asher told me. “We can just take the picture, and you can get up.”

“You shouldn’t have to get triggered every day,” Ethan said adamantly.

I smiled gratefully at them.

“No, I need to. It keeps the swelling down, and it does feel better after,” I reassured them. “I can get through it, just don’t distract me.”

The guys gave in, none of them liking it.

Zeke was back with the towel and ice packs, and I was about to lay down when Miles stopped me.

“Lexie, what if we put the ice on the floor, and you lay your back onto them?” he suggested quietly. “Changing the way you’re facing might stop you from having a flashback.”

I shrugged, it was worth a shot. Zeke tossed me the ice packs, veggie bags, and towel. I put everything in line and slowly lowered myself. It hurt a little at first, but then the cold seeped through the towel. I waited, expecting the memories to push forward again. When they didn’t, my body went weak with relief. I lifted my head and looked at Miles down the line of my body.

“Miles, you’re a genius,” I told him earnestly. He grinned at me.

I looked back up at the ceiling and gestured toward the boxes they were going through. “What are we doing?” I asked like there was nothing weird about this.

“Zeke was trying to explain what this stuff is and what we’re supposed to do with it,” Asher answered.

“Only, I can’t remember half of what she said.” Zeke bit out the words, obviously grumpy.

I tilted my head back and to the side so I could see Zeke and Asher. They were upside down, but I could see them.

“Pull something out and show me,” I said thoughtlessly.

Isaac started snickering, Ethan joined in. Asher was holding back a laugh, his cheeks turning pink.

I thought about what I said and started laughing. There are just some things you can’t say in a room full of guys. “That’s not what I meant.” I groaned.

Even Zeke was covering his mouth, his eyes sparkling.

When everyone got control of themselves, Zeke reached into the box and pulled out a purple cloth bag. He opened it and pulled out medium sized bead, then handed it down to me. It was heavier than it looked which meant it was stone.

“That’s the bag of onyx beads she gave me. They keep the dead from touching you. I’m planning to make bracelets with them.”

I handed the bead back to Zeke. He dropped it into the bag, closed it, then set it aside. He pulled out a big silver ring with a black stone inside.

I pointed at it. “That’s an onyx ring, I thought Ethan might like it since it’s more his style.”

Zeke tossed the ring over to Ethan.

“Oh, nice,” Ethan said. “Does this mean we’re engaged?”

I snorted and ignored him.

Zeke was holding out a black leather necklace with a vial of water attached to it.

“That’s mine.” I held out my hand to Zeke. He handed it over before digging into the box again.

“What is that?” Asher asked.

“It’s a vial of salted holy water,” I explained, slipping the necklace over my neck. “Serena told me to load up on everything for a while, then slowly take one level of protection off over a few days until I get exactly the level I need.” I held up the little vial. “If I’m getting jumped, just open the vial and pour it into my mouth. It’ll force the ghost to leave.”

“So, it’s a ghost epi-pen?” Asher asked, an eyebrow raised.

I thought about it and nodded. That was rather accurate.

“How much protection are us muggles going to need?” Isaac asked, pulling books out of one of the boxes and handing them down to Miles.

“She said two items should do it for you guys,” I said, looking at a silver coin-like medallion Zeke was holding up. It had a hole so you could hang it from something. “That’s for Asher; I was going to string it on leather for a necklace.”

“Okay, it sounds like we’re going to have to make jewelry,” Isaac said.

“Oh yeah,” I said, watching Asher upside down as he got to his feet and moved out of view. “She asked me to pick up a few jewelry-making kits.”

Zeke held a malachite pendant above me for identification.

“That’s for Miles, again protection from the dead. And it’ll match his eyes.”

I heard someone chuckle at that. Zeke tossed the pendant over towards Miles.

“Thank you, Lexie,” Miles said.

Asher came back in. Upside down, I watched him sit back down with big thin plastic boxes in his hands. He started to hand out boxes when I got tired of lying there. I looked up at Zeke.

“Did you send a picture yet?”

Zeke nodded. “About 2 minutes after you laid down.”

