Page 24 of Waysider
“That happens sometimes, especially in the past few months,” the other girl said with a shrug. “Life in California, I guess. We should go to lunch. The lines can get really long.”
“Actually, I’ll meet you there. I need to look for my keys.” Cass pointed her thumb over her shoulder, walking backward. She really was anxious to find them—she couldn’t crawl through Finch’s window every time she snuck out.
“Your next class is Basics of Untethering, right?” Finch asked.
Still walking, Cass glanced at her schedule again. “Yeah.”
Color spread through Finch’s freckled cheeks. “My friend Teddy is a TA for that one.”
“Oh.” Cass waited, thinking there was more. Finch just stood there, looking mortified, as if she’d revealed too much. Quickly Cass added, “Hopefully I can catch up with you in the dining hall. If not, I’ll see you at home. Later.”
“Later,” Finch said to Cass’s retreating back.
She hurried out of the room and into the hall, moving into the river of students streaming past. Once Cass was outside, harsh sunlight pounding down on her, she shouldered her bag and started in the direction of the Hissing Gardens. She arrived at the brick paths and retraced her steps back to the chapel, taking the same route she’d gone the night before.
Cass hadn’t forgotten the revenant with the bleeding chest, though. At the point in the hedges where she’d encountered the dead girl, she hesitated. Her fear kicked up a notch. Cass contemplated turning around and going back the way she’d come. Fuck the keys, she’d just get new copies made.
She chose that moment to remember what Cal had said to her, his voice tinted with disappointment. Never thought I’d see the day Cassandra Ryan acted like a fucking coward.
Cal still didn’t know the other ghosts could touch her—she hadn’t told him. That would probably change his perspective on Cass facing them.
And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.
Fucking Cal. Cass made a huffing noise, partly out of genuine annoyance, and the other part desperately trying to pretend she wasn’t terrified. Deciding just to get it over with, Cass launched herself forward, bolting past the opening in the hedges where she’d seen the dead girl.
There was no sign of her. When Cass saw that the path was empty, she sagged in relief and kept going, even more motivated to find the key and get the hell out of here.
The bleeding revenant wasn’t the only detail that had changed since her last visit, Cass noted as she slipped into the chapel. Up ahead, at the other end of the room, the earthquake had obviously shaken some stones in the back wall loose. There was a narrow gap now, leading into darkness, and a pile of debris had scattered down the aisle. Not her problem, Cass thought. She went back to the spot where she’d been sitting. She searched the pew first, then got down on her hands and knees, scanning the floor for any glint of a key.
She’d only been down there a few seconds when Cass heard the sound of footsteps. A moment later, soft weeping filled the stillness. Cass decided to stand up and make herself known—no way she wanted to listen to someone have a breakdown while they thought they were alone.
But just as she flattened her palms beneath her for leverage, a pair of legs appeared in her line of vision. Cass’s gaze lowered, and when she saw the newcomer’s feet, a high-pitched ringing filled her head.
She was missing one of her shoes. It looked like the girl had been running through fresh soil or damp earth, because it clung to her bare skin like black paint. On the foot that had lost a shoe, one of the girl’s toes was broken, the bone bent at an unnatural angle. Red drops fell around those thin, dirty feet.
And there, right beside the blood, Cass spotted her keys.
She didn’t move. As the seconds ticked by, the weeping got louder. Slowly, the feet moved away, padding back down the aisle.
But Cass stayed frozen. She stayed crouched on the cold floor, her sweaty fingers digging into the stone. All she kept thinking was, No ghosts. Sally Crane said there were no ghosts on campus.
Finch tried to warn her, though. Maybe this was just one of those revenants that had ventured onto campus by accident. Cass could still feel her panic taking the wheel, especially when the revenant’s footsteps went silent. She wrested it back by silently ordering herself to get it together. Right now, she needed to be smart. There would be plenty of time to freak out later, if she managed to survive this encounter. But Cass didn’t know how to get rid of a revenant yet. Or untether them, whatever.
So Cass decided to get the fuck out of dodge.
The revenant wasn’t crying anymore, and Cass didn’t see those creepy feet anywhere. Maybe it had wandered through the walls and gotten outside. Cass liked this theory. It lent her enough courage to reach for her keys, scuttle out from beneath the pew, and ease into the open. She did a swift scan around her, breathing raggedly, and the room seemed to be empty. This was her chance. Cass’s heart ramped up. She whirled, tensing to run…
…and came face-to-face with the revenant.
It was a girl, but not the one from the garden. This one was taller, thinner, her hair long and fine. She wore torn jeans and a shirt that was buttoned incorrectly, the edges so misaligned that part of the girl’s stomach was visible. She stared right at Cass, her pale eyes so huge that Cass could see the whites all around them.
Before she could act, the floor began to shake. More stones came loose in the back wall, drawing Cass’s gaze for a split second. But then she did a double take, looking from the dead girl back to that dark opening. In a burst of horror, Cass realized where this revenant must have come from, and why no one had untethered it.
She’d been trapped behind the wall.
Cass felt like time slowed down as she watched the dead girl’s hands rise. Then, when she started clawing at her own throat, time sped back up again. The floor was trembling so hard that the loose stones rattled. Cass recoiled, her eyes wide with terror. When the revenant saw that, it only seemed to make things worse. Now the walls were shaking, too, the legs of the pews rattling on the flagstones. The girl’s mouth gaped open in a desperate bid for air. She clawed at herself so hard that Cass saw one of her nails snap back.
Cass halted in her tracks—even though she knew it was pointless, she couldn’t shake the urge to help. But this chick was dead, she reminded herself. There was nothing anyone could do. If Cass had any sense of self-preservation, she should run.
