Page 47 of How (Not) to Conjure a Boyfriend
“Awkward.” Kaity’s voice crawls through the fence.
“You’re next,” I say to Kaitlynn, and whisper “bitch” under my breath.
“I got this.” She steps up and bounces over, completely unscathed. “No need to catch me.”
I shake my head and don’t wait before taking off toward the house.Just ignore it and move on.It was nothing and I don’t need to see Zachary’s reaction.
“That’s creepy,” Zach says from behind me. I check to see what he’s talking about and find his eyes fixated on the house.
“Itisabandoned,andold,andfalling apart,” I remind him. “Andhaunted. At least some say it is.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He waves me off. “I don’t know about that.”
“Of course it is!” Kaitlynn says off the cuff. “People died here.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Zach catches up with us.
“Yeah,” I say. I didn’t get to finish the story earlier, and there was more to tell. A lot more. “Several, actually.”
“Several… Uh, e-excuse me?” Zachary stutters. “And why are we here again?”
“Because it’s coolandhaunted,” I say.
“What the…? I just thought it was abandoned,” Zachary complains. “You didn’t say anything about it being haunted.”
The porch seems to grow as we get closer, and my foot claps against the first step. I was expecting wood and for it to crack and moan, but it’s solid, which sort of throws me a bit.
“Should’ve asked,” Kaitlynn says, and part of me wants to high-five her.
“You change your mind?” I stop at the front door once we’ve all made it up.
“Uh…no.” He steps up.
I shrug and continue the house’s story. “So, five people died here, and, like, a bunch of animals.”
“Animals?” Zachary pouts.
“Yeah, sad, right?” Kaitlynn frowns.
“Really sad,” I say, and turn the doorknob. It creaks and scrapes when I pull. At first it doesn’t want to budge, but I give it a good yank and the door opens. A swoosh of air floods out with the door, ruffling my hair. It’s darker inside. I step in and flick my phone’s flashlight on. Without a word, Kaitlynn and Zach become ghosts on my tail.
“They started finding dead cows and chickens around the farm,” I retell what I’ve heard. “At first, they thought it was a coyote or fox, maybe a black bear. But they never caught one.”
“Not sure I want to hear the rest of this story,” Zach says.
“Squeamish?” Kaitlynn asks.
“No, just not sure I want to know while I’m here,” he says.
“You sure?” I ask, looking over the bare walls.
My light exposes a scene of decay. The wallpaper is either peeling or has completely fallen to expose old rotting wood. The space is empty, just a big open square filled with the grays of night, drooping webs, and the occasional ray of moonlight through a cracked window.
“Fine, what happened?”
I smile at his interest. Success. I turn and lean over my flashlight so the beam makes shadows around my eyes.
“Really?” He cocks his head.
