When the Dead Come a Knockin' Read online

  “Give up? Huh?” He taunted as he kept tickling me. I could barely breathe.

  “Maria! Help!” I yelled for backup as he continued to tickle me. Feet moved across the floor. I looked up. Maria was walking in with a frown on her face.

  “Ethan, déjala en paz en este instante!” Maria shouted at Ethan in Spanish. Ethan jerked off me immediately; I just laid there still laughing. “Tu no golpeas así a una niña!” I had no clue what she was saying, I would have asked if I wasn’t still laughing my ass off.

  “But she...” Ethan pointed at his bed and his wet body. Maria started laughing.

  “I told her to, you brats are late. Your friends will be here any minute.” Maria looked down at me smiling. “I got your back sweetie.” I burst out laughing again as she left the room. When I could breathe, I sat up.

  “I love your Mom,” I told him smiling. He glared and pointed at the door.

  “Out! I need to get dressed.” He snapped. I got up and went out into the hall, closing the door behind me. Isaac’s door was also closed. I was about to go downstairs when I felt that chill down my neck, but it was more like a finger. A ghost who had been dead for some time. I looked around and saw another bedroom door open. There she was. She had to have been six years old. Long black hair in a braid down her back, big brown eyes. Sweet, beautiful face. She was wearing dirty jeans, a pinks sweatshirt, and sneakers. She watched me curiously. My barriers were holding, so I walked closer. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, not an aching. A stabbing pain, it told me trauma.

  “You can see me?” She asked. Her voice was sweet and curious. I nodded. “Then can you help me? I’m stuck here.” I looked around to make sure that Maria wasn’t around. I stepped closer to her so that I could whisper. The pain increased, and my head began to throb. I stopped.

  “The Veil is shut right now,” I told her gently, she frowned. “But I do have a way to help you move on. It’s going to take some time to set up. Can you hold onto yourself with all the energy running around?” She blinked up at me and smiled.

  “Yeah, no problem. I don’t like that energy stuff anyway. I only use my energy to mess with Eth and Izzy.” My heart dropped. Oh, God. Please, no.

  “Who are you?” My head gave a painful throb, and I didn’t care. I pulled out my tissues and didn’t move.

  “I’m Sophia. They always called me Sophie.” My chest clenched tight. No, no, no, no.

  “How do you know them?” I asked softly. She blinked at me.

  “They’re my older brothers.” I couldn’t breathe, my lungs seized. Fuck me. I forced myself to take a deep breath. “You can take your time, Eth pulled me back here, and I’m kinda mad at him about that. So, I keep knocking over his guitars.” She smiled sweetly at me. I took a good look at her. There was no sign of extra juice whatsoever. She was just her. I nodded.

  “As long as you stay you. Okay? If you decide that you want to go, break one of his guitars, and I’ll hear about it. Sound good?” I offered my mind stunned. I couldn’t tell him right now. I needed to process this. My head was starting to throb with my pulse. I reached into my pocket and started pulling on my bracelets as fast as possible. The pain began to ease. Sophie just watched me.

  “Okay, if I’m tired of being here and bugging Eth. I’ll break one of his guitars.” She agreed. “Then you’ll help me cross?” I nodded, my stomach knotted.

  “I’ll work my ass off to make sure I’m ready by then, honey,” I promised. I didn’t care how much it hurt I was going to get that link going as fast as possible. I couldn’t just leave the twins little sister to the energy floating around. She nodded.

  “Okay, thank you.” She turned back around and walked back into the guest room. I closed the door. My head in chaos I found the bathroom at the top of the stairs and waited until my nose stopped bleeding. I was just changing the tissues when the door opened, and Ethan came up short. He was wearing black jeans and a black thermal. And his silver rings and earrings as always. His eyes ran over me.

  “Oh yeah, forgot to warn you. We think we have a ghost.” Ethan said cringing. I gave him a small smile as I changed tissues.

  “It’s okay. I already met the soul.” I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him it was his little sister he never told me about. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him it was his fault she was here. He went to the sink and grabbed a red toothbrush.

