to go over there when it’s dark,’ Jess said, confused.
‘True and true. But I also want to find the portal when the psycho – possible psycho, at least – with the sword isn’t around,’ Eve explained. ‘I don’t trust him. Obviously. So are you coming or not?’ she asked,already knowing the answer. They were going with her.
‘Like we’d let you go by yourself,’ Jess said.
‘Let’s move it out.’ Luke started for the door. ‘We have a portal to find – a portal that leads to hell!’
Chapter Nine
‘This place truly feels haunted now,’ Eve said when they reached the Medway mansion, or what was left of it. As she stood on the sidewalk looking at it she could almost see Mal in front of her. She could picture all the renovations he’d made to the place, restoring the sunken tennis courts, the formal gardens and every detail of the huge Georgian house. When she’d smoked him, the mansion had immediately begun to crumble, reverting to the ruin it had been, the gardens returning to wildness. Had all the work been nothing but illusion?
‘Do you think the portal could be the reason there’ve always been ghost stories about the mansion?’ Jess asked.
‘Maybe,’ Eve answered. The ghost stories had gotten wilder since the destruction of the mansion. Some people claimed ghosts were responsible.Some thought Mal and his family had done the damage themselves. Some even blamed a freak earthquake, one that affected only that stretch of land. ‘We have to find a way to close the portal fast, before anyone else gets hurt.’
‘Fill me in on what people say about the mansion,’ Luke said. ‘I don’t know all the town stories yet.’
‘Nobody has ever lived in the house for much more than a year,’ Jess said.
‘This is where Razor killed himself,’ Eve added.
‘Razor? As in Empty Tables ?’ Luke tossed out the name of the rock star’s most famous CD.
‘Yeah, he was the last person to live there before Mal. The place completely fell apart after he died. That’s when talk of the house being haunted was really big, at least according to Megan’s mom – she’s the realtor,’ Jess said. ‘All the other people who took the house before Razor just left, which was weird enough. The software genius who owned the place just before Razor didn’t even bother to pack. Then with a suicide …’
‘No one wanted to move in,’ Eve finished for her. ‘Even though it’s impossible to find places for sale in the Hamptons.’
‘I guess it would be hard for even a brilliantreal-estate agent to spin. Is there any positive way to say “comes with its own portal to hell”?’ Luke asked.
Eve looked at the ruins for a moment more. ‘Let’s go,’ she finally said. She led the way up the overgrown path leading to the mansion.
‘Um, does anyone know what a hell portal actually looks like?’ Jess asked.
‘It was in the basement of the school on Buffy . You couldn’t really see it though, right?’ Luke asked.
Eve nodded. ‘I guess we’ll just have to figure it out as we go. Maybe it will smell like wood-smoke the way the demons do.’ She walked over to the wide stone steps that led up to the front door. Used to lead , she corrected herself. Now they led nowhere, and were surrounded by rubble. She ran her finger over the top step. It was cool to the touch, but that was all, and that was completely ordinary.
She took out her keychain and clicked on the little LED light. Shining the thin bright beam over the wreckage, Eve thought she spotted one of the orbed feet of the chaise longue where she and Mal had sat together the night he made her dinner, the night she’d destroyed him. She swung the light to the left and saw sparkling shards of glass from the doors that had opened onto the garden. Those doors had given abeautiful view of the rose bushes and the dovecote.
‘The dovecote!’ Eve exclaimed. ‘Maybe that’s where the portal is. I remember how it looked so cute from the outside the
‘True and true. But I also want to find the portal when the psycho – possible psycho, at least – with the sword isn’t around,’ Eve explained. ‘I don’t trust him. Obviously. So are you coming or not?’ she asked,already knowing the answer. They were going with her.
‘Like we’d let you go by yourself,’ Jess said.
‘Let’s move it out.’ Luke started for the door. ‘We have a portal to find – a portal that leads to hell!’
Chapter Nine
‘This place truly feels haunted now,’ Eve said when they reached the Medway mansion, or what was left of it. As she stood on the sidewalk looking at it she could almost see Mal in front of her. She could picture all the renovations he’d made to the place, restoring the sunken tennis courts, the formal gardens and every detail of the huge Georgian house. When she’d smoked him, the mansion had immediately begun to crumble, reverting to the ruin it had been, the gardens returning to wildness. Had all the work been nothing but illusion?
‘Do you think the portal could be the reason there’ve always been ghost stories about the mansion?’ Jess asked.
‘Maybe,’ Eve answered. The ghost stories had gotten wilder since the destruction of the mansion. Some people claimed ghosts were responsible.Some thought Mal and his family had done the damage themselves. Some even blamed a freak earthquake, one that affected only that stretch of land. ‘We have to find a way to close the portal fast, before anyone else gets hurt.’
‘Fill me in on what people say about the mansion,’ Luke said. ‘I don’t know all the town stories yet.’
‘Nobody has ever lived in the house for much more than a year,’ Jess said.
‘This is where Razor killed himself,’ Eve added.
‘Razor? As in Empty Tables ?’ Luke tossed out the name of the rock star’s most famous CD.
‘Yeah, he was the last person to live there before Mal. The place completely fell apart after he died. That’s when talk of the house being haunted was really big, at least according to Megan’s mom – she’s the realtor,’ Jess said. ‘All the other people who took the house before Razor just left, which was weird enough. The software genius who owned the place just before Razor didn’t even bother to pack. Then with a suicide …’
‘No one wanted to move in,’ Eve finished for her. ‘Even though it’s impossible to find places for sale in the Hamptons.’
‘I guess it would be hard for even a brilliantreal-estate agent to spin. Is there any positive way to say “comes with its own portal to hell”?’ Luke asked.
Eve looked at the ruins for a moment more. ‘Let’s go,’ she finally said. She led the way up the overgrown path leading to the mansion.
‘Um, does anyone know what a hell portal actually looks like?’ Jess asked.
‘It was in the basement of the school on Buffy . You couldn’t really see it though, right?’ Luke asked.
Eve nodded. ‘I guess we’ll just have to figure it out as we go. Maybe it will smell like wood-smoke the way the demons do.’ She walked over to the wide stone steps that led up to the front door. Used to lead , she corrected herself. Now they led nowhere, and were surrounded by rubble. She ran her finger over the top step. It was cool to the touch, but that was all, and that was completely ordinary.
She took out her keychain and clicked on the little LED light. Shining the thin bright beam over the wreckage, Eve thought she spotted one of the orbed feet of the chaise longue where she and Mal had sat together the night he made her dinner, the night she’d destroyed him. She swung the light to the left and saw sparkling shards of glass from the doors that had opened onto the garden. Those doors had given abeautiful view of the rose bushes and the dovecote.
‘The dovecote!’ Eve exclaimed. ‘Maybe that’s where the portal is. I remember how it looked so cute from the outside the
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