AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His lips twisted. “It’s because I chose the wrong path in life. And it cost me my life.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because no fucking way would I ever leave Ginny.”
“Let’s say youwerekilled. Where’s your body?” I’d gone past the point of caring if I imagined him or if his spirit chose to speak to me. It felt too real to ignore.
“Fuck if I know.”
But I wondered. Ghosts usually haunted the areas of their death. If spirit Mahoney truly existed, it seemed to indicate that his body remained nearby.
Where? I couldn’t really see it in the tiny yard of the house. More likely, he’d be dumped in the junkyard. Stuff him in a trunk and bury him under trash. Given the mess out here, his bones might remain undetected for a long time. After all, how many mountains of junk did I have to sort?
He rolled and hugged me against him. “Fuck talking. We should be fucking.”
I snorted. “Aren’t you romantic?” Then, because my lie of omission tickled my guilt, I found myself whispering, “Ginny died a year before you disappeared.”
He stiffened. “What? No. How?”
“Reports called it a Trikillz gang hit.”
He exhaled loudly for a ghost. “She died almost instantly, according to the doc who did the autopsy—as if that was supposed to help. I almost fucking killed him for saying it. I was so angry.”
“You remember?”
“I wish I didn’t.” A soft admission.
“Did you kill your old gang in revenge?”
“Maybe. Probably. That time after Ginny’s death is hazy.”
“They deserved it for what they did.”
My defense brought a rumbling chuckle. “Don’t try and soothe my conscience, babycakes. I don’t feel one bit guilty. Anyone who’d hurt my sweet little sister deserved whatever they got. And it probably explains why I’m dead.” Meaning, he thought they’d taken him out.
He nuzzled and held me, not pressuring to do anything else. Not even a subtle grope.
With Blade crushing my feet at the end of the bed, I fell asleep in Mahoney’s arms. He might not have a solid body in reality, but he kept me warm until I woke suddenly, mouth open on a scream. Clammy skin. Panting breaths. I struggled to stem my panic as a nightmare fled me in all its bloody gory.
What had I dreamt?
I lost it. And now that I’d truly woken, I realized that Mahoney was gone, but Blade had taken his place and breathed in my face. I shoved him away from me as I struggled to fight the fatigue pulling me down.
I stumbled into the bathroom to admire my bloodshot eyes. It looked as if I’d had little sleep, yet I’d been in bed by nine, and it was almost seven now. Why was I so tired? I kept getting full nights of undisturbed rest. Or so I assumed. Could I be sleepwalking? I’d check the video feeds to find out.
I ate cereal alongside my pooch as I perused the news online. Caught a live broadcast that froze my dripping milk and cereal spoon as the announcer claimed, “Another body was found last night, and sources close to the case claim it appears to be the work of a vigilante the people are calling Red Hood. For those not familiar with the latest online sensation…” The reporter gave a brief synopsis and even showed the anime cartoon version of me. Off by about twenty-five years, at least two cup sizes, and lips that looked painful. Add in the goggles and the fact that they’d given me really long, raven-black hair, and I remained anonymously safe.
Back to the latest victim. Apparently, someone had claimed they’d seen Red Hood and her wolfish bike just before the screaming had started by one Joseph Pescani. They flashed his mugshot, and I gasped.
It was him. Joey. My other attacker.
Dead by disembowelment.
My hand went to my lips.No.
It couldn’t be me. I would never do something so heinous. But I recalled all that joking talk of Stephen King’s horror classic and, suddenly, I wondered about the bike.
I raced from the house to the driveway. The bike I’d parked there the day before was gone.
