Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

Author:Jen DeLuca [DeLuca, Jen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-08-13T00:00:00+00:00

“Television…” Cassie swore as she peeled back the film from the plastic tray, giving herself both a steam facial and mild first-degree burns. “Island? Do you mean like a kitchen island? We don’t have one of those in here. Or a television.” She opened the fridge for some water, and when she closed it again there was a new message.

stupid television people

Now it clicked. “Oh, you mean Romance Resort?” Great, her ghost was getting hooked on reality television. “You’re right, we’re behind, aren’t we? I think there’s a couple episodes saved up.” She carried her meal out to the living room; apparently she was eating in front of the TV tonight. “Only one at a time, though. Binge-watching can rot your brain.”

After the mediocre microwave lasagna and even more mediocre television, Cassie curled up on the sofa by the front window with Boneyard Key: A Haunted History. Reading it felt just like taking the ghost tour. When Sophie had said she’d used the book to create her tour, she hadn’t been kidding. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; a story was made that much richer, that much more immediate, when you were standing right there where said thing happened. It was a smart business model, and Sophie obviously had a good thing going here.

When she got to the story of Hawkins House, Cassie took a sip of wine and started reading aloud. Because who knew who might be listening. And who could help get the facts straight.

“The Hawkins House was built in 1899 by William Donnelly…” Cassie started reading aloud, but it didn’t take long for her voice to trail off. Like the rest of this book, it was Sophie’s ghost tour verbatim. There was nothing in here that Cassie hadn’t heard before. Therefore, there was nothing that Sarah Hawkins hadn’t heard before, either.

“Well, that was pointless.” She sighed and tossed the book down on the table. “Sorry, Sarah,” she called toward the kitchen. “I thought there might be something I didn’t already know in there, but it’s the same old shit. House was built by William Donnelly, then acquired by your husband. You two moved in, and then a few years later he died. And then…” She didn’t want to finish the story that was written in the book. How do you tell someone, You became the town’s scary lady in the old house on the corner? It felt rude, somehow, to point it out to her non-corporeal face.

Something clattered to the floor in the kitchen, and Cassie jumped to sit up straight on the couch. She leaned forward, peering into the kitchen, but she couldn’t see anything from that angle. She wasn’t scared, she told herself as she went to investigate. Sure, it had gotten dark a little while ago, and sure, her house was confirmed to be haunted. But she and Sarah were watching reality TV together. They were friends now.

The kitchen was empty, and in the dim light from above the stove it took a minute for Cassie to find the spoon.

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