Chapter 1: The Parade of a Hundred Ghosts

Cicadas screamed outside as sweat trickled down my neck, the air thick as syrup. I could almost taste the Georgia heat clinging to my skin as I stood in the middle of our battered new apartment, cheeks burning from the slap my stepmom had just landed.

For a second, I wondered if the swelter or the sting on my face was making me hallucinate. But then I saw it: glowing text, neon green, shimmering and flickering like fireflies above the warped floorboards. The words hovered there, pulsing in the air.

[Isn’t the room they’re fighting over the haunted one? At midnight, it turns into the gateway for the parade of a hundred ghosts. Whoever stays there is toast, right?]

[Go back upstairs! This family just moved here from out of state, got scammed by a realtor, thought they scored a great deal, but have no clue what’s coming.]

[Not necessarily. If you hide in the storage closet, you’ll be fine. There’s a spirit-trapping charm left behind by a ghost hunter—no way any ghosts come near.]

[That charm can command a hundred ghosts. Of course they stay away.]

The words danced above the battered hardwood, flickering in and out like something out of a fever dream. I was frozen, too shocked to even reach up and rub the fresh welt swelling on my cheek. Part of me wanted to cry, but another part just went numb, like I’d left my body behind.

Command a hundred ghosts?

If I could use ghosts to kill, did that mean…

My mind spun, dizzy with terror and a strange, dark hope. Was this real, or just my brain breaking under pressure? Still, deep down, something dangerous flickered alive inside me.

I turned to my stepmom and forced a smile. "Then let my sister have the bedroom. I’ll stay in the storage closet."