Page 32 of Waysider
The opposite doorway led into the living room, where a Jane Fonda workout video played on the TV. Finch exercised in front of it, wearing leg warmers and a headband drenched in sweat. More sweat gleamed on her chest and darkened her clothes. She beamed at the sight of Cass, pausing her movements to give a cheery wave. “Hi! How was the rest of the day?”
Cass stopped, struggling to hide her impatience. All she wanted to do was rush upstairs and find Michael. But Finch was nice, the sort of person who would be good for her. Like Teresa. Cass forced herself to stay where she was and consider Finch’s question. “It was… interesting,” she said eventually.
Finch’s forehead wrinkled. “Is that a good thing?”
A bitter laugh caught in Cass’s throat. “Not in my experience, no,” she said. “Hey, I’ll talk to you later, okay? There’s something I need to do. I’ll be upstairs.”
“Homework already, huh?” Finch said sympathetically. “Well, if you need any help, I’m your girl.”
“Thanks.” Cass offered her a brief, tight smile. Then she turned and kept going toward the stairs, eager to see Michael’s reaction to her discovery.
Cass got halfway down the hall before the earthquake hit.
“Get under the doorways!” she heard one of her roommates shout. Cass wasn’t sure who, but she obeyed anyway, because what the fuck did she know about earthquakes? She darted over to the closest doorway and smashed her spine against the wide frame, clutching at it with sweaty hands. Something shattered in another room. As Cass looked around with wild eyes, she saw Candice and Tammy cowering beneath the dining room table. They looked just as terrified as she was, which definitely didn’t help. Cass held onto the wall even tighter, and as the house continued to shake, she wondered where Cal was.
Eventually, the world went still again.
The whole thing had only lasted a few seconds, but Cass didn’t move. Her mind was full of images from the chapel. A cracked wall. Bare, dirty feet. Angry nail marks on a pale throat.
“Cass? Are you okay?”
She jumped at the sound of Finch’s voice, which sounded like it had come from far away. Blinking, Cass realized that the other girl was standing above her. When had she sat down? Cass blinked again and registered that Finch’s hand was in front of her face. She took it without thinking, and Finch pulled, her grip surprisingly strong. Cass stood and let go, clearing her throat. She darted a glance toward Justin, who was coming down the stairs toward them. Tammy and Candice had emerged from the dining room table. “Thanks,” Cass muttered.
Before Finch could say anything, the bathroom door flew open.
Bradley must’ve been in the shower during the earthquake. He ran out wearing a towel, just like the last time Cass had seen him, shouting as he went, “Hey, is everyone—”
He drew up short at the sight of the others, but then his heel slipped on the trail of water he’d created. As he fell, Bradley let out the girliest shriek Cass had ever heard. He smacked his face against the opposite wall so hard that he bounced right off it again, crashing to the floor in a heap of sharp elbows and bony knees. Before any of them could move, Bradley swung upright. His towel had come off at some point, Cass noted. Bradley followed her gaze and looked down at himself. His head snapped back up, mouth opened into a perfect O. His brown eyes were wide with horror.
Justin sighed. “Come on, man. Again?”
A noise came from Finch, low and slightly muffled. Cass darted a glance at her. The other girl was pursing her lips together so hard the skin around them turned white, but she couldn’t quite control the corners, and they twitched over and over as she fought to contain a laugh. Next to Finch, Candice’s hand had risen to her mouth, and her fingers splayed to hide the smile there. Even Justin and Tammy were struggling to remain stoic.
To everyone’s surprise, it was Cass that broke.
A sound popped out of her—strangled, choking laughter. Cass couldn’t help it. Hearing her, Finch’s control slipped a moment later. Both of them bent over and howled. As her ribs began to ache with pain, Cass was dimly aware of the others losing it, too.
Bradley looked at each of them, one by one, his brows furrowed. A tuft of damp hair stuck up at the back of his head, which made him look even more indignant, somehow. Suddenly his face split, and he grinned from one big ear to the other. Cass and Finch finally began to regain control of themselves while Justin reached a hand down. The younger boy took it, accepting help to his feet. Bradley clutched the towel against his legs as he rose, then quickly secured it once he was standing.
“Can you believe that earthquake?” he squeaked.
“Radical,” Justin agreed.
Tammy was frowning. She held the machine she had been working on before shit hit the fan, and the top of her dark head gleamed as she looked down. “The EMP increased during the seismic activity,” she said.
They all looked at each other, and Cass saw her own uncertainty reflected in their expressions. What did that mean? Was the revenant from the chapel still causing them?
Apparently unbothered by any of it, Justin went over to the table. His voice floated back to them. “Hey, did the pizza make it?”
The others moved to follow. Cass started to, but then she remembered what she’d been on her way to do when the earthquake hit. Michael. Cass hesitated, looking at her roommates. Everyone had clustered in the dining room, chatting amicably as they dug into the pizza that had, in fact, survived. Even Candice was joining in—she wrote something on the chalkboard around her neck, and when she showed it to the others, they laughed.
After another moment, Cass turned away, unable to resist the call of the photograph still tucked away in her backpack. She found her bag on the floor and grabbed it, then rushed up the stairs. She heard Finch say her name, but this time, Cass didn’t look back.
Her room was empty when the door creaked open. For once, she was relieved that Cal was gone. Besides the fact Cass still hadn’t told him about their other roommate, Michael never seemed to be around when her brother was. She pulled the photograph out of her backpack and walked into the middle of the room, looking around.
“Michael?” Cass said. It felt strange to say his name out loud. Almost… intimate, somehow. Cass didn’t like it. And it hadn’t worked, anyway, since there was still no sign of him. She turned in a circle, searching the air for any shift or glimmer. Impatience sliced through her and she raised her voice to say, “Hey, Ghostie!”
“I’m here.”
