The Burning Shadow (Origin 2)

“Versus her being haunted by a revenge ghost?” she suggested.

I shrugged. A revenge ghost sounded just as plausible as April being … who knows what.

“I mean, that would make sense, you know? Maybe that’s why she’s so bitter and mean.” She sat up straight. “Let’s go get a picture of her.”

I laughed. “April is really not a fan of mine.”

She rolled her eyes. “Like April is a fan of anyone. I like seeing April get mad. It brings me an indescribable amount of joy.”

“Whenever April gets mad, you literally disappear!” I whisper-yelled at her. “Like, there one second and gone the next.”

She grinned, and I felt my lips start to curve in return. “That’s true, but if you take the picture, then she’ll get mad at you and not me, and I can just witness it.”

“That’s messed up.”

“Come on. Let’s do it. She was in the hall when I came down here, doing her stupid ‘No Luxen, no fear’ stuff,’” she said.

I groaned. “I thought they were banned from doing that inside the school.”

“Me, too, but they were doing it when I came to find you. You can snap a pic of her and post it on the internet. Name and shame, baby.”

Heidi didn’t really give me much of a choice. Picking up my camera, she started walking toward the front of the library.

Crap.

I grabbed my stuff and hurried to catch up with her. She was already at the exit while I was zipping up my bag. “Give me my camera.”

“Only if you promise to take a picture of April.” She held it up too high for me to reach.

“This is stupid.” It really was, because I was almost positive that the photo would come out normal, but I was smiling, and I wasn’t thinking about how I was a mess, and I knew that was why Heidi was doing this. “Okay. Give me the camera.”

“Do you promise?”

“Yes. I promise.”

“Score.” Heidi handed over the camera, and we made our way to the hallway near the cafeteria.

“I don’t hear any chanting.” We rounded the corner, finding about a dozen students standing near the trophy case, holding their stupid posters. Brandon was among them. Ugh. His hand was in a cast, and a rather cruel grin tugged at my lips as I scanned the group. There was a teacher standing in front of them, arms crossed. I hoped that meant they were all in trouble. “And I don’t see April.”

“Hey.” She stepped in front of me, waving her hands at one of the girls holding a poster. “Where’s your ringleader?”

“Who?” a girl responded snottily.

Heidi let out a sigh that would’ve made Grayson proud. “April. Where’s April?”

“In the bathroom.”

Turning to me, Heidi grabbed my hand. “Perfect.”

“You seriously want me to bust up in the bathroom and take a pic of her? Pretty sure that’s against the law.”

“You don’t have to take a picture of her when she’s in the stall.” She dragged me back down the hall, around the corner, and toward the bathrooms. Our steps slowed as we both came to the same realization. April was in the bathroom that Colleen had been found in.

I stopped walking, like I’d hit a brick wall. “I’m not going in there.”

Heidi stood beside me. “Well, I’m not, either.”

There was only us in the hall, and I had to think it was because no one in their right mind wanted to be anywhere near where Colleen was found. The whole area just gave bad vibes. I started to turn away, but the bathroom door opened, and out stepped April, hair slicked back into her standard ponytail and wearing a fresh coat of red lipstick.

She drew up short when she spotted us.

“Do it,” Heidi whispered, and then she elbowed me so hard in my arm, she almost knocked me over.

April began to frown. “Do what?”

Feeling goofy, I lifted the camera and chirped, “Merry Christmas!”

“What? It’s not even Thanksgiving—” April sucked in a shrill breath as the flash on my camera went off. “What the hell?” she exploded.

Heidi giggled, reminding me of a hyena, as I lowered the camera and switched the screen to the images taken. “Sorry,” I murmured, not at all sorry as I stepped back. “I just wanted to check something out.”

“Did you seriously just take a picture of me?” April demanded.

“No,” I lied, clicking on the image I just took. There was April. Eyes narrowed and lips pursed. I was unsure of what the hell I was looking at, because there it was again, the weird shadow outline all around April’s form. “There it is.”

“Again?” Some of the humor faded from Heidi’s voice.

“Yeah.” I lifted my gaze.

April looked completely normal standing in front of me. Maybe it was a revenge ghost.

“What?” April demanded. “Let me see.”

Before I could respond, April snatched the camera out of my hand. I half expected her to throw it against the wall, but all she did was stare at the image, her lips thinning until nothing was left but a slash of red.