  “What are we talking about here? Good? Bad?” He asked as he put toothpaste on the brush. I swallowed hard and checked my nose. It stopped. I tossed the tissues.

  “Completely fine. The soul isn’t dangerous, just playful.” I hedged. Until I had that link up, I couldn’t tell him.

  “Hmm.” He went about brushing his teeth.

  “How’s my face?” I asked hoping to change the topic. He looked over his shoulder and frowned around his toothbrush. He spit into the sink quickly.

  “You’re white as a fucking ghost Beautiful, you sure you’re okay?” He asked, his voice worried. I nodded.

  “Yeah, just tell me if I have any blood on my face.” I needed to step away from him just to process this. His eyes ran over my face.

  “No, you’re good.” He reassured me. I smiled as I slid past him to go down stairs. I slowed on the stairs and took deep breaths. Holy fucking shit! I needed to talk to someone! But who the fuck could I tell? Miles! I instantly thought of Miles. I pulled out my cell phone and went out the front door to call him. It turned out I didn’t have too. Miles and Faith were walking up the path to the house. Fuck. I waited, shifting from foot to foot as they reached the porch.

  “Miles, I need to talk to you. Now.” I said bluntly. His eyes ran over me; his brow drawing down. Faith looked at me suspiciously. I gestured inside.

  “The boys are up and should be down any minute.” I offered, as I grabbed Miles arm and dragged him down the porch steps and halfway across the lawn.

  “Lexie, are you alright?” He asked softly. When I didn’t answer, he seemed to remember something. “Oh, did you see the ghost in the house? Ethan was supposed to warn you.” I stopped walking and looked around to make sure no one was around. Then I stepped close and looked up at him.

  “It’s Sophie,” I said through clenched teeth. His eyes went wide, his face pale. “The ghost is Sophia.”

  “Oh, fu-dge.” Miles almost cursed I blinked at him in surprise. Hell, I figured if Miles was ever going to curse now was the time.

  “Yeah, that’s where I am right now.” I looked back at the house, then back at him. “I didn’t even know they had a sister.” I took a panicked breath and let it out. My chest was tight making it harder to breathe. “But she’s fucking with Ethan because, guess what? He pulled her back here.” I ran a hand through my hair not knowing what the fuck to do. Miles reached out and grabbed my arms gently, stopping me from rocking from foot to foot.

  “Okay, is that extra energy that's running around affecting her?” He asked in his calm, controlled voice. I swallowed hard and shook my head.

  “No, she’s fine.” I took a breath and tried to calm down. “She was just her, no extra energy.” I took another deep calming breath. “I told her I could help her cross, but it’s going to take a while to set it up.”

  “And how did she take that?” His voice was still that controlled calm. I seemed to be the only one freaking out now.

  “She’s said it was okay. That she wanted to mess with Ethan some more.” I swallowed hard through the lump in my throat. “She said when she was ready she’d break one of Ethan’s guitars.” I knew what I had to do. My mind started to settle. My heart began slowing down. “I need that link going as fast as possible.” Miles nodded, even he looked whiter than usual.

  “I think so.” He agreed. His emerald eyes ran over my face before meeting mine again. “Don’t tell them.”

  “Wasn’t gonna.”

  “I hate to ask this, but, just to be sure.” Miles' face was pained. “What did she call the twins?” I understood completely; I didn’t want to believe
it either.

  “Eth and Izzy.”

  “Shi.... mm” I raised an eyebrow. Miles was almost potty mouth today. His eyes unfocused as he was thinking. I used the time to calm down and ease the tightness in my chest. Then Miles was back, his eyes focused again. “Take today off Lexie; she’s okay. Start working tomorrow after breakfast at my house.” I hated the idea.

  “That’s their baby sister.” I pointed out not really believing what he had said. “I can’t leave her to rot out like Mary Summers.” He looked down at me with his patient face.

  “Lexie, is she in pain?” He asked gently.

  “No. She was hanging out in one of the bedrooms.” I admitted.

  “Is she in trouble?” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “No, she’s just her,” I said, begrudgingly. He gave me a small understanding smile.

