Page 94 of I'll Be Waiting

Shania turns to me, her face glowing. “Anton was here. He was really here, Nic.”

I nod, unable to speak, struggling to make my expression as close to happy as I can. It must work, because she throws her arms around my neck.

“See?” she whispers. “He’s fine. Everything’s okay.”

Everything is not okay.

Not by a long shot.

TWENTY-FIVE

Jin hovers over me after that. He insists I sit down, and he has Shania pull on her nurse hat to walk me through signs of a concussion. Jin doesn’t question that it was an accident, though. I got overexcited and tripped. No need to end the séances. No need to whisk me back into the protective custody of my brother.

I tell the others that I’m going to bed, and I reach the top of the stairs before Cirillo comes after me. He waves me into his room, and I almost walk into my own and shut the door, but at the last second, I follow him.

“Did you really accidentally topple the chair?” he asks once he’s shut the door.

“Are you concerned for my safety? Or worried about missing a potential physical manifestation for your funding application?”

His lips press into a sour line.

“I don’t expect you to be concerned for my well-being, Dr. Cirillo,” I say. “But Iamconcerned about how your data is going to be used, so don’t expect me to be completely forthcoming.”

“Something toppled the chair.”

I don’t answer. Sure, I feel a little childish, but whatever’s happeninghere is about me, and I don’t really care how it affects this stranger’s livelihood.

He moves closer, voice lowering. “If we are dealing with a being that can move objects in the physical world, that is a safety concern.”

“We already knew that, between the stairs and the bath mat.”

“Which were centered on you. As was this one. Yes, I care about my work, but if you are in danger, we need to take action.”

“Okay. I’m in danger. Now what?”

He hesitates, as if he still expected me to deny it. It’s so much easier when you can just warn someone of danger and then wash your hands of the consequences.

“Should we leave?” I say. “I’ve been targeted three times. If I told Jin—”

“I don’t think that’s wise.”

Yeah, I’m sure you don’t.

He continues, “We have unleashed something here, Nicola. If we leave, we risk inflicting that on others. You need to be aware of your responsibility. We aren’t investigating a haunted house. You brought the ghosts with you. You can’t leave them behind.”

When I don’t answer, he presses on, “One of them is your husband. I’m sure of that. We all heard him. He’s here, but when we brought him in, something tagged along, something dark.”

“You sense two entities?”

He peers at me, but I keep my expression only mildly curious.

“What else could it be?” he asks.

I shrug. “You tell me. You’re the expert.”

“We clearly heard Anton in the living room, and at the same time, another entity knocked over your chair.”

That’s one way of looking at it. The other way is that Anton lured them out to target me, but I’m sure as hell not mentioning that to someone who’ll put it on a grant application.

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