But Kit wondered (and wonders now) if they would know.

What else goes as unspoken as the name?

How do you keep her away? Melanie asked.

A heavy, sudden thing to ask. Some belief in the story in that question.

Glad you asked…Here Natasha sat up. Her voice was fuller, closer in the dark. And it’ll answer Dana’s question too: the reason nobody talks about the ghost of Daphne killing people is because…if you think about Daphne…she comes for you. So, you wanna keep her away? Easy. Whatever you do…don’t think about Daphne.

Now, here where the creek meets the lake, Kit looks up, to the island, to the trees. Thinks of a seven-foot woman living alone out there, banished for her tastes, her size. The way Natasha put it, Daphne was a loner who didn’t bother a soul. Nobody liked her, but nobody had any reason to hate her.

She turns at the sound of quick footsteps coming her way. She half expects to see a towering woman, patches adorning a jean jacket.

But it’s just Dana.

“Yo,” Dana says.

“Yo.”

Yes, Dana knows not to ask if Kit’s okay, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to check on her best friend. And Kit knows she’s acted weird since making the shot. She wonders, now, for the first time, if that shot didn’t do something bad to her. Something beyond the idea of Daphne. Here, she’d always dreamed of hitting that exact free throw, winning that game, the ball leaving her hands, yet…now that it’s happened, there’s a hollowness, a vacancy. Like: Is that it? And the answer seems to be: Yes. Making the shot didn’t change her, not foundationally, not like she’d long imagined a moment like that would. Did she think she’d feel prettier, cooler, smarter? Nobody ever fantasizes about what happens in the days following a game-winning shot; the brooding, the letdown, the realization that if that’s as good as it gets, it really wasn’t that much after all.

“Daphne,” Dana says.

Kit looks to her, real worry in her eyes.

Now Dana has no choice but to ask it.

“What’s up, Clutch?”

“Why did you say that name?”

“Name?”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“Whoa. Easy. You’re gonna need a shrink soon if you keep thinking everyone’s out to get you.”

But Kit’s not buying it.

“You just said Daphne, dude. You literally just said it. And I know it’s because Natasha said we shouldn’t think about her. That if we do, she’ll…I don’t know…come for us.”

Dana’s eyes are wide. Her smile is genuine.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Kit? I said laughing. I said the boys are morons and all it takes is one dumb pun and they can’t stop laughing.”

She waits for Kit’s response.

“But hey,” Dana says. “Are you thinking of Daphne?”

“Stop it.”

“Oh my God. Natasha is going to love this. She freaked you out!”

“No, she didn’t.” Then, “Dana. Is it weird to you that we’ve all heard the name before but none of us thought to ask about it? Is it weird that none of us heard that story before?”