The Haunting Season by Michelle Muto

Brandt was around. Fleetingly, she wondered where Gage was. What did it matter, anyway?
    Bryan grinned. “I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about, Jess.”
    She frowned. “You mean about the mirror? The ghosts? Yeah, I tried telling Allison—”
    Bryan laughed. “No, I mean about Allison and Gage.”
    “I wasn’t worried—”
    “Look, I’m not blind. I see the way you look at him.”
    Jess eyed Bryan, unsure of what to say. She hadn’t meant to be so obvious. But Bryan was mistaken. There wasn’t anything between them. “It’s not like that. Honest.”
    Bryan let out a small laugh. “Yeah, model perfect dude is sort of a jerk, so I can understand if you’d prefer someone like me.”
    “ What? ”
    “I’m kidding. Sort of. I’m not that much younger than you. What? A few months?”
    Jess stared blankly. This was awkward.
    Bryan sighed and slowly shook his head. “Look, he’s been checking you out too, if that makes you feel any better.”
    Butterflies somersaulted in her stomach. This wasn’t the conversation she’d come down here for. She’d hoped to find everyone here, together. But truth be told, she had been disappointed not to see Gage.
    Bryan got up from the couch. “So, back to your ghost spotting. Like I said, I believe you. What do you want to do about it? Dr. Brandt is walking through the house, somewhere. He’s been wandering around the past couple of hours. It’s like he’s doing some home inventory thing. That, or he’s just really into the place.”
    “Really?” Jess said, recalling what Allison had told her about Dr. Brandt’s weird obsession with the house.
    He shrugged. “I think he’s somewhere here on the first floor in one of the locked rooms.”
    “Okay,” Jess said. “Dr. Brandt really should see this.”
    “ I’ll tell him,” Mrs. Hirsch said as she came into view. Keys in one hand, she fumbled with some pendant around her neck. Jess couldn’t make out what the object was—just that it looked like it was made of dark metal. “I don’t need the other of you two sneaking off someplace.”
    Other of you two?
    “We’ll be in Allison and Jess’s room,” Bryan said. He grabbed Jess by the wrist and headed to the stairway.
    Mrs. Hirsch frowned, but Jess didn’t wait to hear her reply. She allowed Bryan to tug her up the stairs, trying not to think about Allison and Gage taking off together.
    “Where did she come from?” Jess asked.
    “Kitchen. Basement. Somewhere from that direction,” Bryan said, still holding onto Jess. “I don’t know, but it’s like she’s always going through the house. I don’t think she trusts us.”
    “I guess,” Jess replied.
    “Don’t sweat it. Allison isn’t his type. She just said she needed to show him something.”
    They’d reached the third floor landing when Bryan finally released her.
    “Right,” Jess replied.
    “I’m serious,” he said as they walked down the hall. “She had her phone with her. I think she took it from Dr. Brandt’s room. At least, that’s the direction she came from—our rooms.”
    Bryan paused when they reached Jess’s room.
    “Why Gage?” Jess asked. “She seemed pretty pissed at him when he didn’t believe her earlier.”
    “I think she wanted to prove him wrong. Allison is a bit touchy, or I would have asked to see it, too. But I know Gage will fill me in later. And Jess?”
    She looked up at him.
    “This thing you’ve got for Gage? I’m serious. The dude’s got it for you, too.”
    Jess laughed. “You’re telling me to go for it?”
    He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, I guess I am. Only if you wanted to, of course.”
    Jess felt herself blush. “Well, let’s go back to the ghost for now, okay?”
    Bryan nodded toward the room. “Want me to go in first? Check the mirror out?”
    She shook her head. “I’m not afraid, but sure, go ahead.”
    He opened the door slowly and took a look around. Jess followed him into the room. They stood side by side