I don’t know about you, but I can barely keep my eyes open.”
I stared hard at the ground, ignoring the spinny circles of light dancing around in my vision. “Sleep sounds fantastic.”
“Can you guys tell me what just happened back there?” Brent asked.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” I said.
“They talked about summoning,” he said. “Summoning ghosts?”
“Spirits. Right, Holly?” Nathan said. He kept holding my arm as he looked at Brent, but his skin touching mine was all I could think about. My entire body was cold except for the spot where his fingers were wrapped around me. “I think they put them in your bedroom.”
“Why?” Brent strode forward a few steps before pausing to wince. He rubbed his head.
“I have no idea,” I said. “But they got pretty pissy that Laura and I banished it from your room.”
“Do you think they’ll put it back?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I cast a protection wall around your room, but it will only last seven days. I can it re-do it then but…it works for spirits, not anything or anyone else.”
“So, if you can’t do anything to help,” Brent said, “that thing will just stay there if they put it back?”
I lifted my chin a little. “I lied.”
“Holly,” Laura said sharply. I turned to her, and her eyes shot daggers of warning. “They would have killed all four of us.”
“Next time I won’t get caught,” I said. “The spirits will hurt people. Standing by and watching it happen is just as bad as doing it myself.”
She glanced away. “My head hurts too much to have this conversation right now.”
“Yeah,” I said, massaging my temples. I needed Advil, stat. “I think I’m going to walk home.”
“Me too,” Laura said. She swung her arms around me in a tight hug. “I’m glad we’re okay,” she whispered into my ear. Then, she turned around and began the trek to her neighborhood, Brent by her side.
“I’ll walk with you.” Nathan fell into step with me as I headed in the opposite direction.
“That’s hardly necessary,” I said, but I was glad someone else was here, just in case my woozy head became too much to handle.
“I live on your street, you know,” he said, not slowing down. “Only a few blocks further out of town.”
“Yeah, I remember,” I said, picturing the blue shutters and the colonial architecture. “How could I have forgotten?”
We walked in silence for a few moments—me barely aware of our surroundings with the rocks beating against my skull—before Nathan cleared his throat. “Listen, I don’t know what happened back there, but I have to tell you I’m pretty freaked out about it.”
I grabbed his arm and stopped on the sidewalk, looking up into his eyes. The green glinted under the streetlamp. “I don’t know either, Nathan. I was telling the truth. I don’t know why those guys are summoning spirits into people’s rooms or why they’d need to kidnap us and threaten us if we didn’t stop banishing them.”
“They’re the same guys from the boat, aren’t they?”
I nodded. “They did it at Kylie’s house, at Brent’s house, and it sounds like they’re going to keep doing it. All over town.”
“Well, listen,” he said, glancing at my hand still on his arm. I let it slide away, fingers brushing the sleeve of his polo. “Just let them. I know it’ll freak people out, but they’ll go after you again.”
I bit my lip, wondering how much I should explain to him. “Spirits aren’t friendly ghosts. They are creatures who attack people.”
“Yeah, I heard you say that to Laura, but Brent seemed fine.”
“No, Brent was hurt. You just couldn’t see it. If that spirit had been allowed to stay in his room, he would have ended up really, really hurt. Maybe…dead.” I paused to let my words sink in. “They are very dangerous.”
“I see.” And I could tell that he did see, or he at least saw how serious I was about it. “Do you know anyone who can help with this?”
I shook my head and started walking again, wishing I could shield my face from the headlights of passing cars. A couple of moments later, we were standing on the sidewalk outside of my house. Nathan walked me over to my bedroom window and watched me climb inside. He stood there with his hands in his pockets looking like he had something important to say, but he never did.
“Thanks for walking me home,” I leaned out a little to whisper to him. I hoped