I groaned as I sat up. I picked up the bags behind me and started to get up.

“I got ‘em,” Zeke said, taking the packs from me.

“Ooh, an ice bitch,” I said, teasing him., I was trying to let him know I wasn’t mad about earlier. It wasn’t really his fault, he had no idea how bad I would react.

He grumbled. “I deserved that,” he said as he took the ice packs and walked into the kitchen.

I scooted around towards the coffee table. Asher handed me a jewelry making kit. I took it, opened it and reached for the bag of onyx beads. Asher held up a brown leather braided bracelet with a beautiful flat triangular blue stone woven in.

“That’s for Isaac,” I said.

Asher tossed it over to Isaac who smiled.

“Thanks, Red.”

Zeke came back in and sat down as Asher pulled out another necklace. Hung from black cord was a black obsidian stone that looked raw and was roughly in the shape of a shark's tooth.

“That’s Zeke's.” I got on my knees and pulled out the other bags of beads as Asher handed the necklace to Zeke who put it on immediately.

“Okay guys, here's what's going on. There was only so much jewelry at the store, but she had lots of stone beads.” I put the onyx in front of me and set the other bags on the table. Some were hematite, some were agate, there were others, but they were all for general protection. “In every kit, there is some needle nose pliers, a wire cutter along with leather cord and wire for beading. There’s even stretchy plastic if you want a flexible bracelet.”

I looked up to see I had most of their attention; Isaac was opening another kit.

“What you have now is specifically for the dead,” I continued, putting my hand over the bags of stone beads they were going to use. “These are for protection in general. Serena said it’s better to have different kinds on.”

Everyone got to work. It wasn’t long before someone was talking.

“I hate to ask this but how much did all this cost?” Isaac asked.

I was trying to figure out how much stretchy cord I needed around my wrist when I answered.

“Enough that all of you owe Rory 10 days of yard work each,” I said, smiling while I worked.

“Seems fair,” Asher said, cutting some leather cord. The others made sounds of agreement.

The room was so quiet that I looked up. All the boys were frowning as they concentrated on making their jewelry, it was cute. I hid my smile and went back to work, wishing I could get a picture of this. Everyone started talking about movies; which new ones looked good.

Ethan’s phone started vibrating on the table; everyone ignored it as he picked it up.

“So Red, what’s the plan for tonight?” Isaac asked absently as he focused on putting a string through the hole of a bead.

“Well, Serena told me no dead for three to six days. And I’m sure that Zeke is going to make me follow that,” I said, not really paying attention.

“Now she’s getting it,” Zeke mumbled.

I rolled my eyes.

“So, the plan is to get some uninterrupted sleep tonight. Hopefully. Rest tomorrow and avoid Bitch Ghost while I go over those books Serena gave me.” I didn’t like it, but I needed more information on how to deal with a ghost this amped up with energy. It wasn’t fun, but it’s what I needed to do.

“I’m sorry, Miles, but you might be stuck with us for a few days.”

“As long as you need,” Miles answered, his voice calm as always.

“Well, Asher’s got a football game on Friday, so let’s go to that,” Ethan said. “I mean, we usually do anyway.”

“We need to keep Lexie safe, guys,” Zeke reminded them.

I rolled my eyes. Again.

“Safe doesn’t mean I can’t go out and have fun.” I didn’t bother looking up from my beading as I answered.

“There’s usually a party somewhere afterward, too,” Asher added, sounding distracted.

“Oh, come on,” Zeke groaned.

I looked up to see he had stopped working on his beading to glare around the group.

“She has a pissed off ghost that has almost killed her already, and you want to take her to a kegger?” he asked.

“If this stuff works, then she’ll be fine,” Isaac pointed out. “Red almost died, she deserves to have a little fun this weekend.”

Heads nodded around the group. Zeke took a deep breath and let it out while shaking his head with his jaw clenched.

“Fine, but I want to test the damn charms before we go to the game.” His tone told us not to argue.

“Yes, Grandpa,” I said sweetly. Everyone but Zeke laughed, though the corner of his mouth did twitch as he got back to work.

