I look like I limbo?"
I do my best batting of the eyelashes—which I can do since I've got these fake ones on—and then ask, "Not even for me?"
"I run track, Kendall."
"Fine. Be that way," I say with a laugh. I'm really trying to get back in the spirit (no pun intended) of the party and not let that Union ghost get to me. I join in the limbo line behind Taylor (who needs to be careful about how low she goes in that French maid's costume), but I can't help but think about that baleful laugh that still reverbs in my head.
The DJ's playing Flo Rida's "Shawty Got Low" for everyone to limbo along with. I don't have on any Apple Bottoms jeans or boots with the fur, but I do feel like the whole room is looking at me. I'm too ungraceful to be attempting this. Just as I'm about to bend backwards to try to get under the two-foot-high Swiffer, Celia rushes up to me, waving her Sherlock Holmes pipe in the air.
"Kendall! You've got to come with me."
Relieved that I don't have to go through with getting "low, low, low, low, low, low, low," I let Celia pull me aside.
"She's at it again."
"Who?"
"Courtney."
Taylor rushes up. "Where is she? I haven't seen her all night."
"Well, she's here," Celia says. "And this time, she's not effing around with stupid ploys like a spirit guide in her Bluetooth. This time, she's crossing the line. Majorly."
Is this the tomfoolery Emily warned me about? A long sigh escapes from my lungs, and I feel the air scorching on its way out.
"Courtney's in the library with a bunch of people." When Celia pauses, I'm afraid of what will come next. Her mouth flattens. "She's getting ready to conduct a séance."
Immediately, Emily appears before me, full-bodied, holding her hands up and waving them. They're raised in a warning, and she's telling me telepathically that the séance can't take place. Something beyond horrible is going to happen. Emily knows it. I know it.
Shoving between Celia and Taylor, I scream, "I've got to stop her!"
***
Celia and Taylor must have grabbed Becca from somewhere, because it's all four of us who burst unceremoniously into the darkened library. There, Courtney sits on the floor in her princess costume—how appropriate—surrounded by her usual flock of followers as well as a lot of kids that I don't know. Probably a dozen of them. Twelve idiots who don't know what the hell they're getting themselves into. Courtney sits at the top of the circle, and a plethora of candles surrounds the group, casting an eerie golden haze over the room. Her eyes are closed and she's humming while everyone around her holds hands ... and watches.
"She's certainly got a flair for the dramatic," Celia whispers to me.
I'm in too much shock and awe to say anything. My tongue seems to be the size of a Kaminsky Park kielbasa, and there's nothing I can do to voice my concern. It's like something's holding me back, controlling my ability to speak.
Courtney stops humming and opens her eyes. "If there are any spirits in this room or in this house, I invite you to please step into this circle and communicate through me."
Next to Courtney, Mina holds her hand tightly, looking scared shitless. Sean Carmickle sits on Courtney's other side, riveted by her every word, like this is some sort of special-edition game on Wii and he's going to score big.
A chilling breeze spins tornado-like through the room, causing an ache deep down to my bones. Are others experiencing this? I don't think so. There are entities present here that I can't identify. None that I can see, but I can sense them all around me. Spirits of the deceased. Visitors from the past. Dark shadows waiting in the wings to step forward and make their presence known, playing with the living, almost for their own entertainment. More street ghosts who've bebopped in to get some attention from this stupid, stupid girl who is opening the floodgates to something she knows nothing about. I've read about things like this, calling to the spirits without knowing what conjuring them up will be like. Spirits are lonely and want attention—very much like Courtney—but you never know if they will want to punish the living for bringing them through. That's why if you don't know what the hell you're doing, you never mess with Ouija boards or séances that open up portals to the other side. I