Page 47 of Ghosted

They step back as Raven strikes the match and throws it in the closet. We all watch as she begins to blaze.

Something draws my attention to where her feet would be and I notice that she’s missing a toe.

“Um, not to be a downer but does this work if she’s missing a body part?”

“What do you mean?” Raven asks, worry crossing her face.

“Well, Stella seems to be missing a pinkie toe,” I reply as I point towards her foot.

“Shit, we have to have every piece of her or this was all for naught,” Jayce stresses.

“If you were a toe, where would you be?” Eli asks.

I rack my brain. Where would Stella hide her toe? Then it dawns on me. My desk. She would always leave me little surprises in the top drawer. And if Stella was anything, she was a creature of habit.

“I know where it is,” I tell them, “We have to get back to the college.”

“I’m so proud of you, Lucien. You remember where I’d leave you all those gifts,” Stella states as she blocks the doorway with the guard’s body.

“Shit.”

Raven

I’ve never considered myself the violent type. But I’ve never wanted to strangle anyone more than I want to strangle Stella at this moment. Of course, I can’t, because the poor guard is just as much a victim in this as we all are.

“Move. I don’t want to have to hurt this man,” Eli tells her with every bit of fire he can manage in his voice. There’s a desperation as the smoke fills the room. If not for the open window we’d have been knocked out by now.

“Oh, you think I care about him?” The laughter that follows her distorted words sends a chill down my spine.

“Plan?” I hiss to the others. “We have to go.” A fit of coughing takes over and I use my shirt as a barrier.

“We need to knock him out. Without him she’ll be super far behind. It might save him in the process,” Jayce says quietly so she can’t hear us.

“Let me,” Lucien says. Everything in me wants to scream no and protest but I have to trust him like I’d want him to trust me.

“Okay,” I say, giving him a look that I hope conveys everything I’m feeling.

“Don’t listen,” he says in a barely audible warning as he passes me. When he reaches her she stalls, uncertainty in her voice.

“Lucien?”

“I’m so sorry, Stella. I don’t know how I ever got so lost,” he says in a pleading tone. “It’s always been you. How could I let her stray me from our path?” He spits out ‘her’ like it’s a curse and I feel my chest ache even though I know it’s an act.

“What the fuck, Lucien?” Eli seethes on my behalf. If he’s acting, he’s one hell of an actor. Stella’s grin is broad now, eating up every ounce of their frustration like it’s a drug.

“She brought you back,” Jayce spits out along with Eli. “How could you use her!”

“Well, now that she brought me back, I can bring Stella back. Thanks for the body, Raven. But I’ll take it from here,” Lucien says cruelly. Stella’s laughter sounds like her for a moment, no longer distorted with the guard’s voice. She’s gaining energy now. As if she forgot she’s the security guard right now, she leans in like she’s going to kiss him. I flinch as Lucien strikes while she’s distracted and the guard falls to the floor with a broken scream.

“Go!” Eli yells, urging us forward. He pauses long enough to throw the big guard over his shoulder. I’m relieved, I couldn’t let him burn, possessed or not. “We have to get back to the car before she gets him up again!”

We race through the halls and down the stairs, using our trail to lead us the right way. By the time we burst outside the flames have truly taken hold, glass shattering and flames raging as we sprint away from the scene of the crime. We drop the guard on the outskirts where he’ll be safe from the flames.

By the time they find the gasoline cans and salt boxes, there will be no prints left to find. We’ll be safe and hopefully, we just need twenty minutes to get across town, grab a toe, and burn it.

Then we’ll be free. For good.

Sirens surround us as we drive away, long gone before they even have a chance to approach the old property. Thankfully, there are no businesses around or security cameras to catch us. It’s such an old building, they’ll likely write it off as an unfortunate accident.

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