Circus of the Dead: Book 4 Read online

  “Not really. But I’ll figure it all out.” At least I hope I will. This is all so disconcerting.

  She gives a forced grin. “Damn straight, you will. I’m so glad to see you. Even if the circumstances are less than ideal.”

  She loops her arm through mine, turns back, and stares at the small boat.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “Danni, the girl in there, is Victor’s latest conquest. I thought he was leaving his girlfriend for me, but he didn’t. He dumped me and took on another girl. But he still stays with his girlfriend. I can’t figure it out.” Her nostrils flare, and with every word, her voice rises in pitch a bit.

  Danni is one of the acrobats. Probably even one of Juliette’s friends. “Uh. Sweetie, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he’s moved on. Besides, he’s not good enough for someone like you. Why do you care?”

  She throws her hands up. “Because I’m in love.”

  Tears stream down her face, and I pull her into a hug. “It’ll be okay.” I’m surprised she can cry. I haven’t felt any kind of emotion. I’m grateful that I can feel her physically though. It feels strange to not feel the heavy air, the heat of the sun, or the water that drips off the trees. I can hear the birds and the frogs now though.

  She pulls back and wipes her face. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere else. I had a ton of things to figure out in the beginning, and Benny helped me a lot. Now I can help you.” She bounces on her toes, excitement in her eyes.

  Sadness fills my chest. There are those pesky feelings. “Where is Benny?” I miss him, but I’m also acutely aware that he murdered me.

  She shrugs. “He leaves the island sometimes. But mostly he watches you, so I’m surprised he’s not here. Maybe he had something to take care of, and he doesn’t even realize you are dead.”

  The knife that plunged into my chest is his. “He killed me.”

  “I thought you said Lorena killed you.”

  “No, I signed a deal with Lorena, but Benny wielded the knife.”

  She cocks her head and purses her lips. “Oh. Huh. Well. Maybe he thinks you hate him? Do you?”

  I let out a sigh. “I don’t think so. It was Lorena’s doing, not really his.”

  “Okay. Do you want to go back to your boat, and we’ll chat? I can explain how all this ghost stuff works, and you can tell me all about this deal you signed with Lorena.”

  “Let’s go to Lorena’s. If I’m going to find any answers at all, it will be at her place. I’ve already been there, but it was before I had any of my senses back.”

  “Oh yeah, that was weird, wasn’t it? Come on.”

  We meander down the path, past my boat again. Hundreds of birds sit on the porch and roof. I wave at them, but they don’t acknowledge me.

  “Huh, the birds must not be able to sense me yet,” I say.

  Juliette nods and then grabs my hand. She pulls me forward at a breathtaking speed. In no time at all, we are at Lorena’s boat.

  “Holy cow, how did you do that?” I ask. I moved fast before, but not that fast.

  “You have to imagine where it is you want to go, and you’ll be there. It’s pretty amazing when you leave the island. Once we get out of the swamp, you can close your eyes, picture anywhere you want to be, and bam, you’re there.”

  “Wow.” I could go anywhere. Paris, Hong Kong, Russia. My bucket list will be finished in no time.

  “Yep. Being a ghost has its perks.” She squeezes my hand. “I’m so glad to see you. I can’t believe you’re here with me.”

  We enter Lorena’s boat, and I look around. I could hunt under all her crystals and see if she hid things there. Search all the drawers of her desk or dresser. She had cubbies upon cubbies of knick-knacks and junk. Surely something here is useful.

  Juliette goes to the table where the papers are scattered and grabs one. “This your contract?”

  I nod. “How did you pick it up?”

  She chuckles. “Oh, that’s easy. But I forgot that I had to learn. The thing is, if someone was in here, they wouldn’t see you pick it up. And if you tried to move more than a few feet with it, it would disappear and go right back. So you can look at things, but you can’t do anything with them.”

  Leave it to Juliette to explain things, but not really. “Okay. How do I do it?”

