Gavin and Danny were dressed in black as well. They sang the James Bond theme song as they approached, stopping every once in a while to pose and aim their gun-shaped fingers at trees and parked cars.

  Naomi shook her head. “Boys.”

  Their song ended once they hit the sand pit, but they laughed and shoved each other a few times for good measure.

  Gavin walked right up to me. “Hey.”

  I smiled back at him, trying not to make it obvious that I was breathing in the subtle scent of his cologne.

  “Everything cool?” he asked.

  “Yep.” I sounded ridiculous. “We’re all set.”

  Naomi drew a line in the playground sand with her sneaker. “Are you guys all in? Because once you cross this line, there’s no turning back.”

  Naomi could be dramatic like that.

  She crossed her arms and waited. Danny stepped over the line, hands in his pockets, face stoic. Gavin seemed to glide over it. I followed him less gracefully. When he turned to me, I couldn’t stop staring at his eyes, shining like blue fire in the twilight.

  “Good,” Naomi said. “We’re now entering stealth mode. Let’s go.”

  She led the way up the sidewalk. Gavin walked by my side, while Danny trailed behind. At first, no one spoke. When we’d gone half a block, Gavin turned to Danny.

  “Dude, did you bring flashlights?” Gavin slowed and fell into step with him.

  “I brought a flashlight,” Danny said.

  “I told you to bring two.”

  “No, you didn’t. You asked if I had a flashlight.”

  “I asked if you had an extra flashlight,” Gavin insisted.

  “You never said ‘extra.’”

  “Well, it’s obvious that’s what I meant.”

  “It wasn’t obvious. The only thing that’s obvious is that you don’t get a flashlight.”

  Naomi grunted, stopping in her tracks and facing us. “Oh my God, do you not know what ‘stealth mode’ means?”

  Danny and Gavin muttered apologies. Naomi spun around and continued walking.

  “Great,” Gavin whispered. “Not only did you forget to bring me a flashlight, but you also got me in trouble with Mom.”

  Naomi glared at him over her shoulder. “If the police show up, I’m using you as a shield.”

  We reached the sidewalk in front of the house. The property was lined with tall trees; I hoped they would provide enough coverage for what we were about to do. I studied the wide, sweeping porch, weathered by time and neglect. Most of the shutters were warped and flaking. Abandoned lawn furniture sat upturned and rusted on the grass.

  “You’re sure nobody lives here?” Danny asked as we stepped onto the tangle of weeds masquerading as a lawn.

  “Does it look lived-in?” Naomi responded.

  “Poorly lived-in, maybe,” Gavin said.

  “It’s definitely abandoned. Are you ready?” Naomi asked.

  Gavin and Danny nodded. I wasn’t so sure, but when they hiked across the lawn after Naomi, I followed, ignoring the doubt that had settled in the pit of my stomach.

  A rain pipe running down the corner of the house had detached itself and hung askew, covered with climbing vines. Next to it was a set of shutters. Naomi pulled the shutters open, exposing a sheet of plastic taped over the broken glass. The window ledge was at chest level. Naomi pushed at the plastic, but the tape held.

  “Here, let me.” Danny pulled out a pocketknife.

  I stepped back from the knife and right into Gavin. His hands were on my hips, steadying me. I gasped, but I didn’t pull away.

  “Sorry,” I whispered, glancing at him over my shoulder.

  “No problem.” His hands lingered at my hips a moment longer before he let go.

  Danny cut the plastic away from the lower half of the window and tucked the knife back inside his pocket. “Hold on,” he said, before disappearing around the side of the house.

  Naomi looked after him, a wistful expression on her face. “It’s probably dark and lonely back there. Maybe I should go help him.”

  Gavin gave me a sideways glance.

  “Don’t you dare,” I said.

  Danny reappeared holding a terracotta plant pot.

  “Um, planning on gardening?” Naomi asked him.

  He gave her a half-smirk and turned the pot upside down under the window. “Figured we’d need a boost.”

  “Is that thing going to hold?” I asked.

