I guess you’d still say I’m a film buff, but not like I used to be. For one thing, I don’t have the opportunity to get out and watch many movies, and we don’t get cable at Badger Lake. But to be honest, it’s mostly inclination. I used to lose myself in movies to forget the crappier parts of my life, like the constant moving that kept me from making real friends. I don’t need that now. My entertainment these days comes more from books—which we can get a lot more easily—and from just getting out and doing stuff. But that doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned that first love, and if we’re in a town with a cinema, Derek makes sure I get a movie.

We were at a repertory house watching Iron Man, which I’d missed when it came out last year. Partway through the film, I ducked out for a bathroom break. Moreno and Luke were in a separate theatre. Moreno said they were seeing some comedy, but Maya swore they ducked into Twilight. She planned to be waiting at the exit with her camera for blackmail fodder.

I was washing my hands when a girl came into the restroom for a quick check in the full-length mirror behind me. Through my mirror, I caught a glimpse of dark curls. Familiar dark curls. Of course it couldn’t be Rae, but I still stepped to the side to get a better angle, see her face and—

I froze, my hands dripping suds and water as the girl walked out of the restroom. It took three seconds before my legs would work, and then I was bolting out, wiping my hands on my jeans.

I made it to the foyer just in time to see her walking out the front doors.

Five

Five

“Rae!” I called.

The door had already shut. I went after her, running into the street and looking around frantically. There was no one in sight.

I knew I’d seen Rae, beyond any doubt. The question was: had I really seen her…or her ghost? At the thought, my stomach clenched so hard that I nearly doubled over.

I forced myself to replay exactly what I’d seen. Rae’s reflection in the mirror. Did necromancers see the reflection of ghosts? Honestly, I’d never had reason to notice.

I hadn’t seen Rae open the door as she left, though, that was because it was around the corner. Nor had I seen her open the one to leave the theater. Yet I had seen it open. That was undeniable. I had watched her walk through an open door and seen it close behind her. She wasn’t a ghost.