least. “Each bedroom has its own bathroom,” I pointed out, which she probably already realized. “I was always thankful for that.”
That left the guest room. We strolled down the hall. The door was cracked open, so I didn't think twice about just walking in. Once I did, I froze for a split second, then grabbed the door and pulled it closed as fast as I could.
“Oh,” I squeaked. Zoey had shifted fully into a tiger and laid in the middle of the bed, licking her back thigh with her other leg straight up in the air behind her. Like a dang house cat. Except she was more like three hundred pounds.
I turned to face Hailey and forced a smile. "Sorry. Zoey was dressing." Then, I tapped on the door and spoke through it in a loud, cheery voice. "Zo, we have a guest over."
The sound of a very large animal hopping off the bed echoed from inside the room. Thump, thump.
Hailey stared at the door and arched one eyebrow. "Is she okay? It sounded like she fell."
Laughing nervously, I shook my head and stayed firmly in front of the door. "She's fine. Probably knocked something over."
Then Zoey yanked the door open and grinned. "I'm fine. My books fell on the floor." Hopefully, Hailey wouldn't question the fact that Zo had heard us through the door.
We walked in, and Hailey looked around.
No books in sight. Had Zoey even brought any books? Forcing another grin at Hailey, I said, "See? Fine. Let's move on."
The rest of the tour went on without any craziness. Thank goodness she couldn't see or hear Clay. That man...er, the ghost was determined to make me look like an insane person with ever-increasingly snarky comments. When I showed Hailey my office, Clay had to remind me of the last time we’d had sex on the desk.
In detail.
Hailey went back through the house, writing a big H on each sticky note for the furniture she wanted, then when she was finished, I congratulated her on her new home and shut the door behind her with a huge sigh of relief.
I didn’t know how to be human anymore.
A few hours later, I took a break from packing and decided to call Owen to check on things on the home front.
My mentor and friend answered on the second ring. "Hey, Ava."
It was nice to hear his voice. I’d grown very fond of the tall, awkward-looking man. “How is everything?”
Owen was quiet for a few seconds before answering me. Dread began to build in my gut. I had too much to do here before I could return home. Did they need me? Had something gone wrong?
“Everything is good,” Owen said and paused again. “Did...did you know that Alfred has an Instagram account?”
A what? “No…” That couldn’t be a good thing, could it? Instagram was about pictures, and Alfie was desiccated flesh. “Please tell me he doesn’t take selfies.”
He hissed. “Okay, I won’t tell you.” Owen chuckled then began laughing out loud.
I closed my eyes and practiced breathing, counting up as I inhaled and down as I exhaled. Not that I needed the practice, but it was good to remind my body to do so every once in a while. “Should I ask?”
His laughter faded long enough to explain. “Mainly they post pictures of the cats, but he most recently took a selfie of him and Larry together. Oh, and Snooze is in the background photo bombing.” Owen laughed some more, and I was glad he could see the humor in it because I was kind of freaking out. The last thing I needed was the FBI or Homeland Security showing up at my door thinking I was about to start the zombie apocalypse.
“They put a filter on it, so it looks kind of cartoonish and like it’s staged. You have to check it out,” Owen said when he came up for air. “He is @ShiptonGhoul.”
Of course, that would be his user ID. Reluctantly, I opened my Insta app and searched for the Shipton ghoul. The first thing I noticed was the profile pic. It was a selfie of Alfred, looking far too realistic. Then, I noticed how many followers he had. Over two hundred thousand! What in the Hades?
What had they gotten into now?
Chapter Seven
I laid on my bed, on top of the blankets, looking up at the ceiling, and listening to the ringing of Drew's phone. I’d been here a couple of days and hadn’t heard from him, so I’d gathered