Hidebehind

Thirty-Seven

"Fine," Alex said about fifteen minutes later, after I'd told him everything that had happened since I'd arrived. "Let's say this Jay is the ghost of this kid that disappeared a long time ago. You said he's gone, now, that he said he wasn't going to come around anymore. So what? What're we supposed to do?"

"That's what I was hoping you could help me with."

"I just don't know what to think anymore," Alex said, and I was surprised to hear somewhat of a tremble in his voice. "I've never felt what I felt in the woods yesterday, and you know what, Rob? Part of me thinks it was just you—that your scaredness somehow transferred onto me and Maisie. That's what I've been trying to tell myself. I think things like that happen, right? When someone has a really strong emotion, sometimes it can be sort of contagious."

A scowl crawled across my face. I stared at the table in front of me. I was leaning forward, my elbows on my knees. Maisie hadn't moved from the couch since I'd arrived, but Alex had never even sat down and was making me more nervous because of it. "Ok, so you're still saying that I'm crazy, but now you're adding that you somehow caught my crazy?"

"Yeah . . . yeah I guess. There's no other explanation. There aren't any monsters. There aren't ghosts and stuff like that. There are just people who make it all up and freak other people out with their stories. It just can't be real, that's all."

"Why not?" I barked, glowering at him. "You know what? I should never have told you any of this. I'll just figure it out myself." I, too, was standing now. "It's not like you want to be my friend, anyway—you've made that crystal clear!"

"Please—" Maisie began, but I wouldn't let her finish.

"I'm just going home." I started up the stairs, but then something occurred to me. I hadn't wanted Penny in on this earlier, but now . . . now it was different. I'd paused. "My sister saw Jay too. Call her and ask her. You'll see that I'm not lying."

The two of them narrowed their eyes at me and looked incredibly similar, like they were twins, in that moment. I knew they were debating whether it was a good idea or not, but they must have thought Penny more trustworthy than they thought me, because they let me convince them.

There was a phone down there, an old cordless one, and I picked it up and dialed Great Grandma's phone number. It rang a few times, and they watched me in anticipation, so when the old lady answered, I made myself loud and clear.

"Great Grandma! It's Rob . . . No, I don't need a ride home yet. I want to talk to Penny. Let me talk to Penny."

Her words disappointed me: "Oh honey, she's not here. I let her out at the end of the drive. Said she saw a friend and wanted to go play."

My heart sank. Now I had no way to prove to Maisie and Alex that Jay existed. But just as I was about to hang up, something cold grabbed at me from the inside. "Who—who was the friend?"

"What, dear?"

"The friend. Who did Penny stop to play with?"

Great Grandma didn't answer right away, must have been thinking, then replied the one word I wasn't sure I wanted to hear: "Jay." She repeated it as I felt my stomach begin to hollow. "Yep. Pretty sure that's who it was, though I didn't see him myself. A friend of yours, too, isn't he?"

But I wasn't listening. My brain was going in circles.

"Great Grandma!"

She was shocked into silence by my almost-scream.

"We have to—have to do something!"

"Do what, Robert? What do you mean?"

"Call the police! Or . . . or . . . or I don't know—somebody! Penny's been abducted!"

At first, there was silence on the other end, and I could only imagine what Great Grandma looked like. Then she said, "Now Robert, that's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny. Jay took her! He's not . . . he's a . . ." I was so flustered that I didn't even know what to say. I wanted to growl and cry at the same time. "Nevermind!" I practically shrieked, and I slammed the phone down.

Looking up, I saw I'd startled the heck out of Alex and Maisie, but I had no time to be concerned about what they thought, anymore. I was frantic inside and had no idea what to do about it. "I need to go home. Right now."