Page 46 of Some Kind of Haunted

“My grandfather thinks it’s a limiting theory,” Jack says, like he can’t help but tell us the whole story. Like he thinks we need all the information, even if it doesn’t support his position. That makes something in me . . . soften more than it should. “Maybe he’s right. He’s been studying it longer than I have, but I can’t let it go. Especially now that we’ve got more than one Darling.”

He looks at me then, and it’s the same kind of look I saw in the back room when I thought I had found a kind of softening in him. Something more than a softening, really.

But I’m probably letting my imagination run wild because he’s so absurdly hot, and now is not the time for that. So I do founding-family math instead. Two Darlings, three counting Cleo since her grandmother is one. Two Bellamys, and one adopted Bellamy. Does adopted count? Do foundlings count? Do we know if any of these things count? Or will we have to wait and see if we’re spared while other people have demon targets on their backs?

I keep trying to work how I fit into this, as some kind of warning system. As the bringer of doom, which, in fairness, has always been the vibe I bring to any party. “Has the harbinger ever been a founding family member before?” I ask.

Everyone looks at me except Logan, who is still studying the map.

Nora’s gaze moves to Jack. “We know for a fact they haven’t been, don’t we?”

“I’ll have to go through everything and double-check, but . . . I don’t think so.” He’s studying me again with those intent green eyes. I order myself not to misinterpret what I see there. “A Darling who is part foundling for a harbinger.”

“And here early,” Cleo says, also studying me. “The harbinger never comes early. Always on the flood wall, like you were last night, but not this early. Sometimes they live through that, sometimes not, but usually it’s chaos anyway because the Feed happens the following night.”

I feel like some kind of science experiment, the way they’re all staring at me. The good news is that I am used to that kind of thing, so I smile.

“It must be Amelia.” Nora’s voice is hushed. “That’s what’s different. Amelia’s death is what brought them here. She knew everything that was happening. Maybe she knew too much. So it’s possible that she might have . . .”

We don’t have to share dreams for me to get where she’s going with that. I don’t like it.

Neither does Logan. “You aren’t suggesting our grandmother killed herself to bring us here early,” he says sharply.

“No.” Nora scowls at Logan. “I’m not saying that. I’m just saying . . . It means something that she brought you guys here now. Early. It has to mean something.”

“Like what?” I ask.

“Like we’ve got a damn chance,” Jack answers. “Because this is going differently than it has before.”

There’s a light in his eyes I haven’t seen before, especially when he’s looking at me the way he is now. It reads like determination, but I think what’s different is there’s a kind of hope behind it.

Like I could be a beacon of hope, when I kind of think I’m a sign for all things shitty. Because I always have been.

But the thing is . . . I want to be about hope for a change. I don’t want to bring the doom and destruction the way I always have in a thousand different tiny ways in my life.

I want to mean something. Especially here.

I don’t know why, but finding out we come from this fucked up place matters to me. Discovering that my dreams connect to reality here in the middle of Iowa matters.

I want that to mean I matter, too.

Though I certainly know better than to say this out loud.

“If the harbinger getting here early is because of Amelia, I think we should take that as a gift.” Cleo looks around at the rest of us. “Question is, what do we do with the extra time?”

Jack turns his brooding gaze back to the map. “I want to figure out this clock tower thing. I’ll go back and look through the diaries. Maybe there’s a clue in there.”

“I’ll help,” Nora tells him. Then she looks my way. “Lexi, you should read the account of the deal the first settlers made with the demons. Maybe it’ll shake something loose.”

Jack nods. “Come by the antique store tomorrow. Grandpa will show you. Meanwhile, Nora and I will go over the old accounts, and the rest of us should steer clear of the danger zones.” He points them out on the map again. The mine, the flood wall, and now the clock tower. “Even during the day. Maybe there’s no danger, but Lexi’s dreams suggest otherwise, so we have to be careful. We’re all we’ve got.”

I look around this strange room with three near strangers and my twin brother. We’re all we’ve got, I think. It’s scary, but it feels correct. Or meant. Or something.

Like I was always heading right here.

Like I’ve dreamed of this, too, when I only remember the slurping and the scary parts.

Nora starts clearing up the snacks from the table and takes most of them over toward the kitchen area with the minifridge. Logan watches her go, then seems to jerk himself out of that. He asks Cleo about the planes, and she leads him away from the table in the opposite direction and starts pointing at the various ancient aircraft parked on the concrete.