  She points to the letter Lorena left me. “Concentrate on wanting to know what’s on the other side of the paper. I have no idea why this works, but it does. The same goes if you are picking up objects that don’t involve reading. Like if you wanted to see what’s under a rock or something, you’d have to think about what is under the rock.”

  I want to see what’s on the back.

  Sure enough, I can pick the paper right up and flip it over. But there is nothing on the back.

  “See, easy.”

  I go to the bookshelf. “Do books work the same way?”

  “Yep. Just concentrate on wanting to know what’s inside.”

  I do, and I’m able to open a book and flip through the pages. I expect I’ll be doing a lot of reading in the next few months. Ghost or not, my plans have not changed. I’ve taken Lorena’s spot, and I have to figure out what that means for me. The island is evil, and I will take it out, one way or another. Or I’ll change it so that people no longer die.

  Juliette sinks down on the couch, and I join her.

  “So. What do you want to know about being a ghost?” Juliette asks me.

  “How about everything?”

  She giggles and pulls a dish with little candies off a side table. She riffles through it, tosses one in her mouth, and watches it fall right back into the dish. “We can’t eat anything. So frustrating.”

  “I already knew that.”

  “Well, I showed you the speed and stuff. We never get tired. We can go inside any house or building and eavesdrop. We literally have zero rules. We can do what we want, but we just touch the living.”

  I tap my fingers on the side of the couch. They make no noise. “Except we can. I’ve seen it. Benny shoved Samuel out of my house.”

  “That was when he was really angry. So we can make things move, but we have to be super emotionally charged. I’ve only seen it happen a couple of times, and it’s never happened to me.”

  “How high can we fly?”

  “You mean up?” She points to the ceiling.

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t know. Benny said he tried to go to the moon once, but he couldn’t get outside of the atmosphere.”

  The atmosphere. That is like a hundred miles. Nuts.

  Juliette twirls her hair. “Oh, and you should know that not all the ghosts are nice. If I were you, I’d stay away from the giants, Linus, Erica, and Greg.”

  “What’s wrong with Greg?”

  “He likes to go down and visit the zombies. If you make him mad, he’ll drag you down there with him.”

  Greg didn’t seem that weird to me, but maybe I’d be singing a different tune if he pulled me down into the depths.

  I lean forward. “I’m not scared of any of them. I’m in charge of all of them.”

  Juliette frowns. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means I’m the new Lorena.”

  She waves a hand. “That means nothing unless you know how to use the power. You thought you were in charge when Samuel died too.”

  I bristle at her words. “That’s mean.”

  Juliette sighs. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to get hurt when the giants decide to use you for target practice. You should stay out of their way until you have control of your powers. You just died, and you don’t have a clue how any of this works. Maybe Lorena didn’t give you your powers either.”

  I sink back into the couch. I know she’s right, but I don’t want to believe that I have no special powers. “Have you been to the skull in the middle of the island?”

  Juliette shrugs. “Yeah, but it’s just a glowing skull. Some ghosts talk about it like it’s human, but to me, it’
s a big rock. They call him Reken.”

  Ah, so that’s the elusive Reken.

  I rub my hands together and hold them out. “Do you see the lines?”

  She shakes her head.

  Juliette jumps up. “I’m tired of this seriousness. You wanna go somewhere?” She could never stand anything being too real. It’s one of the things I love most about her.

  “Where?” I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to stay here and figure out my powers. But I should see what Juliette is talking about.

  “Does it matter? Anywhere but here.”

  “You mean like leave the island?”

  “Yeah. We can go to London or Egypt. You pick.”

  I want to go see if Maddie is alive and well. If Lorena messed that up, I’ll be so pissed. I already am, but it will be significantly worse if my sacrifice was for nothing.

  “California,” I say, standing and facing her.

  “That’s too easy. Come on, pick somewhere more fun.”

  “I need to check on Maddie. Then I can relax. If she’s not there, I have to find her and bring her back for real.”

  Her face softens. “Oh yeah, of course. We can go somewhere fun tomorrow.”

