Chapter 38
“There are different types of spirits and ghosts that haunt our world. It can be difficult to classify them in any way that makes sense as each one appears and behaves in different ways. All we know for certain is that there are no good or bad spirits. They simply are.”
Haints and Haunts: A Study of the Spiritual by Makenna Petera
Finding Waylan was, surprisingly, very easy.
Alexys expected to wander the woods for a few hours before finding him, but the boy seemed to materialize within a few minutes of their search.
She wondered if that was part of his cursed limbo: sensing when people were wandering through his area of the woods and appearing before them.
Being summoned by some force even greater than his own spirit.
It was an unsettling thought.
Waylan looked exactly the same as he had the day before (before his terrifying transformation): faded overalls that were several sizes too large, a lopsided grin, and bare feet coated in mud. A little monster wrapped in an innocent shell. She gave him an energetic wave.
Despite knowing what he was capable of doing, what he had already done, she was still happy to see him.
“Mornin’, Miss Alexys!” He came bounding toward them and bounced to a stop before her. “I see ya found your friend.”
She returned his smile easily. “Not quite the one I was looking for, but yes.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nic tense. Had he never seen a Haint before? Was Nic Dyre actually nervous? She made a mental note to relish this moment later.
“Still looking for the other one then?” Waylan turned his sunny smile on Nic, and Alexys snuck a glance to see Nic’s response.
The smile he gave the boy was friendlier than any she’d seen before. It surprised her, as did the fluttering in her stomach.
“You must be Waylan.” Nic crouched down to Waylan’s level and held his hand out for a handshake. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Nic.”
Waylan looked at Nic’s hand, brow furrowed.
“I’d like to shake your hand, mister, seeing as that’s polite and all. But I’d lose my roly polies if I did.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” Nic pulled his hand back, giving a warm laugh. “Do you think you can help us find our friend, Waylan?”
Waylan turned back to Alexys and said, “I can take you to my mama’s house if you’d like? She’s seen all sorts of folk and might know where your friend went.” His tone was light but anxiety twisted inside her at the idea.
There was no way in hell she was returning to that house.
“Well—”
“Actually,” Alexys jumped in before Nic could answer, “I think it’s possible you might have seen him, Waylan. You know, out here in the woods, just the other day. The same day I first met you.”
“You think?” Waylan tilted his head to the side like a curious puppy. “I might’ve done. What did you say he looks like?” Alexys felt the anxious beating of her heart slow. Crisis averted, for now.
“He’s about my height,” she said. “Short brown hair, probably looked a little silly out in the woods in whatever he was wearing.”
Waylan interrupted her, “Like you did yesterday?” She heard Nic snicker next to her and jabbed him with her elbow.
“Yeah, I guess I did look a little out of place, didn’t I?”
“Hmm.” Waylan’s face tightened with intense concentration.
While he thought, Alexys shot Nic an unamused look, met only with an unapologetic shrug.
“I think …” Waylan scratched the top of his head with his non-roly-poly-occupied hand.
“I think I saw somebody like that. He was wearing a backpack like yours, maybe. A black one, with that fancy looking word on it?”
She pulled the backpack in question off one shoulder for him to see. The Entity logo was stitched into the front with silver thread: a bold font with half a compass across the top like a sunrise motif. She supposed it did look a little fancy.
“Yeah, that’s the one! He was asking weird questions, too.” Waylan shrugged. “He wanted to know how to get to where the Walker lives, so I sent him up Mill Creek.”
Alexys bit the inside of her cheek. That was the exact information she tried to get out of Waylan yesterday.
The kind of information that could have saved her from a run-in with Waylan’s demonic side and long-fingered Silas.
Not to mention she’d wasted precious time when really, she’d been on Elliot’s heels that day all along. It was fine. She’d find him now.
If he wasn’t dead already …
“Thank you, Waylan, that’s very helpful,” Nic cut in while Alexys catastrophized. He certainly spoke with more patience than she could have. “Can you give us the same directions you gave him? It’s very important that we find him, and soon.”
Waylan nodded, his woeful expression completely at odds with his youthful, freckled face. Only he wasn’t youthful at all, Alexys had to remind herself.
“I can take you to the same part of the creek I took him to!” Waylan exclaimed. “How ’bout that?”
“Perfect. Lead the way.” Nic stood up and looked over his shoulder, beckoning Alexys with the flick of his head. “Ready?”
She dragged a hand over her face and quickly collected herself.
Exhaustion from days spent walking in the woods was setting in, and the weight of her frustration and guilt was heavy on her shoulders.
She tried to convince herself that they were finally getting somewhere, that Waylan would lead them to Elliot, but Alexys wasn’t sure she believed it anymore. She was losing hope.
Nic tugged her forward by her backpack strap. He was smiling, but there was also concern in his eyes.
Maybe her spiraling was more apparent than she thought.
“Come on, Keane. You can’t give up just yet.”
Alexys tried to return his smile. “Me? Give up? It’s like you don’t even know me.”
He tugged her backpack strap again, and she nearly fell into him. “If you don’t get out of your head, Peter Pan over there will leave us behind.”
