Page 45 of Trick or Stalk

Snap.

My head jerks in that direction.

Nothing.

I shake my head.

Don’t be ridiculous. Branches snap. Leaves sway. It’s part of nature.

I turn and look toward the woods anyway. Orange, red, and golden leaves cover the ground beneath the trees.

There’s no movement.

No strange shadows.

No one watching me.

I shake my head. “Stop letting that stupid movie bother you.”

Penny follows me inside.

I close the door behind us, then lock it.

I glance out the window in the door.

Outside, the crooked ghost twists slowly in the autumn breeze.

I watch it for a moment before walking away.

CHAPTER 9

Hades

It’s only for emergencies.

That’s what I tell myself as I walk out of the store, carrying a new cell phone.

Technically, that’s bullshit. And I know it.

Wilder and I had to ditch our old ones.

I glance down at the device in my hand.

New phones.

New numbers.

Clean slate for both of us.

Zero connections to the past.

It’s smart. Necessary, even.

The fact that the woman in the Victorian house has been on my mind since I woke up has absolutely nothing to do with it.

I look down at the phone.

“Fuck.”