There’s a woman standing behind Rene, face bloody and bruised just like how I saw her in my dream. Her mouth falls open, hanging unnaturally from a broken jaw and disappears as soon as I startle.
I hear the name Allison again along with a warning: get out before he kills you too.
ChapterSeventeen
“Babe.” Ethan nudges me and I blink a few times, looking down at the bag of popcorn. “I think it’s time to slow it down.”
“Right.” I swallow hard, eyes wide, and look around the room for the woman.Allison. This was her room. A room she shared with a friend. It was a small place, but it was safe, and it was there. I pull my hands back, giving the bag of popcorn a few seconds to cool and suddenly I’m there, back in time in the same room.
I’m sitting in the same place, on the floor between two twin beds. There’s a small table by the kitchenette, a loveseat and coffee table set up in the middle of the room. The door opens, and Allison and her friend come in, talking and laughing.
“I’m telling you,” the friend says, shutting the door behind her. “Making a book for the recently deceased isn’t a bad idea! It was helpful to the couple in the movie!”
“Not helpful enough,” Allison chuckles. “I’d put in better guidelines.” She takes off her coat, tossing it on the small table and opens the fridge. “Ugh, we’re out of white Zinfandel.”
“No time for drinking tonight. It’s the last day of the full moon phase and we need to charge our crystals and cleanse our auras.”
I blink again and I’m back in the present day and the smell of buttery popcorn fills the air.
“When didBeetlejuicecome out?” I ask
“Late eights,” Ethan replies, tipping his head slightly. He knows me enough to pick up that I just saw something no one else could.
“Nineteen eighty-eight to be exact,” Nik says. “I had just returned to the good ‘ole US of A that year after a season in Europe and I went to see it with your aunt, actually.”
“And movies typically stayed in theaters for a few a month or two, right?”
“You and your streaming,” Nik scoffs. “Back then, a popular movie would play for six months or longer. We couldn’t download things off the internet because it wasn’t invented then. Well, it was just not available to the public and my gran would never have allowed me to use it anyway. She thought an evil warlock set the whole thing up to suck away our souls and now that I’m thinking about it, she wasn’t that wrong.”
“Well, fuck,” I mumble and pick up the popcorn bag, tossing it back go Rene so she can dump it in a bowl.
“What did you see?” Ethan asks quietly.
“Two girls in this room,” I start and Ethan raises his eyebrows. “Not like that.” I elbow him and roll my eyes. “They had just come home from seeingBeetlejuicein the theater and were talking about charging crystals in the full moon. I thought we could narrow down dates with that.”
“We might be able to.” Ethan pulls out his phone. “If we can get a list of theaters in the area, it would be a long shot to have records kept like that, but it’s possible we can see the run-time.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Nik says, waving his hand in the air. “Charging crystals? These women were witches?” His eyes meet mine and now I know for sure he’s feeling the same unwelcome feeling I am.
“I mean, we are close to Thorne Hill.” I shrug and look around the room. “I heard a name. Allison.”
Keith gasps and waves his hands excitedly. “Can I tell you now? Now that you know a name?”
“Not yet.” The air above me feels cold and I want to offer my energy to help Allison’s spirit manifest. But I don’t want to quite acknowledge them so soon. “Let’s see if she comes back.”
I heat up another bag of popcorn and then lean against Ethan, eyes feeling heavy only minutes into the movie. The plan was to stay up pretty late and then sleep in shifts, acting like Rene and Keith, who are taking the morning shift, fell asleep during the movie. But I’m not sure I’m going to make it.
Telling myself it’ll be fine if I just close my eyes for a few minutes since everyone else is awake, I mentally tell Allison to take my energy if she needs it to communicate with me. She’s come off as the victim so far, but it could all be a trick as well. I rest my head on Ethan’s chest and he puts his arm around me, absentmindedly running his fingers up and down my back, which only lulls me to sleep sooner.
I dream that I’m back at my house, where Hunter is keeping watch for the familiar who takes on the shape of a wolf. The house is silent except for the ticking of a grandfather clock. It’s in the foyer, up against the grand staircase. I walk in rhythm with the ticking of the clock, going past it and up the stairs. When I get to the landing and open my bedroom door, I step into the room we’re all in now.
Bright sunlight streams through, and the sweet smell of peppermint mixes with the stench of gasoline and cigarettes. My chest hurts when I inhale, and I pat the pockets of my overalls, feeling for a cigarette. I can’t light it in here, though.
Because it’s not my room.
Key jingle and my heavy boots thud on the floor, taking a few more steps into the room. I look around and am filled with anger when I see a pentagram made from twigs hanging on the wall. Suddenly, I’m pushed backward and am no longer seeing things from his point of view.
He turns, face too blurry to make out his features, and screaming echoes around me. My eyes fly open and I’m back in my bed. I’m unable to move. I try to open my mouth so I can scream for Ethan, but nothing will come out. Then a single scream rings out around me, bringing relief that’s short-lived.