The only light came from Leia’s shrine. There were over a dozen candles there now, and the wall was crowded with stuffed animals, flowers, and pictures of Leia. My mind flashed to Shawna Williams. Would anyone build a shrine for her at that abandoned factory on the river amidst the broken needles and empty beer cans? I looked carefully for anything out of place, like the barrette or the Four Roses bottle, but there was nothing now and nothing more to come now that Hannah was in the hospital. I trudged up the hill feeling like I’d been gone for a week. With no porch light on, no car outside, and the snow still unplowed, the house looked like it had been abandoned. It might have been one of the deserted outbuildings on the Blackwell estate, like the old boathouse that students partied in and told stories about. A haunted house. That’s what my house had become, only Emmy wasn’t the ghost—I was. * * * Oolong was waiting at the door and made a break for it. I scooped her up and tossed her inside, explaining that she was far too old to go out anymore.
