Haunted

XIII

The first thing I thought of to do was to drive to Cade's house to ask about his opinion on the theory that Gretchen could be one of the potential victims. Maybe he could help me devise a plan to catch the killer or something. I mean, we knew that the police were basically on the same wavelength as us now, but they still didn't have the insider knowledge of Willy Woods that Cade had, or both of our abilities.

I still hadn't seen Amanda's ghost, which I hoped meant she moved on. The only victim I'd seen so far was Jeanine, number two, who was still posted at the police station.

Although, seeing Amanda and speaking to her would require some explanation. First about my abilities and then about who killed her. Though I doubted that the killer could've revealed anymore to Amanda than they did to Jeanine if they kept up the same mask and voice modulator routine.

The moment I caught sight of Cade's house, I knew I wasn't getting in any time soon. News vehicles and reporters crowded the area around his modest little home. I counted at least eight separate stations, and those were just the ones who got to his house the fastest. In hours the entire street would be crowded.

Of course, each and every reporter wanted one thing: a statement from the son of the infamous King of Terror.

Even from a bit away, I could make out some of the speculation. It seemed that some of the "sources" claimed that the new killer (dubbed the Prince of Terror in relation to his origin) could be Cade Woods himself. I knew it wasn't true, but he had to be the main suspect for obvious reasons. I mean, who better for Willy Woods to have mentored than his own son?

I circled back to my house in a defeated mood. There was no way I was getting to Cade with all of those reporters on his front lawn.

I was surprised to find Joey on my front steps when I got back. He looked nervous and very out of place at my front door, but also urgent.

"Hey, Joey." I greeted. I hadn't quite seen him since the bonfire party, so the meeting was awkward, especially since we've barely talked.

He nodded in my direction. "You and Cade are friends now, right?"

I shrugged. "I guess you could call us friends."

Joey put his hands in his pockets and leaned forward on the balls of his feet, uncertain. "So, how close of friends would you say?"

I almost choked on air. "Joey, are you trying to ask if Cade and I are dating? Because we aren't." I paused and gave it a thought. "Though, if we were, it would be none of your business."

"No," he shook his head. "What I meant to imply was whether or not you knew his secret. You know, about his ability?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Which ability are we talking about? His strange perception for people or the thing that only his father and you know about?"

Joey sighed. "I'm not good with vague statements."

"I know." I huffed. "I know about what he sees when he touches people. The only reason he told me was because I see things to, only different things. I can see ghosts."

I didn't feel alarmed sharing this information with Joey like I normally did when I tried to tell past friends. For some reason telling Joey was different because he already knew about Cade. Plus, I was pretty sure being friends with Cade meant Joey had seen way more impossible things, or at least heard of them.

Joey only nodded at my confession, like it had confirmed some suspicion of his.

"So, is that what you came here to talk about?" I asked.