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I thought he was just going to walk out on me completely and leave the apartment, but once I reached the bottom of the stairs, he was still in the living room, hands on his hips and shaking as he paced in a small circle.
He lifted a finger as he tried to get himself under control. “J-just give me a second,” he finally managed to gasp out. “Please. I couldn’t breathe up there.”
But I didn’t have a second. “What the hell is going on?” When he glanced at me but couldn’t seem to say anything, I demanded, “Is Thalia really dead? She’s been dead for tenyears?”
He flinched at the question, but then he pressed a hand to his abdomen and nodded.
“And she diedhere?” I pointed to the ground under me.
Damien had to close his eyes as he bobbed his head in affirmation. Slumping down to sit on the arm of the sofa, he rested his hands on his knees as I pointed up the stairs. “Then who the hell did I rent the room from? Who have I beenlivingwith for the past two months?”
But obviously, I hadn’t been living with anyone. There was no bed, no dressers, no nothing for another person to be rooming with me.
“I…” Shaking his head, Damien winced as he met my accusative stare. “I don’t…I don’t know how to answer that.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know how to answer that?” I exploded. “Someone’sbeen impersonating your sister. Don’t you even care to know who it is?”
He heaved out a helpless breath and sent me a begging glance. But I had no idea what he was begging for.
“You said you rented the room fromthatgirl.” He pointed toward the picture on the wall.
I nodded. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he repeated. “So that’s Thalia.”
I shook my head, “Then…she has a twin?”
“No. She doesn’t have a twin. There are no twins.”
“But Thalia’s…dead?” I asked bluntly because something wasn’t adding up here. None of this was making any sense.
Damien grimaced as if he’d just been stabbed. He even set a hand against the center of his chest before nodding.
“Just what’re you suggesting?” I demanded. “That I rented a room from aghost? That’s crazy! I’m not fucking crazy.”
“I know that,” he rasped, lifting his hand to calm me down as if I was getting toocrazyfor him. Then he took another moment to calmhimselfbefore he nodded as if ready to finally talk logically.
“Hey,” the officer said quietly as if afraid to interrupt us.
We glanced at him where he’d paused at the bottom of the stairs.
“You got a key for the attic?” he asked Damien.
Wincing through a swallow, Damien nodded and dug into his pocket before tossing his entire key ring over. The officer caught it and then disappeared back up the stairs.
I returned my attention to Thalia’s brother.
He nodded to me as well, then blew out a long breath and spoke in a patient tone as he explained. “We… My parents and I had the whole apartment remodeled about five years ago and started renting it out then. But…” Shaking his head and wincing, he glanced at me. “No one’s ever stayed over a month. They hear footsteps at night. Doors slamming. Floors creaking. Cold spots. Unexplained music playing. Things moved from one room to another. And sometimes…screaming.”
When I flinched, he winced with me. “I know Thalia died,” he said. “But… I don’t know if she ever completely left.”
I snorted out a disbelieving sound and shook my head, refusing to buy this bullshit.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I shook my head harder and glanced away, only to turn back and nail him with a pointed glare. “So you’re saying the place is haunted. And you actuallybelievethat?”
“I… I don’t know what I believe,” he admitted, shaking his head and looking slightly lost. “But… You knew things about her,” he insisted. “Things like her stealing popcorn at the theater, our aunt owning the apartment before us, the picture in my room being hers. Hell… You described her mannerisms and taste in music perfectly. It’s clear you’ve hadsomekind of contact with her.”
“Damien, I don’t see dead people,” I stated firmly. “I’m not the kid inThe Sixth Sense. The woman I assumed was Thalia was a true, living person. I talked with her. I joked with her. I watched movies with her. And tonight… I heard her scream like—”