  “Then there is no reason for you to have to drop everything and immediately start working on the link to the Veil.” He said in his soothing, silky voice. I felt the knots in my stomach start to fade away. “You’ve been working hard already. If you drop from exhaustion, then it will take longer to get you back to work. You need to have some fun today.” That knot of guilt that had been growing since the Veil closed gave me a big kick. How can I have fun when there are souls like Sophia around that needed help?

  “But...” I looked back at the house, torn between what I wanted to do and what I should.

  “Lexie, she’s safe right now.” Miles took my chin between his fingers and forced me to meet his eyes through his glasses again. “If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to help anyone.” I sighed, giving in. He was right. There was really nothing I absolutely had to do today. Sophia wasn’t in trouble; I needed to have a day off with my friends. I hated when Miles was right.

  “Fine,” I grumbled. He gave me a half grin and let go of my chin. Then it hit me. I had just dumped this whole mess on Miles. I’m the world's worst friend. “Miles, I’m sorry.” He raised a questioning eyebrow at me. “I needed to talk to someone about this, and well, you’re you.” His eyes met mine as he grinned at me.

  “It’s alright, Lexie.” His voice was still that smooth, silky one again. “I’m always here if you need to talk about anything. Besides. I’d rather know what’s going on than be in the dark. Plus, you’ll have another set of ears for any broken guitar stories.” I smiled up at him grateful to have him in my life. Then I hugged him hard. He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back. “Don’t worry. You’ll start tomorrow. It’s not selfish to take care of yourself.” I nodded into his shoulder. When I pulled back, I felt a hundred pounds lighter. I’ll start tomorrow, and work my ass off. When I was ready, we turned to head to the house. I saw Faith watching us from the front window. Great, what now? I took a deep breath as we went inside. Just make it through today Lexie, you can do this. We walked into the foyer where Faith eyed us.

  “You look upset Lexie, something going on?” Faith asked, looking from Miles to me. I smiled nicely at her.

  “I just needed some advice from Miles.” I hedged. “He’s great with advice.” She raised an eyebrow at me doubtfully. Right now, I didn’t care. I walked into the family room and sat on the couch with Maria. “You, seriously, are my favorite mom ever,” I told her honestly. She chuckled.

  “Well, you raise twins who are hell bent on creating havoc. You get a sense of humor.” She smiled at me. It was a warm smiled. I smiled back. The front door opened, and the others walked in. It got noisy in a hurry; then we were all loaded up and out the door.

  It took fifteen minutes of negotiating on the music to decide what to listen to, but we managed. About that time my phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to Miles.

  “Can you check that for me, hon?” I never messed with my phone and drove. Miles took it and checked it.

  “It’s from Dylan, he says. ‘Text me when you get there, I’ll meet you at the gate.’” Miles announced.

  “Just tell him okay, please,” I said, concentrating on driving. Then a thought occurred. “And that it’s you.” Miles had a small grin as he did as I asked. It was a couple of minutes later when Miles caught my attention again.

  “Lexie? Who took these pictures?” Miles asked, holding up my phone. I looked over and saw the photos Dylan took last night. I smiled.

  “Dylan took those last night, and I loved them, so he sent them to me,” I explained.

  “These are some great photos, Lexie,” Miles said.

  “Let me see.” Ethan broke off talking to Faith and leaned forward. Miles did something with my phone. Ethan’s phone vibrated.

  “Wow,” Ethan said emphatically. I felt my face warming. “Faith check these out.”

  “I was majorly surprised too. I thought he used some kind of filter.” I admitted.

  “No, this was just the right place at the right time,” Ethan mumbled. “I’m sending these to the guys.”

  “Snoopy!” I snapped.

  “Oh, come on, we all need a photo for contacts. And these are damn good pictures.” Ethan shot back. I sighed. He was right; they were damn good photos. I ignored Ethan and his texting frenzy the rest of the drive.

  I pulled into the parking lot of the Northridge High school and parked. I took my phone back from Miles and climbed out. It was freezing today, so I pulled out my skull scarf and wrapped it around my neck. I pulled out my gloves and beanie too. I looked in the side mirror to make sure the skull and crossbones were centered. Then I texted Dylan. Faith was watching me.

  “I love that scarf.” Faith announced. I smiled at her.