  “Only one way to find out.” Hands firmly grasping the ledge, Danny stepped on the pot with one foot, balancing the other in the air while he pulled himself up and through the window. He made it look easy.

  A second after he disappeared, Danny reached his hand out the window. Naomi was quick to grab it. She climbed on top of the pot and let Danny pull her through the window frame, her canvas bag slung diagonally over her back.

  “Ladies first?” Gavin said to me.

  “No, you go first.” Not only was I doubtful I could scramble up the side of the house and into the window without falling, I was uneasy about Gavin having to watch my butt wriggling about if I got stuck.

  “All right,” he said. “I’ll pull you in.”

  When Gavin stood on the pot, I heard a small crack. I looked down to see a split in the terracotta, but before I could warn him, Gavin had shimmied up and into the house.

  “Come on. I’ve got you,” Gavin said.

  He reached out the window and wrapped his fingers around my wrist. I probably would have chickened out and run back home if he hadn’t been holding on to me. I stepped onto the pot and heard another crack. Just as my stomach touched the ledge, my body jerked as the terracotta gave way. I slammed my arm against the window frame to catch myself. I hissed, pain searing through my arm as broken glass sliced through my jacket sleeve. I began to slip, but Gavin grabbed me.

  “Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” His voice was so soft, so soothing. Promise spilled from his dark gaze. I couldn’t believe I was trying to get farther away from him.

  “Okay,” I said.

  Trying not to grunt, I let him haul me through the window. He let me go once my feet touched the floor, but I grabbed his shoulder for support.

  “You’re bleeding,” he said, catching my hand and turning my arm to inspect it.

  I wanted to tell him it was just a scratch, that it barely hurt anymore, but I couldn’t get the words past the breath caught in my throat. Slowly, I pulled my arm free. He watched my face and frowned.

  “This place is a pit,” Danny said. He held a flashlight in one hand and dusted off his pants with the other. The flashlight lit up chipped paint and ripped wallpaper. The door frame to the kitchen was cracked and splintered. The handrail on the staircase looked like someone had taken an axe to it. He tugged at his jacket collar, as if he was trying to dispel any dirt that might have landed there.

  “But look at that fireplace,” Gavin said. He walked over to the gray-and-white marble mantle, swiping away some filth from the surface. “I’d love to have a fireplace like this. I can just imagine a family gathered around it on a cold night, watching the fire and talking about their day.”

  We all stared at him. Of the three of us, I was the only one wearing a grin. For Gavin to look beyond the mold-covered walls and broken floor boards, past the cobwebs and dust bunnies, and imagine the simple beauty of what had once been someone’s home, that certainly warmed my heart. Maybe he could look past the broken pieces of my life as well.

  “I mean, you know, whatever,” he added, when he noticed no one was talking.

  “So are we going to do this, or what?” Danny asked.

  “First, the preparations,” Naomi said. She swung the canvas bag over her head and crouched down on the floor to unzip it. From it, she pulled a plastic bag, a lighter, and a game box with the word Ouija on it. “Help me with the candles, Zadie.”

  Pulling tea-light candles from the plastic bag, Naomi and I placed them in a large circle on the floor.

  “Nice touch, right?” she whispered when our heads were close together.

  Gavin picked up the lighter and brought our circle of fire to life. Naomi and I looked at each other as we sat on the floor, our knees bent toward the glow of the candlelight. Gavin sat next to me, then gestured with his head to his best friend. Danny sighed, running a hand over his short hair before joining us in the circle beside Naomi.

  “Zadie,” Naomi said.

  “What?”

  “Ready?”

  “Oh. Yeah, sure.”

  “Remember,” Naomi said as she started unpacking the Ouija board, “once the spell works, you two have to take us out on a double date.”

  “If it works,” Danny said.

  “When,” Naomi insisted.

  “Did you ever notice that Ouija is made up of two foreign words for yes?” Gavin said. “Oui which is French, and ja which is German. Isn’t that strange?”

  “You know what else is strange?” Danny said, turning off his flashlight. “That people still buy these things.”

