Whispers at Moonrise (18 page)

They were almost finished setting up for the event when Holiday’s phone rang. Holiday stepped away to take the call.

Della came moving over so fast that she bumped into Miranda and nearly knocked her down. “Talk and talk fast,” Della sputtered at Kylie.

“Talk about what?” Miranda rubbed her shoulder and frowned at Della.

“Shh!” Della held up a finger to silence Miranda and eyed Kylie with persistence. “Talk.”

“Don’t you shush me!” Miranda bit out.

Kylie exhaled and reached over and touched Miranda’s arm, hoping to calm her, then she answered Della’s question. “It’s my grandfather and aunt. They were the fog.”

“They were … the fog?” Miranda asked, her bad attitude with Della dropping along with her mouth.

When Kylie nodded, Miranda continued. “Then that proves it, you are a witch, because they have to be some dang powerful witches to pull that off.”

“Wait. Why would they do that?” Della asked.

Kylie frowned, and looked again at Holiday standing across the dining hall. Kylie noted how the camp leader’s gaze kept moving to Kylie and she suspected the phone call had to be about her.

Again.

Great. What was it this time?

“Earth to Kylie,” Miranda snapped.

Kylie glanced back at her two roommates. “I’m not sure it proves anything at this point.”

“But why would they chase Lucas’s sister?” Della asked.

“I don’t know.” Then suddenly Kylie did know. “To get me to enter the woods. They’ve been calling me for a few days now but I thought … I thought it might be Mario and his friends and I didn’t go. But I’ll bet my grandfather knew if I thought someone was in danger, I’d—”

“Do they even know you’re a protector?” Miranda asked.

“I don’t know.” Kylie’s mind raced. “I know that Burnett talked with him, but I don’t know what all he told them.”

“I’m not buying all that,” Della said. “Maybe it is Mario pretending to be your grandfather and aunt. Maybe this is just a trick to get his hands on you.”

“I don’t think so,” Kylie said. “And right now I have to follow my gut. I’ve got too much going on, and it would be nice to get some answers about something.”

“What else is going on?” Concern made Della’s brows tighten.

Kylie hesitated. “Ghost issues.”

“Which means we’re not gonna be any help there,” Della countered.

Exactly what Kylie thought, too. When it came to ghost issues, it was either Holiday or she was on her own. She recalled Derek, who’d told her he was willing to help her even though chances were he felt the same way about the spirits as the other supernaturals did.

Della piped up again. “But I thought your grandfather was supposed to come see you tomorrow. Why are they turning themselves into fog and sneaking in to see you if they could just show up tomorrow? And how did you know the fog was them?”

“He was supposed to come,” Kylie answered. “But since then he’s shut off his phone and hasn’t contacted Burnett at all. And right when I left the fog took on human form and…” Kylie wasn’t sure how to put it. “I recognized my grandfather and my aunt. I’m sure of it.”

Della’s expression hardened. “But if you’re wrong, and if we go out into the woods and shit happens—”

“Go into the woods?” Miranda blurted out. “Oh, crap, no! Burnett said she wasn’t to go into the woods. To not let her get close to the woods.”

“I know,” Kylie said. “But if I want answers to what I am, I’m going to have to go to my grandfather, and I don’t think he’s going to just walk into the camp, not when the FRU is crawling all over Shadow Falls. And after what the FRU did to my grandmother, I can’t say I blame him for not trusting them. Heck, even Holiday doesn’t trust them.”

Miranda bit into her bottom lip. “But if you’re wrong…”

“I’m not.” And just like that, Kylie realized she couldn’t put her two best friends in danger. The guilt she still harbored over Ellie swelled in her chest. “But just in case, I’m going in alone.”

“No way!” Della said.

“All I want to do is walk a little ways into the woods. You guys can just stand at the edge. If I don’t feel anything, I’ll come right back out.”

“And if you do feel something?” Miranda asked.

“Then I’ll know it’s them and I’ll meet them.”

“Oh, hell no! You are not going in alone,” Della declared. “You’re a protector. In case you’ve forgotten, that means you can’t protect yourself.”

“Della’s right,” Miranda said. “If you go, we all go.”

