I looked down at the screen and hesitated only for a moment before I reached out and pressed play. Whatever horrible thing I was about to see, I knew I had to do it for Rosie. A small, shaky video filled the screen, and I recognized the lighthouse’s spiral staircase and Will’s voice saying in a dramatic voice, “And now we’re almost at the top. Best keep your eyes peeled for ghosts, and spooks and missing keepers.”

Out of the frame someone – a girl I guessed must be Emily – groaned. “Will, do you have to?”

“What?” he replied. “We could make a lot of money if we film a ghost, and the video goes viral.”

A moment later, they reached the Strangers’ Room, 213and Will whistled as he stepped over the threshold. “What is this place?”

“And where’s Kenzie?”

In the video, I could see both Will and Emily in the large, curved mirror. A second later, I also saw his sister in the reflection when she leaped out from behind the door with a loud shriek. Emily screamed as Kenzie landed on Will’s back, causing him to stagger and drop his phone. It clattered over the tiles, landing face up so that it was only recording the ceiling. I could still hear them talking, though.

“Gotcha!” Kenzie yelled triumphantly.

“What the hell, Kenzie?” Will’s annoyed voice came through. “You’d better not have broken my phone!”

“That’s not funny,” Emily said.

“Oh my God, Em, I never thought you’d actually come in!” Kenzie replied. “I couldn’t resist the chance to get Will back for calling me chicken earlier. He jumped,” she went on, with barely concealed glee. “I felt it. You’re scared of this place – admit it!”

“Yeah, right,” Will replied. “You’d jump too if a lunatic landed on your back!”

He must have reached down for his phone because 214the picture suddenly righted itself, showing the Strangers’ Room and the three teenagers in the mirror.

“You’re lucky you didn’t crack my screen,” Will said.

“Can we just get out of here, please?” Emily begged.

“Not until we get something spooky on camera,” Will insisted. “We’ve come all this way. Aren’t we at least going to say the words?”

Emily looked aghast, and Kenzie was shaking her head. “Come on, Will—”

He grinned. “Now who’s chicken?” He took a deep breath, and before the others could stop him he spoke quietly but firmly. “I know you’re there.”

The moment he spoke, a floorboard creaked loudly somewhere close by. The sound was horribly like the tread of a footstep.

“Oh my God,” Emily breathed, staring into a corner of the room. “Don’t say the words again, Will. Really, don’t mess about with stuff like that.”

“Oh, come on!” Will laughed. “You don’t actually think a ghost will appear, do you?”

“Of course not,” Kenzie said, but Emily was silent.