2|| Whispers in the Wind

17|| i'm not sure

Kalyani

Wilder turned to Kalyani, searching her expression. They'd been strolling around for a bit, and stopped at a fast food restaurant for fries. Wilder had stopped asking her about what had happened between her and Aria, and also about what Roxanne had meant. But now, they stood on Kalyani's driveway. He was waiting for her to speak. If she wanted to, she would.

And she did want to. She had so many questions. Maybe someone would have an answer. She inhaled slowly. "Am I a bad sister?"

Wilder froze for a moment. "Why? Of course you're not."

"Be honest. I've been shutting Aria out. I've been more short tempered than usual," Kalyani persisted.

"That doesn't make you a bad sister. You've been stressed. But I'll be honest: how you've been acting doesn't seem right. It's not your fault, but you still need to talk to Aria."

Something in Kalyani's heart shriveled, but she kept a straight face. "Okay. Thanks."

"One more thing," Wilder added, "what did Roxanne's spirit thing mean?"

This was it. The question she'd have loved to avoid. "She said she just wants Roxanne to be free again. She said she Roxanne wants revenge. I asked her how you get revenge on dead people, and she said you don't. You get it on the living. I found out that Morgan Wesner somehow escaped Roxanne, but he's dead."

Once again, a hint of doubt began to cross Wilder's face. "But wait, I heard her say something about a family being replaced. If that's true, whatever attacked Roxanne also killed her real family. So who were the ones who actually died?"

The question rang in Kalyani's ears. It was an excellent point, but it wasn't right. "No... no. The girl- she's the past of Roxanne, but she wants Roxanne to win. The information she's given me may only be a spin off of the truth. What if she really was crazy, and she killed her family and faked the wounds?" Another terrible thought had occurred to Kalyani.

"Wait... wait. What if she was working with the spirit?"

Wilder held up his hands. "Whoa there. That's pushing it a little too far. What kind of girl with a family who loves her would willingly work with a ghost?"

"Roxanne would," Kalyani said, and she believed it.

"But how can you be sure?"

"I'm not sure about any of this, Wilder. I don't even know what to do when I figure it out."

"But you said she wanted revenge, right? What if... what if she wanted revenge on someone related to Morgan? What if she wanted a replacement for the person who got away?" A look of horror had spread across Wilder's face, which was unexplainable. But yes.

It was likely he was right.

Kalyani felt like her blood had frozen into her veins. She was rooted to the spot. So the only way to rid of Roxanne - hypothetically - would be to sacrifice the last person related to the Wesners?

Ew.

Gross.

She was definitely not the type to sacrifice. In some Indian pujas, you had to sacrifice a goat to the goddess. She hated that kind of thing, and didn't understand why they needed to chop off the goat's head.