Chapter Three

The weather was as fickle as Kayn.

One moment you’d be dressing for a heavy downpour and icy winds that could slice you into two. The next moment when you step outside, there wouldn’t be a single cloud in sight, and if the sun moved any closer, it would scorch us all into ashes

I made that discovery the following morning as I strode toward the cottage, every muscle in my body aching. Irritated at the unruly weather, which I had now officially dubbed Kayn weather, I rid myself of my thick, wooly sweater and blindingly threw it back into the caravan.

As I closed the door,I could hear explosions of moans and cries—exactly how I would picture it to be like when a demon was having a fit.

“Mom?” I tested, pausing by the door. The unearthly noises proceeded to screeching and I was becoming more apprehensive by the second.

When the door to the cottage flung open, I jumped back so far I struggled to keep my balance.

Mom scoffed. “Your dad is testing his new spirit box. Now he thinks we live inside a haunted house.”

I slowly nodded, peering past Mom inside. I couldn’t see Dad, but I could hear that awful sounding box. “Is it supposed to make that much noise?”

“According to him, yes. He says a man named Benjamin is living with us.”

“You believe that?” both my brows shot up.

“Of course I do,” Mom playfully swatted at me. “Because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean it's not there, or doesn’t exist.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I left out some eggs and bread on the kitchen table. Your dad and I already ate, so please help yourself.” Mom straightened her pressed blouse. “I’m off to work. Your dad will likely be doing errands around town later. But, at the look of things, way later.”

I snorted a laugh. Knowing Dad and his ghost business, that once he took off there was no stopping him.

He’d likely forget to go into town today alltogether.

Mom planted a quick kiss on the side of my face and turned to walk toward the driveway. “Have fun today!”

“You too,” I called back. My shoulders dropped the moment she was out of sight. There was nothing fun about unpacking and I wasn’t sure if Ember would come over. I could tell she wanted to, but her asshat of a brother was adamant against her sinking to my level.

Whatever that level was.

I snorted again, kicking an empty planter into the corner of the porch, and headed inside.

I was halfway through eating breakfast when the floorboards on the porch creaked, followed by rapping against the door. “Carly?” Ember called out.

“You can come in!” I stood up and cleared up the remnants of my food, dumping my used plate into the sink.

When Ember entered the kitchen, her face was marred with concern. “What is that?”

I paused, using my tongue to scrape out food stuck inside my teeth before I spoke. “What?”

“That noise?”

“Oh!” After an hour of Dad’s spirit box booming the most ungodly sounds, I’d grown so accustomed to the commotion that I barely realized it was there any more. “That’s my dad, sorry.”

“Is he...okay?”

“I mean, my dad and his spirit box,” I flushed. Would Ember run off if I told her the truth? She’d find out anyway, so I might as well get it out of the way and hope for the best. “He’s a paranormal investigator.”

Both Ember’s brows shot up. “That, my new friend, is so cool!”

Well, I didn’t expect that.

She hurried across the kitchen and plunked down onto a chair by the kitchen table. “Is he talking to a ghost now? So, this house is really haunted!”

“Yeah, he was testing his equipment and now he thinks there’s a ghost hanging around,” I explained, then frowned. “And what do you mean by it being haunted, like there’s some kind of story I should know about?”

“The previous people who lived here, an elderly couple, swore the place is haunted because of the stuff that kept disappearing.”

“Or maybe there’s a thief on the island?” I suggested.

“You don’t believe in this stuff, do you?”

“Not really, but I try to entertain it.”

“My brother doesn’t either, but he’s one to talk,” she rolled her eyes.

“How come?”

Her eyes widened as if she had just realized something. “Uh, you know, being all weird and stuff.”

“Right.” I nodded, pretending I didn’t notice her sudden change of demeanor, holding up a bottle of cherry soda. Maybe her brother was simply weird. It wouldn’t surprise me. “Want some?”

“Sure.” Her face lit up. “And what about your mom? What does she think of all this?”

I smiled uncomfortably, pouring Ember a glass of soda. “Well, she’s a cryptozoologist.” I didn’t expect Ember to know what that was, so I continued to explain. “Her life’s mission is to find proof that fairies, mermaids, and the chupacabra exists.”

“Mermaids?” Ember blanched. “She’s out looking for them?”

“Something like that.” I placed down the bottle on top of the table and cringed, certain I had just lost the only hope of having a friend. “Are you okay? Look, I know it’s a lot to—”

“There’s nothing in the waters here, trust me on that. We’ve had locals searching for years so we’d know. She should try the mountains, I’ve heard there’s been a lot of Yeti sightings.”

