Page 1 of Taunting the Ghost

Chapter 1

Don’t get lost in the woods on Halloween or the ghost of Misty Lake will take your soul. Trapping you with him forever.

It was a story that everyone who went to the fall festival heard. A typical, generic story to scare the gullible.

Caleb’s friends told a different story, one whispered in the showers after practice: The ghost of Misty lake will trap you and suck you off.

It was just a stupid, ridiculous joke. The sort of joke his teammates on the college hockey team made all the time. Same energy as yelling, ‘don’t drop the soap’ in the showers.

Because to his bros, the worst thing you could be was gay.

That was not what he needed running through his head as he walked - alone - in that very same forest.

He wasn’t afraid! Just reasonably concerned. Strange things happened in this forest. All the rumors had to start somewhere. Everyone had a story of a sighting.

Caleb stared at his phone, the text he’d received from his best friend Isaac telling him to follow the trail up to the cabin. Isaac had found them shelter from the thunderstorm.

A thunderstorm that had already taken out a tree and blocked the road, forcing them to abandon their car. Caleb had wanted to wait for someone with an axe or chainsaw to come and clear it. Isaac had said it wasn’t safe and they needed to find shelter.

Of course, Caleb hadn’t been able to say the real reason he didn’t want to hike through the forest.

And now he was alone, doing it anyway.

He couldn’t ask Isaac to come get him. Better to be turned gay for real than to let Isaac think Caleb was afraid of ghosts. His reputation as the team’s enforcer would never survive the fallout.

The trees hung heavy over the path. It’d been raining so long they did nothing to protect him.

The tight-jean cowboy costume had been a huge mistake. The hat was long gone, ripped off his head by the wind and lost in the dim light and dense brush. Pants and a jean vest offered practically no protection.

A branch brushed against his bare arm, making him flinch. Caleb grit his teeth and reminded himself why he was here, instead of back on campus partying with the hockey team.

“She dumped me out of nowhere,” Isaac had said.

Right before the big fall festival held in the neighboring town that Isaac had been looking forward to all year. It was like she’d been aiming for maximum impact.

So of course, Caleb had dropped everything for his bro. It was what best friends did. The two of them had been a duo for years. Having girlfriends would never change that.

Even hike through a haunted forest to reach him.

With only a phone flashlight to light the way.

If only Caleb’s girlfriend were here. She’d be jumping at every creak and groan from the branches above them. She’d see eyes looking out at them from within every shadow. She’d be glued to Caleb’s side, gripping his arm so tight she’d leave a bruise.

Unlike Caleb. Who would say that it was all in her head.

All of it.

No one would notice that Caleb’s knuckles were white on the cooler he was carrying. No one would hear how fast he was breathing. How his heart was racing.

She made the perfect cover. No one had ever suspected.

A faint light in the distance guided him on. It had to be Isaac. The heavy rain was making everything blurry, but he kept it in sight. Like a wil-o-the-wisp leading him to safety… or to his death.

They were called ghost lights for a reason.

Shit. He was letting his imagination run wild again.

“Bro, I love you, I’d do anything for you. But this is ridiculous.” Caleb sighed. “He better have a fire going. And have the hot water ready. And-”