Josh’s posture tensed and I didn’t fail to notice the shocked expression that crossed Isabelle’s either

“What are you doing here?” Jason asked as he finally came towards us.

“We were hoping to talk to whoever lived in this apartment.” I said, jutting my thumb towards it in the same motion Josh had a moment before. “Any chance you know how lives here?”

“Yeah,” He began as he stopped in front of us. “I do.”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck.

“This is your apartment?” Josh asked, stepping visibly closer to Isabelle.

Jason nodded, but his eyes remained on me. He’s mouth was drawn in a tight line, and I could just see the blue of his eyes as he stared right through me. “Why are you here?”

“We need to talk.” I blurted out. My stomach twisted as I gazed right back at him.

“About what?”

“Can we go inside?” I fidgeted with my hands again, and his glanced down at it, watching my nerves get the better of me.

He hesitated, looking between my hands and my friends, and then at me. Jason shifted the bags in his hands so that he could reach for the key ring clipped to his belt loop. He edged forward, sliding the key into the lock and opening the door, motioning for us to go in ahead of him.

The interior of the apartment was significantly brighter and much cleaner than the hallway. The floors were all hardwood, and the walls were a pale green. A gray sofa sat in the middle of the room, across from a flatscreen television. There were black end tables on either side of the sofa and a matching coffee table in front of it.

Jason closed the door behind us and set the paper sacks on the marbled island countertop that divided the living room from the kitchen. “I’ve got to put these away. Make yourselves comfortable.”

Josh and Isabelle made their way to the living room area, but didn’t sit. They stood awkwardly behind the sofa and glanced around the room. Their hands were still clasped and Josh shifted closer to her as the looked around.

I slid my hands into my pockets and followed Jason to the island. Jason emptied the contents of the paper sacks on to the countertop and folded the sacks into a neat pile that he sat on the edge of the counter. We didn’t speak as he put the cartons of orange juice and milk into the fridge and then began putting away the various boxes of rice and noodles into the cupboard beside the fridge.

Turning to look at the living room, I noticed the picture frame that sat on the closest end table. It was a picture of Jason and Katie. Katie had been holding the camera to take a picture of them standing on the peer of Crady Lake. Josh was standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist and he was kissing her cheek as she laughed. Her green eyes were so bright in the sunlight. She looked happy, they both did.

“That was from our first anniversary.” Jason said, noticing my attention to the picture. “That was the first time she took me out there.”

I glanced over my shoulder to him and his eyes swam with sorrow as he remembered the moment that photo was taken. Guilt gripped my stomach as I thought about the trip that I’d joined them. It was their third anniversary that weekend. And their last.

“I miss her everyday.” He whispered and his lips drew into a tight smile.

“Yeah, me too.” I slipped my bag off and set it on the counter before sliding onto the barstool and leaning my elbows on the cool marbled surface.

“What did you want to talk about?” Jason asked. He turned away from me and grabbed a glass from the cabinet above the sink and filled it with water. He sipped from it and leaned back against the counter.

“My friends and I were here last night.” Jason’s brows raised at the comment, and he stopped mid drink, the glass hovering inches from his lips. “Not here specifically at this apartment.” I added, tapping the counter for emphasis. “But at this building in general.”

“Why?” His voice was tense as he asked, and he downed the rest of his water and set the glass into the sink. It clunked softly against the steel basin.

“Well, we’re ghost hunting.” I admitted sheepishly.

Jason snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re still into that, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, and what’s that got to do with me?”

“We didn’t know it was you.” Josh said as he and Isabelle came closer at last.

“What do you mean?”

“We were doing an investigation in another apartment on the second-floor last night. When we went to leave, I took a couple of pictures of the outside of the building, on a hunch I felt, and I saw something in a window on the third floor. In your window.”

“What exactly are you investigating here?” Jason arched a brow as he asked. “This building isn’t that old so there can’t be that many ghosts or whatever it is you’re looking for.”

“Show him the folder, Kara.” Josh nudged my elbow and nodded towards my bag.

Jason followed his gaze. “What folder?”

“In a minute.” I mumbled to Josh and shook my head. “Jason, do you remember what happened at the lake?” My throat tightened as the memory of my aunts twisted face flooded me again.

“What kind of fucked up question is that? Of course I remember!” Jason’s voice rose and he stood up straighter. “How could I forget something like that?”