  Naomi snapped a reply, but I didn’t hear the words. Suddenly, all I could think about was Mara. What would happen if the doctors couldn’t live up to their promise? What if Mara was lost to me—and Dad—forever? What if this thin excuse to spend time with Gavin was the only chance I had to save my sister?

  I shook my head. I felt the others watching me, but I ignored them, staring at the candlelight as if it would give me answers. If I tried to bring Mara back and failed, I would lose hope too. But what if Mara died, and I’d never even tried to save her?

  A strange feeling came over me, like a buzzing in my bones. I found myself focused on the glow of candlelight. Everything else went fuzzy, disappearing into the dark.

  “We don’t need the board,” I told Naomi as she moved to place it in the middle. “Put it away.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t need the Ouija board.”

  “Ooh, you’re giving me chills,” she said. “Awesome!”

  She set the board and pointer aside, and I reached out my hands to Danny and Gavin. Gavin’s hand felt warm in mine. My fingers brushed against some calluses on his palm. His touch was rough, but nice. Danny looked away from Naomi when she slid her hand into his.

  I closed my eyes and thought about my sister. About how she used to let me squeeze into bed with her when I was little and couldn’t sleep. About how she held me the whole night when our mother was taken away, wiping away my tears and telling me it was going to be all right. I tightened my grip on Gavin’s hand. She had to wake up. She just had to.

  A jumble of sounds suddenly tumbled from my lips—sounds from a language I didn’t recognize. The voice was mine, but the movements of my tongue and teeth were not. My fingers tingled, and the flames from the candles grew warmer. My blood felt electric. Still chanting, I slowly opened my eyes. My three companions stared at me. I stopped, my mouth falling silent.

  For a moment, nothing happened. We simply looked at each other, waiting. A chill crept up my neck. In that instant, wind whipped through our circle, making the candles flicker wildly. There was a sound, like plastic scraping wood, and my eyes darted to the Ouija board Naomi had set aside. My body jerked, as if I’d been holding a huge mass of energy inside of me and it had suddenly escaped.

  The buzzing and electric feeling were gone. I felt like I was going to throw up. What had I just done?

  “It moved,” Naomi said.

  “What did?” Danny asked.

  “The pointer on the board.”

  “No way,” Gavin said. “Where is it pointing?”

  We all scrabbled over to look at the board, but the second we reached it, all the candles went out.

  “Whoa,” Gavin said.

  With a click, Danny’s flashlight came to life. “It’s just the wind coming in through the broken windows,” he said.

  “Still,” Gavin said, re-lighting some of the tea lights. “Pretty freaky.”

  “Do you think it worked?” Naomi asked.

  Something thumped above our heads. All eyes went to the ceiling.

  Naomi grabbed Danny’s arm. “What the—”

  “There’s someone upstairs,” Gavin whispered, standing up.

  “Maybe the wind just blew a door closed or something,” I said.

  “It sounded more like something falling than something slamming.” Naomi’s words ran together, her eyes wide and unblinking.

  The rest of us got to our feet.

  “You really think there’s someone up there?” I whispered.

  “Maybe it’s a rat,” Danny said.

  “Ew, gross!” Naomi said.

  “Would you rather it was a person?” Gavin asked. He and Danny exchanged a glance.

  Danny swallowed. “Should we check it out?”

  Gavin shrugged, then nodded. He picked up one of the candles from the floor. Danny aimed his flashlight toward the stairs. The boys only managed two steps before Naomi and I grabbed them.

  “Wait,” I said.

  “Don’t leave us alone,” Naomi added.

  Danny put a hand on his hip. “Come with us, then.”

  Gavin reached for my hand and linked his fingers with mine. Naomi looked at Danny hopefully, but he simply turned and started to walk, allowing her to cling to his bicep. Gavin and I went first, my hand getting sweatier the closer we got to the top, Naomi and Danny directly behind us. The stairs creaked under our slow footsteps. At the top of the stairs, the hall split left and right.

  “We’ll go this way.” Gavin nodded to the right, “and you go that way.”