  “How do we do this?”

  “We can’t leave the island from just anywhere. We can only leave from the docks that ferry the circus goers. I don’t know why.”

  “Okay.”

  We head out to the docks, and Juliette points into the water. “Just step off the dock and think about the place you want to go. Give me the address, so we’ll end up in the same place.”

  I tell Juliette my address, and a jolt runs through me as I realize that Maddie’s address isn’t my address anymore. I live on the island.

  Man, if I ever get out of this, I should write a book about my crazy, messed up life.

  “You go first,” Juliette instructs. “Think of the address and step off the dock. You’ll end up there.”

  I do as she tells me, knowing even if it doesn’t work, I won’t end up in the water since I float in the air.

  But nothing happens. I can’t go anywhere. I turn and see Juliette next to me.

  “It didn’t work.”

  She creases her eyebrows. “That’s weird. Here let me try.”

  She steps off the dock and disappears.

  Chapter Three

  I realize why Juliette can leave, and I can’t. My stomach drops. Man, Lorena did a number on me. I am completely and utterly trapped. Which, I guess, is the point.

  The air looks heavy. I still see that weird glow on everything. The trees seem sinister and almost like they are alive. A fish jumps out, and I can see it clearly. It glows an eerie pinkish-purple.

  Juliette is back a few seconds later. “I don’t know why you can’t go.”

  “I do.” I sink onto the docks. “It’s because I signed that stupid contract with Lorena.”

  Juliette sits down next to me. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “That contract was more than just about me sacrificing myself for Maddie. It also said that I could never leave the island. So I can’t, even as a ghost.” I should’ve seen this. I was so excited to go and see if Maddie was okay that I didn’t bother to think about my reality.

  “Oh no.” Juliette covers her mouth. “That’s the only thing that makes this bearable. I can’t imagine staying here all the time.”

  I give her a glare. “Gee, thanks, Jules.”

  My whole life plays out in front of me. I won’t even be able to sleep to escape it. I’m doomed to an eternity of boredom. I’ll watch ghosts kill and move on, and I’ll still be stuck here. How many years before I go mad or evil?

  She puts her arm around me. “I’m sorry.”

  I shake my head, trying to force the tears not to come. Geesh, this is all so messed up. What the hell am I doing? I can’t stand the thought that I’ll be stuck in this life forever.

  No. I have to fix this. I can. I managed to defeat Samuel and get Lorena off the island. This will not be my forever. I will figure out what drives the island, destroy it, and save all my friends. But first, I need to know what happened to Maddie.

  I wipe my face and stand. I pull Juliette up after me. I expect the dock to creak and rock as we move, but it doesn’t.

  “Can you check on Maddie? Make sure she’s back with our family and very much alive. Because if she’s not, then that contract isn’t right, and I’ll have a witch to hunt down.”

  Juliette searches my face and gives a stiff nod. “Yeah, of course. I’ll be back in a bit. I’ll watch her for a few days and make sure she’s her silly, perfect self.”

  I give her a small smile. Juliette didn’t know Maddie’s silly self, but I appreciate her sentiment.

  I squeeze Juliette’s hand. “Thank you.”

  She disappears, and I stare out over the glowing swamp. Something feels so off about this whole thing. I mean, I know it’s off, but I can’t help but feel I’ve missed something massive in what Lorena did to me, and I don’t know how to find it. At least I have Juliette on this side. Benny and Luke, too. It’s time to end this whole horror show. We may be ghosts, but that comes with a few advantages.

  Between the four of us, we’ll figure out what Lorena did and how to take the island out. I hold my hands out again, seeing the eerie green strings coursing in several directions.

  A few ghosts walk by with strings trailing right behind them. I know they can’t see them, but I find it strange. One of the ghosts notices me staring at him and snarls. I drop my eyes. I don’t want to get into a fight now.

  “Find Benny.”

  Nothing happens. The strings all still stay there. Huh, weird. So far, all the ghosts have them. Maybe he’s not on the island right now.

