Chapter 38

Lucky laughed so hard she doubled over, gasping for breath. “Oh my god, Maverick, stop! I am not possessed.”

Maverick’s expression clearly disagreed. “I think the house might be influencing you, making you feel sorry for it. Making you think you’re in control when you’re not.”

“I am not possessed. I have always been like this,” she said, laughter dying down.

He stared at her, unconvinced. “That’s exactly what a possessed person would say.”

“All Hennessee wants is to not be alone anymore. Highly relatable if you ask me.” She shook her head. “If I were possessed, do you really think the house would’ve let me leave last night to come see you? It spent the whole night calling me.”

“It might. Maybe it plans to use you to lure more people in and this was a test run. The calls are a diversion so people like me won’t get suspicious,” he said. “It hijacked your body and made you walk barefoot into the orchard. Who’s to say it can’t do more? Who’s to say it already hasn’t? You’re there, alone, day and night.”

Lucky could not for the life of her tell if he was being serious. He was joking—he had to be. “Stop being ridiculous.” She smooshed his cheeks. “Look into my eyes and listen to my words. I am not possessed.”

“Because it’s sunrise. House can’t hold you right now,” he said.

Her hands fell into her lap. “Do I really seem that different to you? Did I last night?”

“No,” he admitted. “If specters are supposed to be near-perfect copies, do you think it would be able to trick me?”

“Specters don’t exist outside of the house,” she said carefully.

“But if it used your body, do you think it would be able to trick me?” he asked.

Lucky refused to answer that. “I’m not possessed. I’m in full control during my experiments.”

“I believe you.” But he sighed as he said it. “I just think you could stand to be a lot safer than you’re being.”

“I am being safe.” She stood up and so did he.

“I don’t think you are,” he said calmly. “You can’t even be objective. You refuse to even entertain the idea that there could be something wrong with that house. Maybe it isn’t some big misunderstanding. Maybe it just likes watching people suffer.”

“Well, I don’t believe that.” She raised her chin in defiance. “Any other questions? I need to go soon.”

“No,” he said, looking away. “That’s it.”

Maverick walked with her to the parking lot, neither of them speaking. She threw her bag in the back seat and was holding the driver’s-side door open when she turned to say goodbye—and read what he wanted to say in his eyes before he said it.

“Lucky, wait. Maybe you should take a day off. Get some distance and go back in with a clear head. Xander will understand.”

One last plea to see reason. Lucky wanted to smile but couldn’t bring herself to fake one. “I don’t need to do that,” she said. “I’m hoping tonight can be my final experiment.”

He looked taken aback, surprised even. “Are you—are you honestly planning to give that house permanent access to you?”

She scoffed. “It’s just an option. I never said that’s what I’m doing.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“Being myself,” she said honestly. “This is who I am. These are the kinds of risks I take and that you signed up to deal with. I’m going back to Hennessee House to finish what I started. I’m sorry you don’t like it.”

She wasn’t surprised when Maverick had nothing to say to that.

Lucky knew from the beginning their personalities were like oil and water. This moment became inevitable from the second she agreed to be his, but she never would’ve guessed that it’d go down like this.

To be fair, were his concerns really that far-fetched?

Possession wasn’t impossible. Improbable, but not outside the realm of possibility. He didn’t know Hennessee the way she did. She condensed weeks of research into a twenty-minute presentation and asked him to be her skeptic. Not to mention she told him her worst fear was being possessed. Of course, he was going to check.

That wasn’t what was upsetting her. All she’d ever wanted was to be believed.

He believed the supernatural was real, but he didn’t believe in her.

She wasn’t a “useless” twelve-year-old “psychic” anymore. She’d grown up, forging her own path one uncharted step at a time. But those devastating memories remained, lingering in the way that scars did, and those scars were half as old as she was. So, why did they still hurt like fresh wounds? How did they split open so easily because of a simple conversation that made perfect sense?

Lust wasn’t the only thing capable of playing people for fools, apparently.