Everyone was quiet while we worked. It was a while later that I realized something.

“We didn’t do our homework,” I said with a groan, looking up from my bracelets.

“Screw it,” several voices said at once.

“Damn, I should get jumped more often. No homework,” I said, thinking myself funny.

“NO!” they all shouted vehemently.

I jumped. Their shouts actually echoed through the house, they were so loud. I looked around at them with wide eyes. Everyone looked up from their work to explain.

“That’s not even funny, Ally, you scared the crap out of us,” Asher said, his fingers holding a bracelet he was making.

“You just sort of crumbled to the ground,” Isaac added, wincing.

“Then your nose started pouring,” Ethan continued, shaking his head as if to get the image out.

“Who freaked out the most?” I asked, genuinely curious but also wanting to lighten the conversation.

Everyone pointed at Zeke. He frowned at all them his eyes narrowing, his shoulders growing tense.

“Me? Really?” Zeke scoffed. The guys burst out laughing while Zeke scowled at them.

“We’re not telling, Lexie. There’s a guy rule that when a freak out occurs, you don’t talk about it,” Miles said, being the first to get control of himself.

I looked at him suspiciously. His ears were turning pink, and he was looking anywhere but at me.

“And when was this rule created?” I asked.

“The second you dropped like a rock.” Ethan grinned at me unrepentant.

I looked around the group again. They were all very eager to get off this topic. All of them were shifting in their seats, avoiding looking at me or focusing way too hard on their work. Warmth filled my chest again; that feeling of being cared about came back. It was a little less weird this time.

“So basically, you all freaked out,” I stated knowingly. I couldn’t stop smiling: they were all acting so evasive and well, cute.

“We’ll never tell,” Zeke said.

Oh yeah, it had to be all of them.

“Aw, you all do care,” I said, only half-teasing. I guess it was really starting to sink in that they really did care.

Isaac threw a bead at me.

“Knock it off Red. You’re messing with the guy rule.” He chided me. The conversation changed to what everyone had scheduled this week as we worked on our jewelry.

The guys were done before I was. They stoked the fire and made smores while talking about the game on Friday. When I finally finished, I had eight onyx bracelets lined up, covering a couple inches of wrist and forearm like a big cuff, and a small hematite beaded necklace that dropped down between my breasts with my other necklace.

Miles checked his watch.

“It’s getting late; I guess we should start moving furniture,” Miles announced.

“Hey, Red didn’t get any smores,” Isaac pointed out as he got to his feet.

I shrugged; my mind was more on what was coming tonight than smores. I was packing up the jewelry kits when Asher pulled me away from the coffee table with his hands on my shoulders.

“What?” I asked as he turned me and gave me a small shove towards the fireplace.

“Go sit on the fireplace and make smores while we move the furniture.”

Asher’s voice told me not to argue.

So, I sat on the stone in front of the fireplace and ate smores while the guys talked about where to put the furniture. They decided to move everything against the walls as far as possible. I watched as they moved everything, enjoying the view as the guys used their muscles. They were my friends but damn, they were ripped, and I was only human. By the time they were done, my cheeks were a bit warm.

Miles gestured to me.

I hopped off the hearth and took charge.

“We’ll have to sleep in a circle, heads toward the middle, feet toward the salt line. Let’s set up the sleeping bags, and then we’ll see how much room we have to work with.”

In the end, we all ended up within arms-reach of each other.

Everyone disappeared into the house to get ready for bed. I brushed my teeth and washed my face in the bathroom downstairs. When I came out, I looked around the great room again, looking for any dangers that I didn’t notice before.

I was contemplating the moose head above the fireplace when Miles came downstairs in blue flannel pajama bottoms; he was still pulling his shirt on when I caught a look at his upper body. My heart slammed in my chest. While not bulked up like Zeke or Asher, Miles' muscles were hard and defined. My eyes ran over the lines of his muscled abs when he pulled his shirt down over his chest. I looked away, taking a breath and hoping he didn’t notice my ogling.

