Awake at Dawn

Chapter Thirty-one

  Kylie wasn't sure who it was who said you couldn't go home again. But he had it partly right. Oh, you could go home. It was just going to be awkward as hell. Amazingly, it didn't stem from her mom. They'd actually had a good three-hour drive home, phantom puke aside. The problem was the house. It felt cold, not just because the ghost had decided to tag along, but because of her dad. Or lack of dad. There was nothing, not one thing here that reminded Kylie that he'd ever lived here. Even the pictures of their father-daughter trips were gone, replaced now with pictures of just Kylie.

  She couldn't blame her mom, but damn. For the first time since it all happened, Kylie worried about how her mom might really feel with her going away to boarding school. And maybe she even understood her mom wanting to sell the house.

  "Doesn't it feel so good to be back?" Her mom hugged her.

  Being back? Not so good. The hug felt nice, though. So nice it even made the house feel less awkward.

  When Kylie went into her room, she couldn't help but laugh. On her nightstand was a whole set of pamphlets on all the sex-related topics Kylie had missed while away. The one on top, obviously the one Kylie's mom thought most important, covered info on safe oral sex. Oh yeah, crucial need-to-know information. Kylie was planning on running out tonight and having oral sex.

  Her mom had the entire weekend scheduled with items from her We Gotta List. We gotta bake your favorite cookies. We gotta go eat at a new pizza place. We gotta be at the haunted house at six.

  When, Kylie wondered, was she going to have time to run out and have "safe" oral sex?

  Kylie added a big Gotta to the list. Gotta convince Mom to sign me up for boarding school. Even with her reservations about leaving her mom, Kylie was a supernatural and felt like a fish out of water back at home.

  At six that evening, after baking cookies and enjoying some together time with her mom, Kylie crawled her fish-out-of-water butt into the car to go to the ghost hunt. And she seriously hoped that the B&B owner didn't mind if she brought a visitor along because sitting in the backseat- still bloody, still puking-was Kylie's ghost, who wasn't any more communicative here than she'd been back at Shadow Falls.

  And to prove the point, the ghost disappeared before they arrived at the B&B. Once they'd all gathered in the lobby of the B&B, the owner, a tall, heavyset woman in her late fifties, with dyed red hair, waved them into a semicircle. "Welcome. Welcome to Anderson's B&B. My name is Celeste Bell. Some of you may remember me from my many television appearances. "

  Kylie didn't but several of the other guests nodded their heads. Celeste was a professed ghost whisperer who had appeared on some cable show as an expert on haunting. She wore a long white gown, as if dressing spooky would help intensify the experience.

  "The house was built in the late eighteen hundreds by Joshua Anderson, but tragedy struck before he ever moved in when his young bride was killed on their wedding day in a carriage accident. Joshua took his own life in the master bedroom. The place was subsequently sold and reopened as a saloon. More tragedy soon followed. Now, before we get started, let's talk about the rules. "

  The rules were simple. Stay together. No unnecessary chitchat. Celeste also insisted they turn off their cell phones because that kind of energy could chase away ghosts.

  Funny, Kylie thought, her experience said ghosts really liked tinkering with her cell.

  Kylie actually checked Celeste's brain pattern to see if maybe she was supernatural, but nope. The ten attendees, with the exception of Kylie and her mom, were all card-carrying senior citizens who no longer had to show their IDs to get their free coffees at their neighborhood Chick-fil-A.

  Moving slowly as a group, half of them using walkers, they followed the woman through the first floor of the house. In each room, Celeste stopped to tell another haunting tale, most from the house's days as a saloon. Thus far, the place looked ghost-free.

  While Celeste may have sucked as a ghost whisper, she was a good storyteller and she had everyone on pins and needles listening to the spooky tales.

  "Now, we're going to have dinner. And I'll tell you about what happened in the early nineteen hundreds. Go ahead and sit down. "

  Celeste motioned to the dining room table, with plates already filled with spaghetti. "For some reason," she whispered, "this room is always a bit colder than the rest of the house. "

  As if on cue, the temperature in the old parlor dropped a good forty degrees. Kylie's ghost materialized next to her. The patrons all huddled together, hugging themselves, as steam rose from their lips. The look on Celeste's face would have made attending the ghost hunt worth it if Kylie hadn't seen the look of sheer terror on her mom's face.

  "It's okay, Mom," Kylie whispered.

  "It's so friggin' damn spooky. " Her mom never said friggin' or damn.

  "Probably just a trick," Kylie lied.

  "It's time. Time for you to do something!" the ghost screamed. Show me what I have to do, Kylie said in her mind.

  Right then, every cell phone in the room started ringing. Well, all of them except Kylie's. Her phone croaked like some demented frog. And since they had all been turned off, that brought some serious gasps. But not as serious as when the chandelier crashed down on top of the table, sending plates of spaghetti shooting across the room.

  Celeste, the professed ghost whisperer and cable TV "celebrity," fainted.

  Kylie didn't know people using walkers could move so fast. But not fast enough for her mom. Kylie thought for a second that her mom was going to knock a couple of them out of the way to take the lead spot heading out of the dining room.

