Chapter 1

Carmen

“Oh, wow. The Smiths have seriously upgraded their Halloween décor since we were last here,” Sofia exclaimed, pointing to the two-story house.

Carmen risked a quick peek, her eyebrows raising at the overly detailed murder scene on the manicured lawn. She focused her attention back to the asphalt, making a left turn onto the small town’s main shopping road.

Festoon lights were strung between the lampposts, accompanied by fake spiderwebs and plastic cut-outs of mystical creatures. The shop fronts were covered in Halloween decorations of varying intensity, going from innocent-looking carved pumpkins to downright malevolent-looking figures cloaked in black. Shades of orange and black were everywhere, complementing the red, orange, and yellow leaves of the fall trees.

Carmen pulled into a free parking spot in front of the grocer, turning off the old SUV. A quick glance at the back seat confirmed that Elena was still fully focused on her tablet. With a small smirk, she wondered if her youngest sister had even realized they’d arrived. At twenty-two, Elena had just finished her degree in engineering and was constantly working on some techy gadget.

“Will you grab us some coffees while I do a quick food shop? Then we can all head over to Hudson and Sons,” Carmen asked Sofia.

Sofia’s green eyes met hers, laughter dancing in the bright depths. Her auburn hair, so different from Carmen’s jet black, was pulled into a ponytail. Carmen smirked when she read the slogan on Sofia’s T-shirt. The bright pink shirt had black text on it, proudly proclaiming, You can’t scare me. I’m a ghost hunter. Huge ceramic earrings in the form of ghosts hung from her ears, and Carmen couldn’t help but admire her sister’s wacky style.

“Sure thing, sis. I’ll get some beans from the coffee shop, too. They’ll be better than whatever Sally stocks.” The two older sisters laughed and jumped out, leaving Elena to wait in the car.

A scream tore from Carmen’s throat as she entered the grocer. She clutched her chest, laughing as she saw the animated Chucky doll retreat.

“Hi, Sally. Good to see Hollowbrook still takes Halloween very seriously.” She chuckled as she passed the till. Sally grinned, her round cheeks and corkscrew curls making her look younger than she was.

“Carmen! I wondered when you were arriving.” Her face grew serious. “I’m so sorry about your grandparents, dear. They’ve been dearly missed, and knowing now they won’t be coming back…”

Carmen shrugged and gave Sally a small smile. “Thank you. We suspected it would turn out this way, but it doesn’t make it easier. You know?”

Sally reached out and patted her hand, and then they both chuckled as the next customer was terrorized.

“I’ll just grab a few things for the next couple of days, and then we’ll be back to get more supplies.” Sally nodded and turned to the new customer.

When Carmen walked out of the grocery store, Sofia and Elena were waiting next to the car. Elena had blessedly tucked her tablet away and leaned against the car. Her oversized sweatshirt drowned her petite frame. They quickly loaded their groceries and walked together to the solicitor’s office, coffee in hand, while Carmen updated them on what Sally had said.

They were still chuckling about the Chucky incident when they entered the dreary-looking office. The receptionist, a young man they didn’t recognize, stared at them with wide eyes. The sisters exchanged confused looks.

“Ah, the Flores sisters! I’ve been expecting you.” A wiry old man limped from the office on the left, using his cane to nudge the receptionist on the leg. The young man startled and turned beet-red.

“Sorry, sir, they just walked in,” he stammered.

“Yes, yes. Come, ladies.” They walked into a musty-smelling meeting room. “Apologies for young Denny there. The Halloween stories have been getting to him.” Mr. Hudson chortled, and Carmen suspected that he had contributed to the poor boy’s fears.

Carmen stifled a yawn as Mr. Hudson explained the details of their inheritance. He had already done so over the phone and during a Zoom meeting, in which he’d unknowingly had a cat filter on his face. She had also read the documents a million times, trying to make sense of some of the strange requests her grandparents had left before they disappeared five years ago, so none of this was new information.

“Now, since they’ve been presumed dead, though it could not be confirmed, there are some additional clauses…” Mr. Hudson droned on. Carmen winced in sympathy as Sofia kicked a sleeping Elena in the shin, making her jolt. The long drive had taken a toll on them all.

