A woman in Edwardian clothing stopped on the opposite side of the street and stared at me. She looked scared. I glanced up and saw another woman peeking out a window from behind a curtain. Her mouth was open.
Lark?
I turned toward the familiar voice. It was Wren. She stood right beside me. Youre not supposed to be here, she said, taking my hand. Come with me. Now.
I entwined my fingers with hers and stepped toward her. My ears popped, and suddenly the other world was gone, and I was back in the Goodwill parking lot, with my sister and all of my friends staring at me in concern.
What happened? Ben asked, pulling me in for a hug.
I dont know, I replied. I was shaking, and there was no hiding it. It felt like I stepped into another world.
You did, Wren informed me. She had a strange expression on her face. My sister wasnt easily frightened, but she looked worried. Not just that, but she was looking at me like she didnt quite know me. Lark, you were in the Shadow Lands.
I frowned at her. I couldnt have been.
Couldnt have been what? Roxi asked, looking from me to the empty space occupied by my sister.
In the Shadow Lands, I replied. Its impossible. Only the dead can go there.
You were dead, Mace reminded me softly. Once.
I shook my head. It had to have been my imagination.
My sister stomped up to me, so close our noses were almost touching. Of course, no one else could see it. It was real. You were between both worlds.
Like her. Our gazes locked. I didnt have to say it for her to understand. This was weird. And it was big.
Are you okay? Ben asked, giving me a squeeze.
I nodded, looking away from my sister. Its probably because Halloweens so close.
Maybe, Wren allowed. Or it might be something else.
I ignored her. Wed better get going.
In my pocket my cell buzzed. I had a text. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and glanced at the message.
Were going to talk about this whether you like it or not.
I shot Wren a snotty look. She didnt look impressed, but I didnt care. Id been to the Shadow Lands when I died for, like, two seconds. It felt like a lot more time there. And with the veil thinning it made sense that Id be sensitive. Last year I was still in Bell Hill, so the meds might have kept me from experiencing the same thing then.
Want to grab some lunch? Mace asked us. Mexican?
A big plate of cheesy nachos was exactly what I needed. Sure, I said. And then to Ben, Unless you need to go home.
No. Lunch sounds good.
Everyone else left ahead of us. Wren said shed meet us there. I didnt know where she was off to, but I suspected it was the Shadow Lands. I got into the car.
Ben opened the driver-side door and slid in. He put the key into the ignition, but instead of turning it, he turned to me. Be honest. Are you okay?
I leaned my head back against the seat and smiled. Yeah, Im good. It was mostly true. I mean, yeah, it was weird, but my whole life was weird. If I freaked out every time something strange happened, Id spend 99 percent of my time a basket case.
He leaned over and kissed me. For those few seconds I didnt think. I didnt worry about anything.
Like what those two women in the Shadow Lands saw when they looked at me. Or why my sister had been afraid.
WREN
She just didnt look right, the woman with the cockney accent explained. There were something dreadful odd about her, for such a pretty girl.
She looked odd because she was alive, but I didnt say that. I only asked this womanand the one who had been on the street when Lark had popped into the Shadow Landsabout what shed seen because I didnt want it getting around that my sister had slipped past the barrier.
It made sense that if the dead could easily cross at this time of year, then the living could, as well. It felt strange, though. Id never heard of it happening before, but that didnt mean it hadnt. I wished our ancestor Emilywho had reached out to both Lark and me beforewould decide to show up and give us some advice on how this living/dead twin thing worked, but we hadnt seen her since the night she helped Lark tap into her ghost-fighting abilities.
I hadnt had any glimpses of her sister, Alys, eitherwho had occasionally shown herself to me at my grandmothers house. It was frustrating, because I felt like their appearances meant something. Shouldnt they have moved on?
I wanted to find Emily and Alys. I wanted them to tell Lark and me why we existed. What was the reason? What was our destiny? I wanted answers. But it seemed that Lark and I were destined to wind up with nothing but an endless list of questions.