“So, what do we do now?” Miles asked.

I gestured to the floor, still a little flustered by my sight of his chest and abs. I so really needed to work out.

“Um, we make the salt circle,” I told him lamely, trying to get my thoughts together again.

There wasn’t much else to do.

Miles nodded. “I’ll go get the salt,” he said, padding off toward the kitchen.

It wasn’t long before the others were coming down the stairs in their pajamas. Asher came down in blue and white striped, drawstring bottoms and a white, ribbed tank top that showed off the muscles in his arms and his wide chest that tapered down to narrow hips.

I took a deep breath; this being friends with hot guys was going to be harder than I thought.

Isaac was right behind him, pulling on a black shirt and wearing a pair of blue mesh shorts that reached his shins. His shoulders weren’t as broad as Asher’s, though he had more muscle than Miles with even more definition. Ethan came down the stairs with Zeke. Ethan was only wearing gray sweats. Not surprisingly, he had the same build as his brother, only he had less definition, but still, very nice lines. Zeke was also wearing black sweats but also a fitted, black, crew neck, sleeveless shirt that showed off his barrel chest, his wide shoulders, and his thick arms. He had bulk but softer definition, like he worked out but not for the way it made him look.

Seeing one of them like this I could handle, but seeing all of them together… I had to remind myself to breathe. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice my ogling. Rule one of being friends with guys: don’t get caught drooling. I had to remember that.

Miles came back in carrying four tubs of salt. Time to get to work.

“Okay guys,” I said. “Can you lay in your bags? I need to see where your feet are going to be so I can make sure you’re not going to hit the line in your sleep.”

Everyone got into their bags; Isaac scooted down a good foot from where he began. It was actually kind of cute how he snuggled down into his sleeping bag.

I took the tubs and started pouring. We ended up in the center of the living room, with the salt line four feet from the guy’s feet. I made sure to make the line thick, using all four tubs. When I was done, I shut off the light and carefully stepped over the line using the firelight to see. My sleeping bag was between Ethan and Isaac. I slid into my bag and zipped up.

“Should we put out the fire?” Miles asked from across the circle.

I sat up to judge the distance.

“It’ll die out soon enough,” Asher answered.

“Night guys,” I whispered.

There was a chorus of good nights. Everything was quiet for a while. I shifted, trying not to lie on my back--the hardwood floor hurt. After a while, I rolled onto my stomach, but I instantly hated that. Soon enough, I was shifting again onto my side. My hipbone bit into the floor. I shifted again.

“Beautiful, what are you doing?” Ethan asked from my left.

“She can’t get comfortable,” Asher mumbled from across the circle. “Can’t lie on her back.”

“She doesn’t like her stomach,” Zeke chimed in.

“And girls got those pointy hips,” Isaac added his voice muffled.

“I’ll figure it out,” I said, grumbling and trying a half side-half stomach position with my knee up and out.

A sleeping bag unzipped.

I looked up in time to see Miles passing me and heading up the stairs. It wasn’t long before I heard him coming back. I watched him carefully step over the salt line with his arms full of a white blanket. “Get up for a second, Lexie.”

I got up and picked up my sleeping bag.

Miles unfolded then refolded a thick, fluffy blanket and put it in my spot. “This is a king sized down feather comforter. Folded to your size, it should give you some cushion from the floor,” he explained as he took my sleeping bag and put it on the blanket. When he got to his feet, I hugged him. It was so sweet and considerate that I couldn’t help it.

“Thank you,” I said.

He tensed, but after a heartbeat, relaxed and then squeezed me back.

“No problem.”

We let go at the same time. He went back to his sleeping bag, and I climbed into mine. It was a thousand times better; I could actually sleep on my back.

“Miles, you're my hero for tomorrow,” I announced across the circle. I heard him chuckle.

“Hey, why don’t the rest of us get a comforter too?” Isaac asked.

“When you're as pretty as she is, I’ll get you one,” Miles shot back. “Otherwise get it yourself.”

Small chuckles went around the circle.

“Can’t argue with that,” Isaac mumbled. “It’s too far anyway.”

