There’s only one person who can tell me, for sure, what the hell is going on with Mary. I take out my phone and look up directions to Greenbriar Sanitarium.

Chapter Fifty-Two

LILLIA

“DO YOU THINK WE MADE the right call with this font?” I ask. I’m at Alex’s, mounting on an easel the picture of Rennie we had blown up. I picked up the picture of Rennie from the copy shop and brought it right over so we could see how it looked. It’s her senior photo, and at the top it reads Rennie Holtz, Prom Queen In Memoriam in a scripty Edwardian font. “Should we have gone super clean, like, minimalist?”

Alex looks up from untangling twinkle lights. His mom had a bunch left over from his uncle Tim’s wedding, and the guys on prom committee are going to string them up all over the backyard tomorrow morning. “Nah. Rennie’s always liked bling. The fancy font was the right choice.”

“I hope so,” I say. Prom queen was Rennie’s dream. I want it to be just right. After all, homecoming should have been hers.

“Don’t worry, it looks great,” Alex tells me. “It’s exactly what she would have wanted.” Like always, his words have a way of setting me at ease. Which is a feat these days. I hate being at school, seeing Reeve fall apart. I have such crazy anxiety that he’s going to say or do something he won’t be able to take back. Make some kind of scene, like he did at the sports banquet.

Lately it’s been good between us. Almost like old times. I know I don’t have to say anything, but I blurt out, “This year’s been crazy, but the one thing I’m grateful for is that you and I can be friends again. I really missed you, Lindy.” Alex looks taken aback. Before he can say anything, I say, “Wait. I know I haven’t been a good friend to you. I took your friendship for granted, and I led you on because I liked the way you made me feel. You made me feel—so special . . . and I didn’t want that to end. But it was wrong. And I’m sorry, Alex. I’m so sorry.” I hold my breath, waiting for him to answer.

“It means a lot that you’d say that.”

“I mean it.”

“So, then, apology accepted.”

I stare at him. “Just like that?”

“Yeah. We’re cool, Lil. I mean, we’ve been friends for a long time. That counts for something. It does to me, anyway.”

“To me, too.” I lean over and give him the biggest hug I can. Then Alex goes back to the twinkle lights and I say suddenly, “Hey, what do you think about us going to prom together? I don’t have a date, and you don’t have a date, and you know our moms are going to be all about us getting pictures together either way. You don’t even have to buy me a corsage!” Alex takes so long to answer that I add, “As friends, of course.”

At last Alex says, “As friends. Sure. But don’t worry, I’ll still get you a corsage.”

I beam. I feel lighter already. “Then I’ll get you a boutonniere.”

Chapter Fifty-Three

KAT

ABOUT AN HOUR LATER I pull up through the wrought-iron gates. The place is a huge brick mansion from another time, with beautifully manicured gardens. It could be a spa, if not for the bars on the windows.

Reeve passed out cold before we even pulled onto the ferry, and he’s been snoring ever since with Shep in his lap. I park in one of the visitor spots and walk quickly up through the front door.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes. I’m here to see my aunt. Her name is Bette Zane.”

“You mean Elizabeth Zane?”

“Um, yes. Sorry.”

I sign in as Mary Zane, and then I’m pointed down a long hallway. It takes all my self-control not to run down there as fast as I can.

As beautiful and tony as this place looked from the outside, the inside looks exactly like a hospital. White walls, beeping machines, sterile.

The hallway ends at a large room with a glass ceiling. It could have been a greenhouse or something back in the day, and it’s filled with sunlight. It’s now a rec room, and patients here are quietly going about their business—a few are watching a television in the corner, one is working on a puzzle, three are playing cards. One lady is just staring off into space like she’s catatonic, but then she catches me looking at her, and she glares.

I see two nurses who are manning a pill cart look at me with suspicion and share a whisper. Probably thinking if I’m here to see someone, why am I just staring around, casing the joint? Shit.

And then, to my right, I see a woman painting at an easel.

A painting of a lighthouse.