  Danny nodded curtly and headed left down the shadowy hall. Naomi scuttled after him. Gavin gave me a reassuring smile and squeezed my hand. Then he turned right, holding his candle in front of him as he poked his head through the first open door. I stepped around him into the room, empty and still except for a piece of plastic flapping in the breeze of another broken window.

  I shuddered. “This would be a lot less creepy if I didn’t have Night of the Living Dead playing in my head.”

  He let out a small laugh. “Maybe it was the wind.” He nodded toward the closet. “That door is shut. Maybe the wind pushed it closed.”

  I looked from the window to the closet door, repeating what he’d said in my head until I was convinced. “Yeah, that’s probably what happened.”

  He glanced at me, then walked toward the closet and put his hand on the knob. I held my breath as he opened it.

  “It’s empty,” he said. We smiled at each other in relief.

  “So, that was pretty cool what you did,” he said, walking past me to look out the window. “What language was that?”

  I hesitated, still baffled that I had spoken a language I didn’t know. What had come over me? Was I possessed for a minute? No, that was crazy.

  I walked toward him. “I don’t know.”

  He turned away from the window abruptly. I barely stopped myself in time to keep from slamming into his chest. He looked down at me, like he was about to ask me something. But his words seemed to die on a soft exhalation that brushed my cheek. His gaze landed on my lips. We were only inches apart. I was sure he could hear my heart pounding.

  “Why are you so fascinated with witchcraft?” I asked, breaking the spell. Why had I done that?

  Probably because I needed to know. After all, the things I could do were … frightening.

  “It’s not really witchcraft that fascinates me, but the thought that magic exists. I mean, we live in a pretty cruel world. But if magic existed? Well, it would give me a little hope that things wouldn’t have to be so bad. Plus, it would make life a lot more interesting.”

  I nodded in agreement. There was something hidden behind his words, some story I didn’t know, that he was trying to distract me from. Honestly, I didn’t care. I was fixated on his mouth, the movement of his lips when he spoke, the glimpse of his tongue when he formed words. The candle went out, and he inched closer. I let my eyes drift closed.

  That’s when we heard the crash.

  I snapped my eyes open, but Gavin had already hurried to the hall.

  Naomi cursed.

  “What happened?” I asked, catching up with Gavin.

  Danny and Naomi joined us in the hall.

  “Naomi broke a window,” Danny said.

  “It was an accident, and the window was already broken.” Naomi rubbed her elbow with her hand. “I just made it … more broken.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “I made the mistake of handing her my flashlight,” Danny said. “You know how dramatic she gets. With the flailing and stuff.”

  Naomi clicked her tongue and put her hands on her hips. “I am not dramatic!”

  “See what I mean?” Danny said.

  “Accident or not, it was loud,” Gavin said. “Loud enough that a neighbor might call the cops. We better get out of here.”

  We headed downstairs, gathered our things, and rushed to the back door. Danny twisted the lock at the sliding door and glided it open. We scurried out the back of the house and rushed to the safety of the sidewalk. It wasn’t until we were a block away that my heartbeat found an easier rhythm.

  “Now what?” Naomi asked.

  “Now we go home.” Danny stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at Gavin.

  “Oh,” Naomi said. “Already?”

  “Not that it hasn’t been fun,” Danny said, sounding like he hadn’t had fun at all. “But I’m beat. I was up at the ass crack of dawn this morning helping my dad work on his engine.”

  Gavin glanced at me, like he was waiting for me to suggest something different. I thought about how close Gavin’s lips had been to mine before we were interrupted. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him already, but I knew I should get home as well. Dad wouldn’t care about the late hour, but what if I’d missed a call from the hospital? “Okay. See you in school on Monday?”

  “Yeah.” Gavin’s hands went to his pockets as well, but he nudged me playfully with his elbow. “See you Monday.”

  “Bye,” Naomi called after them.

  As we started our walk back to my house, she hooked her arm through mine.

  “How cool was that?” she said. “I mean, I was totally spooked, but it was awesome. And that weird chant?” She shivered. “You were totally creepy. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”