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“It’s not that…” I trailed off. What could I say? I looked at him, looked at my grandpa, and made a decision. “Why are you still here?”

He froze before his head whipped up. “What?”

“You’re not a normal ghost.”

“I—you’re not a normal girl.”

“No, I’m not, but I’m still a girl. You scare ghosts.”

“You scare people.”

“Benji—that’s not—” Let’s try this a different way. “You could be a poltergeist.”

He shrank away from me, flicking in and out again.

“That terrifies me. And a part of me is worried about leaving you here with them.”

“They were horrible to you.”

“They gave me a roof when I needed it. They fed me. I was physically safe.”

“You’re not anymore. They kicked you out. They took your stuff.” His voice rose with each statement. “They’re bad people.”

“And what? So you can feed off them?” I saw it then, clear as day. Had he been feeding off them the whole time? Would they still have treated me the same if he hadn’t been feeding off them?

“What?” He cried out, angrily. “You want me to not exist?”

I sank down to my knees so we were at equal levels. I softened my voice. “No. I want you to cross over.”

He looked stricken before his face grew dark, getting angrier. “You’re like the rest of them. Want me to go away. Don’t want me to exist. That’s what they wanted for you. Did you know that? They didn’t want you to come here. They said no at first, but I made the decision for them. I was the one who sent the text to your social worker, saying they changed their minds. They’d love to have you. By the time they found out you were coming, it was too late. Your social worker called when she was in town. You were already here. They couldn’t turn you away at the door. They thought they could just wait it out. You’d turn eighteen and off you’d go. I was going to go with you, but that’s all messed up. I can’t go with you now. Not with him out there. He won’t let me and I don’t like that.”

The door slammed open.

It almost hit me but stopped just inches from my face. It was the same invisible force.

Benji.

He stepped around, facing whoever was on the other side of the door. A coldness to his face. “You can’t stop me. I can keep her here. I can keep them all here⁠—”

“I don’t fucking think so.”

A chill went through my blood. That snarl was from Noah and a second later, there was an explosion. Woosh.

Fire burst from the kitchen.

I raced to the doorway. It was coming from the stove, and the flames tripled before my eyes. It grew so fast, spreading like wildfire. To the sink. Over the sink. The cupboards. The whole kitchen was going to be gone in seconds.

“Noah! Stop it.”

He was in the doorway, glaring down at Benji. “I got some tricks in me too, little poltergeist.”

“Stop!” I yelled again.

My grandpa had woken up by then. “What—” He was trying to get out of the chair, fumbling for the lever. “What? Colette? What in the Sam Hill are you doing here? Where’s your grandmother?”

“She’s outside. The kitchen is on fire.”

“The kitchen—” He paled, his whole body began to shake.