Chapter 7

As soon as Cami hopped off the bus, she saw the telltale red-and-blue flash: cops. They’d swarmed around her house like bees in a hive.

That, however, felt a bit offensive to bees, which were benign little things Cami loved to see.

She did not enjoy seeing police.

And her mother knew this, which was why a text from her popped up on Cami’s screen: When you get here, keep a wide berth from the police. If they ask you any questions, be polite. They’ve already been in and out of the house and shouldn’t be here much longer.

“Gotcha,” Cami said to no one at all. She straightened up, put her phone back in her pocket, and marched forth like a woman headed to war.

Act natural, she told herself. Make even less eye contact than usual. Maybe they won’t notice you.

“Hey, kiddo!”

So much for that. Cami turned to see a stocky blond cop trudging his way toward her. She brought a hand up in a half-hearted wave.

“Is this your house?” asked the cop, jerking a thumb to what was definitely her house.

Cami nodded.

He chuckled, presumably at her silence and stony expression. “Well, aren’t you a social butterfly? We’re on your side, y’know--I doubt you’re the perp we’re looking for.” He came closer, staring down at her. “Say, what high school do you go to? Maybe one I’ve done a presentation at?”

“I’ve graduated,” Cami managed. She inched back as she said it. “I’m in college now.”

The man’s brows quirked up. “Wait, you go to school here? At Woodshore?”

“Yeah.” Why was he asking? It was the only school in town. Walder was a small place.

He snickered. “Oh, nothing. I’m just surprised someone at Woodshore speaks English.”

The local police, folks, Cami thought. She grunted in acknowledgement and walked down her driveway before he could say another stupid thing.

~

Thankfully, they were gone by dinner--which meant glorious peace and quiet. Cami and her mother sat across from each other, half-heartedly snacking on pasta.

Between bites of cheesy delight, Cami asked, “Hey Mom, do you think I could have some friends over this weekend?”

Her mother didn’t even look up. “You’re really asking me that? Like they didn’t just fish a body out of the woods in our backyard?”

“Obviously they wouldn’t stay the night.” Cami twirled a string of pasta around with her fork. “They’re from Freakspotters, and if I don’t bring them over, they’ll probably try and investigate it on their own.”

Her mother considered this. “Okay.” She nodded. “Okay. I have two conditions.”

Cami perked up, beaming. “Anything.”

“First of all, if we’re having your friends over, you’re cooking dinner.”

She deflated a bit at that. “Alright.” It wasn’t the end of the world, but cooking was one of the few things she couldn’t do while multitasking. She’d have to find some way to juggle playing hostess and head chef. “What’s the other thing?”

“That depends.” A nervous smile crept across her mother’s face. “How many of you are there, again?”

“Five including me.”

“Great.” She pointed her fork at Cami like it was a weapon. “You five can do whatever you want, but promise me right now you’re going to use the buddy system, alright? No splitting up, under any circumstances. We don’t know what’s out there, and I don’t want any of you finding out the hard way.”

Cami gave her a thumbs up with her free hand. “We’ll find it out the easy way.”

Her mother raised an eyebrow.

Cami's hand fell. “Or... keep a wide berth and leave it to the professionals.”

“That’s my girl.”

You’d think after all this time the woman would know a lie when she heard it.

~

“I’m already getting bad vibes,” Helena murmured. The five of them stood at the top of the driveway, staring at Cami’s house. All of a sudden, Cami found herself antsy: what if it was too small? Too messy? Helena must’ve noticed her anxiety, because she grinned and said, “Not your house. Just the area around your house. The house seems nice.”

Cami tried to relax. “I’m glad. It’s bigger on the inside, I promise.”

“She isn’t lying,” Jane added.

As they made their way over, Cami’s mother popped out from the front door.

“Are these your paranormal friends?” she asked, beaming.

They looked amongst themselves. It wasn’t the best thing to be known as, but also definitely not the worst.

“Sure,” Jane said. “These are our paranormal friends. Rachel, Olivia, and Helena.”

