He’d taken us straight to the library. And though Ms. Geary had eyed us with as much (if not more) suspicion as the hallway teacher, she didn’t try to stop us on our way past the circulation desk. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that Lucas and I were holding hands—a stark contrast to what she’d observed the last time we’d both been here together.

Lucas took us all the way to the last row of computers. He claimed a seat in front of one of the desktops, drawing me into the seat next to him. As far as places where we could talk went, there had to have been better. But, when Lucas drew his backpack into his lap, I got the impression he hadn’t brought me here for conversation. His real reason became clear when he produced from his bag a DVD case, which he handed to me.

So. Here it was. The documentary.

Paranormal Spectator, the title read.

A bald man in his thirties glowered at me from the cover, his meaty arms crossed over his bulging chest, black T-shirt straining against his biceps, his too-serious and war-ready eyes chiseling through me. Behind him, my house lurked like a monster, ready to pounce and devour.

So. This was the guy who had died three months after filming. He looked too fit and, as Lucas had cited, too young to be the victim of a heart attack.

I flipped the DVD over and found a kinder face waiting on the back.

“That’s Rastin,” said Lucas as I studied the man. “He lives in LA and travels all over the world helping with cases.”

Rastin had thick, black, and short-cropped hair; a neatly trimmed goatee; and glasses. His dark eyes had a warm, soulful essence to them. He struck me as more genuine somehow than the Hulked-out guy on the front.

I trailed a finger down the episode descriptions until I found the one for Moldavia.

Episode 6: “Phantom Fury”

Joe Boq investigates one of Kentucky’s most notorious Victorian mansions. Joined by special guest, renowned medium and clairvoyant Rastin Shirazi, Joe attempts communication with the spirits haunting the allegedly cursed estate of Moldavia. But things take a shocking turn when a malevolent entity attacks, resulting in the only instance thus far in Paranormal Spectator history of a lockdown being aborted.

“What?” I blurted, ice water flooding my veins as my gaze snapped up to find Lucas freeing a pair of earbuds from his bag. He said nothing, but tapped a finger against his lips, shooting a furtive glance toward Ms. Geary.

Lucas took the case from me and loaded the disc into the CD-ROM tray. He plugged in the earbuds, handing me the right bud while he inserted the left in his ear, an action that forced us to lean in toward one another.

After a goofy and overdramatic intro with spliced, static-slashed images and ominous voiceover narration, Joe Boq appeared on my front lawn. He started talking at the camera WWE-wrestler style, restating some of what Lucas had said about the mummy-unwrapping party. All the while, Rastin stood quietly to the side, his eyes fixed on the camera until, at one point, he slowly turned his head toward the house.