  Kylie knelt beside Celeste. As the last of the guests fought their way out the door, Kylie heard one of them say, "Who is Trey Cannon?" Kylie looked up at the elderly man.

  "Don't know," said another lady. "But that's who called me, too. " Kylie grabbed her phone, and sure as hell, she had a voice message from Trey.

  Why would the ghost send Trey's message to everyone in the room? Kylie looked up at the ghost who stood in the middle of the room wearing spaghetti all over her blood-soaked nightgown, which definitely would be putting Kylie off pasta for a long time. "It's Trey? I'm supposed to help Trey? But you said . . . 'she' needed help. "

  The ghost started to fade.

  "Don't you dare leave!" Kylie screeched.

  "I'm so sorry, baby. I thought you were right behind me," her mom called from the other room. Seconds later, she ran back in and dropped beside Kylie. "Oh, God, is she dead?"

  The woman's eyes shot open and she screamed.

  Twenty minutes later, while Kylie's mom spoke to the ambulance driver who was about to cart off Celeste and one of the guests who was now complaining of chest pains, Kylie got her mom's phone and deleted

  Trey's message. The last thing Kylie wanted was her mom getting suspicious. She hoped her mom hadn't heard Trey's name mentioned in the mix of things.

  Kylie listened to his message. All he'd said was to call him. She did. It went to his voicemail. Just freaking great!

  When Kylie woke up the next morning at nine o'clock, she had two startling realizations.

  First: She hadn't been woken up at dawn by the ghost. Did this mean anything? Was it a good thing? A bad thing?

  Second: And this was the shocker. She wasn't alone. Nope. Completely covered under the blanket next to Kylie was a body. Dead or alive, she wasn't sure.

  Biting back a scream, she touched it. More like poked it. It wasn't cold. It even made a oomph sound. Her mom's head popped out from under the covers. When she saw Kylie's expression, she bolted upright.

  "What is it?"

  Kylie blinked. "What are you doing in my bed?"

  "Oh. " She ran a hand through her newly styled hair that really looked good on her. "I came to check in on you. I guess I . . . dropped off. " Kylie giggled. "You were
scared. "

  Her mom did an eye roll that would put Sara to shame. "Nooo. " She broke down and laughed. "Okay, yes. It was freaky. I was shocked you could sleep. "

  "It was just a ghost. " Kylie grinned.

  "You say that as if you see them all the time. " Her mom touched Kylie's cheek. "I'm so happy you're home. See how much fun we can have? You don't need to go to boarding school. "

  Kylie's breath caught. "But I really want to go, Mom. "

  The spark in her mom's eyes dimmed. "Let's not talk about this now. We have a wonderful day planned. "

  In spite of the anti-boarding school talk, and the fact that Kylie still was unable to get in touch with Trey, her mood remained positive. The ghost had apparently decided to give Kylie a reprieve. That or she decided she'd just caused enough trouble after last night's scene. A call to the B&B informed them that both Celeste and the old man who'd complained of chest pains had been released from the hospital.

  They decided to do pizza for lunch and were primed to leave when Kylie's phone rang. When she saw it was Miranda, she asked for a few minutes. Her mom took off to check her e-mail.

  "Hey," Miranda said. "I got us on three-way. Say hello, Della. "

  "A verbal menage a trois," Della said.

  "Gross," Miranda said.

  "You wanna hear gross?" Della asked. "I just peed on my hand trying to piss on this damned drug stick while talking on the phone to you. "

  Kylie laughed. "I miss you guys. " The sound of a toilet flushing filled the line.

  "Oh, double gross," Miranda snapped. "I told you not to flush while I was on the phone. "

  Kylie dropped on the sofa. "Miranda, have you gone to your competition yet?"

  "I'm not on until four. " She sounded desperate.

  "You'll do fine," Kylie said.

  "You will," Della added. "How was the ghost hunt, Kylie?"

  Kylie checked to make sure her mom wasn't near. "You aren't freaking going to believe this. " She gave them the lowdown. They all had a good laugh and then the conversation switched to how much they all wished they were back at Shadow Falls. When Kylie realized she'd been talking for almost ten minutes, she told them good-bye. They agreed to talk this afternoon.

  "I'm ready, Mom. " The doorbell rang. Kylie ran to the door while her mom called that she was shutting off her computer. When Kylie swung open the door all the awkwardness from the night before came hurling at her. Funny how last night's unease had stemmed from her dad not being present and now it stemmed because he was here.

  "Hi, Pumpkin. "

  The question popping around Kylie's head was if her mom knew Dad was coming.

  "Are you ready to-" Mom's tennis shoes stopped so fast at the opening to the entryway. The skid marks on the marble floor and the shock on her mom's face answered Kylie's question.

  Mom didn't know. Even more apparent, Mom wasn't happy.

  Her dad's gaze went to her mom. "Hi, hon. " His smile wavered. The nervousness of his grin sent a desperate flutter to Kylie's gut. Okay, her dad deserved to be nervous. But it still felt downright wrong to open the door to her dad when this had been his home. His castle. Now he was unsure if he was welcome. And if her mom's expression was any indication, he wasn't.

