Of the Trees(57)

“They already know how she died,” Laney said softly. “Heart attack. I heard your mom tell mine.”

“She was seventeen!”

Laney shrugged, stepping forward. Cassie could see her eyes, light green, almost hazel, now glassy with emotion. “Exertion could bring that on. Drugs, if she did any. Maybe she had a mild defect and never knew about it. Or maybe it was all just an accident.” Her hand darted out, and she grabbed at Cassie’s arm, steering her to the porch steps to sit.

Cassie felt suddenly lightheaded. It didn’t make sense. She couldn’t believe it. “But Jess played sports. We once played a double-header on a one-hundred-degree day. We were drenched and couldn’t even keep the ice in our water bottles. But she was fine. Pissed that Sara popped up that bunt and Michelle went down without swinging in the seventh inning, but physically fine. How could no one have known?”

She shook her head. Laney sat next to her. The wind kicked up, a slow and steady rush across the stiff grass. It reminded her of the whispers and she winced, her brow wrinkling.

She doesn’t see.

Her muscles locked. Cassie cleared her throat and gave her head a little shake. No. Just the wind, just the grief. It wasn’t voices, not really. Not again.

She almost believed that. Until Laney answered.

“She does. Give her time,” she murmured. When Cassie looked up, stared at her friend in questioning fear, she only smiled. Laney stood. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Laney, wait,” Cassie called out. Laney turned, her back to the forest. The wind lifted her hair, gently, like it was playing with it. It floated in black tendrils, like seaweed suspended in salt water, around Laney’s pale face. “I will, won’t I? See you tomorrow? You’re not seeing him tonight, are you?”

“I’ll be here tomorrow,” Laney said, but under her voice, around it, a low whispering chuckle intertwined with her words and Cassie felt afraid. A prickle of terror ran down her spine, and she stood quickly, blinking through the head rush. “Go inside, Cass. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Stay,” Cassie said, soft and insistent. “Stay here tonight.”

Laney smiled, soft and tentative, already walking backward across the lawn. “I can’t tonight. But tomorrow. I’ll see you then.” She turned quickly, taking off in a run until she vanished around the corner of her house.

Cassie turned and went through her front door, her head buzzing. Over the whispered insistence of the voices was the thought that Laney would be with them. She ran up to her room, yelling goodnight to her parents over her shoulder. They looked like they wanted to talk to her but she couldn’t, not yet. She shut her door behind her and crossed to the window. She just caught the sight of Laney disappearing into the woods behind her house, her fingers clasped in the hand that led her away.

“Laney!” Cassie threw the window open and shouted across the still yard. Leaves blew over the dead grass and swirled up, and with them came her voice.

“Don’t worry,” it whispered. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”





Cassie couldn’t help it. She called Laney’s house. Mrs. Blake answered the phone and confirmed. Laney wasn’t home.

“She’s with Ryan and Jon, Cassie,” Mrs. Blake said. “How are you, sweetheart? Do you need anything?”

Cassie thanked her with numb lips and hung up the phone. She scanned the dark expanse of Laney’s yard again, peering at the spot she had seen her friend disappear. Of course Laney would choose Ryan as her excuse. She couldn’t use Cassie, they weren’t speaking. And neither were Cassie and Ryan. The thought burned.

Cassie’s head pounded, but her fingers punched out the words clumsily anyway. She texted Ryan, just to be sure, just to confirm that she wasn’t seeing things. It took him a moment to answer.



Ryan: No, she’s not with me. Is she supposed to be?



Cassie swallowed hard. She wasn’t imagining things. She wasn’t just hearing voices in her head. This was real. Laney was gone, into the woods with the … the men who knew what happened to Jessica, the men who could whisper on the wind.

She answered Ryan briefly and put her phone down, knowing he wouldn’t text her again.

She had no idea what to do next. Cassie had no real idea who Corey was, didn’t even know his last name. She thought briefly about digging around on the internet for St. Paul’s class list but dismissed it almost immediately. She knew he wasn’t a student.

Cassie did consider trying to find out the name of the carnival company that Jude and Corey and Aidan all worked for. She wasn’t sure what she could do with that information. None of them were even with the carnival at the moment; they were all skulking around in the forest behind her house. Should she try to find them? And what then?

Cassie could just imagine that scenario. Her crashing about the woods, not even sure where she was going, trying to stumble into a group of people she was convinced had hurt, if not killed, one of her friends just days before. What would she even do if she found them? Try and drag Laney away. Laney didn’t want to be away from them, and surely Corey wouldn’t want her dragged anywhere. That left Cassie. Alone. Except not alone at all, with Jude and Aidan there. With no Jessica to entertain Jude and knowing what she already knew about Aidan … Cassie shuddered and withdrew from the window. No. She would not go after Laney tonight. Cowardly it may be, but she couldn’t face them all alone.