She looked at Eddie, motioning with a flick of her head for him to follow her upstairs. He looked pretty upset, too, in no need of any convincing. It would take under a minute to pack her bags and Paul better have that boat running by the time she hit the dock.

What a clusterfuck! She should have stayed in Wisconsin. Just finish the job and move on to the next city. The paranormal field was filling with opportunists and assholes faster than a tin bucket in a downpour. She should have known better.

They were at the top of the stairs when the ridiculous gypsy called out, “Actually, we know exactly what we’re fucking with. That’s why I told the Harpers they had to find a way to get you here.”

“Bite me,” Jessica barked, storming down the hall to her room with Eddie in tow.

“Jess, if I had any inkling, I would have told you,” Eddie said.

She stopped and turned, her nose almost touching his chin. “I counted on you to keep me out of a circus like this.”

Anger may have ruled the moment, but deep inside, she knew he wasn’t to blame. He wasn’t the same man with the same bull’s-eye abilities that she’d met three years ago. Back then, he’d sought her out, hoping to help. Now, he brought her here to help those two kids playing in the yard, unaware of what was really going on.

Taking a long, deep breath, she nudged his chest with her head. “I’m sorry. Let’s just get the hell out of here and forget we ever came.”

Surprisingly, he smiled. “You sure you don’t want to be in movies?”

“Funny. Pack.”

She stormed around the Blue Room, throwing her things into her bags. She saw Eddie doing the same, though he did take time to fold his clothes as neatly and quickly as possible.

They met in the hall and he followed her back downstairs. The Harpers and Paul’s friends were huddled in a quiet conference.

“Paul, take us back to Charleston,” Jessica said. She didn’t give a frog’s fat ass what they were talking about. She just wanted to get out of there before the amateur hour began in earnest. That Nina chick was a crystal ball away from joining a carny.

Paul’s eyes were wide. He moved his mouth, but no sound came out. He looked to Tobe, then Daphne. Neither came to his rescue. He reached into his shorts pockets, pulling out the keys to the boat.

But he didn’t move.

“Now, Paul!” Jessica shouted.

He shuffled out the door. She walked past the Harpers and Rusty and Mitch, saying nothing. She was afraid that once she started, there would be no stopping until she’d laid verbal waste to everyone in the room.

Instead, Eddie said to Tobe, “That was a real shit move.”

Daphne puffed up, ready to pounce but Jessica narrowed her eyes, daring the woman to speak.

Mitch and Rusty each took a step away from Daphne. Nina leaned against the wall, watching them with detached amusement.

“Good luck with Madame Blavatsky over there,” Jessica said, letting fly with her parting shot at the smug fortune teller.

At least they all had the good sense not to stop them. Stepping outside, she clomped down the stairs and paused.

It felt even colder outside than inside. In fact, she could see her breath. Impossible. How could EBs, even a large collective like Eddie said were present here, hold such power over the outside environment?

Fuck it. That was their problem now.

“You want me to take that bag?” Eddie asked, motioning to the duffel slipping off her shoulder.

“Yes, please.” She handed it over to him and turned to face the darkened path to the dock and freedom from this madness. “I hope you’re in the mood to get drunk because we’re going to tear Charleston a new one tonight. I’m actually looking forward to breaking a sweat.”

Something crunched through the leaves behind them.

“Are you leaving Ms. Backman?”

It was Alice.

Jessica counted to ten. Don’t take it out on her. She had nothing to do with this.

She got down on a knee so she could be level with the small girl. She’s going to be a heartbreaker.

“I’m sorry we didn’t stop to say goodbye. Mr. Home and I have to leave. You’re such a good, brave girl and I’m so glad we got to meet you.” She fished a gum wrapper and pen from her bag and wrote down her number. “I’d like to stay friends with you and Jason. That’s my cell number. You can call me any time you want, except at two-thirty-six in the morning.”

Alice cocked her head. “How come I can’t call you at two-thirty-six?”

“I need that minute to sleep,” Jessica said, smiling. She ran her hands through Alice’s soft, delicate hair.

“Is it because of the Last Kids?” Alice said. Her eyes shimmered with a coat of fresh tears.

Jessica pulled her into a hug. “No, honey. It’s not that at all.”

Alice buried her head into her neck, sniffling. “Because they don’t want you to go, either.”

She looked at Eddie. He stared down the path, his concentration so fixed, he probably didn’t even notice Alice.

Paul emerged from the darkness shaking his head with exasperation.

“She won’t start,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Jessica asked, still holding on to Alice.

“The engine won’t turn over. She has gas. Everything looks okay. But I can’t get the engine started.”

Alice backed away, wiping tears with her sleeve. “I told you.”

“She’s right,” Eddie said. “They’re all down at the dock. I don’t think they’re going to let us leave.”

Eddie had never seen or felt anything like it. The EBs of generations of Ormsby children swarmed the dock and the boat like a thick fog. It was difficult to see the little speedboat through their diaphanous forms. He’d left Jessica with Alice and Paul back at the mouth of the path.

He wanted a moment alone with the EBs.

The spirits that had harried him back home, urging him to come here when the time came, were nothing compared to the masses collected here. One group urged him on to Ormsby Island, and the other wouldn’t let him leave. There had to be a reason why the dead were working in tandem with one another. It would have been nice to call his father, despite their tenuous relationship, and see if he had ever encountered anything like it before his own lauded abilities burned out of him like a spent battery.

“You made your point, we’re not leaving,” he said to the undulating fog of spirit children. “If we’re going to stay, you need to talk to me in a way I can understand if you want our help.”

In quick response, a hundred voices spoke at once, coalescing into a roar not unlike a passing subway train. Eddie shook his head violently, clasping his hands over his ears, even though the voices were directed at the center of his skull.

“Stop! Stop! I can’t…I can’t hear you when you do that!”

The voices stopped as suddenly as flowing water from a tap turned shut.

They’re getting stronger. What little I heard yesterday was weak, distant. They’re feeding off Jessica. Now I just need to find a way to single one of them out.

“I’m going back to the house. All I ask is one thing. Leave Alice and Jason alone. You come to me or Jessica. Okay? We can help you.”

Should I tell them to steer clear of Paul and his friends, too? If their intent was to document a haunting, what dumb things would they do to get the attention of the restless spirits here?

The more vindictive side of Eddie felt the little film crew was fair game. Let the EBs scare the life out of them. It would be a well-deserved consequence to their deception.

Their vaporous bodies began to part like pulled strands of cotton candy, leaving the dock, coiling past the roots and trunks of the trees, back to the house. Eddie jogged down the dock and jumped onto the boat. He laid his hand atop the massive outboard motor.

It was ice cold. So cold, in fact, that the flesh of Eddie’s hand stuck to the frigid metal. He pulled and was met with pained resistance.