It looks exactly like the ones in Mary’s house. Except it’s blurry. Unfocused.

I race over to her side. “Um, excuse me. Elizabeth?” She doesn’t even blink. I lay a hand on her arm. “Bette?”

She turns and looks at me, confused. Not in the Oh! Why, I wasn’t expecting company! way. In the I’m hopped up on so many drugs, I can’t see straight way. Who even knows if she’ll be able to tell me what I need to know.

Her hair is almost entirely gray, and the ends zap out, fried and dead, like she hasn’t gotten a haircut in a long time. Years, I bet. She’s thin, almost sickly-looking. She’s got on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt that are two sizes too big. She’s got the same pale complexion as Mary, and the same little nose.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but can I ask you a couple of questions?” That’s all I say because I don’t know whether I should call her Mary or Elizabeth or Big Easy.

She turns back to the canvas and smacks the brush against it.

“I’m hoping you can tell me what happened to your niece.”

A shock of panic bolts through her. Her paintbrush tumbles handle over tip, until it hits the floor with a splat of red. Aunt Bette grabs me and tries desperately to make her eyes focus on mine. “Why? What happened to Mary? Did she hurt someone?”

I shrink back and try to wriggle my arm out of her grip, but she won’t let go. “No. I don’t know.” Panicked, I start looking around for help. What the hell was I thinking coming to a damn mental asylum? They don’t lock people up for nothing!

“She’s here because of that boy. She won’t let him go. She won’t ever let him go.” The hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Reeve. “But you’ve seen her too?”

“Yes . . . I . . . We’re friends.”

The next thing I know, Aunt Bette is dragging me out of the room, her bony fingers digging into my skin. “You have to tell them! My sister, she made them think I was crazy! She didn’t believe me that Mary was back from the dead!” She’s making such a ruckus that everyone’s turning to stare.

My knees buckle. “Mary’s really dead?”

But before Aunt Bette can answer me, a voice calls out my name. “Kat! Kat, what the hell? How long are you going to make me wait out there?”

Aunt Bette turns her head. It takes a second for her to drop her hold on me and lunge at Reeve, snarling like a wild animal. Before she can get to him, a bunch of people restrain Aunt Bette. She’s not making any sense. She’s foaming at the mouth. And Reeve, he’s as white as a ghost.

I grab his hand, and together we run down the hallway.

“What the hell was that all about?” He’s still drunk. I can tell.

“Family business,” I pant.

*  *  *

After I drop Reeve off at his house, I walk Shep home then jump into my car and head over to the Jar Island cemetery. It’s dusk, and the groundskeeper will be locking the gates soon, but I make zigzags down the lines of gravestones until I find it. The Zane obelisk.

I crouch down and touch the cold marble slab.

ELIZABETH MARY DONOVAN ZANE

I glance around. Is she here right now, watching me?

I take out my phone, snap a photo of the grave, and send it to Lillia along with a text.

I’ll be outside your house in ten minutes.

Chapter Fifty-Four

MARY

I’M IN REEVE’S ROOM WHEN he comes stumbling home. I watch from behind a curtain as Kat parks his truck in the driveway, helps him up the stairs, and then runs down the street with her dog.

She knows my secret. I didn’t mean for her to see me. Even though it was only for a second, it made me feel . . . naked. Exposed.

But it doesn’t matter.

Reeve comes in and passes out cold on his bed. I put my hand to his forehead, enter his dream.

He’s already at the lighthouse. He’s there, ready to jump.

I see that, and then I lift my hand. I let him have a bad dream all on his own. And when he wakes up, that’s when it will happen. I can feel it.

Chapter Fifty-Five

LILLIA

WE’RE OVER AT ALEX’S WATCHING a movie—Ash, Derek, PJ, and the junior girl he’s been dating. We hang out here a lot lately. I don’t think any of us want to risk getting into it with Reeve somewhere in public. We’re all avoiding him. Alex fell asleep thirty minutes into the movie, his head on my shoulder. I’ve tried to hold as still for him as I can.

