Page 310 of Caspian: The Not So Friendly Ghost

He adjusted eventually, although to this day that man made sure to announce himself before walking into our house after sunset.

Smart man.

Not everything after Halloween had been funny, though.

Chalis and the men who accompanied him to the party officially became missing persons.

At first, their families assumed they had gone somewhere together after the party. Then days passed without calls, texts, or anyone hearing from them. Questions started circulating around Hallowridge, followed by missing-person flyers posted at gas stations, grocery stores, businesses, and even near the hospital.

Seeing Chalis’s face everywhere did something complicated to me.

I knew what he had done, I knew what he had taken from me, from Caspian, and especially from Kaidence… but his mom hadn’t done any of it.

The first time I saw her standing beside one of those posters crying and asking people to come forward with information, I had to walk away.

I knew what it felt like to have someone disappear and leave you with nothing but questions.

She would never know what happened to her son.

I carried no guilt for Chalis’s death, but I couldn’t find entertainment in his mother’s grief either.

Authorities asked questions about the party, but Miss Veda’s work held. Everyone remembered the party as a normal one. Nobody remembered the confrontation, Caspian’s appearance, or the violence that followed.

As far as the rest of Hallowridge knew, Chalis and his friends had simply disappeared.

“Mommy?”

Kaidence’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I focused on him and realized he had returned to the window.

The sky outside was dark now… completely dark.

I frowned.

Caspian should be here by now.

Most nights, I barely had to notice the sunset anymore. Caspian could be standing beside me talking, and the next thing I knew, his arm would settle around my waist, or his lips would brush my cheek. Sometimes Kaidence got to him first and demanded to be picked up. Since our daughter was born, however, he usually reached for her the moment he could hold her.

For the first few minutes, I told myself he and Miss Veda were still busy. He had told us where he would be. But he had also said he would be finished by sunset, and Caspian usually answered when one of us called him.

I hadn’t heard from him since he went upstairs.

No footsteps.

No voice.

No Caspian.

Kaidence turned from the window. “Mommy, where is Daddy at?”

“He’s probably running a little late, baby.”

“Doing what?”

“Still working with Miss Veda, probably.”

That answer had made sense a few minutes earlier. Having to repeat it when I hadn’t heard either of them bothered me more than I wanted him to see.