Page 111 of Squad Ghouls

“Don’t!” I said, jumping up and placing my hand over Ryan’s wrist.

“Got any more secrets that might get us both killed?” he asked angrily, and I got it. I knew he had a point, but this wasn’t my secret to share.

“Just this one,” I said as the ghost raged inside the room. “Don’t hurt it.”

“I’m not planning on it. I’m gonna send it to the deepest pit of hell where it belongs.”

I froze. “Ryan, I need you to listen to me.”

“I think I listened enough,” he said. “This thing is dangerous.”

“Again, it is not a thing,” I said. “It’s a ghost. It used to be a person. It had people who loved it. Friends. A family. You will respect that if you want to stick around.”

“It tried to kill us both!”

“It doesn’t know any better right now. But it will calm down. We just need to give him some time.”

He turned to look at me.

“Him?” he asked, and I felt my eyes widen. Bugger. “Owain, do you know who this is?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Who is it?” he demanded.

Another scream.

“That’s Andrew.”

Ryan

I lowered the arm holding the Pulser on instinct.

Andrew.

That was shy, reclusive Andrew?

The pieces started to fall into place in my head. “When I first arrived…”

Owain shifted guiltily, avoiding eye contact.

“Why didn’t you tell me after that? After I helped you set up the room and helped you research your gift and helped you start to turn this place around?!” I didn’t want to sound accusatory, but I also couldn’t help feeling hurt. I hadn’t thought Owain of all people would lie to me.

“Do you not trust me?”

Owain popped his head up and reached for my wrist with both hands. “I do. We all do.”

“Apparently not enough to let me into the inner circle.”

“Andrew is a dangerous ghost,” Owain said. “Even with everything we’re doing, you’ll pull the trigger if things go too far.”

Andrew was Owain’s case in point. My fingers were twitching, my instincts telling me to get rid of the threat. Not because I was scared of it, but because Owain was standing in front of it with his back exposed.

But to Owain, that threat was just Andrew.

In every “monster” Owain saw an Andrew.

I’d already known that, in a sense, but I hadn’t really understood the scope until this very moment.