The Ghost Host: Episode 1 (The Ghost Host Series) Read online

  “She has red hair,” I defend.

  Mama smiles, saying, “Well aren’t you just the sweetest thing,” as she walks back to the counter.

  Ignoring them both, I take a bite of my sandwich. A few minutes later, Mama joins us at the table with her own lunch. Thankfully, everyone is more focused on their food than me. I get a few minutes of peace before Mama breaks the silence again.

  “So, what brought my two favorite boys over for lunch today? I assume you’re not just here for ham and Swiss.”

  Kyran shrugs, having no clue why I dragged him here. I’m the only one with the answer, but I hesitate actually saying anything. Talking to Mama about this will be better than bringing it up with Daddy, but it still promises to be unpleasant. There’s no escaping it, though. I need to know if there’s anything behind my great grandma’s message.

  “Mama, is Daddy planning to sell the old estate?”

  At my question, Kyran perks up, knowing exactly why I’m asking. Mama just seems confused. “How did you know about that? Your daddy said he didn’t want to get any of you involved.”

  “I…happened to overhear something about it.” It’s not precisely true, but close enough.

  Mama swallows and sets her sandwich down on her plate. “Yes, your daddy’s planning to sell the estate.”

  “When?”

  Shrugging, she says, “It’ll just depend on how long it takes to find a buyer. It won’t be an easy sale.”

  No, it won’t be. “Has he already listed it?”

  She shakes her head. “It needs to be cleaned up and made presentable before it’s listed. Your daddy’s looking for a company willing to do it.”

  That will be quite the chore. Everyone in that area knows what happened there. That lot is pretty superstitious to begin with. He’s going to have to find an out of town company to do it, most likely. Maybe that will be a good thing, though. It’ll give me time to get down there, anyway.

  “What’s got you so interested in the old estate?” Mama asks. “None of you kids have been back there since…”

  “I know,” I say, not wanting to discuss it. “I’ve just been thinking about the grounds lately. We made a lot of good memories there, too.”

  Reaching across the table, she puts her hand on mine. “I know. I wish those were the only memories you made there.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  We’re both quiet for a few seconds. I want to just leave it at that, but something compels me to risk asking. “Mama, will you let me know when Daddy finds someone to clear out the estate?”

  “Why?”

  “I’d like to…go back, uh, before everything’s gone.”

  The way her expression pales makes my stomach twist. “Why?”

  Clearly, the idea of me going back there terrifies her. It shouldn’t. I mean, it’s not like what happened had anything to do with me. When Echo mentioned it being dangerous, I agreed, but it’s more of an emotional danger than anything physical. Out on the fringes of the swamp, in that big house with all of us upstairs asleep except my great grandma, there was nothing anyone could do to help her when she was attacked. The police determined it was just a botched home invasion, and I’ve never had any reason to doubt that. Even now, the message Echo passed on was just for me to go get something, not a plea to find some hidden truth or get revenge. There’s something in that house she wants me to have. That’s it.

  “It’s not a big deal, Mama. I just want to go back, confront it, I guess. Move on and say goodbye to Grandma Maddie. I’m ready to do that.”

  Looking no more pleased with the situation than before, Mama shakes her head. “I don’t like the idea of you going back there, Malachi, but if you really think this is what you need to do, I’ll let you know. There’s a company your daddy thinks might be able to do it, but it won’t be until sometime later this summer.”

  “Thanks, Mama.” It’s a relief to know nothing will happen before then, but I feel sick as Mama’s expression pales just thinking about me actually going back there. Rushing down the stairs to find our great grandma lying on the floor, beaten and bleeding, that’s not something you ever forget. Everything that happened after that…I shake off the memory quickly.

  Mama has no idea of the real reason behind my strange request, but when I look up and lock gazes with Kyran, he nods. We may not be blood brothers, but I know he’ll always have my back. The only problem now, is that the only opportunity I’ll have to make the trip back to the estate is during the summer, exactly when I invited Echo to visit. I promised I wouldn’t put her in danger, but something tells me taking her to the estate will be anything but safe.