  "I thought maybe I could take you girls to lunch," he said.

  Her mom took a step back. "I . . . I should have known you'd want to see her. " She waved a hand toward the door. "You two go. "

  "Why don't you come, too?" her dad insisted.

  "I think not," her mom countered.

  "Kylie wants you to come. " His father's gaze shot to her. "Don't you, Pumpkin? Like ol' times, the three of us. "

  Her mother frowned. Kylie frowned. Her dad grew more nervous. The tension in the room grew terse.

  Her mom notched up her chin. "Why not make it four? Your whore can come, too. "

  "Oh! This is a bad time, isn't it?" Trey's voice came right behind her dad.

  Kylie's mom shot up the stairs. Her dad looked stunned. Trey looked embarrassed.

  Then her dad frowned at Kylie. "Didn't you tell her it was over?"

  Had she heard him right? "Huh?"

  "You didn't tell her that it was over with Amy?"

  "Should I leave?" Trey asked.

  "Yes," her dad answered.

  Kylie's head reeled. She watched Trey go. She heard her mom crying. Kylie stared at her dad-stepdad. The idea that he'd actually attempted to use her to get her mom gnawed on some very raw nerves. The fact that he'd expected her to update her mom about his relationship status pretty much nuked those nerves.

  She pointed at her dad. "Don't you ever try to use me to get to my mom!"

  "I thought-"

  "Then stop thinking!" She slammed the door. The house shook. The small glass window in the doorframe shattered. She saw her dad's startled expression through the broken window before he took off. She breathed in.

  She breathed out.

  Then she took the stairs two at a time to check on her mom.

  It took Kylie an hour to convince her mom to go out for pizza again.

  She'd tried calling Trey hoping to see what was so important that the ghost had sent his message to everyone in the room, but she got no answer. They were in the middle of lunch at the pizza parlor, still not back to their prior jovial mood, when her phone started croaking.

  "Oh, honey," her mom said. "Change that ringtone. " She hugged herself and called out to the waiter, "Can you turn down the air?"

  Kylie grabbed her cell. There was no call, but an old voice message played.

  "Hi, Kylie. It's Sara. I'm sorry I had to hang up like that. I . . . had something I had to take care of. Listen, I really want to see you when you're home. Please make sure to call me?"

  "Who was it?" her mom asked, then lowered her voice. "Your dad?"

  "No. A message from Sara. "

  Kylie stared at her pizza and got the strangest feeling. "Mom, would you mind if I went to see Sara after lunch?"

  "Hi, Kylie," Mrs. Jetton said an hour later. "Sara will be thrilled to see you. "

  Kylie studied Sara's mom's expression. Her eyes looked red and her face pale. The somber mood filling the air ratcheted up Kylie's concern for her former best friend.

  "She's in her room," Mrs. Jetton said.

  Kylie almost asked what was wrong, but the chill running down her spine prevented her from talking. That short walk from the living room to Sara's door filled Kylie's head with dozens of memories. And for some odd reason, those memories brought tears to her eyes.

  "You have to save her. You have to save her. " The ghost's words vibrated in Kylie's head. She swallowed and told herself she was overreacting, that everything was fine.

  Sara's door stood ajar and when Kylie saw Sara, Kylie gasped. Sara looked . . . awful. So pale that Kylie watched her chest to make sure she was breathing.

  Sara opened her eyes. "She told you, didn't she?"

  Kylie used both hands to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "Told me what?"

  "What the doctor . . . If she didn't . . . why are you crying?"

  "Happy to see you. " She tried to smile.

  "You always were a lousy liar. " Sara pulled the covers up. "Mom, can you please turn down the air? I'm freezing in here. "

  "Honey, I already did," her mom called from the living room. "I phoned the electrician. Something's wrong with the AC again. "

  A photo album on Sara's bedside table plopped to the floor.

  Kylie picked it up. She wasn't surprised when she saw the face staring up from the album. Then she looked at the foot of Sara's bed at the same spirit of the woman. She'd lost the spaghetti and the bloodstained gown, but her expression was just as dire as before.

  "Who is this?" Kylie p
assed her finger over the face. Sara leaned over to see. It appeared to hurt her to move. "My grandma. She died when I was four. Of the same kind of cancer. Isn't that freaky?"

  Cancer. The word brought another gasp to Kylie's lungs and she had to work to keep her lips from trembling. She looked at the spirit. "I can't fix this. "

  "Yes, you can!"

  "Can't fix what?" Sara looked at the album as if Kylie had broken something.

  "Nothing. " Kylie sat down beside Sara. The memories of them on this bed, sharing secrets, laughing at the stupidest things, filled Kylie's head.

  She swallowed emotions that threatened to overpower her. "Do you remember when we laid here and practiced kissing mirrors before the sixth-grade dance?"

  Sara smiled. "Yeah. " She leaned on the pillow and closed her eyes. Her long brown hair looked thinner and it lacked its normal luster. The silence grew longer. Sadder.

  Kylie stroked Sara's arm. "What did the doctor say?"