“Peter Pan?” She looked at him, his fingers still looped through the strap and warm against her shoulder. “Does that make you Tinkerbell?” She cocked her brow at him. Somehow the idea of Nic Dyre in a Tinkerbell costume was possibly the most hilarious thing she’d pictured in weeks.
“I’m not afraid of tights, Keane.” He grinned and she had to purse her lips to avoid smiling.
“Get moving then, Tink. You’re blocking my walking path,” she scolded him.
Nic let out an easy laugh, warm and contagious, and followed after Waylan. The boy led them through the trees, weaving and slinking through the ivy and dense trees with impressive ease. Alexys did her best to keep upright, one eye on her feet, the other on Nic and Waylan.
She knew daylight was on their side, and the old shack was somewhere in the other direction (or at least she hoped it was) so she wasn’t too worried about Waylan turning on them. Even still, it took her by surprise that Nic had very little regard for Waylan’s other personality.
Nope.
Instead, he seized the opportunity to interview a ghost.
Alexys bit her tongue. She’d worked with Nic long enough to know that the only thing that he loved more than arguing (usually with her) was research.
She prepared herself for what she imagined would be a list of intrusive, thoughtless questions, all in the name of research.
She wasn’t sure he would have the mindfulness to treat Waylan like the child he was—er, used to be—but he showed a surprising amount of empathy.
Especially when he realized that Waylan wasn’t fully aware of his status as a Haint.
“So, Waylan,” Nic started. His voice took on a lofty, professional tone that drew her focus back to their conversation. “I haven’t hiked through these woods before.”
“I can tell,” Waylan interrupted with a cheeky grin.
Nic chuckled. “Right, but you’re clearly an expert. I bet you know every tree around here.”
“Pretty much.” Waylan hooked his thumbs into his overalls, and his walk gained some swagger. “I know it better than anybody.”
Nic’s expression was contemplative as he watched Waylan sidestep a mess of flora.
It was a measuring look, like he was carefully weighing his next words before he spoke them.
That expression made her nervous. She tried to swat at his shoulder and tell him to back off, but he kept stepping easily out of reach each time.
“Do you usually play alone?” Nic asked.
“Yeah, but that’s okay.” Waylan shrugged. “Nobody comes out here.”
“I see. Is that why our friend stuck out to you? Because you don’t see many people?”
“Uh huh,” Waylan said with a frown. “It’s hard makin’ friends when nobody’s ever around.
Alexys felt a pang of guilt. She knew he was a ghost, and she knew what he was capable of, but he was still just a kid, and trapped in a purgatory loop or not, his existence had to be a hard one.
It was almost impossible for her to reconcile the little boy in front of her with the evil spirit from the other night.
“But,” Waylan went on, “that means I notice everybody that comes through, like you guys.”
“So, no one else aside from us and our friend?” Nic asked, carefully nudging the conversation along in the direction they needed. Alexys scowled.
What was he fishing for?
Waylan flipped round and started walking backward ahead of them, completely absorbed in answering Nic’s question. Alexys offered up a reassuring smile.
“Umm, there’s a really rude lady that shows up near the creek sometimes. She doesn’t like kids.” Anger flickered across his face, and her heart clenched. “She’s meaner’n a snake, that one. Not my fault I’d never seen hair that red before. Bit my head off when I asked if it was real.”
“I hope you haven’t seen her around recently?” Alexys asked, finally joining in the discussion.
He shook his head, still frowning. “No, not in a long time. Not since …” An odd light flashed through Waylan’s eyes, and his expression went slack.
Alexys froze. She reached out for Nic, instinctively, and his worried expression mirrored her own.
“Waylan,” Alexys said gently. “Waylan, are you alright?” Her voice was merely a whisper.
Sunset was hours and hours away. They should have more than enough time before Waylan went to the dark side.
Unless Silas lied to her.
She didn’t want to believe she was that gullible, but taking the word of a stranger, especially one as enigmatic as Silas, was probably the dumbest thing she could’ve done, and that was really saying something.
Silas had claimed he wanted to keep her alive, but there was no way she could fully trust a man that stalked her, happened to materialize places he shouldn’t have been able to, and made her blood run cold every time they met.
“Waylan?” Nic asked. Alexys had his arm in a vice.
At least she stood a chance if she sacrificed Nic first, right?
Waylan shook his head like a dog shakes off water, and whatever strange energy had fogged his eyes dissipated. He beamed up at them. “Those cicadas sure are screamin’, huh?” He bounced away down the path.
Alexys looked warily at Nic, who shrugged.
“Relax,” he said under his breath. “And, sorry, but do you mind?” He placed his hand over hers and the contact sent a tiny electric shock.
She let go of his arm. “Thanks. I’d like to keep that, might prove handy if we encounter the Hollow Walker.
” She knew he was only teasing, but it didn’t register.
He shrugged and followed after Waylan, picking up another conversation as they went.
A cool breeze swept through the trees, and Alexys shivered. There was something off about the red-headed woman and the look on Waylan’s face when he spoke about her. His eyes had been so haunted, and Alexys wasn’t sure she wanted to know why.