Ghoul of My Dreams (Larue Donavan Series Book 4) by Rose Pressey Page A

shouldn’t provoke it. But, I was mad. How dare he do that to my best friend and then mess around with me.
    “I want you out of my house now,” I demanded.
    Silence surrounded me. I expected the spirit to pop up at any moment.
    “Larue, are you coming back down?” Mindy called out from the bottom of the steps.
    “Coming,” I said, trying to sound calm.
    I hurried down the stairs. When I reached the last step, Roger was standing behind Mindy. Marilyn was on the other side of her. They all stared at me expectantly.
    “What’s that?” Mindy pointed at the hat in my hand.
    I showed her the fedora. “I found this upstairs.”
    Her eyes widened. “My gosh, it looks like the one Freddy Kruger wears.”
    I hadn’t thought of that, but it did.
    “Whose is it?” she asked.
    Here came the hard part.
    “I think it belongs to the spirit that attacked you.”
    She immediately tensed up. “Oh no. He’s here? He came here for me? Why is he doing this? Why does he want me? Is he like Freddy Kruger? Is he coming for me in my dreams?”
    Mindy was freaking out. I had to calm her down.
    “Who is Freddy Kruger?” Marilyn asked.
    “It’s a fictional character,” I explained in a hurry.
    I tried to hide the hat behind my back so Mindy couldn’t see it again until I had a chance to stash it somewhere. I knew I shouldn’t have told her about it.
    I led Mindy with my other hand toward the living room. “Here, let’s go sit down.”
    I stuffed the hat in the table drawer once we got into the living room. I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. That was enough sports for Roger for one day. He actually seemed concerned about Mindy which surprised me.
    I sat beside her on the sofa. “Take a couple deep breaths. This spirit is not Freddy Kruger and he’s not coming for us in our dreams.”
    Her brows knitted together in a frown. “Are you sure?”
    I nodded. “I’m positive.”
    Mindy was still tense, but it seemed as if she had calmed down a bit. Speaking of calm, there were no other footsteps and things were quiet. I hoped it stayed that way.
    “We need to get some sleep,” I suggested.
    Mindy’s eyes widened. “You realize what happens when you go to sleep, right?”
    “Yes… we get rest. There is no spirit coming for you in your dreams.” I shook my head.
    She sighed. “Well, just the same, there is no way I am sleeping upstairs by myself.”
    I guess I couldn’t blame her for that.
    “You can sleep with me.” I pointed my finger at Roger. “Keep the comments to yourself.”
    He held his hands up. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
    I knew that was a lie.
    “Larue, I can keep a watch out while you all sleep. Will that make Mindy feel better?” Marilyn asked.
    I nodded. “That is very sweet. Thank you, Marilyn. Marilyn is going to watch for the spirit. She will wake me if he comes around. Does that make you feel better?”
    Mindy wrapped her arms in front of her waist as if giving herself a comforting hug. “Yes, that helps. Thank you, Marilyn.”
    “You’re welcome, darling,” she said.
    Mindy and I went to my room. “This is kind of like a weird slumber party,” she said.
    “Yes, it’s like Halloween you spent the night because someone told you girls were being sacrificed that night.” I pulled pajamas from my dresser drawer.
    “The source had seemed creditable at the time,” she said as she removed the pillows from my bed.
    After brushing my teeth and changing into my pink pajamas with the little white bunnies, I climbed into bed. While Mindy was in the bathroom, I laid there staring at the ceiling. Great, now all I could think about was Freddy Kruger. Marilyn appeared next to me. I knew what she wanted. The mattress moved down as she sat by my feet. The novel was on the nightstand by my bed. When Mindy came out of the bathroom and caught me reading aloud, I had to explain to her what I was doing. Mindy smiled and climbed under the covers. Now I was reading to both of them. I wasn’t