Idly, I reached for the delicate silver chain that now held Linc’s dog tag, and I held it in my hand while I kept my eyes on the window and counted the minutes ticking by.
Finally, I picked up the machete that sat at my feet and got ready for the walk to Linc’s house. I thought about walking, but I didn’t want to show up covered in sweat and out of breath like I knew would happen if I walked. No doubt I’d hear something that would frighten me, and I’d end up running from my fuckin’ shadow the entire way.
Yes, I knew I looked ridiculous in a pair of rainbow sloth pajamas, with my feet buried in a pair of bright-purple Muck boots on my feet, with a machete a foot long in my hand. But I also knew that there wouldn’t be a chance in hell of Linc turning me away. So I slid my phone into my bra strap, and I walked out of my house with a merciless smile on my face. Locking my door was the last thing I did before getting into my car and pulling out of my driveway.
I didn’t care that the clock on my dash said that it was after one in the morning. I also didn’t care that there was a possibility that Linc was asleep. He’d wake up, one way or another.
I should have been nervous. There should have been butterflies in my stomach, or anxiety filling my veins. But I was going to Linc, and everything in my world finally felt right.
Metal screeched and my car flew across the road, my head snapping against the glass in the next instant.
I didn’t even remember seeing lights headed in my direction, but the unmistakable snap of the airbag deploying and slapping me in the face said that I hit something.
My car finally came to a shuddering stop, landing against a tree off the side of the road, and I groaned as I tried to move and couldn’t.
“What the fuck?” My eyes throbbed, which was weird. How could my eyes be throbbing?
When I shifted in my seat, trying to unlatch my seat belt, I cried out at the blazing agony that crawled from my ear down to my fingertips on the left side of my body.
“Hello?” a young voice called from the other side of the car. “A-are you okay? My boyfriend is calling 9-1-1 right now. I didn’t even see you.”
I might not be able to see her, but I could hear the fear and tears in her words while I tried to reassure her. The only thing that came out was a gurgle of pain, and I realized after the fact that I must have blood or something leaking down my face.
“Henley!” the girl screamed at the top of her lungs. “There’s something wrong with her. You gotta help her.”
I moved my hand, trying to reassure her, but I barely twitched a muscle. And even that tiny little movement caused an excruciating shard of pain to shoot through my body and into my chest.
I kept my eyes open, though, because help was coming. Birch wasn’t huge. I could already hear sirens in the distance. Either that, or the pain was causing me to hallucinate.
“I’m here,” an all-too familiar voice said from my side. “I’m here, Kennedy, and I need you to hold on.”
Linc.
How did he get there? How did he know?
I couldn’t move, but I looked over so that I could see him out of the corner of my eyes.
Close, but not quite.
Not Linc.
Danny was dead. It couldn’t be him. It shouldn’t be him.
“You’re not dying tonight,” he said quietly as he leaned down next to my window. “It’s not gonna happen, Kennedy. Not when he finally has a chance to smile again.”
“Dan-ny.” Even saying his name caused arrows of pain to stab through my body.
The sad smile that wreathed his face brought tears to my eyes. He looked just like his brother. So much like Linc.
“Hold on, Kennedy.” He reached out, and even though I knew I couldn’t feel his touch, I wanted him to be real.
“She’s not gonna die.” My dead sister was joining in on the fun, great. I really was going to die.
I blinked, surprised to see Cassie standing there, with her red hair flowing out around her like she was floating through air. She looked just as beautiful as she had before she died, vibrant and so full of life.
“Yeah, you heard me.” She leaned forward so that her face was sticking through the window. “People who are dying don’t hallucinate dead people to help them hold on. You’re gonna be fine, big sister.” She looked back over her shoulder at Danny. “I think he got cuter when he died.”
I started to laugh, but a wave of pain forced it down, until there was only agony. But she was there. I wasn’t alone. I wouldn’t die alone.
“Kennedy!” another voice shouted from farther away, and I had to close my eyes. I couldn’t handle hallucinating Linc on top of Danny, too.
“Help’s here, Kennedy.” Danny’s voice started to fade. “He’s here. Just a little bit longer, and you’ll be fine.”
Linc was there, I could feel him. “What the fuck happened?” His voice was a roar, right next to my ear. “What happened to her? Is that a fuckin’ machete?”
I forgot all about the machete. Everything started moving, but I couldn’t open my eyes through the pain. Instead, I let them move me, forcing me out of the car and onto something hard, all while I tried not to fall apart.
“Kennedy Marie Townsend, I swear on all the fuckin’ stars in the sky, you’re getting rid of that thing.” My dad’s voice broke through the chaos of metal screeching all around me.
His voice, full of fear and rage, had me opening my eyes even though it hurt even more than I thought possible. “Dad-dy?”
There he was, looking down at me with his face nothing but a line of worry, and tears filling eyes that I hadn’t seen cry since Cassie’s funeral. Cassie, who was still standing there, watching me like a fuckin’ banshee. Danny was there, too, staring at his brother while Linc sat there, helpless.
Dad leaned over, right in my line of sight. “You’re not going to die. Do you understand me?” A paramedic shoved him out of the way, and I tried not to laugh at the ludicrous situation we were in.
Dead people all around, and neither Dad nor Linc could do anything to help me.
I didn’t look at either of them, though. Instead, my focus was solely on Cassie’s ghost, who was still standing behind our dad with a smile on her face as she made weird gestures behind his back.
“Get out of here, bansheeee.” My throat was on fire, and Cassie’s wave was the last thing I saw before darkness overwhelmed me and the pain finally took over.
10
Linc
“Did she just call you a banshee?” I stared at Alex Townsend, the chief of police and Kennedy’s father, when they took Kennedy away from the wreckage of her car and put her in the back of an ambulance.
He didn’t answer my question. Instead, he put his head in his hands and took a deep breath. “She’s alive.” Another breath. “She’s still alive.”
“Yeah,” I told him. “And she’s going to stay that way. Why don’t you call Veronica and Casper, too. She’s gonna want to be there for her sister, and I don’t think it matters that she’s pregnant. I’m sure Remy will get Parker and Nox to the hospital.” Babbling seemed like the right thing to do, especially since I didn’t know what the fuck I was supposed to be doing.