Emelia looked up in surprise from where she was tying wire together. “Little brother?”

“Mine. This is Jay,” I said.

Allison patted Jay’s head, even though she was only a few inches taller. “You just can’t tell they’re related because he is a perfect angel.”

Jay’s smile showed off his fake rotting teeth, which complemented the rest of his tattered costume. Right, perfect, sweet angel. Emelia wasn’t fazed. She smiled and shook his hand, crouching slightly like adults do when they’re good with children.

Where do people keep getting that maternal instinct? Is there a store somewhere? Did I miss a class last year?

“It is nice to meet you. I am Emelia.”

“I thought since Nate’s story wasn’t gender specific, Jay could help us create our ghost,” I explained.

They agreed to my revised plan and continued setting things up while I watched out the front window. (A few kids in pirate and dog costumes walked by, carrying baskets, but seemed to know not to bother with this house.) We only strung together a few ideas. I didn’t want to mess up the house too much and incur the wrath of her mother, should she ever return like she promised. Imagination was weapon enough, anyway.

As they worked, they kept hushed voices, but it wasn’t that effective when Allison kept laughing. At one point she pulled tinsel out of a box, wound it around Jay’s shoulders, and then danced with him. Emelia had just the barest hint of a smile. Allison turned to me and I dropped back into my resting disgruntled face—which made me realize that I must have been smiling, too. I turned back to the window, as the official lookout.

It was dark by the time I saw two figures pass near a street light, close to the house. So, he brought Calvin after all. That might be even better. “All right, he’s here. Get ready,” I said.

I moved to a window in the back room while Allison blew out the candle we were using for light. As predicted, they came around to the back and knelt near the steps. I had cracked open a window to hear them whisper.

“See, the house seems quiet. There’s nothing here,” Calvin said.

“Then there’s no harm—” Nate started to climb the stairs when I stepped back from the window and pulled the curtain, making it wave back and forth. “Wait, did you see that?”

“It was probably just a fan left on or something.”

“Come on, we’re gonna check it out.”

“No, let’s just go.”

I knew that feeling. Allison and I had just mimicked this very scene. I almost felt sorry for Calvin. Almost. But not enough to show mercy.

I heard their light footsteps on the back porch as I walked back to the main hallway. Jay was standing in front of the entryway door, Allison behind him. The backdoor squeaked open and there was an exchange of surprised whispers. I motioned to Emelia, who nodded and began pacing the floor in the kitchen. Soft creaking echoed throughout the house.

I could feel them freeze as the tap-tap of their footsteps stopped. Would that be enough? Breaking into an abandoned house was one thing. Breaking into an occupied house, whether by the living or by ghosts, was another.

I signaled to Allison, but I should have known better than to leave this one with her. She was holding onto fishing wire that was tied to a shelf in the entryway. It was perfect for creating a clattering of noise left by spirits yet to move on.

However, when she pulled the wire, it was less like a gentle tug and more like she was trying to reel in the deadliest catch. The shelf crashed to the floor, sending its contents across the linoleum. I winced when I heard something shatter. My brother let out a gasp.

I shot Allison a glare, but she just shrugged, string in hand, pulling it once more for good measure. Well, it achieved the desired effect, anyway. Calvin let out a high-pitched screech. (Yay for freshmen.) Even Nate’s whispering was frantic when he told him to shut up. All we needed was one last push.

Jay stepped toward the entrance. He stuck his fingers through the side of the cracked door and pushed it open to show a small part of his face. The light spilling in from the full moon outside was just enough for someone to wonder if they were really seeing this or not. His ghostly image must have done it because there was a muffled gasp and then frenzied noises of opening the door and jumping down the stairs. The imagination is a scary thing. It can defeat you faster than anything real can.

I motioned for them to stay quiet while I walked to the front window to check if they were gone. I barely caught sight of them disappearing into the darkness. Behind me, Allison let out her cackle. I returned to the living room with a smirk and saw Emelia relax.

“All right, base is secure! Party time!” Allison announced as she lit candles around the living room. Oh, so this is why she wanted to come before me. “Don't look at me like that, Dani. I am not going through Halloween without a party and Emelia's house is the perfect location. Besides, she agreed to it. Didn't you?”

I wonder about that.

She shifted. “Ah, well, yeah. If you do not mind, that is...”

Blink twice if you are being held against your will.

“Then it's settled. Let's start off with ghost stories!” She waved the lighter around. Please, someone, disarm her before this place goes up in flames.

After seeing the stars in Jay’s eyes, I dropped down around the circle of candles, Jay to my left and Emelia to my right.

“Whoa, what are you doing?’ Allison pointed at an imaginary line the circle of candles would arc around, leaving our backs outside. “Emelia! Dani! You’re outside the circle.”

“And that means…?” I asked. “We’ll be slightly colder?”

“You won’t be protected from the spirits that are summoned here by our stories!”

I stared at the small gap between Emelia’s knees and mine. “Well, maybe you should have made the circle bigger.”

“The smaller the circle, the more concentrated the power of protection! Did you even prepare for tonight?” Allison demanded.

“No? I wasn’t informed there would be a cult ritual. I think I’ll take my chance—”

Then Emelia scrambled to scoot forward while darting glances into the darkness before landing wide eyes on me in question.

I wanted to cough out a surprised laugh. Instead, I looked away to shield myself from the open sincerity this high schooler so easily displayed.

I inched closer to close the circle, bringing my knee next to Emelia’s. Surely there’s no way I could feel any extra warmth from my right side, not through both of our jeans. Maybe it was all that time I spent freezing next to the open window while I was keeping watch. When we made contact, I became aware of how close she was. Her long hair showed signs of struggling in the dry, winter air, looking slightly static-charged. It shielded her eyes from this side, but I thought I could make out a hint of freckles across her nose that I never noticed before. Was that just the shadow cast by candles?

I must have stared a second too long for social convention while my mind was forming this hypothesis. Our new position made me aware of how close I was to Allison’s smirking face, watching me from directly across the circle. I motioned to our general position. “Happy?”

“I am. Let’s hope the spirits are.” She cleared her throat. “Let’s begin.”

All of Allison’s stories involved parental murder somehow. (Seriously, read the room.) Jay’s stories came from his friends. I really have to wonder about the kids he hangs out with. Emelia admitted that she didn’t know any creepy stories, but made up some of her own. They weren’t really ghost story material, but she was an interesting enough storyteller (a talent she credited to her mother). I took my stories from some cheap horror movies I watched in eighth grade. They ended up laughing at them, which was probably the point.

As we told stories until late that night, when Jay started blinking off and I had to fight yawns, I realized that this was the first time I had seen Emelia smile in a way that felt real. It was as if she couldn’t stop herself, even if she tried. It made me wonder what she was really like. Who was she if she lost her rigid tension?

My intentions for coming here might have been to make Nate look stupid, but after seeing Emelia smile like that—even as I cursed the chilly night we trudged back through on foot—I knew it would only be a matter of time before I made my way back here again.