Chapter 5: Death-Line

"That’s what old folks call a death-line—an apple tree lined up with the front door brings nothing but trouble. Folks around here say it’s bad luck, like breaking a mirror or seeing a black cat at midnight. Lily’s family didn’t put that tree there by choice. Someone set them up."

He looked back at me, his eyes catching the last light. "Apple trees bring luck, sure—but not when they face the door. Then they bring heartbreak. That girl Lily must’ve figured something out. She used her own death to break the curse. Her family was doomed from the start."

A chill prickled down my neck. I remembered how Lily’s house emptied out—her family gone, the old place left to the crows. Mr. Hawthorne seemed to know everything, and it made my skin crawl.

"Your cousin’s tangled up in too much bad blood. I can’t get involved," Mr. Hawthorne said, starting up the hill again. "A scared soul never comes home by itself. But your cousin’s soul is hiding here. That’s strange. When I checked his birthday, it said he shouldn’t have lived past twenty. He’s almost thirty. Something’s real off."

He stopped suddenly, turning to fix me with a stare. "Carter, your cousin ever do Lily wrong?"