  “Thanks, it was a present. I have no idea where Miles picked it up.” I decided to leave Ethan out of the sentence altogether, and he didn't protest. We met the guys on the way towards the gate. There were whistles and hoots. I rolled my eyes.

  “Nice photos, Red.” Isaac smiled at me.

  “They looked good.” Zeke offered. Jinn smacked his chest and looked at me.

  “They looked fucking fantastic, and you had this hot goth but not goth thing going. And the snow was perfect.” Jinn assured me. My face was on fire.

  “Thanks, guys, but Dylan’s the one who took them.” I felt the need to point out. Jinn rolled her eyes and left Zeke’s side. She wrapped her arm around mine as we headed for the gate.

  “Sweetie, you looked beautiful. Not a lot of people get one photo like that in their lives let alone three.” Jinn pointed out. “So just enjoy it.” I snickered.

  “Okay, I’ll go with that,” I grumbled. Jinn laughed. I paid at the gate and started looking through the crowd for Dylan. I didn’t have to look long; Dylan found me. We were standing in a circle waiting for him when I heard my name.

  “Lexie!” I turned towards Dylan's voice and tried to search the crowd. But with my height, it wasn’t possible.

  “He’s coming over,” Jinn told me. I really wish I had a bit of her height. Dylan came out of the crowd and made a beeline for me. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a black snow jacket. I smiled as the butterflies went crazy. Jinn leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Girl, that boy has got it bad.” My face grew warm. Just as she stood up straight, Dylan reached me. He leaned down and surprised me with a soft kiss that scrambled my brain. When he pulled back a little, one of his hands were cupping the side of my neck, his thumb in front of my ear again. His sparkling eyes met mine.

  “Hi, Sunshine.” He whispered.

  “Hi. How’d you find me?” I asked as I smiled up at him.

  “Easy, I looked for Zeke.” I chuckled. He stood up straight then looked at the others.

  “Hey, guys.” Everyone said hi. “If you guys want to choose your seats, now’s the time, they’re filling up fast.” Zeke headed out, and the rest of us followed. I held on to Dylan’s hand trusting him to keep us with the others. We ended up to the right side of the field on Spring Mountain’s side. We sat halfway up the bleachers. Zeke, Jinn, Ethan, Faith and Trisha sat on the upper row.
On the lower row, it was Cece, Isaac, Miles, me and then Dylan. Dylan planted his feet on the row in front of us and kept my hand in his. It sent that warm feeling through me again. Shit. His sapphire eyes met mine. “Did you get the photos this morning?” He asked his eyes running over my face. I was about to answer when Isaac did for me.

  “Oh, yeah, we all did.” Isaac snickered. Dylan raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Blame Miles. He had my phone while I was driving.” I told him. “He sent them to Ethan and of course-”

  “Ethan sent them to everybody.” He guessed. He shrugged. “They were good pictures, Sunshine.”

  “Good? Those were fucking great.” Jinn said, making me smiling. “Seriously, every girl needs a good photo like that.” Dylan looked behind us at her.

  “Thanks, what did you think about the one with her flipping off the camera?” He asked. I just rolled my eyes.

  “That was my favorite,” Jinn admitted. His cheeks turned a tinge pink as he looked back to me. I smiled at him.

  “I really do love them,” I admitted, not caring if I sounded girly.

  “Then do you mind helping me practice once in a while? All of my friends are sick of getting their pictures taken.” He asked. I nodded. “Great, we can do that today.”

  “I thought you wanted me to hang out your friends today?” I reminded him.

  “We can do both. The guys can stop by in the afternoon and hang out.”

  “Okay, but if you want more practice, then I’m pretty sure we can get Jinn to show up early and get some photos of her.”

  “Yes, please. Pretty please.” Jinn begged from behind us. I snickered.

  “Lexie, what did you just do?” Zeke growled at me. I looked back at him and smiled. His frown was very much in place. I laughed at the look on his face. Jinn smacked Zeke's arm.

  “No one said you had to get your photo taken.” Jinn pointed out. Zeke’s face relaxed with relief. I looked back to Dylan, he had a big smile on his face.