A whole week had passed. I had gotten used to the routine of my new life. Nearly every waking moment was spent with the ghosts, but since they had no interest in watching me eat, I got some time to myself during meals. I had learned to treasure every last relaxing minute.

Igor had a gift; no matter what time you walked into the kitchen, it always smelled amazing. Maybe the whole reason he acted as grumpy as he did was because it was the only way to keep people out of the kitchen long enough for him to work.

It smelled even better when you walked in hungry.

I sat down next to Conrad at the small table that served as our casual dining area. Igor came over and put a plate down in front of me. When the scent of that hot meatball sandwich hit my nostrils, I wanted to cry. Instead, I turned and told Igor that I loved him. He sniffed to remind me he was already in a committed relationship with his set of high-end copper pots and didn’t have time to indulge a child like me.

I didn’t care. He had earned my love and admiration the moment he put that food in front of me. He didn’t need to reciprocate.

We were halfway through our sandwiches when Conrad spoke.

“Kappa was complaining to me today.”

“About what?”

“You.”

I stopped with my sandwich halfway to my mouth. “Me?”

“He thinks you’re cheating at hide-and-seek.”

“I told him that I had other people helping me look for him. That’s why I find him so quickly.”

“He gets that. What he wants to know is, if there are three other people playing, why can he only find you?”

“What did you tell him?”

“That he was right, you are a cheater.”

“You're so good to me, Conrad.”

“Then he got mad at me for saying it.”

I grinned. “At least Kappa will stick up for me.” After a few more bites, I asked, “Why did he go to you? Are you our referee now?”

Conrad shrugged.

“What’s the ruling on ghost assistants?”

He finished swallowing the last of his sandwich before saying, “I’ll allow it. For now. As long as it’s helping.” He tilted his head and peered down at me with his yellow eye. “It is helping, right?”

A hint of sadness snuck into my smile. “I wish you could see them. They look so much better now. They look happy. Jacob and John aren’t scared any more. You can hear them laughing—I can hear them laughing all the time.”

“Are they stronger?”

“Their presence is solid, and I don’t lose any of their words anymore.”

“What about the dreams?”

I took my time wiping my mouth and hands with my napkin. I needed to think about how to answer.

“They’re getting stronger too,” I said.

But Conrad knew that. I had woken up from them three different times. They weren’t exactly nightmares—not like I was used to—but sometimes a sense of dread would creep into me, digging its claws deeper and deeper into my psyche, until the sheer pressure was enough to make me wake up, gasping and confused. On those nights, I went out to the couch on the landing or down to the entertainment room to watch some shows. If Conrad wasn’t already there, he would find me and let me lean on his arm or bury my face in his fur.

I tried again. “They’re getting clearer, and I can hear sounds now. But they’re still bits and pieces. Nothing cohesive.”

“Nothing useful?”

I don’t know why, but I felt a small pocket of indignation light up like a glow stick.

“The scenes are getting longer,” I said. “Maybe they’re remembering things. And I’m learning about the town. I know a few buildings. I can recognize some people—”

“Can you use it to help figure out who they are?”

“No. Not yet. Maybe if I watched less anime and more historical dramas.”

I heard a chuff of laughter from Conrad. “Yeah. Not likely.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“You just wait!” I prodded his ribs. Since my finger had to go through his two shirts and a yard of thick fur, he probably didn’t even feel it. “If we ever run into some kind of Japanese monster, I’ll know exactly what kind it is, how to defeat it, and what time period it comes from.”

“Big lizard. That one’s Godzilla. Call in King Kong.”

From over by the stove, Igor said, “You forgot the time period.”

Conrad screwed up his face in thought. “Nineteen-fifty? Sixty?”

“There. Now you’re redundant, Emerra.”

“Oh,” I said, “so you want to spend all your time talking and playing with ghosts?”

Even across the room, I thought I saw Igor shudder. “Sorry. Unlike some people, I have chores.”

I picked up the orange Igor had included in my lunch and started peeling it.

Conrad said, “Do you have any idea what they’re scared of?”

“No,” I said. “I can feel it sometimes, when I dream, but it only happens when I’m in the woods—and that doesn’t make any sense! I’m in them all the time. They’re important to Anna. Why do they only scare me sometimes?”

“Is it different when she gets scared? A different part of the woods?”

“It’s the same woods, but I’m all right when I’m playing. The times I get upset…I feel like I’m going somewhere.”

As the silence stretched on, I looked up from the orange and realized that both Conrad and Igor were watching me.

“You mean Anna,” Conrad said. “Anna is playing. She’s the one going somewhere.”

“Well, yeah. But when I’m dreaming, I usually am her.”

Igor shook his head and turned back to his task. “Be careful, Emerra. It’s not wise to get too close to the dead.”

“You live with Jack Noctis!”