  7: The Only Ones

  (Malachi)

  I swear when my phone starts buzzing, it’s channeling Holden’s irritation. It doesn’t sound any different than usual, but the zzz, zzz seems unusually ominous. It’s with a sigh that I reach over to the coffee table and snatch up the phone. Kyran nods and takes his biology notes to his bedroom.

  The number comes up as unknown, but I answer it saying, “Hey, Holden.”

  “How’d you know who it was?” he demands.

  “Been waitin’ for your call, man.”

  He grumbles something incoherent, probably annoyed I’m taking this so calmly. It’s not that I don’t find his concern for Echo a bit much. Actually, I’m glad she has someone looking out for her, since her parents don’t really seem to be aware of how serious this ghost thing is. The only thing getting under my skin about this guy is that I can’t figure out whether or not he’s into Echo as more than just a friend.

  “Look, Malachi,” Holden begins. The snarl backing the way he says my name makes me shake my head. “I don’t know what your deal is with stalking Echo, but it needs to stop. She has been through too much to have some…”

  “Whoa,” I say, breaking in. “Who says I’m stalking her? Not Echo, right? I’m pretty sure she would have just told me to back off if I was bothering her. I may not know her as well as you, but it didn’t take much to figure out she’s a pretty tough girl.”

  More grumbling. “No, Echo didn’t say you’re stalking her, but what do you call it?”

  “Uh, havin’ a couple phone conversations and a handful of texts.”

  “What about friending her on Facebook! Her page is private. I made sure of it. Only friends can see what she posts,” he argues.

  “Sure, but her profile still comes up in a search, and it’s kinda hard to forget her hair. I didn’t have to see any of her posts to know I had the right Echo Simmons. It’s not that common of a name, anyway.” I’m trying really hard not to get annoyed with this kid, but my patience is waning fast. “Look, Holden, I get that you’re tryin’ to protect your friend, and I respect that, especially after what happened with that Martin Coulter guy.”

  For a long moment, Holden doesn’t say anything. I think I must have surprised him with what I said. His next words confirm it. “She told you about that?”

  “Yeah, she did.”

  The huff I hear over the phone is hard to interpret. I’m not sure if he’s annoyed that she told me, or just shocked. “What do you want with her?” he finally asks.

  I think about my answer very carefully. “I just want to get to know her.”

  “What about asking her to go to Georgia for the summer?” he demands, his frustration rekindling. “You’re a stranger. You could be anyone! Does trying to talk her into leaving her family to come meet you really seem like a normal thing to do? Does that sound safe?”

  Grimacing, I admit that doesn’t sound like something a bring-home-to-meet-the-folks kind of guy would do. “Look, I know that seems kind of crazy, but I honestly just wanted to meet her and get to know each other better, learn about the ghost stuff and everything. I told her she should bring you and Zara, too. Check out the area, the college, just get away for a while.”

  “Why would she want to check out the college? Echo won’t be able to get in and she knows that.”

  “I don’t know
,” I say with exasperation. “Haven’t you ever just wanted to take off and do something totally out of character?”

  Holden growls under his breath. “Why does it have to be her? Echo can’t afford those kinds of risks. She had no reason to trust you and neither do I,” he snaps. “How about you take a risk and come here, where she’s safe.”

  “I have no problem doing that!” I take a deep breath when Kyran pops his head out of his room with a concerned expression. Scaling back my annoyance, I say to Holden. “Look, if that’s what Echo wants, my roommate and I will head to Cali to meet ya’ll. I’d be more than happy to come meet her where she feels safer about it, meet her parents and sisters, too. I only brought up her comin’ here because…there was just something in her voice that made me think she might want to get away from her life there for a while. Like she needed a break from whatever’s going on at home.”

  I don’t really know why, but that shuts Holden up. He sighs the kind of sigh that says he’s admitted defeat. I can only assume that means what I said about Echo having a rough time lately is pretty accurate. It still doesn’t explain everything, but I’m glad she trusted me enough to share that with me.