  “Find Juliette.”

  All the strings disappear but one that runs off the island. I consider, if I was able to leave, whether I would be able to find her. Probably. All the strings are back.

  “Find Benny.”

  Nothing. Ugh. Where the heck is he?

  “Find Luke.”

  Again, all the strings fade except one. This one shoots into the circus. Luke is with his cats. I don’t know who will take care of them since I’m a ghost too. I close my fists again. I don’t want to talk to Luke right now. I will eventually, but he’s not the one I want to see.

  I want Benny.

  I wander around the island, thinking. This is the worst possible situation. I’m stuck on the island as a ghost in charge of ghosts I can’t even chase away. Once again, I’m supposed to be in charge, but I’m not really. Though, maybe I am, but I’m bound by that stupid contract Lorena made me sign. But how will I know if I’m in charge of them? I don’t even know most of their names.

  I pass several ghosts, but none of them pay much attention to me. They probably don’t know that I can control them. Even before, they didn’t know they were tied to Lorena. They thought they lived their lives the way they wanted to. Well, as much as they could as a ghost.

  Maybe they knew they were tied to her and didn’t care. Or maybe they think Reken is in control.

  I end up in front of my boat and freeze. The birds flutter around the porch, but that’s not what catches my attention. A light is on, and someone is moving around inside. I haven’t even been gone twenty-four hours, and someone has already made themselves at home. Seriously?

  I fly into the boat and stop dead.

  Benny sits there at my table, drinking coffee out of my favorite cup with Raptor curled up in his lap.

  Benny is alive.

  Chapter Four

  I stare at Benny. How the hell is he alive? He was dead. For years. Almost a hundred. Now he’s alive, and I’m dead. Maybe he was somehow in on the contract with Lorena. The betrayal cuts straight to my core.

  I figured he killed me because the compulsion had finally become too much. But now that seems dumb. He managed to resist every compulsion until that moment. He was part of her plan the whole freaking time.

  I can’t
believe he would do this to me. And now here he sits in my boat like he owns the place. He’s sitting at my cute table, drinking coffee out of my cup, and stealing my pet

  Oh, hell no.

  I scream, but he can’t hear me. Nobody living can. Maybe some of the ghosts, but it’s not like they care.

  Benny stands, and Raptor squawks. I stop my screams for a moment. Benny chuckles, and I want to punch him in the face. “Sorry. Still not used to you.”

  Raptor gives him a look, and Benny sighs and strokes Raptor’s feathers. “I know. I miss her too.”

  He does not get to say those things. I get right into his beautiful face and slap at him, but of course, my hand goes through him.

  “Ugh.” I stomp my feet. It would be more effective if they made a noise. He must’ve agreed to kill me if he could be brought back. Lorena said I did everything just as she wanted. Benny must’ve been in on it. He could’ve killed me at any time, but he waited until it would best serve Lorena. This is so wrong.

  Was there anyone I could trust?

  No. Not a soul.

  I’m not sure I can even trust Juliette at this point. She might be in on it as well. She could pretend to show me all these things, but in reality, she could be in Lorena’s pocket. Luke too. He’s probably still in love with her.

  I clench my fists and swallow. I want to tear all their heads off.

  Benny moves around the tiny boat, picking things up and sighing occasionally. He plays with Raptor, the traitor. How can he take grapes and make googly eyes with the man who murdered me? Benny lies down on the bed and talks. I listen, rage building behind my eyes.

  “I don’t know where you are, Callie, but I wonder if you hate me right now. I would if I were in your shoes. I miss you so much it hurts. I want to hold you and love you. I want to explain what happened and hope you’ll forgive me. Being alive isn’t worth it if I can’t have you.”

  I’ll never forgive him. He killed me so he could live again. Sure, Lorena probably tricked him—she tricked all of us, but he’s been around long enough that he should’ve known better. In what world is killing me the answer to his problems?

  And look at him, moping around like he misses me. Like he regrets his decision. He’s freaking alive. There’s no regret there.