Ashes to Ashes (26 page)

“Mmm. Popcorn.” Alex closes his eyes and immediately falls back to sleep.

“Make enough for all of us!” Derek yells.

I grab my bag and my car keys and slip out the door.

I'm on the curb when Kat pulls up.

“Get in.” Kat glances around her. “We don't have much time.”

There's a stack of old books in the passenger seat. I climb inside and put the books on my lap.

“I saw her, Lillia. She was in Reeve's car . . . haunting him. And then she fucking disappeared.” Kat forces a swallow. “You didn't break up with Reeve because he cheated on you, did you? Mary made you do it. Just like before.” My mouth is dry. I want to tell her, but I'm afraid. “The secret's out, Lil. And she knows that I know!”

For a split second I think about denying it, even now, even with all that Kat knows. That's how scared I am of Mary, of what she can do. But then I look at Kat, and I can't even try. “I'm sorry. I thought it would be safer for you if I left you out
of it. And . . . I couldn't risk anybody else finding out, not with Reeve's life at stake.”

“It still is. I saw Mary in his truck today, basically torturing him, trying to get into his head. I called her name, and she straight-up disappeared.”

I gasp. “Could Reeve see her?”

“No. But I think he could feel her next to him. Or hear her voice. I'm not sure, but she's definitely getting to him. Think of how crazy he's been acting lately, drinking twenty-four seven, not sleeping.” Kat fumbles in her pocket for cigarettes but comes up empty. “After that I went to the mental hospital where her aunt Bette's been locked up. Yo, it was crazy. She kept asking me if Mary had hurt anybody. I had Reeve in the car because he'd passed out and I didn't have time to drop him off. He came in looking for me, and she went ballistic.”

I feel my bottom lip quiver. “God, are we really talking about this? That ghosts are real?”

“I don't know. I mean, yeah. This is insane, but . . .” Kat drags her fingers through her hair. “What's that quote? Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever's left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. So it must be true.”

“Why can we see her?”

“I've been thinking about this, about the day we first met her. She came back for revenge, right? And you and I both wanted
revenge too, so maybe that's the connection. Maybe she needed us to help her finish whatever it is she's here to do. Whatever it is, it's got to do with Reeve.” Kat lets out a long sigh. “Now that we both know her secret, I don't think we have much time.”

My whole body starts to shake. “Is there a way that I could somehow convince Reeve to leave Jar Island and never come back? I can't tell him the truth, because Mary will kill him for sure.”

“Kill? She said ‘kill'?” I nod, and Kat shakes her head. “That sounds batshit crazy. Did we know her at all? She was so sweet. She was like a little kid. I can't even believe it.” Kat grabs one of the books from my lap. “I found these in the Dumpster outside Mary's house. Her aunt used them on her. They have spells in them. Protection spells.”

I wipe my eyes with my sleeve. Kat flips the book to the page she's looking for. In the margins there are notes written in pencil.

—Arrowhead root sold at Nature's Bounty in Canobie Bluffs.

—First spell attempted October 1st, lasted 3 days.

—Second spell October 7th (doubled ginger powder), lasted 5 days.

—Research possible anger diluents?

Kat grabs another book and then bites her fingers on one hand while flipping with the other. Suddenly she stops on a page and thrusts the book into my hands. “Look at this! It's a binding spell. We could use it to bind Mary to her house!”

“But what if she isn't there?” I drag my finger across the page. “Wait. Okay. It says that she doesn't have to be, so long as the spirit has an emotional connection to the place.” I shake my head. “This is crazy. I mean, do you really think this can work?”

“It has to. It's our only shot.”

There's a knock on my window. It's Alex. He makes a motion for me to roll down my window. “Yo, Kat! Come inside.”

“Can't,” she says. “Sorry.” With her eyes locked on mine, she says, “I need to run to the store and get some stuff for dinner. But, Lil, I'll text you later, see if you're still hanging out
tonight
.”

“Great,” I say, with all the fake enthusiasm I can muster. “I'll see you later.”