My phone buzzes with a text from Kat. Maybe I can convince her to come over. It’s an action movie that PJ picked, and it’s not like she needs to see the beginning to be able to follow along. I see the picture, and I feel my heart stop.

I write back, I’ll be out front at Alex’s.

I slide away from him. As I do, he opens his eyes and smiles up at me. “Where are you going?”

I whisper, “I’m going to the house to make popcorn,” and fluff up a pillow for him to put under his head.

“Mmm. Popcorn.” Alex closes his eyes and immediately falls back to sleep.

“Make enough for all of us!” Derek yells.

I grab my bag and my car keys and slip out the door.

I’m on the curb when Kat pulls up.

“Get in.” Kat glances around her. “We don’t have much time.”

There’s a stack of old books in the passenger seat. I climb inside and put the books on my lap.

“I saw her, Lillia. She was in Reeve’s car . . . haunting him. And then she f**king disappeared.” Kat forces a swallow. “You didn’t break up with Reeve because he cheated on you, did you? Mary made you do it. Just like before.” My mouth is dry. I want to tell her, but I’m afraid. “The secret’s out, Lil. And she knows that I know!”

For a split second I think about denying it, even now, even with all that Kat knows. That’s how scared I am of Mary, of what she can do. But then I look at Kat, and I can’t even try. “I’m sorry. I thought it would be safer for you if I left you out of it. And . . . I couldn’t risk anybody else finding out, not with Reeve’s life at stake.”

“It still is. I saw Mary in his truck today, basically torturing him, trying to get into his head. I called her name, and she straight-up disappeared.”

I gasp. “Could Reeve see her?”

“No. But I think he could feel her next to him. Or hear her voice. I’m not sure, but she’s definitely getting to him. Think of how crazy he’s been acting lately, drinking twenty-four seven, not sleeping.” Kat fumbles in her pocket for cigarettes but comes up empty. “After that I went to the mental hospital where her aunt Bette’s been locked up. Yo, it was crazy. She kept asking me if Mary had hurt anybody. I had Reeve in the car because he’d passed out and I didn’t have time to drop him off. He came in looking for me, and she went ballistic.”

I feel my bottom lip quiver. “God, are we really talking about this? That ghosts are real?”

“I don’t know. I mean, yeah. This is insane, but . . .” Kat drags her fingers through her hair. “What’s that quote? Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever’s left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. So it must be true.”

“Why can we see her?”

“I’ve been thinking about this, about the day we first met her. She came back for revenge, right? And you and I both wanted revenge too, so maybe that’s the connection. Maybe she needed us to help her finish whatever it is she’s here to do. Whatever it is, it’s got to do with Reeve.” Kat lets out a long sigh. “Now that we both know her secret, I don’t think we have much time.”

My whole body starts to shake. “Is there a way that I could somehow convince Reeve to leave Jar Island and never come back? I can’t tell him the truth, because Mary will kill him for sure.”

“Kill? She said ‘kill’?” I nod, and Kat shakes her head. “That sounds batshit crazy. Did we know her at all? She was so sweet. She was like a little kid. I can’t even believe it.” Kat grabs one of the books from my lap. “I found these in the Dumpster outside Mary’s house. Her aunt used them on her. They have spells in them. Protection spells.”

I wipe my eyes with my sleeve. Kat flips the book to the page she’s looking for. In the margins there are notes written in pencil.

—Arrowhead root sold at Nature’s Bounty in Canobie Bluffs.

—First spell attempted October 1st, lasted 3 days.

—Second spell October 7th (doubled ginger powder), lasted 5 days.

—Research possible anger diluents?

Kat grabs another book and then bites her fingers on one hand while flipping with the other. Suddenly she stops on a page and thrusts the book into my hands. “Look at this! It’s a binding spell. We could use it to bind Mary to her house!”

“But what if she isn’t there?” I drag my finger across the page. “Wait. Okay. It says that she doesn’t have to be, so long as the spirit has an emotional connection to the place.” I shake my head. “This is crazy. I mean, do you really think this can work?”