Page 87 of Waysider
Hide next to the stairs.
“He’ll find me there,” Cass hissed. But her mind worked, considered it. Maybe she could hit Professor Clemens while his back was turned…
The chalk clicked again. Trust me.
Cass knew she was running out of time. She stopped arguing and moved to do what Louis said. As she tucked herself in the narrow space between the wall and the stairwell, Cass struggled to control her breathing. It felt she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs.
Silence swelled in the attic. Cass’s entire body shook, and she strained to hear the creak of stairs or distant footsteps. But there was only the ringing in her ears and the wild cadence of her heart. Her loud, ragged breaths. Now that she had a second to think, Cass wondered if Cal had felt her terror, like he did before. If he was far away, she got why he hadn’t come. But where was Michael? He could vanish and reappear at will. He’d helped her at the Haunting. Was he—
The attic door opened.
Panic burst inside of Cass, and every bone in her body wanted to bolt like a terrified rabbit. Slow, heavy footsteps began to ascend the stairs. Cass choked back a sob and clutched her knees. Louis had told her to hide. He’d said to trust him. That meant he had a plan, right? Right?
The footsteps reached the top of the stairs and stopped. The silence returned. This time, it felt menacing, like a predator lying in wait. Cass almost gave in to her hysteria then and there. But she forced herself to stay. Maybe Clemens wouldn’t check this corner, she thought shakily. She just had to be quiet. She had to trust Louis. Don’t move, don’t move, don’t move…
Then Professor Clemens stepped into Cass’s line of sight. His cold, pitiless eyes met hers.
“Found you,” he said.
Cass jumped up in blind terror, a fresh burst of adrenaline roaring through her. But Professor Clemens only took a single step before he froze, a strange expression crossing his face. His body rose into the air without warning. His feet dangled at least a foot off the floor, and in the next moment, Cass heard another cracking sound, like someone closing their fist around a soda can. Professor Clemens’s head snapped to the side and flopped at an unnatural angle. Cass gasped and tried to recoil. Her back slammed against the wall, her eyes wide. He was dead, she knew he was dead, but she’d lost the ability to move or speak. Cass couldn’t fight the illogical, all-consuming fear that if she left her hiding spot, Professor Clemens would get up or Louis would come after her, too.
She was still staring when Karen appeared.
The young girl looked the same from the day Cass had first seen her in the chapel. The broken toes, the uneven shirt, the sad eyes. Well… maybe not quite as sad, Cass thought distantly, watching Karen study her killer’s crumpled body. Slowly, the glowing threads around Karen’s feet shortened and shrank, like shriveling roots or rivers running dry. She raised her gaze back to Cass. The revenant didn’t try to say anything, but the gratitude in her expression was unmistakable.
And then she was gone.
Cass knew she would never see Karen Watkins again. It was also undeniable proof that Professor Clemens was gone, too.
She felt something in her chest loosen, and suddenly she could breathe again. The terror lost its iron grip on her mind. Cass finally left her hiding spot and crept into the open, still pressing down on her knife wound. She edged around Clemens, glancing down at his face as she passed.
Yeah, definitely dead, Cass thought. She began to turn toward the stairwell. Something made her pause, though. Cass glanced over her shoulder at the chalkboard.
She knew she needed to go downstairs. She had to check on Teddy, and get this cut taken care of before she bled out. But she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the object that contained such a powerful revenant. Cass reread the instructions he had written when she’d burst in here a minute ago. Unease slid through her.
She should get rid of it, Cass thought suddenly. She hurried over to the board and swiped the eraser back and forth. The white letters smeared, then became dust. Cass’s mind raced. Was it normal for a spirit to have so much power? To be able to kill someone like that? Why had Louis helped her at all, and risked exposing himself to an entire school full of voyants? If they found out he could not only hurt the living, but actually kill them… the professors would renew their efforts to untether Louis, and they’d never let another student near the chalkboard again.
But Cass didn’t ask any of those questions. There wasn’t time. Instead, she just asked one.
“Who are you?” Cass whispered.
She didn’t actually think he would respond. But the chalk rose again, and Louis’s handwriting dipped and looped across the board. Cass stared at the words, unsure how they made her feel. Confusion. Pity. Gratitude. By the time she turned away again, and finally went down the stairs, she could see them so clearly in her mind that it felt like a tattoo.
A friend.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
December 2nd, 1984
Deadwood, Oregon
Lane County Security Hospital
7:13 p.m.
The sky beyond the window was dark now. The hands of the clock had crept forward, and Cass wasn’t sure when she’d stopped watching them. She’d been sitting in the hard chair so long that parts of her were numb. Not her throat, though. Cass hadn’t done this much talking in weeks, no, months, and she was already feeling the effects. By the time Cass finished recounting Professor Clemens’s terrible death, her voice had developed a rough edge, as well.
“And that brings us to now,” she concluded, leaning back in the chair. Some of the tension eased from Cass’s shoulders as she realized they were almost done now. In a minute or two, she’d be out that door, and she would never come back to this horrible place again. Cal, who hadn’t moved from his place at her side, remained stiff and alert.