“Yeti? Isn’t it supposed to occupy places it snows a lot?”I stepped back, trying to remember what Mom had told me about the furry, white thing. “Besides, I’ve never heard of Yeti sightings in this part of the world.”

She shook her head. “I meant the other one. The brown, furry one.”

“Bigfoot?”

“Aha!” she held up a hand. “That’s the one. I think I’ve seen it too and you know what? We don’t have stuff like bears and such to rule out the possibility of something else.”

I blinked. If I didn’t know any better she was trying to steer us away from the water. “Is there something wrong in the water around here?”

She shifted in her seat, searching the floor for something before glancing up at me. “To be honest, yes. I don’t want to tell you this but people tend to get very sick when they spend too much time in the water. And there’s a lot of poisonous snakes. If you venture even deeper, sharks too.”

“But that’s common everywhere.”

“You should tell your mom her best chances are the mountains. You can ask any of the locals or even my dumbass of a brother. He’d tell you the same.”

I pressed both my palms on top of the kitchen table and leaned forward. “So, you’re okay with this?”

“With what?”

“You’re not planning on running for the hills screaming ‘crazy people over here!’ are you?”

She blinked slowly like she had no clue what I was talking about. “Why would I do that?”

“It’s what everyone does when they find out what my parents do for a living.” I straightened up. “Well, except for Jaxon back in fifth grade. He pretended to like me so he could get into my parent's good graces. He was on a mission to document the existance of all things that goes bump in the night.”

“That sucks,” she said. “I’m not them and I can promise you, I’m here because you look like a great person. And admittedly,” she laughed “You’re so not boring.”

“Thanks,” I rolled my eyes, grinning.

“So, what can I help with?” Ember leaned to glance past me at a stack of boxes piled in the corner.

“Oh, those have my dad’s equipment in them,”  I nodded toward the boxes. “My stuff is in the caravan in the back. I just have to unpack clothes and a few essentials, and that’s about it.”

We passed my dad poking at a vase inside the small hallway, an intent expression on his face. I had to hold back a snort as we headed outside and I didn’t miss the inquisitive look on Ember’s face.

Knowing my dad, he probably thought the vase belonged to Benjamin the ghost or was attached to it somehow.

“Does this thing lock up properly?” was Ember’s first question as we entered the caravan.

I turned, nodding. “Yeah, it does. Why?”

“You should live inside the house with your parents. It’s safer.”

“What’s going to get to me?” I scoffed. “Bigfoot? Your crazed, ax murderer of a brother?”

She laughed with an uneasy expression. “No, but it’s just…” she shook her head. “I wouldn’t be comfortable alone in a caravan.”

I shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me unless you know I have to be worried. Something you're not telling me?”

Ember glanced away, suddenly finding the poster I stuck above my bed interesting. “You like elves?”

“It’s from a computer game,” I explained. “That I can’t play anymore because we don’t have the internet over here.”

“You can use your mobile network. It’s a bit slow, but it works.”

“Yeah unfortunately I need it to work fast otherwise it’s unplayable.” I had a feeling Ember wasn’t into gaming, so I changed the subject. “So, what do you do for fun?”

“Read, swim. Fishing with my grandad,” she answered. “But if I get to go into town, there’s a lot of places to hang out. You should go with me sometime.”

“That’s sounds—”

A loud clatter from outside made us both jump. I lifted a hand to my chest, breathing out a shaky laugh. “I’m guessing my dad has decided to move his business outside.”

Then Kayn appeared inside the doorway, producing a string of curses under my breath.

Ember rolled her eyes. “You nearly gave us a heart attack, dumbass.”

Kayn’s gaze lingered on me for a few seconds before they flick toward his sister. “The old man is looking for you.”

“Now?” When Kayn inclined his head, Ember groaned. “Seriously?”

“That’s what I said,” Kayn sounded bored. He was looking at me again and I could feel my cheeks grow hot. I quickly turned away, busying myself by folding clothes.

Ember sighed. “I’m so sorry Carly. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“It’s okay, I understand. There’s always—”

“No, you won’t,” Kayn interrupted.

I spun around, annoyed. “What the hell is your problem with me?”

“Kayn, could you stop being a complete...Ugh. Could you for five seconds be nice to Carly?” Ember sounded exasperated. “You won’t die.”

“Is that so, sis?” He cocked a dark brow. “Now you know that is complete B.S.”

“What the—”

Ember turned to me. “I’m sorry, again for my…” she gave Kayn a deliberate look “Jerk of a brother. See you later, okay?”

I nodded, offering her a weak smile. I wasn’t too sure about that.