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“Holy shit,” I said. “She drove here?” I let out a long sigh.

“Is that bad?” Beatrice asked in a small voice.

“Very bad,” I said. “What am I gonna do with her?”

“I know!” Agnes raised her hand. “She could live with us! We could keep an eye on her!”

I huffed out a laugh, but shook my head. “She wants to be here, and we’re going back to San Fran soon.”

Both girls went quiet, but they nodded.

This was the one thing they didn’t fight me on.

“Hold my hands and don’t run off. I’m really serious about this one. It’s different here at night.”

I could tell neither of them had been out in nature before. Both of them gripped my hands tightly as we hurried through the field.

“What’s that sound?” Beatrice whispered.

“That’s probably a raccoon,” I replied. I didn’t like hearing the sound either, but I had to be brave for them.

She gripped my hand tighter.

“Why is it kind of loud?” Agnes asked.

“A lot of animals are out. Do you need to wait in the car?”

“No! I wanna help Jade! If I’m scared, then she is too!”

“Me too!” Beatrice said.

“All right. It’s not much farther.”

I used the flashlight on my phone to illuminate the path as we walked to the spring. When we got there, I didn’t see her near the area. Where could she have gone? What was going on?

Then we saw another light.

Both girls screamed.

“It’s a ghost!” Agnes yelled.

“She’s here to get us for being bad!” Beatrice screamed. “I told you not to do that to the bees!”

“I told you not to be mean to Dad!”

They hid behind me while purple hair came into view.

“Gabriel?” Jade asked. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I blinked. She was awake. “Did you mean to call me?”

She stared. “I called you?”

The girls peeked out. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s he doing having you out here at night?”

“We thought you were in trouble,” I explained.