Page 100 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
She refused to let the house taint her memories of him.
Lucky sat up and closed her eyes to focus. The first night she saw specters she’d been obsessing over her estranged family. What would happen if she focused on them again? What if she banished all the thoughts of Maverick from her mind?
Reggie Reggie Reggie Reggie, she mentally chanted. She thought of how he used to push her on the swing at their apartment complex’s play structure. How he patiently taught her how to play his video games with him. Waking up in the hospital to him asleep and holding her hand because she’d blacked out and hit her head on the ground. The journal they shared and the secret writing code they used so their parents couldn’t read it. How she always helped him with homework by doing it for him. Cheering in the stands at his first basketball game only for him to ditch her afterward to hang out with his friends who didn’t like his weird sister. The cruelest thing he’d ever said to her—her final straw and the reason she’d gone low contact.
Reggie, she thought.I want to see Reggie.
Lucky recalled his reading from deep in her archive. It was her most prized possession because she’d read him so young. Her ability was still developing and so was he, and they’d grown together.
Before she’d figured out her ring theory, she used to think of layered readings like candy because Reggie had always been so sweet. He personally had a soft six-year-old center, a crunchy ten-year-old middle, and a thirteen-year-old hard shell.
Reggie settled into being a dreamer with big lofty goals of greatness. But while his head was in the clouds, his feet were firmly planted on the ground—a rare combination meaning he had the potential to make things happen. Whatever he wanted, he’d find a way to get it.
Their dad dying changed him. He became more closed off to protect himself, pushing everyone away by any means necessary, never allowing himself to get close to anyone again as he gave in to his intense fears. Death couldn’t hurt him again without love.
Naturally, Lucky had to be the first one to go. She knew that and held on for as long as she could anyway because it wasReggie.
When the specter knocked on her door, she held her breath as she opened it.
“Lucky Bug,” Specter-Reggie said.
Experiment #1 / Status: Complete
Discovery #1: Confirmed
Hennessee allowed her to choose the form the specters took. Choose and despair.
31
As much as Lucky hated it, Xander had been right. She’d never admit to his unnaturally passive face that keeping Maverick contained, so to speak, was the right move. Not because she was distracted, but rather because her desire for him would be too strong for the house to ignore.
Inside Hennessee House from sunrise to sunrise with the exception of a few sleepy hours at dawn, Maverick didn’t exist. She didn’t think or talk about him. She archived his first impression and resisted indulging in any memories of him. If she felt herself slipping up, pining and yearning for him, she thought of a brick wall instead—something the house instantly picked up on.
No matter how much she focused on Reggie, she knew that if Hennessee figured out the truth it wouldn’t hesitate to create Specter-Maverick.
“You’ve been keeping secrets,” Specter-Reggie accused. They sat together, alone in the hallway. Gengar was strangely nowhereto be found. He was probably outside terrorizing the gophers that had recently moved into the backyard.
“Have I?” Lucky played clueless, as she had for several nights in row. Sometimes, she even imagined spray-painting words on her brick wall like—
“I know what you did last summer.”
Lucky laughed. “I bet you do.” Her days were increasingly depressing. She amused herself whenever she could.
But Specter-Reggie had an iron will, staying on target despite whatever curveballs she threw its way. “We always shared secrets. We could start another journal. Do you remember our code?”
“I remember, but you’re mistaken. I shared secrets with Reggie. You’re not him. Why are you pretending to be? How does it work?”
“Your life is miserable, but you won’t do anything about it.”
She sighed. “Is it? I hadn’t noticed.”
“That’s your problem. Negativity. Bad energy. Nobody wants to be around that shit.”
“I’m fully aware of that, thank you.”
“You’ll never change.”
“People rarely do,” she said. “But I am different now than when we first met. More myself.”
