Chapter 10

I had pictured Nicole driving something that went with her personality. Maybe a car painted pink with Hello Kitty decals on it. I was surprised when she pulled up to the school door in an olive-colored Jeep with rust holes. The top was down and the sides were splattered with mud.

“Jump in.” Nicole cranked the volume up on the radio.

I threw my backpack onto the floor and buckled in. Nicole was already peeling out. She gave a wave over her shoulder at a group of girls waiting for the bus. One of them was scowling at me. Uh-oh. The world order had been upset.

“I hope giving me a ride didn’t put anyone out?”

“It’s okay. I usually give Brit a ride, but she lives on the other side of the island altogether. She didn’t mind taking the bus.”

I hadn’t met Brit yet, but I had the sneaking suspicion she did mind taking the bus. She minded a lot. Great. One thing I didn’t need at my new school was an enemy.

Nicole sped around a corner, and I grabbed on to the door handle for dear life. My hair was whipping around in the wind, and I suspected by the time I got back to the house it was going to look as if I’d styled it with a blender. Nicole’s hair seemed to blow straight back. If anything, she was going to look better at the end of the ride.

“So you’ve lived here your whole life, huh?” I yelled over the radio.

“Born-and-bred native. I know it’s dorky, but I love it. I like visiting the city, but I can’t imagine wanting to live anyplace else.” She looked over at me. “What about you? Are you dying to get off island?”

“Not dying exactly, but I miss the city. My friends and stuff.”

“Not to mention how weird it must be to be living at Morrigan.”

“Weird?”

“You know about the house and everything, don’t you?”

“Of course,” I said, bluffing. It’s my experience that if you really want to know stuff, you are better off acting like you already have all the information. I stared out the window and didn’t say anything else in hopes she would fill in the blanks.

“Does it freak you out at all?”

I shrugged.

“I hope you’re not ticked that I asked. It’s not like I believe that stuff. People around here just like to run their mouths. They’re jealous. Besides, if there was any proof that it was murder, then Nathaniel or his dad would have been arrested.”

Murder?! Holy shit. Did my mom know people on the island thought her new husband did in his first wife and daughter? I made a noncommittal noise.

“I don’t think it would be a big deal at all except for the other stuff.”

There was other stuff? Murder seemed like more than enough to me.

“What with the original Mrs. Wickham being kept locked in the attic way back when. And those kids that went missing? People figure there’s too much smoke not to have any fire.” Nicole swung into our long driveway with a spray of gravel. “Then there’s another fatal accident in the family, so of course people assume there must be some kind of foul play, but it’s not like things are connected, you know?”

I could feel myself starting to sweat. People locked in the attic? Missing kids? Had we moved into Hell House? “People love to talk,” I murmured.

“Exactly.” The gravel crunched under the car tires as we rounded the last bend. Nicole stopped the car. She pulled her hair back and looked up at the house. “I will admit if there was going to be a house on the island that’s haunted, this would definitely be it. If a building could hold on to negative energy, this place would have more than its fair share. Not that I buy into what everyone says.”

“People think the house is haunted,” I said in a flat voice. I could feel the memory of the girl I saw by the window pushing to the front of my mind, and it took all the energy I had to shove it back down. I didn’t want to go there. You start thinking there are ghosts, then voices speaking to you, and before you know it, you’re bouncing around a rubber room wearing a tinfoil hat.

“Do you believe in ghosts?” Nicole asked.

“No.” I hoped my voice sounded more confident than I felt. I looked over at Nicole. She was still staring up at the house. “Do you?”

She turned to look at me, and I leaned back quickly. Her eyes looked hungry and her teeth seemed not just shiny but also sharp. “Of course I believe,” she said, her voice low.

“I should go.” My hand fumbled for the door handle. I felt my chest release when it clicked open, and I spilled outside the Jeep. Every muscle in my body was screaming to run.

“We’re still on for lunch tomorrow?” Nicole asked.

I looked back at her. She’d reverted to looking like your typical blond cheerleader. Her face was flushed from the wind, and I noticed for the first time that she had a sprinkle of light freckles across her nose and cheeks. Whatever I had seen a moment ago must have been just a trick of the light. Or of the mind. I took a deep breath. I just had a wee freak-out, which was understandable. There was all this new information, and the talk of ghosts on top of that was enough to give anyone a panic attack. It didn’t mean there was anything wrong with me.

“Lunch tomorrow would be great,” I said. I hefted my backpack and turned to go into the house. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Keep your eyes open, Isobel,” Nicole called out as she popped her Jeep in reverse to turn around. “Remember, ghosts don’t care if you believe in them. They can still believe in you.”