Page 94 of Haunting the Deep

“You mean ‘who,’ ” Elijah says, and relights our candles. “And I am not certain. The spirit came and went too quickly.”

All the hair on my arms stands up, and I shudder. The binder that I just opened is missing. “Is there another way to get those newspaper records? Maybe a digital copy somewhere?”

Elijah scans the room. “I will certainly look.” He hands me my candle and offers me his arm. “But at present, let me walk you home, Samantha.”

Irub my eyes as I walk toward homeroom. These nights of Elijah waking me up every ten minutes are catching up with me big-time.

I grab the homeroom door, and someone touches my elbow. I whip around.

Matt smiles. “Whoa. Sorry. I didn’t mean ta scare ya.”

“No worries. I’m just extra tired this morning. Makes me jumpy,” I say.

He scans my face. “I can see that. What’d ya pull an all-nightah?”

“Something like that,” I say.

“It’s only midweek. You keep goin’ like that and you’ll never make it to the dance—excuse me,Spring Fling,” he says, like he finds the whole thing ridiculous.

“Aren’t you on the dance committee? Shouldn’t you be excited?”

“About plannin’ an event with Blair and Niki?” He laughs. “It’s just a means to an end. Accordin’ to me parents, I don’t have enough extracurriculars to get into a good university. Leadership skills? I don’t know.”

I attempt a smile, but my face just isn’t up to it. I point at the door. “You going in—”

“Actually…hold up.” He glances over his shoulder and pulls me away from the classroom.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I’m ’aving an altruistic blip or somethin’.” He lowers his voice. “So ’ere’s the deal. Niki’s family and Blair’s family went out to dinner together last night, and I overheard the two of ’em whisperin’ about ya.”

My shoulders tense. “How so?”

“Honestly, I didn’t hear much. But it sounded like they had some big plan. Niki kept sayin’ she couldn’t wait for tomorrow. Today, technically. I just felt bad not givin’ you a heads-up.”

Big plan?My stomach flips. “Thanks for the warning.”

“No problem. And get some sleep,” he says, and walks past me into homeroom.

I take a breath and push the door open. The girls are already there. I sit down next to Susannah and tell them everything Matt said.

“It’s the thirteenth,” Mary says.

“Jeez, Mary, you need to stop saying that every two seconds. You’re gonna give me a twitch,” Alice says. “We don’t even know for sure if it means anything other than the typical Niki gossip.”

Susannah looks at me. “When Niki goes on the attack, she’s usually spreading a rumor—some part of which is true. That’s how she gets people to believe it. But then again, we shouldn’t be underestimating anyone right now. Especially not her and Blair.”

“If it’s gossip, that’s fine. Gossip, I can handle,” I say.

The bell rings.

“Settle down, everyone,” Mrs. Hoxley says.

Blair walks past my desk, makes eye contact, and winks.

Not good.

The class quiets, and Mrs. Hoxley launches into her typical morning speech about homework and study habits.