“That’s not—do you remember exactly what happened?”

“This is fucked up, Kara, even for you.” He was growing angrier now. “I was fucking there. I was the one that tried to save her while you cowered on that god damned peer like a fucking child!”

“I was a child!” My own voice rose as my eyes began to sting. Tears welled up and spilled before I could stop them, and Jason blanched slightly at the sight of them.

“I didn’t mean—I wasn’t trying to say—.”

“But you still said it.” Isabelle cut in after being silent for so long. She stepped closer to me and brushed her shoulder into mine for support. “Whether you meant it or not, you still said it.”

“Yeah, well—.” Jason sighed deeply and ripped the ball cap from his head, revealing his unkept red hair. He tossed the blue cap onto the counter and rubbed scrubbed his face with his hands. “It’s a bad memory for me, okay?”

“Well, yeah, I’d say so. But don’t you think it’s a bad memory for her too? You don’t have to be such an asshole about it.” Josh snapped from my other side.

Relief flowed through me at the support that my friends gave me. Relief, and a new wave of fear at how they were speaking to him. After I’d seen the photos from the murder investigation, I quit suspecting Jason as the killer and started to believe that something else had caused it. That he had caused it, the shadow man that smiled at the lake in that photo.

“Look, what’s that got to do with you ghost hunting or whatever it is you said you were doing downstairs?” Jason was fighting to get his temper back under control. A muscle feathered in his jaw as he glared at the marbled countertop I was leaning on.

“He’s in the photo.” I blurted, suddenly wishing I hadn’t.

Jason’s cold blue eyes shifted to me. “What?”

“The guy, the shadow guy.” Josh added, growing more impatient by the minute. “He was in your window, dude.”

Jason cocked his jaw, but didn’t look away. “You’re still on about this bullshit?”

“It’s not bullshit.” I murmured, loosing my confidence the longer this conversation went on. Pulling my bag closer, I unzipped it and grabbed the manilla folder. I opened it and slid it across the counter to him. I jabbed my forefinger down on the top article, the one about the fires at the Divine Creek Apartments. “Read this.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“She’s serious.” Isabelle chimed in and nodded to the folder.

Jason rolled his eyes and snatched the article up. His eyes roamed the page and after a few moments, he scoffed and tossed the paper back on the counter. “Yeah, there was a fire here a few months ago. Everyone knows that, but I don’t think anyone died or anything.”

“No, but they did see shadow people. And a lot of them claimed to that things moved on their own throughout their apartments.” I pulled out the second article and held it out to him.

“It was the gas leak, Kara. People were experiencing hallucinations. Hell, I even thought I saw something that night.” Jason didn’t reach for the paper; he just crossed his arms back over his chest.

“You saw something?” I asked, my stomach turning again.

“It wasn’t real, Kara. None of it was.”

“What did you see?” I insisted.

“Nothing real.” He emphasized, arching a brow. “It was a gas induced hallucination.”

“If it wasn’t real then why won’t you just tell us what you fucking saw?” Josh demanded as he braced his hands on the counter beside me. “What are you so afraid of admitting to?”

That was the wrong question to ask. I knew it, and so did Josh as Jason pushed off of the counter and gripped the front of Josh’s shirt in his fists.

“You listen here you son of a bitch. I’m not scared of a god damn thing, and I’ve got jack shit to admit to you and your little friends so get the hell out of my apartment before I throw your asses out.”

Isabelle screamed and reached for Josh, but I shoved her behind us. I held tightly to her arm, not letting her move away.

“Let him go, Jason.” I said as calmly as I could. My heart was thundering in my chest as I watched Jason’s lip curl as he stared down at Josh. “I’m the one you’re pissed at so fucking stop!” I grasped Jason’s wrist with my free hand and his eyes shifted to me.

Almost instantly, his grip loosened on Josh’s shirt and Josh jerked away, grabbing Isabelle in the process and back stepping towards the couch. He stood protectively in front of her. The coldness in Jason’s eyes softened slightly and he backed up to the counter staring down at his open hands. A look of horror crossed his face, followed by shame.

“I’m—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—I lost control.”

“You fucking think?” Josh snapped.

I tossed him a glare over my shoulder and mouthed ‘stop’. “Take a breath, Jason.” I added as I turned back to him, my voice wavering slightly. “We’re not your enemies and we’re not here to fight, okay?”

