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I agreed to try

Two

IN A GOOD DRAMA, the protagonist never takes the straight line to the prize She must set out, hit an obstacle, detour around it, hit another, take a longer detour, another obstacle, another detour… Only when she has built up the strength of character to deserve the prize does she finally succeed

My story was already fitting the tiuess, for a film student Or, I should say, former fil wannabe, her drea Hollywood blockbusters shattered on the day she got her first period and started living the kind of life she’d once i on the screen

That’s when I started seeing ghosts After freaking out at school, I was taken away by the roup home for hosts And I wasn’t the only kid at Lyle House with supernatural powers

Simon could cast spells Rae could burn people with her bare fingers Derek had superhuth and senses and, apparently, soon would be able to change into a wolf Tori…well, I didn’t knohat Tori was—maybe just a screwed-up kid put in Lyle House because her mom helped run it

Simon, Derek, Rae, and I realized it was no coincidence ere in the sauys and, after running to my aunt Lauren—the person I had trusted most in

the world—I ended up here, in some kind of laboratory run by the same people ned Lyle House

Now they expectedin Simon and Derek?

Well, it was time to introduce a few obstacles of , I told Dr Davidoff where to find Simon and Derek

Step one: establish the goal “Rae and I were supposed to hide while the guys stayed behind to distract you with Siic,” I told Dr Davidoff “Rae ran on ahead so she didn’t hear, but at the last second Siot separated, we’d meet at the rendezvous point ”

Step two: introduce the obstacle “Where is the rendezvous point? That’s the proble one, but everything was so crazy that day We’d only just decided to escape, and then Derek was saying it had to be that night The guys ot they never told me where it was ”

Step three: map out the detour “But I do have some ideas—places we talked about One of them must be the rendezvous point I could help you find it They’ll be looking for ht hide until they see me ”

Rather than escape this place, I’d let the me as bait I’d list places I’d never discussed with Siet captured A brilliant plan

The response?

“We’ll keep that in mind, Chloe But for now, just tell us the locations We have ways to find the boys once we get there ”

Obstacles An essential part of the storytelling process But in real life? They suck

After Dr Davidoff and Tori’s ivingin return—no answers, no clues about why I was here or ould happen to me

I sat cross-legged ondown at the necklace in my hands as if it were a crystal ball that could provide all those answers My hosts, as I no She said the necklace would stop theured, like ical I believed in it, so it worked Noasn’t so sure

Had my mom knoas a necromancer? She must have, if the blood ran in her fahosts? If so, its power ht red jewel had gone a purplish color One thing it didn’t do, though, was answer my questions That I had to do for myself

I put the necklace back on Whatever Dr Davidoff and the others wanted froood You don’t lock up kids you want to help

I certainly wasn’t going to tell theet it, even if it store

I had to concentrate on getting Rae andstanding between us and freedoed in a nice hotel—with a double bed, a carpeted floor, an armchair, desk, and private bathroom—but there were no s and no knob on the inside of the door

I’d hoped to get Liz’s help escaping My roommate at Lyle House, Liz hadn’t ot here, I’d su she could help me find a way out Only probleently as I could, I’d broken the news She’d flipped out, accusing , and disappeared

Maybe she’d had enough time to cool off I doubted it, but I couldn’t wait I had to try suain

Three

I PREPARED FOR A séance As set pieces went, this one was so la candles to cast eerie shadows on the walls, noa ritual circle, no chalices filled hat the audience would suppose was red wine but secretly hope was blood

Did experienced necromancers use stuff like candles and incense? From the little I’d learned about the supernatural world, I knew some of e see in movies is true Maybe, way back in history, people had known about necromancers and witches and olves, and those stories are based, if very loosely, on old truths

My method—if I can call it a method since I’ve only used it twice—ca tips froe-level courses at sixteen, being confident of his facts is important to Derek If he isn’t sure, he’d rather keep his mouth shut But when I’d pushed hihosts either by being at a graveside or by using a personal effect, like Liz’s hoodie, so I was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, clutching it

I pictured Liz and i her out of limbo At first, I didn’t try very hard The last tihost, I’d suht back into their buried corpses I wasn’t near a grave this time, but that didn’t mean there weren’t bodies around so it up, focusing harder and harder until…

“What the—? Hey, who are you?”

My eyes flew open There stood a dark-haired boy about ant chin tilt of a star quarterback Finding the ghost of another teenager in this place wasn’t a coincidence A name popped into my head—that of another Lyle House resident who’d been taken away before I arrived, supposedly transferred to a mental hospital, like Liz

“Brady?” I said tentatively

“Yeah, but I don’t know you Or this place ”

He pivoted, scanning the room, then rubbed the back of his neck I stoppedif he was okay Of course he wasn’t okay He was dead Like Liz I sed