Dream Lake Read Online Free PDF Page B

some kind of message for me? Some unfinished business I’m supposed to help you with?”
    “Nope.”
    Alex wanted very much to believe it was a dream. But it felt too real, the stale warmth of the attic air, the dusty lemon-colored light coming through the windows, the caulking chemicals that always smelled a little like bananas. “What about leaving me the hell alone?” he eventually asked. “Is that an option?”
    The ghost gave him a glance of purest exasperation. “I wish I could,” he said feelingly. “It’s not my idea of entertainment to watch you get sloppy on a fifth of Jack Daniel’s every night. I’ve been bored out of my gourd for months. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was happier living here with Sam.”
    “You …” Alex made his way to a nearby stack of flooring planks and sat heavily. He kept his gaze on the ghost. “Does Sam—”
    “No. So far, you’re the only one who can see or hear me.”
    “Why?” Alex demanded in outrage. “Why me?”
    “Wasn’t my choice. I was trapped here for a long time. Even after Sam bought the house, I couldn’t leave, no matter how I tried. Then back in April, I found out I could follow you outside, so I did. At first it was a relief. I was glad to get out of here, even if it meant I had to tag along with you. The problem is, I’m shackled to you. I go where you go.”
    “There’s got to be a way to get rid of you,” Alex muttered, rubbing his face with his hands. “Therapy. Medication. An exorcist. A lobotomy.”
    “What I think—” the ghost began, but stopped at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
    “Al?” came Sam’s muffled voice. His head appeared as he approached the top of the staircase, his scowl arrowing through the cream-painted spindles of the balustrade. Pausing at the top, he rested a hand over the top newel and asked curtly, “What’s going on?”
    Glancing from his brother to the ghost, who was standing only a few feet away from him, Alex was tempted to ask Sam if he could see him. The ghost was human and solid and so absolutely there that it seemed impossible for Sam not to notice him.
    “I wouldn’t,” the ghost said, as if reading his thoughts. “Because Sam can’t see me, and you’re going to look crazy. And I’m not all that keen on the idea of sharing a padded cell with you.”
    Alex dragged his gaze back to Sam. “Nothing,” he said in answer to Sam’s question. “Why are you up here?”
    “Because I heard you.” An irritable pause. “I asked you to keep it down, remember? My friend Lucy is resting. What were you shouting for?”
    “I was talking on the cell phone.”
    “Well, you should probably go. Lucy needs peace and quiet.”
    “I’m right in the middle of fixing your damn attic for free, Sam. Why don’t you ask your girlfriend to postpone her nap until I’m finished?”
    Sam gave him a hard warning glance. “She was sideswiped by a car while she was riding her bike yesterday. Even you should have a little sympathy for that. So while an injured woman is trying to heal up in my house—”
    “Okay. Keep your shirt on. I’m leaving.” Alex’s eyes narrowed as he stared at his brother. Sam never lost his cool over a woman. And come to think of it, Sam never allowed any of his girlfriends to stay at the house overnight. Something unusual was going on with this one.
    “Yes, he’s falling for her,” the ghost said from behind him.
    Alex glanced over his shoulder. Before he thought about it, he asked, “Can you read my mind?”
    “What?” Sam asked in bewilderment.
    Alex felt his face heat with embarrassment. “Nothing.”
    “The answer is no,” Sam said. “And I’m glad. Because it would probably scare me to know your thoughts.”
    Alex turned to start packing away his tools. “You have no idea,” he said gruffly.
    Sam began to descend the stairs, then paused. “One more thing—why is there caulk splattered all over the wall?”
    “It’s a new application