Ethan, on the other hand, got up and went upstairs. It wasn’t long before he was coming back downstairs, his arms full of his own blanket. Soon he was back in his sleeping bag.

I smiled to myself as I snuggled down into my comfy spot and fell asleep.

I woke to that familiar chill down my neck. This time it felt like a knife running down a nerve. That woke me up fast. I slowly unzipped my sleeping bag and slid out. I sat back on one knee, the other foot planted on the floor. My hands braced on the floor. The room was dark; the fire had burned down to coals. Moonlight poured through the giant windows, lighting the room almost as well as sunlight. Only beyond the doorway to the long hall was it completely dark.

Bitch Ghost stepped into the living room, frowning. She practically vibrated with energy. The room started to go cold as she sucked in even more energy from the air. She eyed the salt line as she walked towards us.

I got up slowly, quietly, not wanting the guys to wake up. I met her at the line from this side. She had changed; one side of her face looked like it was melting away, a large glistening hole had opened up in her cheek showing the white of her jaw bone and bottom teeth. It looked like she was decomposing, though that didn’t make sense. Ghost don’t do that.

The smell of patchouli was thick on my tongue.

“You aren’t so stupid after all,” Bitch Ghost said, taunting me. “I almost thought that tonight wouldn’t be a challenge.”

I was amazed; for the first time in my life, I was standing near a ghost and not drowning in their memories. Thank you, Serena! I really needed to send her a gift basket or something. I pushed the thought away and focused on the now.

“Where are you getting so much energy?” I whispered.

Ghost Bitch smiled. It was disturbing with half her face like goop. She looked over my shoulder at the guys still sleeping.

“Sweet boys you have there.” Her eyes came back to me, I ignored her.

“Why are you doing this?” I tried again to find some trace of the girl she’d been. Sharing her memories, I understood why she was pissed. Being murdered by your boyfriend sucks, but it didn’t give her the right to hurt people. I needed to reach this chick. “I know your life wasn’t great, and I know being killed by your boyfriend was awful-.”

Her gaze snapped back to me, scowling. “You know nothing.”

I met her eyes and tried again. “Your name is Mary Summers. You were born here in Spring Mountain in the fifties,” I began, using the memories she had poured into me when she tried to possess me. “When you were 8 years old, you broke your arm falling out of a tree. Six weeks later, the day after the cast was taken off, you broke it again climbing that same tree. You loved music, and you sang beautifully.”

Her eyes welled up as I continued. I needed to get her to remember the good that was in her life.

“You were going to go to the Peace Corps. You wanted nothing more than to make the world a better place.” my heart ached for her as I sorted through her memories. “You were beautiful, caring, and tenacious.” I swallowed hard as I remembered her death. “That fucker took your life. Don’t let him destroy everything that you are, too.”

She eyed me silently, and for a moment, I thought I had gotten through to her. Then her face twisted into a snarl.

“I should have had more time, so I’m going to take it.” Her voice was clear in the quiet of the house. “I’m going to take you. Then I’m going to hurt and twist your boys. I’m going to take everything from you.”

I let go of any hope I had of helping her. I had tried to help her remember who she was, but you can’t help the ones who don’t want to be helped. She wanted my body; she wanted to hurt my friends. She could fuck off.

Bitch Ghost reached a hand out and tried to reach across the circle. I stepped back smiling. Her hand began to burn. The more she tried, the more she burned.

She grunted as she pulled her hand back. “You’re going to have to come out of there sometime,” she said.

I snorted.

“Not till morning, sweetheart,” I told her, my voice matter-of-fact. “You’ll run out of energy before then.”

“Red?”

I turned to look behind me. Isaac had woken up and was rubbing his eyes. When he looked up, he grew white.

“Holy fucking shit!” He jerked back, his mouth open. His eyes were on the ghost, not me. He started slapping the floor hard. “Wake the fuck up, guys, there’s a ghost in the fucking living room.”

Everyone woke up, some slow like Zeke, and some fast like Isaac. Miles put his glasses on and looked over towards me.

