Read Online The Haunting Season by Michelle Muto - Free Book Online

right up there on the same list. But Siler House was a good distance from noisy highways and the sounds of city life. The chirp of crickets and chorus of bullfrogs in a nearby marsh had filled the night, and eventually lulled her to sleep.
    It was only when the crickets and frogs stopped that she awoke. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the dark. She turned back over, expecting Allison to be either still sitting up, or asleep. But her bed was empty and Allison stood in front of the dresser, hands at her sides, staring at the mirror. Alarmed, Jess sat upright.
    “It’s happening again,” Allison said.
    “Huh?”
    “The spirits. They’re back. I can see them.”
    Jess rubbed her eyes as a spark of uncertainty and a moment’s worth of fear rustled somewhere deep inside her. “They’re there, in the mirror ?”
    “Yes.”
    Jess got out of bed and tentatively stood next to Allison. She looked at the mirror, then behind her. Nothing. Uncertainty gave way to disappointment. The mirror cast back only the shadowy figures of Allison and herself, their faces made pale by the moonlight streaming into the room. They were alone, as far as Jess could tell.
    Damn it! Why couldn’t she see the ghosts? Were they here? Disappointment gave way to a pang of envy.
    “You don’t seem as upset as you were before,” Jess said. “If they’re back, aren’t you afraid they’ll take over? Possess you?” She wasn’t making fun of Allison. Something horrible had happened to her, and she was probably more sensitive to the supernatural than Jess was.
    “Yes, I’m afraid,” Allison replied calmly.
    The way Allison spoke seemed at odds with her words. The hairs on Jess’s arms tingled, but not because of any ghosts she couldn’t see. Right now, the only thing creepy in the room was Allison. The girl had been possessed, after all.
    Allison turned her head to look at Jess, her expression unreadable in the shadows, even this close up. “He collects souls.”
    Jess peered harder into the mirror, trying not to show Allison she was indeed afraid. “He? Who are you talking about?”
    “He’s looking at you. I can’t make out what he’s saying. But see?” she pointed to the mirror. “He wrote his name.”
    Fear and a healthy dose of agitation rose inside Jess. Fear, because someone staring at them from inside a mirror was downright scary. Agitated, because she couldn’t see anything, and Allison’s continual freak-outs were wearing on her. After a long day getting here, she was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.
    “Allison, I don’t see anything! He? Who are you talking about?”
    “ Riley ,” Allison whispered.
    “Riley? Who’s Riley?”
    Allison stood just as still as she had upon Jess’s wakening. “He lives here. With the others.”
    “Others?” Jess stepped closer to the mirror, leaning against the dresser to get a better look. Her breath fogged it enough to reveal a single name, written backward: Riley.
    Jess’s heart and feet leapt in unison. “Oh my God! Oh my God!”
    “See? I told you,” Allison said, still speaking in the same monotone voice.
    Jess gulped in a breath and approached the dresser again, her heart still hammering in her chest. Shadows shifted eerily inside the mirror, but Jess told herself it was just the light refracting off the angular ceiling. She leaned even closer. She had to be sure. Wanted to be sure. The name was there, but she hadn’t actually seen anyone write it. Allison had been standing in front of the mirror before Jess woke up. What if she’d written the name herself?
    What if she hadn’t?
    Ghosts can’t hurt you. They’ve never hurt you—or anyone you know of , Jess tried to reassure herself.
    “Hello?” Jess whispered. She squinted, bringing her face closer to the glass, trying to seek out any movement, any form deep within the mirror.
    Allison grabbed her arm and jerked her backward.
    “ Allison! Ow!”
    “Ignore him, Jess. Don’t talk to him. Don’t talk to