A ringing echoed in my ears. Sirens? Fire trucks on their way? The boathouse was long past saving, and Belinda had run past me and up the grassy hill leading to the large house.
The ringing again.
From my pocket.
I looked down, confused.
I sat on a bench.
The air smelled of pine and lake water.
The fire was gone.
It hadn’t been real. Or it had, but it’d happened long ago. A vision into the past. Belinda’s past.
My phone kept ringing, so I pulled it out and answered it.
“Hello, Sara.”
“Lady Azura!” I cried with relief.
“I sensed turmoil. Troubles. The need for a friendly voice,” she said in her raspy voice. A voice I’d missed.
“You’re right.” I sighed, then told her all about Belinda, Margaret, and Laura. I didn’t let on that Lily wasn’t talking to me. That hurt too much to say out loud.
“I have encountered spirits with great heat around them a few times before.” I heard her fingernails tap the side of her armchair as she thought. “They are very dangerous. Very unpredictable.”
“But heat and that glow around her, that was different from the vision I just had,” I said. “She was standing there, and the boathouse burst into flames.”
“It’s possible Belinda can start fires with her mind.”
“Do you mean she just thinks about it and poof?”
“I don’t think she plans to start a fire. She’s guided by her emotions. If you are angry, you may scream. For her, anger and fear bring on fire. It’s called pyrokinesis.”
“She was jealous. Very jealous.” I didn’t have to explain to Lady Azura that sometimes a spirit’s feelings felt like they were mine.
“Pyrokinesis is extremely difficult to control, especially for someone so young,” she said. “Especially if no adult understands what is happening. I doubt one hundred years ago poor Belinda had much support.”
For the longest time, every time a spirit appeared I’d been petrified. No one knew about what I could do. “I don’t think she knows how to control her power.” I thought back to the orange glow and her blazing eyes. “That makes her dangerous.”
“I need you to promise you will stay far away from this spirit,” Lady Azura instructed.
I promised.
“You and Lily both,” she added.
I couldn’t promise for Lily. I finally told her what had happened between us.
“She’s upset. That’s understandable.” Lady Azura paused, not going down the I-told-you-so path. “What does Lily’s friendship mean to you?”
“Everything.” I didn’t hesitate. I’d never had a friend like her before.
“Then forget the spirit. Fight for her friendship.”
I returned to the pool. Lily lay on the chaise lounge by herself. Kayla stood in a long line for frozen yogurt.
“Hey,” I said, gathering strength from Lady Azura’s advice.
“Hey.” Lily didn’t look up from her magazine. I glanced at the cover. Lily and I had read that one together yesterday while getting pedicures at the spa. She was only using it to hide.
“Listen,” I said. “I’m so, so sorry. Seriously.”
Lily peeked over the top of the magazine.
“Incredibly sorry.” I unclasped my necklace and slid off the aragonite bead. “This is for you. For your necklace.” I’d given Lily her own necklace with a crystal for her birthday.
I placed the reddish-brown crystal in her palm.
“What’s it for?” she asked.
“Friendship.”
She rolled the bead with her fingertip, then threaded it onto her necklace.
I smiled. It was enough. A beginning.
“Can you believe they ran out of the chocolate crunchy things?” Kayla pouted and thrust her yogurt cup toward us. “Now all my toppings will have that same soft feeling in my mouth. Totally changes the experience.”
“You could try granola,” I suggested. I’d decided to be extra nice to Kayla. If Lily liked her, I’d try too.
“Granola tastes like oats they feed to a horse.” Kayla reclined on the cushioned chaise next to Lily.
I shrugged and perched on the end of Lily’s chair. Lily pulled up her feet to make room. A good sign.
“Laura was just here,” Lily said.
“Really? How’s she doing with everything?” It felt weird to tiptoe into a conversation with Lily.
“Good.” Lily fidgeted with the frames of her sunglasses.
“She invited us to one of her cleansings tonight.” Kayla filled in what Lily had been hesitant to say. “Room twenty-two again. She told us about the Helliman family dying in that fire. She wants to use us as bait.”
“Not as bait,” Lily turned to Kayla. “That sounds so crude.”
“Bait?” I repeated.
“Yes, bait.” Kayla emphasized the word. “She wants to catch the ghosts, and she says she only feels them when we’re there. So she wants us to hang out in the room, like bait, to lure the big, bad ghosts.”
“It’s not a joke, Kayla,” Lily said quietly. “I felt something in that room. Laura agrees.”
“Don’t do it,” I said.
“Why not?” Kayla demanded.
I studied Kayla for a moment. Had Lily told her about my powers? No, I decided. Lily had kept my secret.
“It feels wrong.” I trained my gaze on Lily. I hoped she’d understand.
“Laura needs me. She told me so,” Lily said quietly. I could tell she had her mind made up, but so did I.
“It’s a mistake,” I repeated stubbornly.
“Are you scared?” Kayla asked. “’Cause I’m not scared to chill in the haunted room.”
“We’re going tonight,” Lily told me. “You can take a pass, if you want.”
“It’s not about me.” It was about Lily and the red-haired ghost. I didn’t know why, but when Lily was around, the spirit got that dangerous orange glow. “Lily, I need to talk to you about this.”
“So talk,” Kayla chimed in.
“It’s private,” I said pointedly.
Lily sighed. “Sara, I get that you’re trying to help, but you’re not going to change my mind. I felt that spirit in that room. I know I did. Laura needs me, and I promised her.”
“You can’t!” I was desperate to keep Lily away. “I won’t let you. I’ll . . . I’ll tell your mom you’re planning to sneak out again!”
Both Lily’s and Kayla’s eyes widened. Instantly, I knew that I’d said the stupidest thing.
“What’s with you and my mom?” Lily demanded, unable to disguise her hurt. “You two like talking behind my back, is that it?”
“No, that’s not it. I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t care what my mom thinks.” Lily stood abruptly. “Friends support each other. They don’t tattle.”
“But I would never. I just said that because—”
“Kayla, I’m really warm. Let’s swim.” Lily stalked toward the waterslide with Kayla close on her heels.
I buried my head in my hands. I only wanted to help my best friend. Why was it all going so wrong?
I looked up at Kayla and Lily whispering in line by the stairs to the slide. I should be by Lily’s side, not Kayla. Lily barely knew this girl.
Then I heard Lily’s infectious giggle.
A sound so familiar.
A sound that now made my blood run cold.
I’d heard that sound in my visions. By the boathouse and in the bedroom. The giggle of Margaret Helliman.
Lily and the dead girl had the same giggle.
What did that mean?