The dead guy kept his eyes on Kylie while he slowly reached up and removed his helmet. Blood, bright red blood, gushed down his forehead. Kylie's breath caught as she watched the blood trickle down his face. Then everything went into slow motion. Kylie stood up, wanting to escape. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Blood droplets splattered onto the floor and left tiny speckles of red on the top of her bare feet. The drops kept coming. The specks of blood kept landing on her feet and then they started forming letters and then a word. Help ...

Kylie tried to inhale, but her lungs refused to take in the frigid air. Letting go of the oxygen trapped in her mouth, she saw a cloud of cold air float up from her own lips.

"What's wrong?" Miranda's voice seemed to float in Kylie's mind.

Good question, Kylie thought.

Too bad she didn't have a freaking clue.

"Do you guys smel that?" Del a's voice registered in Kylie's awareness but in a distant kind of way, like background music in a movie.

"Something smel s yummy."

"I don't smel anything." Miranda's words fol owed. Their conversation continued but suddenly it rang like a distant echo. "Oh shit ... shit ... shit. Kylie's aura is turning black. Black ... black ... black. I think there's a ghost. Ghost ... ghost ... ghost."

"Damn," Del a said. "I hate this shit." Footsteps sounded, her friends were running away. A door slammed. Kylie wanted to run, too, but she couldn't. She couldn't move. The blood continued to spatter on her feet, but she refused to look to read the words.

"Wait." Del a's tight voice sounded through wal s. "She stopped breathing. Kylie's stopped breathing. We have to do something."

Kylie heard the door swing open. Heard her name being cal ed. But that's when everything went black and her body slumped to the floor.

Chapter Fifteen

Coolness whisked across Kylie's brow and stirred her into a semi-alert state. One that brought on al the "w" questions: Who, What, When, Why, and Where. The musty smel of the pil ow answered the Where question.

Camp. Stil at camp.

The emotional overload from the last few days fil ed her chest. She forced her eyes open. Holiday sat on the edge of the bed. Her red hair hung free over her shoulders and concern appeared on her face and shined from her bright green eyes.

"Is she awake?" The hauntingly familiar masculine voice fil ed her ears and Kylie could hear echoes bouncing around her head. She shifted her gaze to the left.

Holy crap.

Holiday moved the damp cloth across Kylie's brow again. "Hey, you with us now?"

Kylie wasn't listening, or looking at the camp leader. She gazed at ... Lucas Parker-cat kil er extraordinaire. And protector from bullies, Kylie's subconscious pointed out. Though why her subconscious wanted to defend him was beyond Kylie. What was going on?

Lucas leaned down as if to touch her. Kylie shot up, pushed the cloth from her face. "What happened?" And then, just like that, it al came back at once.

The ghost.

The blood. So much blood.

Then she was hit by another mind-boggling piece of information. She must have passed out. How geeky was that?

"You fainted," Lucas said, his big voice fil ing the smal room and making it feel even smal er. Did he have to point out the obvious? And why was he here anyway? Wasn't there some of kind of "no boys in the bedroom" rule? If not, Kylie needed to see about getting it added.

She glanced over at Holiday.

"It happens sometimes," Holiday said. "When the ghosts start getting closer."

"I'm fine now." She lunged out of bed and doggone if the room didn't start spinning on its axis. Round and round. Lucas caught her elbow. His touch was tight, but not enough to hurt.

His touch was warm and somehow warm tingles danced up her arm and made her even more light-headed. But at least things quit spinning. Her first impulse was to jerk away, but afraid that would be too tel ing, she forced herself to appear calm. Of course, if he could read her heart rate like Del a, she was pretty much screwed.

And speaking of Del a, where were ... Kylie shifted her focus to the doorway. Del a and Miranda stood there, shoulder against shoulder, peering in as if Kylie was the nightly entertainment. Oh damn, how embarrassing. She could just imagine them running from their hiding spot-because she had the vague memory of hearing running footsteps-and them finding her on the floor. But how had she gotten in the bed?

Kylie glanced away from her roommates to Lucas. Had he picked her up? Held her in his arms? Her heart rate started climbing again. That's when she realized that he was stil touching her.

"I'm fine." She gave her arm a quick jerk.

He released her, one finger at a time, as if afraid she might fal on her face again. Right before his last finger let go, she noticed his gaze sweep downward. While her pajamas weren't indecent, she became instantly aware of how thin her top was-and even more aware of how the scoop neck of the tank scooped lower than most of her tops. Or as Sara would say, her girls were trying to peer out and say howdy a little more than usual. Kylie took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why don't you let me talk to Kylie alone," Holiday said to Lucas, who stil hadn't stopped staring, though his gaze had shifted from her chest to her face with a cold indifference.

He nodded, but she saw his dark brows twitch ever so lightly. So he was stil trying to read her, was he? Right now, she was relieved knowing that he wouldn't get anything.