Igor raised a finger without turning. “That’s death, not the dead. There’s nothing wrong with getting close to death. It’s the fate of every poor bastard on this planet.”

“What about me? I’m dead.”

“You’re not dead. You’re something else. Eat your vegetables.”

“Or you’ll tell my mother?”

“I am your mother. Eat your vegetables.”

I laughed.

Igor wasn’t hugs and loves, and he wasn’t bedtime stories, but I remembered one of my foster mothers, at the end of a long day, having to listen to one of the younger children call her name for the hundredth time in an hour. That look of irritated exhaustion was Igor’s permanent expression.

Yes. He could be a mom.

“Yes, Mother.”

Conrad asked him, “Is there any word on when Jacky’s getting home?”

At first Igor didn’t answer. He had to pull his eyes away from the clock he’d been staring at. When he finally looked at the wolfman, it took a second for the question to register.

“A few days,” Igor said. “But it’s always a few days with him.”

He went back to staring at the clock.

“Igor?” I said.

“Mrs. Park is usually here by now.”

Conrad and I glanced at each other.

At any other time, I might have found it amusing—maybe the ol’ grump cared a little after all—but his flat, matter-of-fact tone had an undercurrent that communicated exactly how odd her absence was.

“Should I call her?” I asked.

Igor shrugged. “Better you than me.”

I pulled out my phone and called. All the tension that had been gathering disappeared when she answered on the fifth ring.

“Oh, Emerra!” she said. “Perfect timing.”

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“Yes, yes. I’m fine. I’m actually here right now. I brought”—I heard her grunt, and there was a soft noise—“the supplies Ingvar asked for. I could use a few hands. Oh, and I have some more craft supplies for you.”

“I’ll be right out.”

“I’m at the front of the house.”

I hung up as I rose to my feet. “She’s here. I’m going to go help her haul in some stuff.”

Conrad stood up as well. He waited for me at the front door as I got my boots, then we went out together. Mrs. Park had pulled her car as close to the front door as she could. She was rooting around in her trunk when we arrived.

“Oh, good. Conrad.” Mrs. Park hung a few bags off his arms as she said, “I’m so sorry I’m late. I hope I didn’t make you all worry. That silly windstorm last night.” Her voice stalled with the effort of lifting the heaviest box, but once she’d passed it off to the wolfman, she went on: “Are all the trees still standing? Please tell me the back oak is all right. I’d be so sad if it fell.”

I struggled to catch up to her conversation. “There was a windstorm?”

Mrs. Park paused what she was doing. “Surely you must know. It woke me out of a dead sleep and tore up half the town.” She waved her hand around for emphasis. “Trees. Roofs. The whole place was a mess. That’s why I’m late. I had to help clean up, and when I finally started driving here, several of the main roads were closed because of debris.” Her eyes went from me to Conrad, searching for any hint we knew what she was talking about. “You didn’t feel it?”

Conrad shook his head.

When she looked at me, I said, “Not here. Maybe it was only down in the town.”

Mrs. Park gave me a look, then reached back into her trunk for another box. “This place isn’t that remote. How strange.” She handed me the box and picked up the last of the bags. “Oh, well. As long as the old oak is still standing proud.”

“What about your house?” Conrad asked.

Mrs. Park laughed as she shut her trunk. “It’s fine. It’s a solid old lump, just like me. It’ll outlast everything.”

She led the way to the house.

Anna was standing alone by the front door when we entered. My heart sank when I saw her. I purposefully fumbled to get my boots off so I could send Mrs. Park and Conrad on ahead. Once I was in my socks, I walked over to Anna.

This was not the first time I had found her at the door. It seemed like whenever I had to go looking for her, she was always haunting that spot, staring out with milk-white eyes toward the woods, her face tight with worry.

“Anna?” I whispered.

She slowly turned her head to look at me.

“Anna, where’s Jacob and John?”

“Playing.” She returned her attention to the door.

I got on my knees so I wouldn’t have to bend down. “Don’t you want to play with them?”

She shook her head, but it didn’t look as if she was declining my suggestion. It looked like she was trying to clear it of fog. “I have to do something.”

My stomach sank. “Do you remember what?”

“No. It’s fading.”

We had tried to figure out what task she had been fixated on, but that one memory seemed to grow weaker as all the others grew stronger. When we realized that, Iset recommended we allow it to fade. Maybe it would help Anna let go. I had agreed with her. The idea of a soul mourning for years over a task they could no longer complete felt so tragic that I wanted to help Anna forget. Whenever she mentioned watching the bones, I did my best to distract her. My efforts seemed to be working, but now that I saw how lost she looked, I wondered if we had made the right choice.

“Should we go find Jacob and John?” I asked.

Anna nodded.

I picked up the box and walked toward the kitchen. Anna reluctantly followed me away from the door.