Two Can Keep a Secret(37)
Ellery gazes around us. “I know, right? But hey, everyone here works in a Halloween theme park. They don’t scare easy.”
“Do you want to stay for a while?”
She looks regretful. “Better not. Nana didn’t even want us to work tonight. She’s pretty freaked out.”
“Are you?” I ask.
“I …” She hesitates, pulling on a strand of teased hair and winding it around her finger. “I want to say no, because I hate the fact that some anonymous creep can rattle me. But yeah. I am. It’s just too … close, you know?” She shivers as someone squeezes past her in a Scream mask. “I keep having these conversations with my mother where she has no idea what’s going on, and all I can think is—no wonder she never wanted to bring us here. Her twin sister disappears, her favorite babysitter’s daughter is murdered, and now this? It’s enough to make you feel like the whole town is cursed.”
“Your mother doesn’t know about—anything?” I ask.
“No. We’re only supposed to have uplifting communication with her.” She releases her hair. “You know she’s in rehab, right? I figured the entire town knows.”
“They do,” I admit. She snort-laughs, but the sadness behind it tugs at my chest. “I’m sorry you’re dealing with that. And I’m sorry about your aunt. I’ve been meaning to tell you that. I know it all happened way before we were born, but … that sucks. In a massively stating-the-obvious sort of way.”
Ellery drops her eyes. “I’m pretty sure it’s why we wound up here. I don’t think Sadie’s ever dealt with it. No closure, no nothing. I didn’t connect the dots when Lacey died, but that’s when things started going downhill. Must’ve brought bad memories too close to the surface. So it’s sort of ironic that she’s in the dark now, but—what can you do?” She lifts her water bottle in a mock salute. “Three cheers to uplifting communication. Anyway. We should probably find Ezra, huh? He said he was going downstairs to get some water.”
We make our way out of the crowded dungeon and take the staircase down to the staff room, but there’s no sign of Ezra there. It’s cooler than it was upstairs, but I’m still overheated and a little thirsty. I cross over to the minifridge and take out two bottles of water, putting one on the vanity and offering the other to Ellery.
“Thanks.” She reaches out a hand, but our timing’s off; I let go before she’s grasped it fully, and it falls to the floor between us. When we both reach for it, we almost knock heads. Ellery laughs and puts a hand on my chest.
“I have it,” she says, and picks it up. She straightens, and even in the dim lighting I can see how red her cheeks are. “We’re so graceful, aren’t we?”
“That was my fault,” I say. The whole exchange has left us standing closer than we need to be, but neither of us moves away. “Bad handoff. You can see why I never made it as a football player.” She smiles and tilts her head up and, holy hell, her eyes are pretty.
“Thanks,” she murmurs, getting redder.
Oh. I said that out loud.
She moves a little closer, brushing against my hip, and an electric charge runs through me. Are we … should I …
Don’t be such a wuss, Mal.
God. Of all times to hear my brother’s stupid voice.
I reach out a hand and trace my thumb along Ellery’s jaw. Her skin is just as soft as I thought it would be. Her lips part, I swallow hard, and just then there’s a loud scratching noise behind us and somebody says, “Damn it!” in a frustrated tone.
Ellery and I break apart, and she twists to face the office. She’s across the room in a second, easing open the cracked door. Brooke Bennett is slumped on the floor, wedged between the desk and some kind of giant recycling bin. Ellery goes to her and crouches down.
“Brooke? Are you okay?” she asks.
Brooke’s hair hangs in her face, and when she pushes it aside she nearly stabs herself in the eye with something small and silvery. Ellery reaches over and takes it from her. I can see form the doorway that it’s a paper clip, pulled open and unfurled so its edges are exposed. Another one just like it rests on the floor next to her. “This is harder than he said it would be,” Brooke says, her voice slurring.
“Who said?” Ellery asks, setting both paper clips on the desk. “What’s hard?”
Brooke snickers. “That’s what she said.”
It looks like nobody gave Brooke the heads-up about tonight being a dry party. “Do you want some water?” I ask, holding out my untouched bottle.
Brooke takes it from me and unscrews the cap. She takes a greedy gulp, spilling some water down her front, before handing it back. “Thanks, Malcolm. You’re so nice. The nicest person in your entire house. By a lot.” She wipes her mouth on her sleeve and focuses on Ellery. “You look different. Are those your real eyes?”
Ellery and I glance at each other and we both suppress a laugh. Drunk Brooke is kind of entertaining. “What are you doing down here?” Ellery asks. “Do you want to come upstairs?”
“No.” Brooke shakes her head vehemently. “I need to get it back. I shouldn’t have … I just shouldn’t have. I have to show them. It’s not right, it’s not okay.”