  “Holden, can I ask you something?” I say, risking pissing him off again.

  “I guess.” He doesn’t sound particularly happy about it.

  Before he can change his mind, I just say it. “Do you…I mean, me talking to Echo, are you only upset because you’re worried about her safety, or do you, you know, have a thing for her or something? I mean, I understand if you do and I don’t want to be the guy steppin’ in and…”

  “Stop, just stop,” Holden says. “The answer is no. I do not now, nor have I ever had a crush, or whatever you want to call it, on Echo. Dude, she’s like my sister. Even more than my actual sisters, because I can’t even stand being around them most of the time. They’re like drama wrapped up in a jack-in-the-box that explodes in your face when you dare even look at it.”

  Chuckling, I have to lower the phone for a minute to keep from laughing right in Holden’s ear. When I recover, I say, “That’s just sisters in general, man. It’s not just yours, trust me.”

  “I’m glad it’s not just me,” he says, actually sounding relieved. “Zara and Echo are weird, so low maintenance compared to every other girl I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with them.”

  Laughing again, I actually feel kinda bad for the guy. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot, Holden. Even with the message from my great grandma, my interest in Echo is purely because I like talking to her and she’s generally pretty awesome. That’s it.”

  Holden huffs, which seems to be a habit of his. “Just…be careful. Echo is strong and tough, but she’s been through a lot, especially over the last few years. She’s been doing really well this past year, but there are still cracks she’s trying to glue back together.”

  “I won’t do anything to hurt her.”

  “I hope you mean that.” At first I think he’s referring to what he might do to me if I cause her pain, but what he says next sends chills down my spine. “The ghosts, they don’t like it when someone hurts Echo. Some of them really seem to care about her, but the others, they just don’t want to risk losing their connection to the physical world. Hurting Echo won’t turn out well for you, got it?”

  “Yeah,” I say slowly, “got it.”

  The background noise suddenly gets louder and Holden has to nearly yell to talk over it. “I’ve gotta grab some lunch before class starts.”

  “Go eat, and tell Echo hi for me.”

  Holden snorts at the request before ending the call, but I get the impression much of his earlier hostility toward me has mellowed. I can’t help wondering if I should expect a call from Zara, too, or possibly Echo’s dad. That one’s going to take a lot more convincing. I can’t help wonder how she’ll explain this trip out here when and if she ever gets around to actually asking her parents. Hey, can I go meet this college guy I’ve been talking to for two days, who lives in Georgia, and who ya’ll have never met? Yeah, that’s not going to go over well. What was I thinking even asking? Of course it sounds dangerous and insane. I just…I have the strongest impression this is where she needs to be right now.

  Kyran appears at my door a moment later looking expectant. “So, you calm down Kujo Boy?”

  “Yeah,” I say, laughing at his nickname. “As much as I could anyway. He’s at least convinced I’m not trying to lure Echo up here so I can kill her or something.”

  Flopping down on the bed, Kyran seems to find that supremely funny. “Oh yeah, you’re gonna kill her, right after you faint at the thought of all the blood you’d have to face. Remember the time I crashed coming down that halfpipe and had blood running down my forearm? I thought you were gonna puke before we got to the car!”

  “Shut up,” I say, whacking him in the face with a pillow, hard.

  Kyran yanks the pillow away from me and tosses it aside. “So, you really think Echo can talk to ghosts?”

  Frowning, I consider his question. Last night, I told Echo I believed her. I meant it…at least, I believe that everything she’s experienced is real in some way. Do I really believe in ghosts, messages, and an afterlife of some kind? I can only shrug. “I don’t know, man, but she’s not lying to me about this stuff. She believes it. Her friends believe it. It’s ghosts, though, you know? How do I really say I believe ghosts are stalking this girl?”

  Kyran only half shrugs in response, but I can tell there’s something behind the indifferent motion.

  “What?”

