Chapter 42 Transcribed from the notes and session recording of March 16 conducted by Dr. Patrick Templeman, forensic psychiatrist, with Michael Reece, currently awaiting trial on charges of first-degree murder. Dr. Templeman: Thank you for joining me today, Mr. Reece. Michael Reece: It’s Doctor Reece. And you say that as

Chapter 41 Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come. ~ Rabindranath Tagore What we call memory is the intersection between imagination and fact. Memories are the stories we tell ourselves about the important events in our lives. In the

Chapter 40 New Year’s Eve In the candlelight, Aidan’s face is as beautiful as an angel’s. “How are you so pretty?” I murmur, tracing a finger across the angle of his cheek then down to his jaw. His dark beard is soft and springy under my fingertip. We’re lying in

Chapter 39 Four months ago As I sit at the kitchen table staring at my wedding ring in the palm of my hand, I sift through all the memories of my marriage to Michael, both good and bad, until I realize that the reason I haven’t taken off this ring

Chapter 38 I knew almost from the beginning that Kayla was it for me. Those eyes, you know? So pretty, but so sad. It would take a while to find out what she was so sad about. By then, I’d told her about my father, about how abusive he was.

Chapter 37 Even in the grave, all is not lost. ~ Edgar Allan Poe When I told Kayla that ghosts are simply souls with a story to tell, it was the truth. But the thing about ghosts is that they’re unreliable narrators. Especially when they’re telling a story to themselves.

Chapter 36 I stare wide-eyed at the coin and the ring with my pulse throbbing and a scream trapped inside my chest, knowing that there’s something extremely significant here that I’m missing. When I glance up at Claire, she says calmly, “Call the detective.” I whisper, “How did my ring

Chapter 35 Fiona and Claire find me in the kitchen, huddled on the floor in a corner with my back against the cabinets and my knees drawn up to my chin. Glancing around, Claire asks, “Why did you open all the cabinets and drawers?” “They were open when I got

Chapter 34 Fiona informs me that the full moon is tomorrow night, so we can conduct the séance right away. She tells me I’m lucky we can get it done so quickly. I don’t feel lucky. I feel cursed. I don’t say that aloud, however, because I don’t want to

Chapter 33 Dear Dante, Thank you for the advice. I must say, however, it was shitty. “You are the storm. What are your thunder and lightning telling you?” Was that really supposed to be helpful? Because it wasn’t. Please forgive the rudeness, but my life is falling apart. Correction, it