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“That’s crazy,” I breathe out. “But it doesn’t give us answers to the current haunting. Why is he attached to us?”
“You said it yourself that he thinks you look like his Iris, right?” I nod. “Maybe we need to do some more research on Wolf and Iris.”
“Yes, but is that enough? That doesn’t explain how he knew we were going to get hurt or how he ended up here,” I argue. “I know ghosts can attach to things and people, but I don’t feel him around us often. So, is he not truly attached and just seeking us out?” We’re hardly experts so all of these conclusions are shots in the dark.
“We’re in unfamiliar territory,” Eli points out, then his face lights up like he’s got an idea.
“Oh God, I’m not going to like this,” Jayce winces, noticing the same excitement I did.
“Ouija board?” Eli suggests and we both cringe.
“That’s a hell no from me,” I say firmly. “But we could try a seance regardless, right?”
“There’s got to be other ways to talk to spirits. There’s a new age shop over on South Boulevard that we could check out. She might be able to help us,” Jayce adds. “I never gave all those crystals and candles much thought but if they can keep us safe, I’m willing to try it. I’ve had enough pain to last a lifetime.”
Eli chuckles humorlessly. “You and me both. I actually like that plan.”
“Then it’s settled. Pizza night tonight, then tomorrow we head over and see what we can find,” I summarize, both men nodding in agreement. Now that we have a plan in place, excitement dances in me. We might actually get some answers and a real chance to communicate with the ghost or ghosts who followed us home.
Eli
The smoke filling the apartment freaked me out more than I will admit to Raven and Jayce. I have to be the big strong one, right? That’s what guys do?
It hasn’t been that long since the accident. Hell, I’m not over the fact that I died and came back with the gift to see the last moments or memories of ghosts.
If Wolf is attached to us, why? Because Raven reminds him of Iris? Did he try to kill us? Does he believe that she is Iris? There’s a mix of bad and good interactions now that have us all questioning just who Lucien Wolf really is.
I roll away from Raven to look at the clock. Three a.m. If I can’t get my brain to shut off, maybe I can do my own research. Jayce got some info on why the college may be haunted but I want to know more about Wolf and Iris.
With a grunt of lingering pain, not quite healed from the accident, I push off the mattress and head back to the living room where Raven keeps her laptop. I open it up and get it booting up on the armrest as I grab water from the fridge. That freak smoke in here earlier had Rav and I chugging water after water. My throat still feels as if it’s dry and burning.
Careful not to spill, I pop the top and take a big swig as I sit behind the lit-up screen. I open the browser and type Lucien Wolf into the search engine. At the top of the results are the same stories the tour guide told us. Professor at the college and hero that died the night of the fire. There is no mention of Iris there. Fuck, I just realized that I don’t even know Iris’s last name. How do you find a ghost?
So, I scroll down the page glancing at each mention of Lucien with no success in finding Iris. As far as the articles and descriptions of Wolf go, he was a single man.
When that yields no real results, I change the search to Lucien Wolf and Iris. Crossing my fingers, I hope that I will get lucky to at least get an image of the two of them or even just her. I have to know if she really was Raven’s doppelganger.
I hold my breath as I hit the image tab. It takes a bit of scrolling but then I finally find what I’m looking for. It’s a faculty photo but the image of Raven is smiling back at me. Sure she’s wearing a whole lot less black and her makeup is a subtle, natural look, but those features are unmistakable.
“Fuuuuccckkk.” I state as I let out my breath. If I didn’t know better I would think that was my girl staring back at me from the picture.
Every one of the people in the picture are smiling but one woman, if I follow her gaze, it looks as if she's scowling at Wolf. Who, of course, is directly next to Iris.
I match the names on the caption to each person in the pictures until I get to the unhappy lady. Stella Walker. Huh, I wonder if she’s related to Jayce?
Before I return to the search engine, I save the photo and type in Stella’s name. Unlike when I was searching for Wolf, this time I get over a million hits. I roll my eyes at myself when I realize that it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack. You idiot, Walker is a common name.
Laughing at my naivety, I redefine my search to include the college and the town name. This time it’s successful, a slew of news articles with grizzly headings popping up, one after the other. Oh look, more tragic events.
Teen under investigation for arson.
Walker, committed to an insane asylum for setting lover on fire.
And those were the tamer ones.
What if she’s the one that set the fire at the college?
What motive does she have to kill Wolf and Iris?