“That’s her? That’s the dead girl?” Miles asked, his voice still full of sleep.

My mouth dropped. I turned my back on the ghost since she couldn’t do anything anyway.

“Wait, you guys can see her?” I asked.

Zeke finally turned towards us, his face drowsy as he looked around. When he saw the ghost his eyebrow raised, his eyes still groggy.

“Yeah, we can see her,” he mumbled, still half asleep. He laid back down as if to go back to sleep. “Can she cross the salt line?”

“Nope.” I gestured towards the boys then towards the ghost. “Everyone, meet Bitch Ghost. Bitch Ghost. meet everyone,” I announced in my sweetest voices.

Bless the guys, they all waved to her, even Zeke from his sleeping bag. A couple actually said hi.

She sputtered with indignation.

Yeah, I had been polite before when there was a chance of helping her move on. Mary Summers was dead set on taking my life from me, and she hurt Miles. I wasn’t going to be polite now.

“Why’s her face half rotted?” Asher asked, yawning.

I turned back to the ghost who was getting pissed off now.

“I think it’s a reaction from having so much juice.” I hazarded a guess. “I don’t think the spirit is meant to hold that much.” I leaned in a little, making sure not to cross the salt line. “Or at least hers isn’t.”

I turned my back on her and walked over to where the boys were sitting at the heads of their sleeping bags. I turned, sat down at the head of my sleeping bag and watched the ghost get even more furious.

“If she’s using this much energy for you guys to see her,” I said, “then she’ll be out soon, and we can go back to sleep.”

The temperature in the room was still dropping, I was starting to shiver. Someone shifted behind me.

“Ally, come over here, it's freezing.”

I took a quick look at Asher. He was sitting in the very middle of the circle now, his legs crossed under him, his arms open. I looked back at the ghost who was pacing along the line, thinking of her next move. I kept my eyes on her as I scooted on my butt towards him. When I was close, enough he wrapped an arm around my waist and slid me to him then lifted me in his lap. With my back to his chest, his body heat made me realize how cold I really was. His hands moved to my arms and started rubbing.

Isaac snagged the comforter under my sleeping bag and dragged it over. I opened it up more so the others could use it too. Everyone slid closer. Well, except Zeke, he was still in his sleeping bag. Asher’s arms were around my waist, Miles' shoulder was against mine, and Ethan’s side was against my left thigh, his hand wrapped around my left ankle. His thumb making circles on my anklebone. Isaac was against my right thigh, his left hand wrapped around my calf. Touching me seemed to keep the twins calm.

“Asher, you are right next to my head, man. I swear if you fart, I’ll beat you,” Zeke growled out from behind us.

We burst into giggles.

Bitch Ghost met my eyes and smiled in a really creepy way.

“Where did she go?” Ethan's hand on my ankle tightened a bit.

“Oh, she’s still here,” I answered, watching her as she walked toward the bookcases. “She’s going to try to scare one of you into breaking the circle or out of the circle.” I kept my voice matter-of-fact for the guys; I wanted to make this easier on them.

Bitch Ghost reached up for the books.

“Cue scary book movement,” I told them.

She shoved an entire row of books to the floor. The boys jumped. Bitch Ghost was glaring at me as she walked around us to an end table with an ashtray. She reached for it.

“Duck!” Everyone ducked and covered their heads as the ashtray flew over us and shattered against the fireplace.

“I thought we hid all the breakable stuff,” Ethan grumbled, looking behind us at the shattered glass.

Bitch Ghost scowled at us.

“No, just the expensive stuff,” Miles admitted.

I watched as she walked over to the photos on the wall and began reaching for them.

“Cue frame smashing,” I warned them sarcastically. When the photos dropped to the floor, no one jumped.

“She’s not going to stop, is she?” Zeke groaned.

“Not until she’s out of energy.” I reached around Asher to stroke Zeke’s hair in apology. “We could piss her off more, that should drain her faster,” I offered in a whisper.

“Oh. That sounds fun,” Isaac said with his usual mischievous glee.” Hey, ghost chick! What’s it like being dead? I mean, was there a white light?”