Olivia and Helena murmured some half-hearted greetings. Rachel, meanwhile, sprang forward and shook the woman’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Wilde!” She practically shouted the words. “Like Jane said, my name’s Rachel. I just started at Woodshore, and so far it’s been a dream! Lovely to meet you.”

Cami’s mother blinked, stunned by the girl’s forwardness. “Nice to meet you too, Rachel. You believe in aliens, too, I’m guessing?”

“Maybe. I’m more of a fairies fan, myself.” Without another word, she slipped past into the house, cooing at everything from the coathanger to the welcome mat. Cami and the others raced to catch up with her.

“It’s all so darling and quaint!” Rachel exclaimed, running her hands along the wall. “I love family homes.”

Cami tried to take that as a compliment. “So, do you guys want anything to eat?”

“Nah,” Olivia and Rachel said, almost in unison. Jane and Helena, meanwhile, raised their hands.

“You’re cooking dinner tonight, right?” Jane asked. “What’d you have in mind?”

And it was around then that Cami remembered she had to make dinner. “Right. Uh. Maybe some pasta?” They had leftovers, and Cami trusted herself not to bungle heating up leftovers. It wasn't the most impressive dinner, but it was damn good. “Can’t go wrong with pasta. And in the meantime, you can raid the pantry.”

Helena beamed. “Love that for us.” Without another word, she strode off into the kitchen. Moments later, she returned with two bags of potato chips. “Let’s dine like kings!"

But much unlike kings--who were quite partial to their throne rooms--the five of them chose the open air of the backyard deck to dine on. The breeze was cool in that early autumn way, just chilly enough to remind you that summer was on its way out.

"Is that where they found her?” Rachel asked, pointing to the grid of caution tape zigzagging through the trees.

Cami nodded, and for the first time, it felt real. This wasn’t some old mystery she was reading about online. It was literally in her backyard. “I’m surprised the park is still open,” she admitted. “Like, they just taped off where they found her, but everything else is open.”

“Open for us to explore,” Rachel murmured, her hands drumming away on the tabletop. “We’re totally gonna go out there and look for clues, right?”

“I feel we shouldn’t be tampering with a crime scene,” Jane pointed out. She gazed into the woods, her expression unreadable. “At the very least, we shouldn’t tamper with a crime scene.” And while the others might not have noticed, Cami picked up on that odd pitch in her voice. It was the I’m the mayor’s daughter so if I’m caught doing anything sketchy it’ll hurt her reputation pitch.

Helena put a placating hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s fine. We’re just a gaggle of civilians taking a stroll in a park that just so happened to contain a crime scene.”

“And we don’t even know if that’s a crime scene or just a body dump,” Rachel added.

Olivia shot her a look. “I’m pretty sure a body dump still qualifies as a crime scene.”

Cami threw her hands up. “Whatever it is, do we want to investigate or not?”

“I don’t, but I’m obviously in the minority,” Jane grumbled.

Helena passed her the bag of chips. “What if you kept an eye out for us from here? Like, kept us from getting spotted by cops or Cami’s mom.”

Cami was about to object, but Jane lit right up. “I’ll take it,” she said. “One of us has to keep watch, after all. And if Ms. Wilde shows up, I’ll just tell her… uh…”

“Tell her we’re napping,” Rachel suggested. “Naps are nice.”

“Uh, sure. That.” Jane kneaded the bag of chips in her hands like an anxious cat. The constant crunch left Cami cringing. “And you guys won’t be gone long, right?”

It wasn’t a large park, and all they were doing was snooping. “Probably not,” Cami replied. She tried to sound confident about it. “If we aren’t back in fifteen, call me. But it shouldn’t take that long.”

Finally, Jane relaxed. “Call you in fifteen. Got it. I can do that.” She made a vague shooing gesture. “Go on before I change my mind.”

Cami’s hands fluttered at her sides; she couldn’t hide her excitement. “You’re a lifesaver.” Without further ado, she leapt off the deck and into the unknown.

