Ghouls Night Out Read Online Free PDF

head emphatically. “You can’t tell her yet.”
    I looked at her, raising my eyebrows in question.
    Michelle shot Debbie a glance, then sighed. “She’s about to get married. I don’t want to ruin her wedding. Tell her afterward.”
    “And what about you?” Was I supposed to just let this poor girl’s unquiet spirit just hang out until the “I do’s” had been said?
    “I’m fine,” Debbie answered my question, thinking it was meant for her. “But I could use another beer.”
    Darlene chose that moment to lean in and say to her sister, “Well, look who’s here.” She tipped her bottle toward the door, and we all swiveled our heads to look. “I knew that man wouldn’t be able to resist crashing the party.”
    Two guys had just come in, both of them standing talland scanning the room, obviously looking for someone. The better-looking of the two saw us first, his face splitting into a broad grin. He nudged his friend, nodding in our direction, and they made their way over to our table.
    “Dale!” Debbie stood up, reaching up to hug her fiance even as she scolded him. “You’re not supposed to be here! This is my night to let loose and have a little fun, remember?”
    “Oh, I remember,” Dale said, grinning. “And I’m not stayin’. I’m just here to let all these yahoos know you’re already taken.” He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him, raising his voice to be heard above Tammy Wynette’s whiny singing. “Listen up, fellas!” Dale looked around the room, making certain he had everyone’s attention. “This here’s my future bride, so don’t any of you bone-heads be getting any ideas! I’ll kick the ass of anybody who tries anything!” The idiot grin on his face made it hard to take him too seriously. “Her friends are fair game,”—to my horror, he nodded toward the table where Gina, Darlene, and I still sat—“but I done got me the pick of the litter!” Then he swooped down and bent Debbie backwards in a big, sloppy kiss, while his friend—and everybody else in the bar—looked on.
    “Woo-hoo!” Somebody shouted, “Get ’er, Dale! Show the little lady who’s boss!”
    “Yeah!” shouted somebody else. “It’s the last chance you’ll ever get! After Saturday, she’ll be the one wearing the pants in the family.”
    Dale broke off his kiss long enough to raise his head and shout back, “Fuck that! After Saturday, ain’t neither of us gonna be wearing pants for a while!”
    The room erupted into laughter, while I cringed inwardly at his crudeness. Debbie buried her face in Dale’s shirt, embarrassed but laughing.
    I looked for Debbie’s ghostly friend Michelle, but she was gone.
    “Hoo-ee,” said Dale’s friend, a skinny guy with a buzz haircut and a belt buckle the size of a small hubcap. He was eyeing me like I was a prize heifer at the county fair, and I didn’t like it. “Who’s your friend, Debbie?”
    “This is my cousin Nicki,” Debbie said, turning to face me. “She’s gonna be one of my bridesmaids. Isn’t she pretty?”
    “She sure is,” Buzzcut said, leering. He pulled out Debbie’s chair without asking and took a seat at the table next to me. “Nice to meet you, Nicki. My name’s Randy. Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?”
    “Oh by all means, Randy,” I answered sweetly. “Then keep on walking.”
    Randy and Dale burst out laughing like that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard, and I got my first real whiff of whisky breath. These two guys had been partying long before we girls had even started.
    “C’mon, darlin’, don’t be like that. Lemme buy you a drink.”
    “I’ve got one, thanks.” I looked away, taking a sip of beer to prove it. Maybe if I ignored him, he’d leave me alone.
    “You’re one of them dead girls, aren’t ya?”
    That got my attention. “Excuse me?”
    “You know, one of them girls that’s all into death and doom and gloom. Crosses and seances and