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I shrug. “It’s the kind of stuff I pay attention to.”
“What happened to my character?” Mandy asked, sounding intrigued.
I observed her spot for clues and noticed her wine glass missing. As my gaze roamed over the room, I saw shards of glass near the wall. “Your character threw her glass at Leroy to try to slow him down, but she missed, and it shattered. Grant, your place setting is all messed up. I think your character jumped onto the table to make a break for it. He’s probably the reason that chair at the end is knocked over. And Talia’s character…?”
I paused for a few beats as I walked over to observe where she sat. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, and I thought maybe she made it out of the room. Then I saw an unusual fold in the tablecloth, and I bent down to look under the table. My heart dropped when I saw the skeleton.
I sighed as I stood and flipped the tablecloth up for my friends to see. “Talia’s character hid under the table. She didn’t make it.”
Talia’s hand shot over her mouth. “Poor woman. I feel awful for her.”
“So we know what happened,” Lucas said. “But the details don’t tell us what prompted him. Was he possessed before he invited his guests over? Was it premeditated? Or did something change that night?”
I walked around the table, looking for any more clues. “We might have to observe the past to get those answers.”
Talia wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m trying, but all I can pick up on is the screams.”
I noticed the sliding double doors near Leroy’s place setting weren’t completely open. I stood in the doorway. “Leroy must’ve come through here…” I stretched my arms out, like I was pushing the doors open. The instant my fingers touched both doors, a chilling sensation passed through my chest, like someone had placed a block of ice where my heart should be. Thunder cracked from overhead, and the room before us shifted. I must’ve activated another haunting, like I had when I touched the window in the bedroom.
The chandelier above the table lit up, and all the dust around the room vanished. All around us, ghostly figures formed. Chatter filled the room as guests clinked their glasses and laughed with one another. It was strange how happy they all sounded. My friends backed to the corners of the room to observe.
A ghost appeared right in front of me, his back toward me. I realized with horror that the chill I’d felt was the ghost passing through me. I recognized the gray hair and dark suit from the back. It was Leroy Pinewood. He held hands with his wife, and I was shocked to see her smiling expression when he pulled her chair out and helped her sit. This must’ve happened before the scene we witnessed in the bedroom.
Leroy stood at the head of the table, and his guests all quieted as he addressed the room. “Welcome. My wife and I are so happy you’ve accepted our invitation tonight. As a priestess, my wife’s main priority is the coven.”
Mrs. Pinewood had been a priestess? I had no idea.
Leroy continued. “But tonight, we honor her and the life we’ve shared together for fifty years. The moment I met Cynthia, I knew she was destined for great things. Had I known then that she would say yes to my proposal, I’d have asked her to marry me sooner.”
The guests laughed, like they were all having a good time.
Leroy lifted his glass. “So here’s to Cynthia and the last fifty years we’ve shared together. Happy anniversary, dear.”
Cynthia smiled. “Happy anniversary.”
The guests echoed the congratulations, and Leroy took a sip of his wine.
At that moment, the atmosphere in the room shifted. Thunder boomed overhead when Leroy grabbed for the knife. His entire demeanor changed as he turned to the guest beside him and stabbed him through the heart. We witnessed the blood gargling from the man’s mouth. For a moment, the guests just froze.
“He took a sip from his wine glass. It must’ve had a potion in it to possess him,” Lucas said thoughtfully, but his words didn’t interrupt the haunting.
“What in the name of the Goddess—?” Cynthia started, but she cut off when he turned to her. A darkness I couldn’t explain had entered his eyes, and he set his sights on her.
He lunged for his wife, but she jumped out of the way and yelled, “Run!”
Screams tore through the room as guests leapt from the chairs. People clamored toward the doors to flee, and the scene played out just as I had predicted. Leroy went for another man and stabbed him in the gut. Someone threw a wine glass at Leroy, and it shattered against the wall. Chairs toppled over, and people tripped and scrambled over one another to get through the doors. Within moments, the guests had fled the dining room, the injured man limping behind the others. Cynthia whirled around in the doorway, giving one last hopeful glance at her husband like she thought he might stop. He ducked under the table and stabbed the guest that had hidden there. I saw the hope drain from Cynthia’s eyes, and she took off running.
Leroy stood, looking confident. “The doors are locked! It is his will that you all perish!”
He started following his wife out the doors, but he paused and turned back toward the empty dining room. A smirk crossed his features, and I swore his eyes locked directly on mine. A low chuckle escaped his throat. “You have nowhere to run, but I suggest you try.”
The ghost lunged toward Chloe. She yelped and threw her arm up to protect herself. Leroy brought his knife down, and it sliced across her arm. Blood sprang from the wound.
“He’s not a memory!” Chloe screamed as she scrambled backward. “He’s a real ghost!”
He was a fucking strong one! He’d materialized into a solid figure… one that could hurt us.
Chloe threw a handful of salt at the ghost. He flickered out for a moment before reappearing beside her.