The one thing that struck me as I left the woman to wander the streets of shadow-Edwardian London, was that neither of Larks witnesses had remarked that she looked like me. That meant that she looked different heremaybe like how I looked when I manifested in the living world? No wonder the women had been afraid of her.
What would happen if Lark manifested here for any length of time? We spent so much time trying to make sure I didnt cause harm in the living world with my abilities, but wed never considered whether she could be a danger to the dead.
And why hadnt we discussed it? Id seen her punch a ghost. Seen her hurt a spirit. Those ones had deserved it, but what if she went after someone who didnt? She might hurt someone, just like there was the danger of me doing harm when I manifested among the living.
I was getting ahead of myself. There was no need to get anxious. This might have been an All Hallows Eve aberration. Yes, that was the best way to think of it for now. If it happened again, Id consult the Shadow Lands library.
I drifted back into the earthly realm. I spent more time among the living than I did the dead. It wasnt completely because of Lark and our friends, but because I found the living more interesting.
The Shadow Lands was made up of bits and pieces the dead had assemblednot quite Heaven, but a more idyllic version of what their lives had been. There wasnt the amount of emotion and drama going on that there was in the living world. Lark turned her nose up at many of the reality shows on the television, but she didnt seem to realize that, to me, her life was a reality show! Even the simple act of shopping was interesting to someone who only had to think her appearance and make it so.
I ended up at Haven Crest. I didnt wonder whyI wasnt totally vacuous. It was obvious that some part of my mind had been thinking about Noah. Other than Larks realm-jumping, I hadnt thought about much other than him all day.
It was late afternoon, and while the daylight hours had shortened considerably in New England, there was still an hour or more of daylight left. Noah wasnt a young ghost, so there was a chance he might be about, especially if I could find the spot he haunted.
Finding another ghost wasnt easy in a place like this. The dead recognized each others energy, so if I was in a house with one or two ghosts I could probably seek them out without much trouble. A place like Haven Crest, though... Well, there were so many ghosts that trying to find just one was like that old saying about needles and haystacks.
Maybe not quite that hard. I had interacted with Noah. Our spirits had brushed together. That would make it a little easier to find him once I found the right spotjust like Lark knew the scent of Bens soap, I would recognize Noahs energy.
Maybe not quite that hard. I had interacted with Noah. Our spirits had brushed together. That would make it a little easier to find him once I found the right spotjust like Lark knew the scent of Bens soap, I would recognize Noahs energy.
Based on the way hed been dressed I knew he had to have died in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. There had been fewer buildings back then, and of those only the main residence and one other had been used to house patients. I knew this because, after Josiah Bent, Lark and I both wanted to make sure we knew as much about this place as we could. Haven Crest was so haunted it was practically a spiritual entity itself. That was something that needed to be watched.
I moved toward the main building, where there had been a wing for male patients and another for female. A building to the left of that, some distance awaycloser to the forest and former gardenhad been segregated in a similar manner, but with one difference. It had been for the wealthy patients. The wealthy white patients. Id learned that the colored inmates had been divided by gender and affluence and were housed in a separate building.
Lark had tried explaining racism to me in the past, and while I understood the concept, I couldnt wrap my mind around the sentiment behind it. People ought to be judged by their character, not their color.
Based on the fact that Noah had fair skin and had been well dressed, it was probably a valid assumption that he haunted the upper-class residence, so thats where I went. Thankfully, this was not where Josiah Bent and his followers had haunted, because I probably wouldnt be welcomed there by many of them. As an outsider, Dead Born and free to go wherever I wanted, I was going to be resented, regardless.
That knowledge didnt keep me from entering the old building. Its once beautiful windows were mostly broken and boarded up. The large, double doors were locked but hung loose on rusted hinges, dirty white paint peeling. It reminded me of photos Id seen one time Lark was browsing some internet sitephotos of celebrities who had ruined their looks with drugs and alcohol. This building had been beautiful once, but it had been abandoned to the ravages of time and neglect.
I walked through those sad doors and stood in the middle of a reception area with a high, vaulted ceiling. It looked as though there had been some plasterwork on the walls at one time, but it had been pried off. Broken pieces lay scattered on the dirty hardwood floor. Not just neglected, this building had been pillaged, as well.