Finally, the old man finished. When they exited the meeting room, Denny jumped up.

“Nice to meet you, uh, miss. Sorry about earlier. I just worry, you know, what with the ghost— Ow!” Denny’s ramblings were cut off by another of Mr. Hudson’s cane taps.

“Ghost?” Sofia perked up, and Carmen suppressed an eye roll.

“Nothing to worry about, ladies. Denny here’s imagination is getting away from him, that’s all.”

“Is there something happening at the mansion?” Sofia asked excitedly, hoisting her backpack higher on her lean shoulders.

“Oh, just electrical faults and wind gusts, I’m sure. Nothing to worry about,” Mr. Hudson repeated, though he looked a bit unsure. “I do apologize for the state of the mansion. The local cleaning company refused to go in, what with all this nonsense.”

Carmen exchanged an exasperated look with her youngest sister as Sofia dug out her notebook. She started firing off questions rapidly. “So, flashing lights, shadows, moving curtains? Any reports of cold spots? Has anyone measured electromagnetic activity? When did it start?”

“Sofia, I’m sure it’s just as Mr. Hudson said. Electrical faults or whatever. We should get going. Come on. There’s lots to do at the house.”

Sofia gave Carmen an irritated glare but dutifully put her things away. She was insistent on following their grandparents’ research into the paranormal, even though that was what most likely led to their disappearance.

The car was silent as they drove to the outskirts of Hollowbrook. Their grandparents’ mansion—well, theirs now—stood sentry just outside the old Victorian town. A dilapidated sign swung slightly in the breeze, welcoming them to Wildridge Manor.

The sisters stood staring at the mansion for a few minutes, each caught up in their memories of their grandparents. The Gothic manor stood four stories tall, with a large balcony over the entrance. The dark paint was peeling in places, revealing gray stone underneath. The front garden was overgrown, the rose bushes drooping with browning leaves.

A pang of sadness shot through Carmen at the state of the house. Her grandfather was meticulous in taking care of the facade while the garden was her grandmother’s pride and joy. It just confirmed what she already knew. Her grandparents were well and truly gone.

A loud bang jolted them out of their thoughts. Carmen looked around, her heart racing. The bang came again, and she spun around. Elena laughed at her reaction, ever the practical one, and walked over to the gate. She secured it from where it was blowing in the wind and returned to them with a raised eyebrow.

“Looks like Denny’s not the only one affected by ghost stories, huh?” Her smug laughter was cut off as she stared at the house. Carmen frowned.

“What is it?”

“I thought… Did you see that? I’m sure the curtain moved, and I saw a face…” Carmen laughed at her, the irony making even Sofia smirk.

Ghost stories were forgotten quickly in the flurry of activity that followed. They unloaded the car, packed away groceries, and put a premade lasagna in the oven. Carmen poured each of them a glass of wine as they sat around the dining room table. Their grandparents’ seats were notably absent.

Carmen sighed heavily, looking around the room where they’d spent many happy family dinners. Her grandparents would come up with the most bizarre stories of space travel and alien races that were so detailed they seemed real.

“Remember the story they told about getting stuck in a wormhole?” Sofia asked, and Carmen realized they must have all been thinking about the same thing.

Elena laughed. “They were so creative. From a tech perspective, some of the things they described almost felt like they could exist. Like I could make a spaceship if such a thing was possible.” She shook her head, a small smile on her face.

“I just wish we knew what happened to them,” Carmen said sadly. “It’s weird to not have closure, like they could walk in the door any moment with more crazy stories about where they supposedly were.” The sisters nodded, their eyes involuntarily turning to the door.

Carmen jumped up when the timer for the lasagna went off, just to curse loudly when she reached the oven.

“This isn’t funny! Who turned the oven off?” she shouted. Sofia and Elena appeared in the doorway with confused looks.

“What do you mean? We haven’t touched it,” Sofia said. She walked over to inspect the uncooked lasagna in the decidedly cold oven.

“I definitely turned it on. You saw me do it,” Carmen replied, her eyebrows drawn together.