“I don’t think any of us should go!” Della said.

Holiday started walking over and, knowing the fae would be able to read the mood, Kylie looked at her two best friends. “Think happy thoughts. Quick. Before Holiday reads…” She let her words fade as Holiday drew near.

“What’s up?” Holiday asked.

“Nothing,” the three of them answered at the same time.

Kylie smiled and tried envisioning Lucas to instill a happy emotion, but Derek’s image and his loyalty to her ghost issues popped into her mind. And instead of being happy, more angst filled her head.

Holiday quirked an eyebrow that read as disbelief, but she appeared to move past it and said, “That was Burnett. He’s not going to make it back until right before the event and has insisted we postpone the trip to the falls until tomorrow. Is that okay with you?”

“That’s okay,” Kylie said.

And it was okay. Maybe now she could take that walk into the woods and get some answers—if they were still there. She just needed to figure out how to do it without Della and Miranda freaking out.

Chapter Sixteen

Kylie stood on the edge of the path, ignoring Della and Miranda as they argued over who was going into the woods with her and who was staying at the path. Little did they know, neither of them were going.

She couldn’t put them in danger. Even if there weren’t any danger, if Burnett found out, he’d give them hell. And hell from Burnett felt pretty dangerous. Somehow Kylie was going to have to figure out how to sneak away and do this on her own.

Besides, she wasn’t even sure her grandfather and aunt were still there. Maybe moving into the woods would tell her, but not now. Still, she closed her eyes and listened with her heart. When she didn’t feel even the slightest yearning to enter, she spoke in her mind.

Are you still out there?

“I’m here.”

The words sounded at the same time as Kylie felt the cold. Not recognizing the voice, she snapped her eyes open. Standing in front of her was a blond woman, early twenties, wearing a diner uniform with a tag on it that read
CARA M.
Kylie’s heart thudded faster when she realized this was one of the girls from the vision, the vision of being buried with Holiday’s sister.

Letting go of a sigh, Kylie’s breath turned to cold vapor.

“Damn!” said Della.

“Damn what?” asked Miranda.

“Kylie’s got company,” Della said. “White misty shit always snakes up from her lips when she’s chatting with the dead.”

“Oh!” Miranda took a step back and stared at Kylie. “Man, her aura is doing some crazy stuff again. This is so damn freaky. I’m so glad I’m not her.”

Trying to shut out Della and Miranda, Kylie focused on Cara M. Kylie recalled Derek asking her to describe the uniform so she studied it for details. She snapped a picture of it in her mind—the V neckline, the checkered pattern around the bottom of the skirt—so she could describe it to him later. But why not just ask?

“Where did you work?” Kylie asked.

“I worked at my aunt’s voodoo shop,” Miranda answered. “Crazy crap happened there.”

“She’s not talking to you,” Della snapped.

“Sorry.” Miranda shrugged. “This is so freaky.”

“Do you know the name of the diner?” Kylie continued to stare at the spirit.

“I … don’t know,”
Cara M. answered.
“But can you please get us out of there?”

Kylie frowned. “I want to, but I need to know where you are.”

“But you do know. The other girl took you there. Don’t you remember?”

How could she forget? “I saw you guys and you were under a building of some sort, like a wood floor, but I don’t know where that is. What town are you in? Is there an address? Is it close to here?”

“Yes, it’s close. It didn’t take much time at all to get here.”

Kylie considered what she said and asked, “But how did you get here? I mean … did you walk or … come spiritually?” Kylie hadn’t considered how spirits traveled and she realized how little she knew about the whole ghost-whispering thing.

“I don’t know,”
the spirit answered
. “But I can take you back there if you’d like.”

“No
,”
Kylie blurted out. The thought of being trapped in the grave again was too much. She took a deep breath and remembered to talk mentally.
Can you tell Hannah I need to see her?

“Who’s Hannah?”

One of the girls with you. The one with red hair.
Kylie could feel Miranda and Della staring and she purposefully turned her back so she wouldn’t be disturbed.

“So her name is Hannah? How do you know her name? She’s not wearing a name tag.”
The spirit glanced down at the name tag attached to her uniform. “
Do you know my name? They call me Cara M., but I don’t remember being her. My life is like a vague picture book I once looked at and I can recall flashes of the images on the pages, but they never turn slow enough for me to recognize anything.”