Vandals. Their kind had no respect for anything. How terrible it must be for those who haunted this place to see it slowly stolen away. It hurt meoffended the deepest part of me.
In response to my anger, the building cried out. To living ears it would have sounded like a low groancreaking floors or old pipes. To me, it was an anguished wail.
Yes, Haven Crest was more than just a collection of old wood and stone.
Wren?
I turned my head. Standing on the stairs to my left was Noah. He looked concerned. Is something wrong? I felt...a disturbance.
I shook my head, but my heart was full of sorrow. This place must have been beautiful once.
It was. He continued down the stairs. He was wearing different clothes todaya white shirt and gray vest with black trousers and boots. His thick hair was tousled as though hed been running his hands through it. He was beautiful. I just stood there and watched as he approached me.
Would you like to see it as it once was? he asked.
I didnt know if seeing its former glory would make what I felt better or worse, but I knew that I wanted to see it. Yes.
Take my hand.
I slipped my hand in his, feeling the warmth of his fingers around mine. Slowly, the faded wallpaper gave way to a beautiful pale blue damask. The plasterwork reappeared as frames on the walls and bouquets of flowers in the corners of the ceiling. The wood floor gleamed, the stairs, as well, and they were covered by a strip of cream carpet with roses printed on it. Above our heads a sparkling chandelier hung, its brass chain shining. Even the reception desk was a thing of beauty. And the windows! They were flanked by pale gold velvet curtains, pulled back to let in the sunlight.
Its prettier than I thought, I said, my voice a little hoarse.
This is how I choose to see it, Noah told me. Rationally, I know that its a ruin now, and that soon it will either collapse or theyll tear it down, but in my heart, it will always be a grand old girl to me.
What will you do if they tear it down? I asked.
I suppose Ill have to learn to like whatever they build in its spot, or find someplace new. He smiled, but I could tell it was forced. Perhaps Ill move on. Whatever happens, I suppose it shall be an adventure.
I think I fell in love with him at that moment, watching him trying to be brave when faced with losing everything he had left in the world. Someday, everything I held dear would be in ruins, as well.
I squeezed his hand in mine, and in that moment I made a decision. I looked him in the eye and smiled. Would you like to go to a party with me tonight?
LARK
Oh, my gawwwwd! Roxi squealed. She was dressed in a Day of the Dead costume complete with elaborate face makeup and roses in her hair. Your costume is amazeballs!
I did a little twirl on the back step of my grandmothers house. I was wearing the long pink slip dress Id bought earlier that day. It was covered in fake bloodfabric paint, so I didnt have to worry about getting red on everything. I was also wearing a blood-splattered long strawberry-blond wig, a tiara and a sash that said Prom Queen.
Did you do the makeup yourself? I asked as we climbed into Nans cara purple Volkswagen Beetle with flower-shaped brake lights.
The wreath in her hair brushed the ceiling of the car. Yeah. I watched a couple videos online first.
I fastened my seat belt and started the engine. Whats Gage going as?
Baron Samedi, she replied. I know its hokey to do the matching thing, but it was his idea.
I think its cute. And it was, which suited the two of them.
Whats Wrens costume? she asked as we pulled out onto the street.
Im not sure, I replied. She said shed meet us there. To be honest I thought it was really weird that she wasnt with me now. Shed been acting a little off lately.
Oh, hey. I meant to tell you that she showed up in a few more photos from the dance. Like, fully visible.
Really? My mother used to accuse me of doing something to make it look like there was someone beside me in photos when we were kids. She never believed me about Wren. She thought I talked about my sister to upset her.
Yeah, she totally photo-bombed a couple of shots. Want to see? She started digging through her purse for her phone. The purse wasnt much bigger than a tablethow hard could it be to find a phone in it?
I pulled into the local middle-school parking lot. I wanted to study what Roxi had to show me, and I couldnt do that and make sure I didnt drive into a tree.
I turned on the dome light just as Roxi found her phone. It took her a few seconds to get into the photo album and find what she was looking for, but finally she handed me the phone.