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“Nope, that was it.”
“And he didn’t ask why you were curious?”
“You know Dad. He lets you come to him on your own terms. He doesn’t press the issue. I just told him we found the paper in a box upstairs and were curious. He left it at that.”
“Okay.” Cassie wasn’t sure why her heart was pounding so much. She looked around the room for a distraction and spotted a small memory box on the corner of the desk across from them. It was covered in stickers. “What’s that?”
Laura followed her gaze to the box. “A bunch of pictures from when we were kids. I saw a couple of Sarah in them. I thought you’d want to look through them. Or maybe they’d help bring back some memories.”
“Oh. Yeah, good point.”
But Cassie didn’t move. She wanted to solve the mystery of Sarah Lennox’s disappearance, but she knew she wouldn’t like the answer. No matter how it shaped up, her childhood best friend was dead. Even if it wasn’t directly her fault, Cassie knew once she learned the truth, she’d carry the guilt of Sarah’s death with her for the rest of her life.
She’d always wonder if she could’ve done more.
Before Cassie could muster up the courage to retrieve the box, Sebastian reached over and stuck his hand through the center of the box. As his hand disappeared inside, he closed his eyes in concentration.
The box teetered and fell off the edge of the desk. Within the same breath, he disappeared.
Laura was on her feet and across the room in a matter of seconds. “Holy shit.”
Cassie was caught between laughter and shock. “It’s okay. Don’t be scared.”
“What the hell was that?”
“It was Sebastian. He’s gone now.”
“He did that?”
Cassie nodded, but she had to bite her tongue to keep from giggling. She’d never seen Laura so afraid in her life. Then again, if an invisible hand knocked something off the table, Cassie would have the same reaction, abilities or no abilities.
“I didn’t know he could,” she admitted. “He usually just stands in a corner and stares. He’s only spoken to me once. This is new.”
“Is he getting stronger?”
“Maybe.” Cassie hated how she could never be sure of anything when it came to ghosts. “We have his name now. More of his story. That could be why.”
Laura looked a little calmer now. “Why’d he knock it over?”
“Not sure.”
When the box had fallen over, most of the pictures had dumped out into a pile. A photograph had slid across the floor and landed in front of Cassie. Was this what he’d been searching for?
She picked it up and turned it over. Laura leaned in close.
The photo was like any picture taken of a pair of kids when they were younger—half blurry and out of focus. The two girls had their arms thrown around each other’s shoulders, their heads tipped back in raucous laughter. They each wore baggy t-shirts and cut-off shorts. Their hair was short and messy and windblown.
“That’s her, isn’t it?” Laura asked.
Cassie vaguely remembered her mom taking the picture of them. It had only been a few days before she disappeared. They both looked so happy. There was no way either of them could’ve known what the universe had in store for them.
“Yeah.” Cassie swallowed back some bile. “One of the last pictures ever taken of Sarah Lennox.”
17
Morning came early for Cassie.
When her eyes fluttered open, she could tell by the darkness of the room that the sun had barely crested the horizon. The pounding in her head and the soreness of her back made it impossible to fall back asleep, so she sat up and continued what she’d been doing all day yesterday.
