Grave Possession (Wraith 3) by Angel Lawson Page A

her to see his work and not me. Not at all.
    I was such a lying liar that lies, but Amber didn’t need to know that.
    “Uh, I’ve got to go run some errands before I head back to the studio. I’ll see you later, okay?”
    I rushed off before she could respond, because really, no. Just no. I don’t have time for some sort of Connor and Amber relationship drama. Mostly because I don’t want to think about it. Even if they were just friends and it was just some kind of project-related situation. I had my own priorities, like figuring out what was going on with Hazel and the creepy dream I had. Hazel bothered me because she was a little girl – like Tonya – and it seemed even more important to help her.
    I wandered around campus thinking about Hazel until I found myself in front of Connor’s dorm. I considered leaving, but how many times had he shown up at my room unannounced? And this was business. Not pleasure. I took a deep breath and waited until someone walked out. I slipped in behind them since I didn’t have a security number. Sure, I could call Connor and he’d let me in, but what if he wasn’t home? Did I want him to know I just happened across this dorm? What if he thought I was implying something else? Something more? Ugh. It was easier just dropping by.
    At the top of the first flight of stairs, I passed two guys and asked, “Can you point me toward Connor Jacobs’ room?”
    “Third door down,” one said, giving me a look over.
    “Thanks.”
    I found the door cracked open and him playing video games on his bed. I knocked once and his eyes met mine.
    “Hey,” he said, scrambling to his feet. “What are you doing here?”
    “I wanted to talk to you about something,” I said, peering into his room. I saw someone against the far wall. “Oh, sorry.”
    “Yeah,” he said, rubbing his neck. “They’re fixing my heater.”
    “I’m about finished,” I heard. I looked over at the fix-it guy and realize it’s the same man who repaired our bathroom leak. He knelt in front of the furnace and adjusted a series of levers. “Some kind of glitch with the thermostat, I think. I need to order a part.” He turned around and saw me.
    “Hi.” I waved.
    “We meet again,” he said.
    Connor tilted his head. “You know each other?”
    “Just in passing – we have a chronic bathroom problem at the dorm,” I said.
    Mr. Williams picked up his tools and sorted them into his tool box. He stood up and walked to the door. “That may hold for a couple of days, but I’ll get the part and be back next week, okay?”
    “Thanks. We’ve been burning up in here.”
    “Yep. Broken thermostat,” Mr. Williams repeated and left with his hand up in a wave.
    Connor closed the door and leaned against it. “What did you want to talk about?”
    “Hazel.”
    “Did you find anything?”
    “No – nothing. Except that this hotel/dorm used to have some freaky weird stuff going on.”
    “Like what?”
    “Well, let’s just hope that none of the ghosts that bug you are from the spontaneous combustion situation.”
    He gave me an odd look but said nothing. He rolled out his desk chair and offered it to me. I sat, noticing how clean his side of the room was. Connor’s room at home had been a disaster.
    “Very tidy,” I said, eyeing his made bed.
    “One of those program quirks, I guess. It’s funny, when I got home from the hospital I was even messier than before. I think just because I could be. But the wilderness program taught me a lot about responsibility and stuff.” He shrugged. “Makes it easier to have friends over without them seeing all your crap.”
    I didn’t want to know what sort of friends he was impressing with a neat bed, so I let that comment pass. “So, yeah, other than some weird hotel deaths, I’m at a standstill with Hazel.”
    “She’s not bothering anyone, so it can probably wait.”
    “I don’t like to let these situations linger. I learned my lesson with that one. I’d rather figure