The border between backyard and public park was, as always, rather hazy. They’d never bothered to put up a fence. Woodshore was a small town, and there’d never been a real need for one. Sure, a hiker had stumbled onto their property a few years back and stolen a vase off their porch, but that’d been a one-off.

It was a departure that came slowly, then all at once. One second they were easing out of the manicured lawn into bush, and the next Cami felt the familiar tickle of weeds up to her knees.

“How far are we going?” Olivia asked. “Do we want to take pictures?”

Cami laughed nervously. “We aren’t tourists, and the body isn’t even there anymore.”

“Then why’re we going?” Rachel piped up. She’d plucked a branch from a nearby tree and fidgeted with it, running her fingers along the pine needles. “There can’t be that much to investigate, right? Unless the cops were stupid enough to leave a clue behind.”

I’m just surprised someone at Woodshore speaks English, the words rattled around Cami’s head. “They can be pretty stupid.”

With the caution tape in the distance as their beacon, the four of them ventured forward. Like ships to a lighthouse.

Or moths to a flame, maybe, Cami thought. Hopefully the former.

And then, as if she’d read Cami’s mind, Rachel whispered, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Really?” Olivia chuckled. “You of all people?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You were so excited to do this.”

Rachel’s hands twisted around the branch. It snapped, a sound that echoed off the trees. “Yeah, but now I’m getting bad vibes.”

Sure enough, she looked the part. Her eyes darted around, like something could leap out at the four of them at any moment.

“I thought Helena was the one who sensed bad vibes.” Cami had meant it as a tease, but then Helena perked up beside her, grabbing Cami’s wrist.

“There’s someone over there,” she whispered.

Cami followed her gaze to a figure in a white coat. They stuck out like fire on ice, stark against the wood and leaves. Cami squinted, but couldn’t make out their face. Every time she got close, it was like her gaze drifted away, looked at something beyond, even as the stranger came closer.

Because they were coming closer.

“I don’t like this,” Olivia breathed. “I don’t like this.”

“Yeah.” Cami was backing away before she’d even thought about it. Like pure instinct had set her into motion, some primal part of her brain screaming at her to run.

She fumbled for her phone. Jane had to know about this, know that they were coming back early and for a damn good reason.

Except she couldn’t find it. Maybe it’d fallen out somewhere.

Just run, urged that feral, desperate part of her. Your house is right there. You can see it through the trees. Run.

But instead, she slowed. Found her feet were glued to the forest floor.

“You shouldn’t be here,” said the stranger in a low, sonorous voice that came from everywhere at once. It was as if the trees had become their chorus. “Not yet.”

“Who are you?” Olivia demanded. She was the only one who hadn’t moved away. In fact, as the distance between her and the stranger closed, she stood tall and unafraid. “And what do you mean, not yet? Is there an appointed time for snooping around a crime scene? Do you wanna finish up before we have our turn?”

Helena gave Cami a look, specifically a “What the fuck is this woman doing?” kind of look. Cami could only shrug in response. Maybe Olivia just had a deathwish.

As the stranger took in her words, a veil lifted. The forest grew brighter, as if the darkness had been sucked away.

The stranger was a man, tall and slender, with long, white hair kept in a braid. His skin was bluish, as if he stood under a blacklight. Two long, thin antennae stuck out of his coat’s hood.

“You will call me Trintio,” he said, his voice still surrounding them, carried on the breeze. “And when I say not yet, I mean it’s dangerous right now and the answers aren’t ready.”

“Ready for what?” Cami asked.

And for the first time, he met her eyes. The effect was hypnotic: in that instant, it was just the two of them. The world and everyone else in it tumbled away, and for the first time, Cami felt seen. Actually, truly seen, for who and what she was.

The trees around them melted into a singular, endless mass, one that cocooned her like an old blanket.

“Ready for this,” Trintio said simply, as if reality itself wasn’t crumbling all around them.

The world went dark. Beautifully, mercifully dark.