Chapter 11

Sprawled on the grass,I stare up at the night sky. The stars shine above me in the dark like diamonds spilled over black marble. This is where I find calm. Where everything fades away, and I can clear my head. Something that Kellan refuses to even try to do.

An explosion rocks through the silence.

Peace shattered, I sit up and look toward the school. Wisps of white smoke drift up from one of the windows on the second floor. A second later, a form floats through the broken glass to drift down onto the ground.

I roll my eyes and lay back down onto the grass. It doesn't take long until I sense his presence beside me.

Turning my head, I find Kellan sprawled out beside me. "What did you destroy this time?"

He grins. "Science room. I think the security guards pissed themselves when they heard the bang."

"They already think the place is haunted."

"That's because it is."

"Is your plan to take the school apart piece by piece?"

His gaze moves over my face. "I'll burn the entire fucking thing to the ground until the universe listens to me."

"All you're doing is annoying Churchill Bradley." I sigh. "Don't you think it's time to stop? It's been years."

Years since he died. Years since the school was closed and abandoned. Its halls are empty, filled with nothing but ghosts and memories. The only living beings we see nowadays are the security guards who are paid to monitor the buildings. Yet my friend"s anger hasn't dimmed. It still burns as hot as it did the day he died.

"I don't give a fuck about that bastard."

"You should. You know what happens when you wind him up."

"He hasn't caught us in months." Kellan stares up at the night sky.

Silence falls, and my attention returns to the stars.

"I saw Eli earlier." Kellan's voice is soft. "He's at the cabin in the woods."

"Is he still talking to himself?"

"To me."

I groan. "Kell—"

He rolls onto his side to face me. "We have conversations. He's aware of me."

"Let's say I believe you … Even if he can hear you, it"s not good for him. People will think he's crazy. He'll get locked up for hearing voices that aren't there."

Eli seems as trapped as we are, but at least he's alive. From what Kellan has said, it's a life he's willing to waste, hiding away in the woods, avoiding people. He might as well be just as dead as we are.

Oblivious to the direction of my thoughts, Kellan scowls. "What are you, a spectral therapist now? Someone needs to look after him now he's fucked everything up."

"Arabella is still in L.A. I checked on her earlier. She's still making art out of stained glass. Her latest one is of the chapel."

"The pair of them are a fucking mess without me there to fix things. We need to do something about it."

A low, eerie shriek rings from behind us in the woods.

"Churchill is awake." Kellan jumps to his feet.

I scramble upright. "Fuck."

"I guess he heard the explosion." His lips twitch.

"He's sick of you trying to demolish his home."

Kellan shrugs. "He knows how to stop me. All he has to do is give in and tell me what I want to know."

Anger washes over me. "Your body was cremated. There is no going back. My body is in the ground, riddled with worms. I hate that we're stuck like this, but maybe it's time you accept it."

"Never."

"Kell, you need to stop. "

"That's never going to happen."

"You're so fucking stubborn."

A sudden gust of wind picks up around us, ripping at our clothes. Raising my hand to shield my eyes, I glimpse the creepy greenish light illuminating the dark. Pain hits me, icy claws squeezing around my soul.

"Zoey, run."

My legs won't work.

Images fill my head.

I'm back in the cemetery. The moon is full, its light bathing everything in silver. I can feel the cold October air prickling against the bare skin of my arms. I'm trembling, fear trapping me in place.

My stomach drops when I realize where and when I am.

Halloween.

No, no, no.

"Zoey."

A skeletal mask looms into my vision, and a pair of eyes glare at me.

Evan.

"Open your eyes."

I recoil from the hate spilling from his lips.

"Don't let him get you stuck in a loop."

His rough hands grab at my shoulders.

"You need to snap out of it."

I claw at him, but he's too strong.

"Please, Zoey. I can't do this without you."

He shoves me backward and pain radiates through the side of my skull as it strikes something hard.

"I can't lose you again. I need you."