Maria’s eyes were empty, but she could sit up, so she must be all right. Brandon went to the other side of the table to check on Lily.

It was a miracle the table hadn’t collapsed. The chandelier looked like it weighed about a thousand pounds.

Lily was on the floor, but she was sitting up too, rubbing at the dust in her eyes. “Did it work?” she said when Brandon reached her.

“I don’t know what the hell it did,” Brandon said. “But we are never, ever playing that game again.”

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Brandon’s heart sped back up. Then he realized this sound was normal, not whatever that bizarre knocking had been before. This time, someone—a human someone—was pounding on the door to the staff kitchen.

“Open up!” It was Ross, the first-floor dorm monitor. “Guys, open this door right now or this will be a lot worse for you!”

Wait. Wasn’t that door unlocked? Didn’t the cats come through it earlier? How did—

Never mind that. Brandon had bigger problems.

He stepped gingerly over the broken glass, cracked the door, and peeked through the gap. Ross pushed past him, slamming the door open wide and flicking on the overhead switch. Brandon blinked against the sudden light.

The shadows that had clung to the corners of the room were gone. All he could see were dust and cobwebs and some revolting fungus creeping along the edges of the rug.

This was it for Brandon. He’d been caught out after lights-out once already this year. Tonight would be strike two. And the empty wine bottle would mean an automatic phone call to their parents, which meant he could count on being grounded all summer long.

But Ross didn’t care about any of that. He hadn’t even noticed Brandon yet. His eyes were locked on Lily.

All the Acheron staff, even the twentysomething dorm monitors like Ross, who just worked here for the free housing, were obsessed with Lily. If the disabled girl got hurt on their watch, there’d be hell to pay.

Ross texted for backup and helped Lily to her feet. Brandon gathered up her crutches from where they’d fallen and passed them to Ross. Lily glared at both of them.

“See who all’s out there and get rid of them, will you?” Ross told Brandon, gesturing toward the main door. He picked up the wine bottle from where it had rolled under the table and shook his head.

Brandon wondered how much this would cost to clean up. Not to mention the priceless antique that had been destroyed. Antiques, if you counted the Ouija board.

He tiptoed over the glass shards and pulled on the knob of the main door. It was unlocked, but now it seemed to be jammed. He had to throw his shoulder into the door to crack it open.