That’s not uncommon after death,
Kylie assured her, remembering Holiday saying that the more dramatic the death, the less the spirit remembered. The thought of what these girls possibly went through sent real pain skipping through Kylie’s limbs. Her heart clutched with the need to help them. To do whatever they needed to help them move on.

“Will I ever remember?”
Cara M asked.

The spirit’s question came with such sadness that the emotion swelled in Kylie’s heart.
I’m not an expert, but from what I’ve seen, things usually come to you. Spirits generally hang around for a reason and once that’s taken care of, they remember things, and then pass over.

Cara appeared to consider Kylie’s words and nodded.
“I think the reason is so we can get our own graves. I’ve never liked roommates. And it’s really cramped in that grave.”

Unfortunately, Kylie could remember just how cramped it was. She shivered, feeling her shoulders pressing against the dead girls’ bodies on each side. Pushing the thought aside, Kylie concentrated on the conversation and not the horror of what had happened.

I’m trying to get you guys out.
But something told Kylie that while Cara M.’s only need might be to escape the makeshift grave, Hannah wanted something much more. But hopefully while solving Hannah’s problem Kylie would help out all three of them.

Cara M. stood there as if deep in thought.
“Is it nice where I’ll cross over to?”

Kylie debated what to say, then went with the truth.
I’ve never seen it, but I think so.

The spirit looked around, then slowly floated up a good six or seven feet. She hung in the air, causing a big swirl of fog to appear around her, reminding Kylie of a scary movie. After a few seconds, she glanced down at Kylie with eyes that seemed lost, hurt.
“It’s nice here, too.”
She floated back down to the ground.

“I think I recognize this place. Are we close to that place with the dinosaur bones?”

Hope stirred in Kylie’s tight chest.
So you know about this place? Did you live near here?

“I … think so. I see an image of swimming in a lake. There was a lot of laughter there. It must have been fun.”

Yes, there’s a lake. Can you see anything more? Where you worked? What town?

The spirit frowned.
“I can’t.”
Darker shadows started appearing beneath her eyes. Shadows that made her look sadder and somehow deader.
“Please get us out of there.”
She started to fade.

Wait. Can you tell Hannah I need to see her?

“I can, but I don’t know if she’ll come. She’s upset.”

At what?
Was Hannah’s memory returning, too? The cold began to ebb away.

The ghost completely vanished and the Texas heat replaced the chill, leaving Kylie with even more questions than before.

“Is the ghost gone?” Miranda asked.

“Yes,” Kylie sighed.

“Are we going in?” Miranda asked.

“Where?” Kylie asked, confused.

“The woods. Duh.”

“Oh, no,” Kylie said.

“Thank Gawd!” Della muttered, and all three of them started walking to the cabin. Kylie looked back one more time and wondered if she’d ever find all the answers she needed. In a way, her life was as much of a mystery as a ghost.

*   *   *

They had one hour before they had to be back at the dining hall for the welcoming reception. While still walking, Della and Miranda jabbered about getting ready for the reception. No doubt Della wanted to spruce up to impress both Chris and Steve. Miranda wanted to wow Perry.

Kylie tried to get into the spruce-up mood with them, but her enthusiasm came up short. Lucas wouldn’t even be there, so who would she be trying to impress? A vision of Derek popped into her head and she pushed it back and felt guilty for even thinking it.

Trying not to think about Derek reminded Kylie that she’d told him she’d e-mail him the description of the diner uniform. As Kylie moved to the computer, her mind raced with the details she’d collected about what Cara M. had been wearing.

Kylie opened her web account and saw a whole buttload of e-mails: a few from her mom, a couple from her dad, one from Sara, and some spam, and then a few from accounts she didn’t recognize.

Ignoring her incoming mail, she clicked on the button to send a new e-mail, typed in Derek’s name, and then started typing the description of the waitress uniform. She recalled all the things she’d learned about Cara M. and found herself wishing she had someone to talk to about them. Then again, she did have someone—the person she was e-mailing. Derek.