“I’ve put one hundred and ten percent of myself into investigating Hennessee House,” she said. “I sacrificed everything to get here. This opportunity is supposed to be the start of my life’s work.” Tears rudely sprang out of her eyes, making her jaw ache and voice tremble. Shit. She managed to continue anyway. “I broke the rules because I missed you. I came here because I wanted to share the most important thing I have in my life with you. Gonna be honest, really wasn’t expecting you to kind of diminish everything I’ve done by implying I don’t know what I’m doing. That I’m just some possessed puppet who doesn’t know any better.”

Lucky waited for Maverick to say something, anything, and he didn’t. She watched in real time as words left him and he retreated into himself, overwhelmed and needing time.

“Call me later, okay?” She kissed his cheek before hopping in the car. “If you want.”

Lucky wanted to bring everything full circle. She waited patiently as the sun began to set, standing with her back pressed against Hennessee House’s front door. Ending where she began.

This time, however, Gengar supervised her from the staircase next to the camera she set up. A much welcome addition.

Despite wishing she had a team with her, she was ready. At sunset she’d hit the ground running on pure instinct. Tonight would make or break her stay in Hennessee House.

“Hello, Lucky.”

“Hello, Hennessee House. I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately.”

Specter-Maverick wore her favorite blue sweater and glasses. “Why am I not surprised?”

Lucky had to turn away to clear her head. Too late to change her mind now. She should’ve picked Xander for her specter—honestly, what was she thinking? Once again, she’d done this to herself by spending the day indulging in her thoughts about the real Maverick. Was he okay? She said what she needed to say, but did it upset him? Would he call tonight?

He needed time. She’d be fine waiting, just as she promised, because she trusted him to be honest and always come to her when he was ready.

“Can we talk? Please? I don’t want to make you glitch if I don’t have to.” She kept her gaze fixed on his shoes.

“Yes.”

She had her questions memorized and wanted to start off swinging for the fences. “Out of all the caretakers, why did you treat me differently?”

“You’re a know-it-all.”

She couldn’t call it—could be the specter or the house. “So, it was my ability?”

“Your presence brings me much contentment.”

She quickly glanced up—its face was blank, expressionless—and regretted it. She didn’t like seeing Maverick like that. At all. It felt wrong, like something crawling under her skin. “That’s quite the sentence.”

“This form is better. I remember it.”

“Interesting.”

Lucky was positive the house remembered Brightly too, but Specter-Brightly didn’t speak with that level of precision. Xander didn’t mention it saying anything out of character either. It was possible the “it” Hennessee referred to was the connection, and not the person. Did having a connection alter the specter’s capabilities? Maybe it relied on Lucky to generate it and used its own connection to strengthen it.

“You are eager to understand,” Specter-Maverick said. “Amusing.”

“Are you laughing at me because I’m wrong?”

“I am embracing you because you care.”

“Who made you?” Lucky nervously shuffled her feet. “You never answer when I ask.”

“I exist here. I am home.”

“Does that mean you don’t know?”

“I know what it is to wait. I want more.”

“More what?” She tried to keep her frustration in check. This was the best conversation they’d had so far. She had to be patient with it. “I can’t read you so you’re gonna have to help me out here.”

“Could you give me a home in your palace?”

“I could try. You’re not human. It might not work,” she said. “You’ll also have to let our connection go first. Are you willing to do that?”

The first two times she overloaded were accidents and her ability barely prevailed. She might be strong enough to stand against Hennessee House, but that didn’t mean an abnormal reading wouldn’t damage her in the process. She was alone. She needed to be safe.

Maverick would’ve been proud.

Meanwhile, Specter-Maverick considered her request for quite some time before saying, “Yes. I will give you my eyes.”

Lucky very nearly recoiled—again with the sinister vibes. At this point, Hennessee had to be doing that shit on purpose. Years of isolation must’ve warped any and all chances of it having a normal sense of humor. She performed a quick self-check—all systems go—and then braced herself to perform an impossible reading.

“I will let go.” Specter-Maverick held out its hand. “You must follow.”

“All right. I’m trusting you, Hennessee. Don’t hurt me.” She took its hand—it was smooth, soft to the touch, and as cool as peppermint—and expected to walk to some hidden corner deep within the house where it hid the thing it considered to be its eyes.

Instead, she took its hand and saw everything.

