The house stopped trembling when Lou and Rufus reached a room filled with books. Shelves lined an entire wall from floor to ceiling, hundreds of volumes packed densely between them.

“This is it,” said Rufus. “The library.”

“Your sketchbook must be here.” Lou scanned the room. A large portrait of a girl with intense eyes stared out at her from above a fireplace mantel. It was the same girl she’d seen reflected in the ballroom’s floor. Was she holding a book? As Lou stepped toward the painting, a spark snapped inside the small pile of logs within the mouth of the fireplace and soon it was engulfed with flame. “It must think we’re still playing that old game. Nice try, House,” she said, glancing back at Rufus. She expected him to return a grin, or at least a smirk, but he wasn’t even looking at her. He faced the shelves, his spine rigid, as if under a spell.

She peered at him and saw a disturbing emptiness in his gaze. He was staring at the rows of books, his jaw slack. “Rufus?” she asked, but he didn’t respond. “What’s wrong? Did you see something scary?”

She extended her hand to shake his shoulder, but before she could, voices caught her attention. They sounded like her family. They were coming from the wall of books, and she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She found herself stepping toward the shelves, pressing her ear against a well-worn leather volume. The voices went on, as if from inside the book itself.

No … not inside the book …

Lou flicked the tome from the shelf, and bright light beamed out from the space where it had been sitting—a shaft of illumination like morning sunlight through a crack in a curtain.

She peered through and saw what looked like the kitchen of the Benjamin family’s condo in Walnut Creek.

CHAPTER 33

LOU’S BROTHER AND mother and father were eating breakfast at the kitchen table.

Home! she thought. I’m almost there! It’s right on the other side of this bookcase …

“How did you sleep, honey?” Mom asked Jason.

Jason’s smile was too wide. “Awesomely.”

Dad nudged his shoulder playfully. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all morning, kiddo.” He and Mom laughed hard, as if it were the funniest joke he’d ever made. Something seemed off.

Lou flipped a few more books out of her way, making the space on the shelf wider. She wondered if she could crawl through. “Hey!” she called to them. “Here I am! Jason!”

Everyone ignored her.

“The past few days have been so quiet,” said Mom, glancing down the hall toward Lou’s room. “Thank goodness your sister is finally gone.”

Lou’s scalp went prickly with surprise. Was that a joke?

“I thought she’d never leave,” said Dad.