“I have no clue.” She held up a hand. “Calm down. Talk one at a time.”

I leaned over to Jack and put a hand on his shoulder. “What happened?”

He turned to me, eyes full of fear, tears at the corners. “We went over to see if Carson wanted to play Ghosts in the Graveyard with us and saw something scary.”

My gaze lifted to Jess, and we exchanged a glance. “What was it?”

He swallowed hard and looked from me to Jess before he said, “We were about to knock on the door when we saw something black inside. It was a pointy shape, like my rubber sensory ball, and then we heard a growl.”

“You guys, it was probably just Bucky,” Jess said. She laughed, but a crease of worry appeared in between her eyes on her forehead. She turned to Summer and rubbed her arm. “Nothing to be afraid of.”

I looked at Emily, whose face had turned to stone. Her arms were straight against her body, like she was in an invisible tube. “Honey?” I tapped her on the shoulder. “Emily?”

She looked up at me, her eyes dark and flat again. She didn’t say anything, her gaze unblinking.

“Emily?” I said again, to no response.

“That’s it. I’ve had it with this shit. I’m going over there,” Jess said as she threw her hands up. She started across the lawn, and the children started screaming again, begging her not to go.

Emily finally spoke. “Don’t,” she whispered.

Jess stopped and looked from her to me quickly, assessing. She slowly walked back. “Like I said, I’m sure it was just Bucky.” She looked at Summer, who had a finger in her nose. “Yo, Sums, why don’t we see if your friends want Popsicles?”

At that, the children forgot about the creature they saw at Liz’s house and happily followed her inside to collect their treats. I helped her unwrap the Popsicles and hand them out, an unspoken conversation happening between us as we exchanged glances.

Whatever dark force was in Liz’s house seemed to be getting stronger, and I had the horrible thought that it wouldn’t be long before it outgrew her house and went looking for other places to inhabit.

CHAPTER
17

The saying “Less is more” is one that my mother-in-law never subscribed to. The anti–Marie Kondo, more was always better to Judy. When she was at my house, she was determined to organize and weed through my closets, but at her own house, it was game on. The pack rat version of “do as I say, not as I do.”

“Shit!” Mark pitched forward as he stepped onto the landing of his parents’ front porch, which was newly covered in fairy-garden tchotchkes.

I looked down at the now-broken stone statue of a frog wearing a crown and holding a scepter. I held up the head as Judy answered the door.