Free The Haunting Season by Michelle Muto

was in her head, but it wasn’t hers. It sounded younger.
    Her mother’s words echoed in her head . Admit that ghosts don’t exist…
    But Jess wanted there to be someone here. There had to be. Just had to.
    “Who’s here?” she whispered. “Are you a ghost? Riley?”
    Why she’d said Riley instead of Emma or Gracie, she didn’t know. She wasn’t even sure who Riley was, except that Allison had said Riley was a boy, not a girl. Dr. Brandt hadn’t mentioned that the Silers had a son.
    She waited a minute or two for a reply, but none came. Jess left the room, careful to close the door behind her.
    “No one goes in there!” Mrs. Hirsch announced loudly. She stormed toward Jess, mouth pinched.
    “Sorry,” Jess said. “I didn’t touch anything.”
    Mrs. Hirsch narrowed her eyes and stared at Jess as though searching for a lie.
    “It wasn’t locked,” Jess explained.
    Cold grey eyes glared at her. “Bobby pin? Sewing needle? What do you have? I locked this door myself.”
    “Neither. Nothing. It wasn’t locked.”
    Mrs. Hirsch opened the door. “Didn’t touch nothing, did ya?” She pushed past Jess and into the room. She thundered to where the mirror stood. The sheet covering it had somehow slipped off onto the floor. Mrs. Hirsch threw the sheet back over the mirror and turned to Jess. “You’re messing with things you shouldn’t.”
    “The mirror?” Jess asked. Cold pooled in her stomach as she recalled how Allison had sworn she’d seen someone in the dresser mirror. “What’s wrong with it?”
    “It ain’t yours to be messin’ with is what’s wrong with it! What’s wrong with you , girl? Ain’t you got the common sense not to be touchin’ stuff that don’t belong to ya?” She turned to Jess, hands planted firmly on her hips and a scowl on her face. “Well, what in blazes are you waitin’ for? Scat.”
    Jess turned and ran back across the hall to her room, leaving Mrs. Hirsch behind.
    Allison was now awake and dressed. “Hey,” she said, offering a thin smile. “I was looking for you. I thought you might be downstairs, but you weren’t. Just the guys and Dr. Brandt. You went exploring without me.”
    “Yeah, well, Mrs. Hirsch ended that,” Jess replied, leaning against the door.
    “She’s weird. She freaks me out,” Allison said. “I think we should go downstairs.”
    “Allison, everything freaks you out.”
    “The guys want to go exploring outside today,” Allison said, ignoring the dig. “Not sure what there is to do, but maybe we should tag along.” She grabbed a hair clip from the dresser and swept her hair up into it. “I heard one of the maids say that it’s going to be in the nineties today.”
    “Good thing for cool showers. I hate summers,” Jess replied.
    “Come on. You can shower after breakfast. Let’s get out of here before Mrs. Hirsch decides to check up on us.”
    Jess couldn’t agree more.
     
    Dr. Brandt was already at the table, just as Allison said he would be, drinking coffee and going over more of his notes. “Morning!” he called out cheerily. “Fresh coffee in the kitchen. Bagels and pastries as well.”
    The girls went into the kitchen and grabbed cheese Danishes from the buffet. Allison poured a glass of juice, while Jess made a cup of coffee.
    “That stuff isn’t good for you,” Allison said, motioning to Jess’s cup. “I read it somewhere.”
    “Yeah, well, I’m not good without it,” Jess kidded as they left the kitchen.
    “I suppose you’ll want to hear about our first night here,” Allison said to Dr. Brandt. She unfolded her silverware from the cloth napkin.
    “From each of you, yes,” he replied. “But I think we should wait until Bryan and Gage join us. Gage went to shower and Bryan stepped out onto the front porch to return a phone call. I’m sure they’ll be here soon. If not, I’ll send Mrs. Hirsch to look in on them.”
    Jess grimaced.
    “Is there a problem, Jess?” he asked.
    “No. Not really, just that