Page 69 of We’re All Going to Die Tonight!

“Shut up,” Ms. Dorman says. “For once in your life, shut up.”

I half expect Kaitlyn to bite out another flippant comment out of spite, but instead, she pinches her lips together and stays quiet. In the silence, a new sound starts to groan out. A garbled, stretched sound.

“The record player,” I whisper. “It keeps doing that.”

“Haunted,” Kaitlyn says. “So obviously haunted.”

Ms. Dorman doesn’t have to say “Shut up” this time. She just fixes Kaitlyn with another stare. As the record player continues playing, Dorman reaches into her pocket and hands me something. It’s a small container, almost like an inhaler.

“Mace,” she says, not taking her eyes off the front door. “Point and shoot, Avery. And don’t hesitate.”

My hand trembles the second the Mace falls into my grip, but I close my fingers around it anyway. Next to me, Kaitlyn’s eyes dart from the Mace to Ms. Dorman, and her fingers flex as she waits for her own. But Ms. Dorman offers her nothing, only turns and walks in the direction of the record player.

“Bitch,” Kaitlyn mutters.

“I’ll do it for both of us,” I say. “Just stay close.”

Kaitlyn doesn’t answer me, but she watches me carefully. And even with what I know now about Kaitlyn’s history with Mr. Jay, I don’t think she killed him. She’s in the house with me, after all. And for now, that’s enough.

The record player stops, and I hear Ms. Dorman’s sigh of relief. There are soft footsteps as she disappears deeper into the house, and suddenly, Kaitlyn’s hand is grabbing my free one.

“Don’t leave me,” she says softly.

She’s barely gotten the words out when another scream makes us both jump, and this time, it’s not outside. This time, it’s coming from down the hallway.

“Ms. Dorman,” I murmur, leaping to my feet.

But Kaitlyn’s hand is holding mine like a vise, her head shaking back and forth.

“Come on.” I yank her forward, but her feet are firmly rooted to the ground.

“No way,” she says. “I’m not dying for Dorman.”

“It’s not a ghost!” I tell her, even as my heart hammers. “Now come on!”

When she doesn’t relent, I pull my hand free and race down the hall in the direction Ms. Dorman went in. I exhale, relieved when I hear Kaitlyn running behind me. We turn the corner, and several framed pictures and sculptures have been knocked to the ground, and in the middle of them all is Ms. Dorman.

“Ms. Dorman!” I yelp, rushing to her. I push a picture off her and roll the ball-shaped sculpture near her head to the side. She’s unconscious, but when I touch her wrist, I feel a pulse.

“Get me something cold,” I say to Kaitlyn. “Hurry!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kaitlyn asks. “There isn’t time for something cold! Someone knocked her out. Where’s the Mace?”

I hold it up with my free hand, keeping the other on Ms. Dorman’s wrist. I look around, searching for where an attacker could have gone. Next to me, Kaitlyn’s breathing hard, her eyes flitting from me to Ms. Dorman on the ground.

“Is she dead?”

I shake my head, trying not to think about the fact that we may just have locked the attacker in here with us. And the truth is, there are so, so many rooms in this damn house. We’ll never be safe, not unless we can watch every room at the same time.

“We need to check these closets,” I tell Kaitlyn, letting Ms. Dorman’s wrist fall to the ground and then standing up. “Quickly. They couldn’t have gone far. Here, I’ll—”

I’m reaching for the door nearest me, Mace in hand, as Kaitlyn is telling me not to. I turn back to see that I don’t need to open the door because it’s opening already.

A hand appears around the corner.

“Marlene?”

Chapter 39