R
EADING AND DRIVING IS SOME
dangerous shit, but so is a damn ghost, so it ain't like I got a choice. I get my ass to the health food store as fast as I can, and I start grabbing whatever shit I see. I found a couple of other spells in the books, for protection. We have to take every precaution.

First thing I do is race home and put a chalk perimeter around my house. I grab Shep and throw him into my car, because he's turned out to be a good guard dog, at least where Mary's concerned. Thinking back, I realize that he always barked like crazy when Mary was around.

Then I go to Reeve's. Thankfully, it's pretty dark, so none of the neighbors can see me doing the outline around their place. Even the garage, just in case. I move fast, and a couple of times I think I hear a noise, and I jump, but it's just the wind. I hope.

With Reeve, I want to do extra. I feel like I need to fortify his room, too.

Mrs. Tabatsky lets out a gasp when she sees me standing on her doorstep. “Kat!” She grabs me for a hug.
“What are you doing here, honey?”

“Hi, Mrs. T. I'm here to see Reeve. Is he home?” I'm talking so fast, the words run together.

“Yes, yes. Come in,” she says, pulling me through the front door. She pats me on the butt. “Go on upstairs. I'll bring up a snack.”

“Thanks, Mrs. T!” I scramble up the carpeted stairs, two at a time, my book bag bouncing against my shoulders. It feels so familiar. Even his house smells the same, like potpourri and casserole.

I'm heading toward the attic stairwell when a hand reaches out and closes around my wrist. It's Tommy Tabatsky, in basketball shorts and no shirt. His body looks pretty good, too. I think all the Tabatsky boys were born with six-packs. The last time I saw him, he was making out with some random skank at the Greasy Spoon.

“What are you doing in my house, DeBrassio? You here to see me?”

I shake him off me like he's a gnat. “Tommy, I don't have time for this.”

I turn to leave, and Tommy says, “You know I got my own place now. You should come by sometime.” He winks at me, and I flip him off, and he laughs. “Same old Kat.”

Reeve's door is slightly ajar, so I just barge in. He's in bed with his laptop in his lap, no shirt. Do he and his brothers just never wear shirts? “What the hell!” he yelps. He jumps up and grabs a T-shirt.

Shutting the door behind me, I say, “Nice boxers.” I walk over to his desk and start opening his drawers.

“Quit snooping around my stuff! What are you even doing here? You dropped me off hours ago.”

I find an almost empty bottle of vodka and a bottle of whiskey in the bottom drawer. “You look like hell. You need to eat something, get some sleep.”

He puts a pillow over his head. “So then leave so I can sleep.”

“I'm about to, so shut up!” As I'm running around his room, I almost trip over an empty bottle of whiskey. I pick it up and shake it at him. “What, are you an alcoholic now? Are you trying to drink yourself to death?”

“That's none of your business.” Reeve gets up and snatches
the bottle out of my hand. His eyes are flat; there's no light in them. He looks . . . hopeless. Who knows how long Mary's been torturing him, but it has clearly taken a toll.

“Your mom said she was gonna make us a snack. Go get it.”

“God, you're so bossy,” Reeve grumbles. But he goes.

As soon as he's out the door, I unzip my book bag and grab the sea salt. Reeve has two windows, so I pour a stream along the sill of each one, and then I do his doorway. Next I get the sage bundle, light it up with my Zippo, and start waving it around. I hope I'm doing this right.

I'm smudging the shit out of the space around his bed when Reeve comes back with a tray. “Please don't burn your goth girl incense in here,” he says, setting the tray down on the bed. “It gives me a headache.”

“It's not incense. It's sage. I'm clearing negative energy, you ignorant ape.” And with that, I run out the door.

“Hey! My mom just made you a snack!”

*  *  *

I'm burning rubber to White Haven. I call Lil, and she picks up on the first ring.

“Kat. What's taking you so long!”

“I found a spell that's supposed to protect our houses. I did mine, and I stopped by and did Reeve's. We can do yours before we leave.”

“Thank God!”

“There's one more thing. To do the most powerful binding spell, we both need to bring something that's precious to us to sacrifice—as, like, an offering. I think we have to do it. We don't know how strong Mary is, and I ain't doing this twice.”