Hennessee House read like a…television? A giant flat-screen mounted onto a wall covered in Hennessee’s floral wallpaper. The white static on the screen clicked through the speakers and was the only light in the otherwise pitch-black room.

Lucky gasped, fully enthralled by the concept coming through. “Whoa.”

Because the house didn’t have eyes. It didn’t have a core for her to read. But it knew how her ability worked and created an alternative that allowed her to see.

Each channel allowed her to watch a different chosen memory.

Owner after owner moving in and moving on. Being empty for long stretches of time—a For Sale sign staked in the overgrown front yard. Neglect and decay and a loneliness so profound it made an old house realize it existed. Learning how to open the doors and windows. Experimenting with electricity and wires. Moving the curtains to entertain itself when neighbors walked by. The Hennessee family on a house tour—Brightly. Endless, painful renovations. Brightly alone, knitting in the parlor room late at night, seemingly talking to herself until the lights flickered in response. Language and numbers and concepts. Observing Xander and Brightly in the orchard and assigning them a word, family. Discovering that disabling the cameras meant more people would visit. Extra dust and dirt made people stay longer. Unruly bushes and too much fruit made people stay longer. Gengar, as a kitten, curled up in a corner on the porch.

Silence, so much silence, when connections cut out.

Lucky sighed with her entire body, slouching against the door as she let go of Specter-Maverick’s hand. Finally, she got it right. Companionship had always been Hennessee’s goal.

And if it hadn’t been for Maverick, she never would’ve figured that out.

Maverick caring enough to call her every night led to her asking him to help with her experiment.

Maverick falling asleep gave Hennessee the boost it needed to create the perfect specter to help her understand. Lucky’s desire for him directly led to her success. She laughed to herself, heart feeling fuller than it ever had. He’d changed her life, and what a life it was becoming.

Hennessee’s true voice resonated inside Lucky’s head. “you see me.”

“I do. You are both fascinating and deeply unimaginative,” Lucky teased out loud. “A TV? Really? You didn’t have anything more creative to use?”

“you will stay.”

Letting go of their connection so she could safely perform the reading had been a tremendous act of trust. All those severed connections were the only things that haunted Hennessee House.

“Well, Xander did say my residence here could last for as long as I needed. Do you have more secrets to discover? I’ve obviously figured out the why but not the how you’re able to do what you can. We’ll have to convince him to let us continue.” She wanted to give as thorough an answer as possible without upsetting the house. It had serious abandonment issues—she didn’t want to add to them. “I’m not leaving like tomorrow, but I will leave someday. And I won’t be able to come back. I need you to accept that.”

“i accept—you are family—family visits.”

Lucky instantly thought of Reggie. “Yeah. Sometimes.”

“i will sleep.”

“What? Why? What’s wrong?”

But Specter-Maverick disappeared.

Lucky pushed off the door, spinning in a pointless circle. “Hennessee? Where did you go?”

The doorbell rang. She hesitated for a split second before answering it.

Maverick Phillips was standing on Hennessee’s front porch.

“Hi.” Lucky had been humbled enough to admit that not only was she flustered, but she was thrilled to be so. Even now, seeing Maverick still did that to her. “What are you doing here?”

A black duffel bag hung from his shoulder, and he wore the blue sweater. Her brain momentarily glitched, thinking that Hennessee was trying to trick her. She might have truly believed it and despaired, if she hadn’t also spotted Maverick’s car in the driveway.

“I wanted to—I was hoping to spend some time together. Right now. If you’ll have me. May I come in?”

“No, you can’t.”

“Right, uh, I know Xander doesn’t want me here.” He quickly cleared his throat. “But you came to my place and—”

“Xander? I said no because you’re too close. Hennessee’s reach spans the entire property. From the sidewalk to the back of the orchard. You shouldn’t be here. It’ll know— Oh.”

Oh.

This was why the house suddenly said it was going to sleep! Hennessee was giving Maverick, who refused to be inside at night, space to be comfortable. Lucky stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind her. Thank you, she thought, hoping that Hennessee could hear her.

The porch light flickered beside them.

