Trista has always loved abandoned houses and the paranormal. Now that she’s at college only fifteen minutes from the notoriously haunted Hollow Street house, she knows exactly where she’s spending Halloween. She packs a bag, puts on her favorite vintage dress, and sets off, hoping to spot the ghost of the young, dark-haired woman who’s said to haunt the house’s living room.<br><br>Fellow student Keira does not like abandoned houses, and she isn’t particularly interested in ghosts. Visiting the Hollow Street house was not how she’d planned to spend Halloween. But her little sister, who loves all things spooky, has begged Keira to check out the haunted house next to her university, and Keira has trouble saying no. She doesn’t expect to see anything supernatural, so it’s quite a shock to find herself face-to-face with a mysterious young woman in old-fashioned clothing who seems to have appeared from nowhere.<br><br>When the two ghost-hunters come face to face, each mistakes the other for the ghost she’s looking for. How tragic, they both think, that such a beautiful person should have died so young. Of course, things aren’t as bleak as they seem, and the two women might find themselves pleasantly surprised ... if they can make it to the morning. Because real entities haunt the Hollow Street house, and they’re anything but friendly.

Spirits in the Dark

She clung to the spirit’s hand—and as she did so, she noticed that there was something about that hand she hadn’t expected. It was warm and solid, skin over muscle over bone—a real, living, human hand.


Keira—Keira the lovely, whose voice lit up the night—Keira was alive


“Come on.” Keira was pulling her toward the door. “We’ve got to go.”


Numb with wonder, Trista staggered to her feet.


Moving hurt. Something was holding her in place—something that ripped like a thick scab when she pulled away, leaving her head and chest raw with pain. But she got free, and held tightly to Keira’s arm as the other girl (the other living girl!) started for the door.


The door did not want to open. They pulled at it together, both of them cursing and straining, until at last it popped open. Just as they were stepping out into the early morning air, something ran down the broken steps behind them.


Chapter 14