“So, like, the pearl necklace my dad gave me for my sweet sixteen?”

“No, you dummy! Nobody cares about your pearl necklace. You don't even care about your pearl necklace.”

“What did you bring?”

“My Oberlin acceptance letter.”

She gasps. “Kat! No!”

“Mary knows how badly I want to go there. I'll give it up for her.”

“Well, you don't need the letter anyway. You can still go.”

“It's what the letter represents. I ain't going to Oberlin.” Damn, it hurts to say the words out loud.

“But you didn't apply anywhere else! That means you'll be stuck here for another half year at least.”

“I'll figure something out. We can't fuck around, Lil. Who knows how far Mary's going to take this! Come up with something good. Be outside in five!”

I
OPEN THE JEWELRY BOX
on my dresser and take out Reeve's necklace. I hold it in the palm of my hand. I couldn't bring myself to give it back to him after we broke up.

I'll never be able to separate Reeve from Rennie's dying, and Mary, and all of it. There hasn't been a time in our relationship that wasn't weighed down with secrets and lies and pain. And the longer I hold on to him, the longer I'll be haunted by the what-ifs and the what-could-have-beens. It's too late for that. We don't have a future. But if I do this, if I set him free forever, he will.

*  *  *

After Kat makes sure my house is safe, we head to Mary's. Kat goes through the plan with me, and then we ride in silence. We're both too scared to talk.

To comfort myself I reach into Kat's backseat and pet Shep. He's coming along as protection. Kat figured out that animals sense ghosts, so he'll be our lookout. When she said that, I realized what must have happened that day at the stables with Phantom. Mary had to have been there.

She could have killed me.

I still have trouble believing that Mary, my friend Mary, would ever hurt me. But I can't think like that. She has become something else. She's not the girl I met on the first day of school.

We park the car, and I let Shep out of the backseat. He sniffs around in the grass and then sits down and tries to give me his paw.

“Good sign,” Kat says. She turns to face the house. “Come on. Let's get this over with.”

It has to work. We have to contain her. With prom two weeks away, I can't shake the feeling that Mary's just lying low, waiting to make a big move. Like the homecoming dance, only way, way worse. What if more people get hurt because of us? I couldn't live with myself.

I have to force myself to move, to put one foot in front of the
other and walk toward this dilapidated old house and not away from it. As we walk up the front steps with Shep at our heels, Kat quips, “God, I need a cigarette. Quitting smoking during a freaking ghost exorcism was a dumb-ass move on my part.” Her hand shakes as she turns the knob of the front door. “Here we go.”

We step inside, and the house is dark and empty. And freezing cold, which feels impossible for May. I wish I'd brought a jacket.

“Is cold a thing mentioned in the books?” I whisper.

Kat whispers back, “I don't know. I didn't have time to read everything.”

Shep sniffs around, and I turn on the flashlight on my phone and hold it out so we can see. We stay huddled together, taking tiny steps. Then we hear something creak, and we both shriek. It's just Shep tripping over a raised floorboard. I clutch her arm tighter.

“Lil, I'm gonna go upstairs and do the—”

“Shh!” I mouth,
Mary could be here.

Kat nods and rummages around in her book bag. She takes out a container of sea salt. It's already almost empty, and I have a sick feeling we won't have enough. Next, a roll of twine. She lifts her eyes toward the staircase, and I give the thumbs-up.

And then we get to it. We go from door to door in the house,
starting with the second floor, wrapping each doorknob six times with twine and then putting a line of salt before each threshold.

When we reach Mary's bedroom, her door is open and the room is pitch-black.

If Mary is already in there, would she come out and talk to us? Would I be able to see her like always?

Suddenly I feel prickles go up my spine. Someone's here. Watching me. I can feel it. The spell's working. It's called her home.

“Lil,” Kat hisses. She has her length of twine ready. I reach out, wrap my hand around the doorknob, and start to slowly pull the door closed. Shep starts growling, low and long, and I freeze. “Keep going!”

I close it fast, and Kat winds the string while I throw down the salt.