  For a few seconds, Kyran doesn’t respond. It’s almost like he’s nervous to say what he thinks, which isn’t like him at all. Finally, he sighs and says, “I’ve always believed in ghosts. Growing up with born and bred mystics, it’s hard not to. It’s not just taking my family’s word for it, though.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask warily.

  Looking down at the bed, he avoids my gaze. A chill creeps up my spine the longer he doesn’t say anything. I nearly jump when he finally speaks. “That night, at the estate, something wasn’t right. Not just what we experienced. Those guys who killed Grandma Maddie and grabbed us when we ran downstairs, I don’t think they were the only ones in the room with us.”

  I’d almost think he’s trying to play a really horrible joke on me if not for the way his fingers are nearly strangling themselves. The cold creeps further up my spine as I try to form some kind of response. “What do you mean someone else was there?”

  Kyran looks up at me, his expression tortured. “I didn’t see any point in saying much before now. Before Echo, you’d never have believed me anyway. You wouldn’t even watch her show.” He pauses, pressing his palms to the top of his head as he takes a deep breath. “My family was into some pretty weird stuff for a while. I never saw any ghosts or whatever it was they were looking for, but I definitely felt some awful bizarre things back then. It felt the same way that night.”

  A thousand thoughts scramble through my mind in the next few minutes. Kyran waits patiently for me to shake them all into some kind of coherent thought. The only thing I can think of, though, is Echo’s warning. “She said going back might be dangerous. Echo, I mean.”

  Nodding, Kyran says, “I don’t think going back will be as simple as walking in and grabbing whatever Grandma Maddie left you.”

  “Should I just not go?” I ask, feeling lost.

  His expression says I should leave it all alone, but he shakes his head and shrugs. “I don’t know, man. If Grandma Maddie asked you to do this, it might be worse if you don’t. I have no idea, but if you decide to go back, I’ll be right there with you.”

  “I never doubted,” I say with a wry smile.

  The topic of ghosts and estates and things we’d rather not remember dies away and we get back to our homework. Echo and her warning, however, is much harder to shake.

  8: Experiences

  (Echo)

  Grateful it’s not a soccer practic
e night, I toss away my last bit of homework for the evening and stretch my back. As I debate how to spend the rest of my night, a ping from my computer distracts me. I’m not exactly popular on Facebook, but I recognize the sound of a notification popping up. Normally, I wouldn’t even have it open since no one ever tries to contact me through the site, but I found myself opening it earlier, hoping to see something new from Malachi.

  When I click over to the right tab, I notice I have a new friend request. That’s more than a little unusual. Deciding to take a chance, I click on it and find the same dark complected guy from Malachi’s profile picture looking back at me. Kyran. For a minute, I sit there staring at it, not sure if it’s weird that he wants to friend me or not. Eventually I decide it’s probably a fairly normal thing to do on his part, and accept his request. A message pops up not a second later, startling me.

  Hey, Echo. Please tell me you’re not busy right now.

  This is Kyran, Malachi’s roommate btw.

  A bit confused, but rather entertained by this guy, I type a response back.

  I kinda figured that’s who you were or I would have ignored your request.

  And no, I’m not busy. Why?

  A response pops up right away. I’m getting my trash kicked online. Please tell me you play Destiny!

  I can’t help laughing. Malachi was serious when he said his roomie wanted to meet me so I could help him with some game.

  Do I play Destiny? What kind of question is that?

  His response is immediate once again. Sweet! What system?

  PS4. You?

  I half hope he’s an XBOX guy, just because I’m not totally sure about this. The other half of me is strangely excited about the prospect of playing with someone other than Holden or Zara.

  Kyran’s response cracks me up. I think I’m in love with you. PS4 for me too. Get online pronto. I’m dying here!

  Ditching my computer, I hurry over to the den and kick my sisters off the TV. They’ve more than exceeded their screen time for the day, and the pretzels scattered all over the coffee table would have put an end to it even if they hadn’t. While they clean up, I Facebook message Kyran my screen name from my phone and get my game going. I’m barely logged in before a friend request and invitation to join him pops up. I shake my head and accept.