Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(57)

She remembered the regret that consumed her when she thought it was the end. Probably the same emotions Hannah felt now. Wouldn't everyone feel that way? Living, Kylie supposed, meant making mistakes, as well as garnering karma points.

While Kylie had never really defined her job/gift as a ghost whisperer, she supposed it entailed helping the spirits recall the good they'd done as much as helping them absolve any outstanding mistakes. It seemed that when you were alive, you spent most of your time trying to forgive others; upon death, it was yourself you mostly needed to forgive.

I'll bet you two were close, Kylie said. I imagine you had a lot of fun as sisters.

Hannah looked up at Kylie. "We did. I just wish..."

When Hannah didn't continue, Kylie asked, What is it that I need to do for you? Is it just telling her about you? Is it getting you and the others out of the mass grave?

"No, it's more." She paused as if still trying to remember. "It can't happen again." Hannah's whisper echoed against the cave's rock walls and the cold of her presence built.

Kylie pulled one knee closer to her chest. What can't happen again?

Hannah stepped closer, looking lost in thought. "I can't look at her without feeling ... I was so wrong. So jealous. I got what I deserved. I deserved to die, but the others didn't. It has to stop." Even more tears filled her eyes. The sound of rushing water punctuated by the quietness of the mist-filled air added a strange kind of eeriness to the moment.

"He wants her." Hannah took another step forward. Desperation filled her eyes. "And you have to stop him."

Kylie's gaze shifted from the spirit's face and became captured by the still water that didn't even stir as Hannah inched forward. Her sad spirit stopped when she stood directly over Holiday, staring down at her with a mixture of love and regret.

Realizing what Hannah had said, Kylie asked, Who? Stop who from doing what?

Holiday's phone rang and Kylie looked over at her. The camp leader sat up, her brows pinched. "Okay, that's odd, too. Phones don't usually work in here." Pulling her phone from her pocket, she eyed the number on the screen.

Kylie heard Holiday's breath catch at the same time as Hannah's. The spirit let out a sound of despair and took off running through the falls. Her footfalls, though quick, fell silent on the rock floor.

Right before Hannah's spirit darted through the wall of water, she glanced back at Holiday, who stared transfixed at the number on the phone. Then she disappeared, taking with her the cold that she'd brought.

"Who is it?" Kylie asked Holiday.

Holiday shook her head. "It's ... Blake."

"Who's Blake?" Kylie asked, somehow certain he was a clue to all this. Was he the one Kylie had to stop from doing something bad to Holiday?

Was Holiday's life in danger?

The hum of the rushing water was interrupted by the sound of someone running, splashing through the falls. Kylie and Holiday looked up.

Burnett, standing guard outside the falls, shot through the rush of water, his face etched with panic. His clothes were wet, and his dark black hair was scattered across his brow and dripping water down his face. "Where did she go?" He blinked, and then his gaze landed on Holiday. His eyes widened. He shook his head in pure confusion. "You just ... ran out of here. How could you...?"

"What?" Holiday asked.

Burnett just stood there, his complexion paler than its normal olive color, staring as if he'd seen a ghost.

Kylie suddenly realized that was exactly what had just happened. Burnett had seen Hannah.

Oh, shit, Kylie thought. Burnett not only could smell ghosts, he could see them, too.

"How could I run where?" Holiday asked again, tucking her cell phone back in her pocket. "You're not making any sense."

Kylie didn't know what compelled her to do it, but she glanced at Burnett and shook her head, indicating that he shouldn't tell Holiday about what he'd seen.

He opened his mouth and then closed it and studied Kylie. She shook her head slightly again and she knew he'd understood.

He focused on Holiday again. Then, still looking perplexed, he answered, "I misspoke. I thought I heard you call me."

"No," Holiday said. "I didn't."

"Fine," he blurted out, and in a blink of an eye he shot back through the wall of water.

Holiday stared wide-eyed at the spot where he'd stood a flicker of a second earlier. "I know you told me he'd come back here and it's not as if I didn't believe you, but I guess I had to see it to wrap my head around it. I don't ... I've never seen anyone be able to come back here who wasn't blessed."

Kylie's mind raced with what to say, but then she remembered Holiday's phone call and the anguish in Hannah's expression when she'd rushed out. Then Kylie recalled the distinct feeling that whoever that caller was had something to do with Hannah and could be the person the spirit seemed to be so worried about.

"Who's Blake?" Kylie asked again.

* * *

"Don't you have an appointment with one of the new teachers?" Burnett asked Holiday fifteen minutes later as they came to the clearing of the woods after they walked back from the falls. "Why don't you head back to the office and I'll see Kylie to her cabin?"

Kylie cut her eyes up at Burnett and she knew his game plan. He wanted her alone so he could interrogate her about what had happened at the falls. She could tell by his silence and the color of his eyes that the interrogation wasn't going to go easy.