Elena laughed. “Well, either you’re losing your mind, or our ‘ghost’ situation is more of a poltergeist situation.”

Carmen shot Elena a playful glare and turned the oven back on, staring at it for a few minutes to make sure it didn’t magically turn off again. As she sighed in relief, the lights flickered, and all three sisters jumped. They shared a nervous laugh.

“I’ll call the electrician in the morning. I’m sure it’s just old wires or something,” Carmen said.

“Sure,” Sofia replied dubiously.

They chatted idly with no more mention of ghosts when dinner was finally ready. As they finished their meals, Elena yawned, setting off a chain reaction that made all three of them giggle.

“Time for bed. It’s been a long day,” Carmen said.

Sofia rolled her eyes. “Yes, ma’am!” she replied with a mocking salute.

Carmen snorted. She was only a year older than Sofia and three years older than Elena, but when their parents died in a car accident, she assumed the responsibility of caring for them and took it very seriously. From Sofia’s mocking, probably too seriously.

The stairs creaked as Carmen walked to her bedroom on the third story. She paused next to a detailed tapestry that depicted an old-timey battleground. Squinting against the dim light, she thought she saw strange-looking humanoid creatures with blue skin, but when she looked closer, it was too dark to make out. She shook her head and walked to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

It was a blessing to take off her fitted jeans and the long-sleeved top she’d been wearing all day. She quickly pulled on her comfy, well-worn pajama set.

The water spluttered when she opened the tap before finally steadying out. She was brushing her teeth when she saw something in the corner of her eye. She spun around, almost choking on her toothpaste, but saw nothing.

She looked toward the doorway, expecting to see one of her sisters there, but the longer she stared into the area, the dizzier she became. She clutched the bathroom counter for balance, blinking rapidly.

“Weird,” she said out loud. “Guess I’m more tired than I thought.”

She thought she heard a light scoff and then footsteps retreating, but she shook her head resolutely. She was not going to get caught up in ghost stories.

Turning back to the mirror, she pulled out her hairbrush and started dragging it through her wavy jet-black hair. The length stretched down to her wide hips, where her pajama top was riding up slightly. She rolled her brown eyes.

“The price of being curvy,” she muttered, adjusting her top. She used to be self-conscious about her Latino curves, especially compared to her sisters. Sofia was lean and tall, while Elena was tiny with a petite build. She’d always felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Months of therapy and introspection taught her to appreciate her form. It wasn’t like she was unhealthy. On the contrary, she loved running and her Taekwondo lessons had honed her muscles.

With a sigh, she turned off the bathroom light and got into bed.

Hours later, a scream roused Carmen from a deep, exhausted sleep. She sat up quickly and looked around, confused. The brief moment of silence was interrupted by a string of colorful curses.

“What is it? What happened?” Carmen asked, rushing from her bedroom. Two doors down, Elena stormed out of her room. Her chestnut hair was falling out of her normally neat bun, and her bright blue eyes were wide with fear. They both ran into Sofia’s bedroom.

“You absolute bloody monster! What the hell!” Sofia’s voice was shrill with anger and fear.

Carmen covered her mouth with her hand, stunned by the scene in her sister’s bedroom. The kit that Sofia carried everywhere with her in her trusty backpack was strewn across the room. An electric wave-sensing device had rolled half under the bed and was blaring a siren. Cameras were disassembled and thrown into various corners.

“Sofia… What…” Elena asked shakily.

Sofia spun around, her hair all over the place and a wild glint in her eyes. “You! Explain this, would you? What science-genius explanation do you have for all my shit going haywire and flying across my bedroom? While I was asleep!” She was shouting by the end.

Carmen shushed her and walked forward, placing a reassuring hand on her sister’s arm. She tried hard to be calm and collected so that Sofia could calm down, but it was hard to hide her own fear. This was bizarre.

Sofia’s usually confident posture was hunched, something close to panic filling her eyes. She gave Carmen a pleading look.

“I can’t sleep in here, not after this. What’s going on in this place?”

“Of course not. Come, you can sleep with me. In the morning all of this will make sense and we’ll laugh about it,” Carmen said, though worry niggled at the back of her mind. Her sister was right. What was going on?