His mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out.

“What is it?” I swallow hard. “What did those people want? Why did they—” My voice catches.

“Why did they kill you?” Anna asks for me. My mom’s attention snaps to her. “Why are you here?”

Their forms flicker like a faulty light. “Keep him safe,” she whispers hoarsely. “They’re coming.”

Then they disappear.

All I can do is stare at where they used to be. Then Anna lays a hand on my arm, and I flinch, having nearly forgotten she was there.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

Shaking my head, I collapse into my chair and bury my face in my hands. But when I close my eyes, all I can see are my parents’ empty faces.

“Colin,” Anna says gently. I look at her from between my fingers. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

My gaze drops to her hand on my arm. “Why aren’t you having a vision when you touch me?”

“I see only one,” she replies.

Somehow, that little piece of information puts me back on solid ground, and I realize that’s all I ever really wanted: answers. All the strange stuff I’ve learned isn’t what overwhelmed me; it’s all the questions that came from it.

I straighten, and Anna retracts her hand. The ghosts are gone, and Elaine and Nora move through the remaining guests, reassuring them. Max has returned to his feline form and sits licking one tiny paw.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Nora asks a young couple, clearly a rehearsed line. Just a performance, nothing to worry about she reassures them, and they seem to buy it. What else are they going to think, after all? That ghosts are real?

“What happened?” I ask. “My parents…How?”

Anna looks suddenly uncomfortable, as if she doesn’t want to answer. “There are always spirits around in Wick. The closer to Samhain it gets, the easier it is for them to cross over. Every once in a while, one pops up and we pass it off as a projection, but even here, a flood of them is weird, and…”

“And what?” I press.

“Well, when people die violently, sometimes their spirits don’t move on. Their unfinished business keeps them tethered to the human world.”

My hands curl into fists in my lap. “My parents came to warn me. Does that mean I’m their unfinished business? That they won’t move on until whatever this is, is over?”

“I don’t know.” She gives me an apologetic look. “First, I saw a wisp, which never happens this far from Samhain, and now this? It’s not good, Colin. What’s dead needs to stay dead.”

Regret spills across her face when I flinch, and she plants a hand over her forehead. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think—sorry. Come on. I’ll show you back to your room.”