“That’s actually why I’m here. I want you to show me the progress you’ve made with the house,” Maverick said. “And I’m also going to beg for forgiveness.” He dropped to his knees to prove it. “I am so sorry. I’ve never been so sorry in my entire life.”

“Oh my god, stand up,” she said, laughing as he held her hips looking up at her. “I forgive you, please get up before you give the neighbors the wrong idea.”

“I didn’t mean to diminish your work, but I did and I’m sorry,” he said. “You were right about everything. You said ‘your caution will be your undoing’ and it almost was.”

“Okay, you know what?” She grabbed his hands to give herself room to kneel in front of him. “I need you to stop. My heart cannot take it. I will pass away, perish, cease to exist if you keep groveling like this.”

“You’re so strong, all the time,” he continued. “It’s too easy to forget how fragile you are.”

“I’m not fragile. What are you talking about?” Lucky laughed, but he didn’t.

“Because you patched yourself up, but the cracks are still there,” he explained. “You still have to live with them. I still need to be careful. I can’t talk to you like that without being clear what I’m doing. I shouldn’t have assumed that you knew what I wasn’t saying.

“I’ve interviewed dozens of self-proclaimed psychics, mediums, empaths, and not a single one even comes close to touching you. You’re good at this. You’re as brilliant as you are compassionate, and extraordinarily talented. I’ve told you how truly remarkable you are. I always have, since the very beginning, and I always will.”

Lucky felt like she couldn’t breathe. She balled her hands into fists, pressing her nails into her palms. “You’re so important to me,” she began, voice breaking. “The thought of my feelings for you being used to hurt me scared me so badly I figured out how to hide them. I held on to seeing my brother every night. I held on to my misery because I thought it gave me more control.

“If I hadn’t met you, I don’t know if I ever would’ve figured this out. I would’ve been spinning in haunted-house circles forever because I had no one. The house wouldn’t have been able to create a specter for me.”

“I think you’re giving me too much credit.” His short, skeptical laugh made her smile. He really had no idea how important he was.

“You are who I desire most. If you had somehow been my specter too early, I can’t say with one hundred percent certainty that I would’ve made good choices.” She shook her head. “Wanting to keep you to myself, hiding you from Hennessee House, was the decision that ultimately put me on the path to discovering the right answer.”

Because Maverick had taken the time to get to know Lucky in a way no one ever had before. His connection with Hennessee gave the house access to everything he thought and felt about her. That combined with Lucky’s desire for Maverick, and having a working knowledge of her ability allowed the house to create a perfect specter. It inherently understood them both because of their connection and learned a new skill. Together, they gave the house clarity.

“I was your specter?” He sounded alarmed. “It made you see me?”

“I know that might be hard to hear, but yes. Hennessee needed both of us. It’s okay if you’re not interested in what I do. I’d like you to be, but I know this isn’t for everyone. As long as I feel like you’re supporting me, I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t think that’s enough. Not for me. I need to show you. That’s why I’m here.” His hint of a smile was tinged with regret. “When I tell you everybody yelled at me? Rebel heard almost everything. She said, and I quote, ‘I am very disappointed in you, Daddy! I’m staying at Riley’s!’ She hasn’t called me that in years.”

Lucky giggled. “Oh, Rebel.”

“Georgia too. After Rebel called her to tell on me, I thought she was going to drag me here herself to apologize for pushing back too hard.” He laughed softly. “I don’t know what I was thinking. What happened at Penny Place got in my head.”

“What do you mean?” She held his beautiful face in her hands.

“You didn’t feel it like I did. That entity followed you,” he said. “You attracted it like a magnet. You were talking and I could feel it pouring into me, judging the shit out of me. It didn’t believe in us—it believed in you, and you wanted me, so it let me go. I wasn’t worthy of you. And then I went and proved it.”

“You didn’t prove anything. That’s not how the legend works. It’s all or nothing. You can’t twist the rules however you want,” she reminded him. “Can we stand up now, please? My knees are killing me.”

“Mine too,” he admitted.

After they stood up, she kissed both of his cheeks, and then nodded to the door. “Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to.”

“I’m sure. If this is where you’re standing, then so am I.”

On its own, Hennessee House’s front door swung open, inviting them in.