“A tunnel?” Ethan chimed in.

“All evidence says that those things are caused by the body shutting down,” Miles explained patiently.

Asher added, “We have an actual ghost here, Miles, doesn’t that prove that people have souls? And that maybe the whole tunnel with a light at the end of it might not be just the body shutting down?” Asher gestured around me towards where he thought the ghost was.

The ghost went over to the painting on the wall

“Painting,” I warned. When it fell, the boys didn’t notice and continued their debate on whether or not an actual ghost proved there was a heaven or hell. Even Zeke joined in from his sleeping bag from time to time. I continued to narrate what the ghost was doing. They continued to throw questions at her even though they knew she wouldn’t answer. We snuggled under the blanket while she tried to scare us.

When nothing she was doing was working, she screamed at me.

“I will tear this house apart!” she said, though her color was already getting paler. She was getting weaker.

I relayed what she said to the others.

Miles flicked his hand dismissively. “Feel free, I hate this house.”

The others chuckled.

She walked to the open French doors to the foyer, the French glass doors.

“Doors!” I warned.

One of the French doors slammed closed, the glass shattering. The next one followed. The room was so big that the glass never even reached the salt line. Bitch Ghost screamed in frustration. Then her eyes met mine, something sparkled there. She came to the line and began walking around it, around us.

“It was ridiculously easy to get a hold of your friend there,” Bitch Ghost began. “He was dead asleep; I had knocked over a few things in his room. But he’s a sound sleeper.”

I went still, keeping my eyes ahead of me. I knew what she was doing; she was trying to piss me off.

“You should have seen his face when I dug my fingers into his throat.” She came back around the circle and stopped directly in front of me.

That spark in me started to grow, every word she said was feeding it. I took deep breaths and clenched my jaw as she kept describing how she strangled Miles in detail. I kept focused on breathing as I got angrier. Eventually, the boys realized something was wrong. Hands were on my shoulders, the hands on my legs started rubbing.

“You know what the funny part is?” she asked, tilting her head. “I could have kept going. I still had enough power to strangle him to death.” She looked at Miles and licked her bottom lip. “I chose to let him live.” Her dead eyes met mine. “Next time I won’t.”

I slowly, calmly removed their hands, got out of Asher’s lap and walked to the line. She was right; it was easy to get to Miles, and we needed to know if the charms worked. She was weak enough now that I doubt she could do more than give me a nosebleed.

Bitch Ghost stood up expecting me to break the line.

I stepped over the line. The guys cursed.

The ghost grinned as if it was Christmas morning and she got exactly what she asked for. She reached out to touch me. Her hand stopped an inch away from me. Her eyes grew wider.

“Things have changed, bitch, and you’re almost out of juice.” I leaned forward, getting into her face this time. She stepped back, eyes wide. I put everything in me behind my next words. “Now get out.”

She let out a piercing shriek. Glass shattered as every light bulb in the living room broke. Then, as if a wind ran through the house, Bitch Ghost was shoved right out through the front window.

I felt my lips curl into a satisfied half grin. “She’s gone.”

“Why the fuck did you leave the circle?” Isaac shot at me.

“She was bothering me, besides, we needed to see if the charms worked before tomorrow,” I answered. “And they do.” I walked back into the circle and picked up the comforter.

“Stupid fucking risk,” Zeke growled from where he was sitting up.

I shrugged. “Maybe, but if she kept talking about strangling Miles, I was going to blow a gasket.” I folded the big comfort back up and put it back in my sleeping spot.

“Lexie, you can’t take-” Zeke began, clearly getting ready to lecture.

“What’s done is done.” I stopped him before he could gather steam. “Now, do you want to lecture me or do you want to sleep?”

Zeke grumbled and lay back down. Isaac and Ethan shared a grin before climbing into their bags.

I was half-asleep when I remembered all the damage in the living room.

“Sorry about the mess, Miles.”

“I’m rich, I have a maid,” he called back, half-asleep.

I smiled sleepily, and then I was out.