Page 58 of Just This Once

“I saw an orb!” Oaklynn blurted, talking over her. Then she winced and lifted both fisted hands up to her mouth. “On Hope.”

I pulled back, squinting at her. “Like aghostorb?”

“Uh-huh.” She bobbed her head, and I tilted my face, confused.

Both girls could perceive the dead, but they seemed to do it in different ways. Faith got a spidey sense that seemed to lift the hair on the back of her neck whenever a ghost was around, and Oaklynn could see a reflection of light off them that resembled an orb. But she could only see it in natural sunlight.

Switching my attention to Faith, I asked, “And you saw it too?”

“I mean…” She rolled her eyes, mumbling, “Maybe. Barely.”

“It might be dull and barely discernible, but it’sthere,” Oaklynn insisted.

I chewed on the inside of my lip thoughtfully before I asked Faith, “Have you noticed any prickling sensations around her?”

She only sighed. “I don’t know. When she first appeared in the kitchen yesterday, it was a little alarming to see a stranger just stroll inside like that, as if she owned the place. But that could’ve simply been the stranger-danger effect. Then she climbed on top of my boyfriend in the living room directly afterward, which caused another kind of reaction. If there wereany ghostly vibes, I didn’t notice them among all the other things I was feeling.”

“Hmm,” was all I had to say before my gaze switched back to Oaklynn.

“What do you think it means?” she asked.

“Well, she’s obviously not a ghost,” I said. “But—” I winced, not liking the idea I was having.

“What?” Oaklynn demanded, wanting to hear it anyway. “What’re you thinking?”

“Let me ask you this,” I tried. “Did you ever notice an orb around Ivey when he was possessed?”

Both girls merely blinked at me as if I’d lost my mind.

“What?” Oaklynn uttered in bewilderment.

I didn’t think the question had been that hard to grasp, so I snapped my fingers to get them to perk up and pay attention. “When Hudson had the ghost of his little friend stuck inside him,” I said slowly. “Did you ever notice any reflections orbing offhim?”

“No,” Oaklynn answered as if that should be obvious. “But…” She shrugged and bit her lip. “If it was as dim as the one hovering around Hope, then it’s completely possible I missed one on Hudson, especially since I wasn’t looking for them back then. I’m way more aware of them now.”

“Fuck,” I breathed, feeling my stomach pit with unease.

“What’re you saying?” Faith demanded. “Do you think Hope’s possessed by a ghost?” Glancing at Oaklynn, she asked, “Do we even know if she was ever around anyone when they died?”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “She was with her dad.”

“Eww.” Oaklynn shuddered. “It would totally freak me out to learn my dad was inside me.”

Faith grimaced. “Especially when you say it likethat.”

“Okay, I’ve got this,” I said, digging a hand into my pocket to pull up the set of keys that went to my truck. Lifting them, I showed the girls the tiny glass amulet I had dangling from the ring.

It would fill with white smoke if a ghost was near.

Oaklynn gasped when she saw it. “You stole Keene’s ghost-detecting charm?”

I rolled my eyes. “They’re thirty bucks at Jezebel’s Nest. I bought my own.”

“Oh.” She made a makes-sense face and nodded. “That’s actually a good idea.”

“Isn’t it, though?” I countered waspishly before lifting a staying hand. “So let’s just keep this little theory between the three of us until we have a definite answer, alright?”

But that suggestion only caused Oaklynn to chew on her lip indecisively and Faith to straight-up say, “Oh, there ain’t no way I’m keeping this from Hudson.”

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