It was funny, the way she used to think it mattered what she did and didn’t do. It was funny, how she used to care.

“Where?” she whispered. “When?”

EN DUNSINANE. CUANDO EL SOL SALGA POR EL OESTE

At Dunsinane. When the sun rises in the west.

Maria blinked. Was that a riddle?

Dunsinane was the official name of Acheron’s football field, even though no one actually called it that anymore. It was huge, much bigger than the soccer field, with massive metal bleachers and bright lights on giant poles.

Maria didn’t know what “when the sun rises in the west” meant, though. Was she supposed to wait for an eclipse? She didn’t have that kind of time. Mateo was probably telling all sorts of lies about her right now.

Whatever. None of that mattered. Now that she knew what lay ahead it was time to move forward, not back. She wasn’t going to waste precious time worrying about it the way she had with Brandon.

“Thank you,” she said again. Altagracia had told her it was important to show respect to the spirits after they’d spoken with you. Now she just had to get rid of them, like she should’ve done with the Ouija board. “I dismiss you, spirits.”

The pebbles started moving again.

They shouldn’t do that. Not after she’d released them.

“Thank you, again, for speaking with me.” Maria tried hard to keep her voice steady. “I dismiss you!”

She could hear that rumbling laughter again. It was coming from all around her.

The flames beside her grew and spread. Maria tried to move, but her legs wouldn’t budge.

She had to stay calm. Keep thinking.

The ball of flame contracted, then blazed brighter than ever. Maria’s eyes closed against her will.

She could see it.

Hundreds of people gathered in this tight, dark space. Screaming. Running.

Families, clutching at each other’s hands. Old people, stumbling, getting trampled under the flowing crowd.

She saw a little girl with her hair in braids. The back of the girl’s dress was on fire. She was crying as she ran.

There was nowhere for them to go. The smoke and flames were everywhere.

Maria’s body quivered. The spirits would see her fear. They’d use it against her.

“You can’t keep me here!” Maria shouted over the roar of the flames and the screams of the dead. “I’m alive! You have no power over me!”

The screams faded. The dead people running past her faded too, into shadows, then empty darkness.

Maria opened her eyes.

All those piles of bones. People the spirits had drawn to this tunnel before her.

Maria wasn’t like them. She was going to win. Her fate wasn’t up to the spirits to decide.