life from her, I needed a backup tool. The ribbon would do.
Twenty minutes later, a loud thump sounded outside, followed by a shout from Savannah. I bolted from my chair and flew to the window. Another thump, coming from behind the house. Savannah groaned and yelled something. I opened the window farther, pried off the screen, and leaned out. Savannah and Lucas were at the far end of the driveway, playing basketball.
As I watched them, I thought of Kristof. I’d dreamed of boy-talk with Savannah. Is this what he dreamed of? Is this what I’d taken away from him? The thought pinged another, and I remembered what he’d said before I’d transmigrated into Paige’s body. That he’d stay close. My head shot up so fast I hit the windowsill and yelped. I imagined him laughing, and a shiver ran through me. I turned slowly.
“You’re here, aren’t you?” I said.
I scanned the room, and strained to listen, to see some sign of Kristof. It was one thing having a ghost around when you didn’t know it. But if you knew it, and if you tried hard enough, surely you should be able to pick up some sign. But I couldn’t.
“Savannah’s outside,” I said. “Playing basketball with Lucas.”
Nothing. Not even a twinge of awareness that told me he was there.
“Basketball was never your thing, was it?” I said with a smile. “Mine neither. But she’s good at it. And she likes it. That’s what counts.”
The silence swallowed my voice. I shivered, and the quaver went right down into my gut. What if something went wrong, and I couldn’t get back? Was this what it would be like, stuck here, talking to myself, wondering whether he was still listening? At least on the other side, I could see this world. From here, the separation was absolute.
Savannah yelled something outside, and I jerked up. If Savannah and Lucas were outside, that meant I was alone in here with the Nix. And if she was making no effort to come and get me, I had to give her a push.
“Sorry, Kris, but we gotta run.” I grinned. “Time to try getting myself killed.”
I found the Nix in the living room, sitting on a chair—my chair—and staring into space. At first I thought maybe she saw the crying woman residual. She wasn’t looking toward the dining room, though. She was staring straight ahead, eyes as blank as a mannequin’s.
“There you are,” I said, walking into the living room.
“No!” the Nix leapt to her feet, lip curling in a snarl.
“Get out!”
I feigned a wide-eyed back-step. “Jaime? Uh, are you okay?”
Her eyes flicked to mine and she frowned, as if just noticing me.
“What?” she snapped. Then she blinked fast. “Oh, Paige. Sorry.”
“Ghost bothering you?” I asked.
Another quick blink, startled. Then a sharp head shake that morphed into a nod and a wry smile. “Yeah. You know how it is. They never leave us alone. So is your work done?”
“Pretty much. I just popped down to see whether we had anything in the freezer for dessert. I should be able to dig up a pie.”
“Sounds good.”
“If Lucas or Savannah comes in, just tell them I’m downstairs. In the basement. I may be a while—that freezer’s packed with stuff.”
She nodded, then sat back down, gaze going blank, as if she’d already forgotten I was there. I headed for the basement steps. When I reached the back-door landing, I looked outside. Lucas caught the movement and glanced over. I motioned that I was going into the basement. He nodded, then distracted Savannah before she saw me, and they resumed playing.
“Heading downstairs now,” I murmured under my breath. “Into the dark basement. All alone.”
For a second, I thought I heard Kristof’s chuckle, but the sound turned into the thumping of a dribbled basketball against the driveway.
Once downstairs, I had to look around for the freezer. I knew there was one here somewhere, and I was pretty sure there’d be a pie in it. Not a store-bought one, but something homemade, probably from berries picked by hand. I don’t know how Paige found the time. I never did. Of course, I’d never tried to, either.
I finally located the freezer. Sure enough, it was just as full as I’d imagined. There was a whole stack of pies, so I moved some bread on top to hide them, then busied myself pretending to hunt. Upstairs, all was silent.
“Come on, come on,” I muttered. “One secluded victim, head conveniently stuck in a freezer. What are you