Hot Spots

Chapter Three

Amy screamed. Kyler froze. Felix locked eyes with me. His lips trembled and his eyes bulged. The camera turned off with a small ding.

Usually I had a plan for everything, but this situation left my mind a black hole.

"What the fuck?" yelled Kyler.

"We have to get out of here," growled Amy.

Some leader. All I could think to say were a bunch of barely comprehensible swear words. I urged my brain to stop screaming. Fuckfuckfuck. Focus. Come up with a plan. Fuck. Our fingerprints and DNA were all over this crime scene.

I wanted to bury my head in my hands and scream.

Breathe.

"Everyone chill out," I said. I stared at the EMF meter. "I've got this."

Amy glared acid at me. "If you say one more thing about ghosts, I swear to god... Jane, I can't take it."

"Being narrowminded--"

"Janie," Felix interrupted. He pressed his palms against his forehead. "Please don't--"

"Look at the EMF meter!" I said. It flashed yellow and red like a mediocre rave.

"Jane--" Amy's face cleared of spite and clouded with worry. "I know you want to find proof of ghosts, but this is real."

"Yeah, this is real," I said, "and a ghost might have done it."

"For fuck's sake." Kyler kicked the wall. His gym shoe left a footprint in the blood. "I'm out of here."

He stormed past me. I started. He thundered down the stairs, swearing so loudly I was afraid the neighbours would hear.

"I'll look after him," Amy said. She made to leave.

"Don't smoke anything," said Felix. "We need to think clearly."

"All good," said Amy. She darted off.

Which left me and Felix alone with a fuckton of blood. He stroked a hand over his beard and looked around the room. "Jesus," he said. "What are we going to do?"

"Listen to me," I pleaded. "Look at the EMF meter. Listen to your senses. Ghosts did this. It had to be ghosts."

"I can't--" His cheeks bulged, and he held a fist to his mouth. "I'm going to be sick."

Until now, it had been impossible to comprehend what people meant by 'the stench of death'. Now I knew. Death smelled like tragedy, fear, despair, and suffering.

Felix swallowed and took a deep breath. "Do we call the cops or what?"

We had enough weed on us that if we called the cops, they could do us for possession and intent to sell. If we didn't, we could get done for obstruction of justice, tampering with a crime scene, or even murder. "Shit."

I wanted to run away with my friends and pretend we'd never been here, but what if the cops found Felix's fingerprint on a doorhandle or Amy's saliva on the roach of a joint?

"I say we deal with this ourselves," I said.

"Ourselves?"

"If we prove a ghost did this, they can't pin the murder on us," I said.

"And if a human did it?"

"If we apprehend a murderer, they're bound to let our other proclivities slide."

Felix buried his head in his hands. "Fuck."

"What are our other options?"

He groaned. "We could pin everything on Kyler."