“That fuck we aren’t!” Josh shouted.

“Josh, please just shut the fuck up, okay? I’ve got this.” I held my hand out to him, to shush him.

Jason slouched forward, burying his face in his hands. “I’ve been having more outbursts been having more outbursts recently.” He admitted. “I don’t know why they’re getting worse; I don’t think the meds are helping anymore.”

“It’s because—I mean I think it’s possible that it’s not you.” I cleared my throat and reached into my bag again.

Jason watched as I pulled out my camera. I turned it on and shifted back to the photos of his window. When I swiped onto the photo of the shadow man’s face, my stomach twisted again, and I had to swallow hard to keep myself from heaving the contents of my breakfast across the counter. I slid the camera to him, and he hesitated before he picked it up and looked down at the photo I had pulled up. His eyes widened briefly and then he looked away, his corners of his lips curving upward, and he set the camera back on the counter. Jason shook his head and sighed.

“No, I don’t buy it.” His voice was significantly calmer now and a feeling of relief started to creep in as I loosed a breath.

“He’s right there.” I said softly. “I’ve got the photo proof of it.”

“It’s just a coincidence. Or maybe someone was just creeping in a window watching you guys in the parking lot and trying to figure out why three kids were hanging out around the building.”

The pure denial in his suggestion was both disheartening and horrifying. He didn’t believe me back then when I told him what I saw that day. He didn’t believe me when I’d called him two weeks later to ask him if he’d seen the article where the thing had showed up on film. And now—now that I have actual proof that he was real—that he was actually real, and he was here—he still didn’t believe me. Or at least he refused to.

“Jason, I took this photo myself. I was sitting down there in the parking lot in Josh’s jeep, and I took that photo myself. It’s not doctored, its not AI, it’s real. He’s real. I’ve been trying to tell you since the accident, and you didn’t believe me then either. But this is real, concrete proof.” I picked up the camera and held it out to him again, but he wouldn’t take it. “Jason, please. You have to believe me.”

“What do you get out of this, Kara? Is it just some twisted game you’ve come up with to make yourself feel better about Katie’s death? Is this how you cope?” Jason’s hands were shaking now.

“No, no it’s not, and that’s a fucked up suggestion to even begin with.” I shook my head at him and set my camera back on the counter. “Jason, I think he’s following us.”

Jason scoffed and braced his hands on the counter behind him. “First, you accuse me of killing Katie, who by the way was the love of my life. I was interrogated over and over and over, so thanks for that, Kara. I really appreciate the support you gave me while grieving the only woman I’ve ever loved.” He sniffed and his jaw set as he stared at me. A hint of that coldness returning to his blue eyes. “Then, you call me up like we’re best friends and you tell me to look at the newspaper headline of that day and you tell me there’s a ghost in the photo. You say a ghost killed my girlfriend. A fucking ghost.” Jason’s knuckles turned white as his grip on the counters edge tightened.

I chewed my lip as I waited for him to explode again. I knew it was coming, and I knew it was only a matter of minutes before the threatened us a second time. “I’m sorry.” I said as I watched him.

“Sorry?” Jason’s brow arched upward. “You’re sorry, Kara? What are you sorry for exactly? That you accused me of murder? That you blamed a ghost to assuage your guilt afterwards? Or are you sorry that you were too much of a fucking waste to run and grab my phone like I told you to? Are you sorry that you’re the reason she’s fucking dead? Because you are, Kara. It’s your fault.”

Guilt slammed into me as he said it. It wasn’t like I hadn’t blamed myself for it anyways. If I had just forced my feet to move, if I had just gotten to his phone, maybe she would still be alive. That thought haunted me every day for the last thirteen years. My breath hitched and my eyes stung again. This time, the tears didn’t soften his hateful expression. This time, his lip curled up in disgust as he watched me.

“That’s enough!” Isabelle shouted, jumping in to defend me.

But it was too late, that blow had already landed, and I was sinking. Sinking down into myself just like I sunk down into that lake. Just like Aunt Katie sunk.

“Yes, I’d say it is.” Jason’s voice was harsh as he pushed off from the counter. “I don’t know why you thought to come here today, Kara. But I’ve got to tell you, it has not been a pleasure, and I’d really appreciate it if you and your friends got the fuck out now.”