Ghost House Revenge by Clare McNally

small arms around his waist. He closed his eyes.
    “I know, darling,” he had replied. “But mommy’s gone now. And you know how expensive
     the funeral was. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for your dress.”
    “Oh, that’s all right,” the little girl said cheerfully. “I’ll have a new dress when
     mommy comes home.”
    Derek recalled that he had given her a stuffed animal. Alicen had almost crushed him
     with her hug. She had once been such an affectionate child. But over the years she
     had drawn into a shell, until Derek could barely remember their last loving embrace.
    He felt a pain for the child that used to be and drove it away.
    He shuffled down the hall, then the stairs, and finally entered the kitchen. He always
     felt as if he were walking into another time zone. Despite the antiques in the rest
     of the house, the VanBurens had equipped their kitchen with every up-to-date convenience,
     from the white side-by-side freezer-refrigerator to the gleaming green and yellow
     tiled floor. The only antique in here was a wooden table with X-shaped legs. He sat
     down and propped his feet up on one of the X’s. At that moment Lad jumped up and barked
     at him.
    “Shh,” Derek whispered. He slapped his thigh. “Come here, boy.”
    Lad rested his chin on Derek’s knee. The soulful brown eyes looked up into Derek’s,
     asking for affection. Derek stroked the dog’s smooth head and spoke to him as if he
     were human.
    “Can you figure this out?” he asked. “What do you suppose that woman wants from me?”
     Lad whined. “I don’t know, either,” Derek said, yawning.
    He leaned back in the chair and turned to gaze through the back-door window at the
     moon. Sighing deeply, he just sat, waiting for an answer to come to him.
    “Wait a minute,” he said, turning to the dog again. “I know! Suppose, for some crazy
     reason she’s been spying on me? She must know I go to the health club a few nights
     a week. She just followed me there and hid out in my car.”
    It made sense, but it didn’t answer the most important question:
why?
What could she want from him? He had no money to speak of, and little of value—
nothing
of value, he corrected himself.
    Suddenly Lad let out a growl and leaped for the back door. Startled, Derek pushed
     his chair back and went to investigate. The hitchhiker was staring through the back-door
     window! She was smiling at him, her pointy teeth glistening wetly. Her eyes, shining
     with malevolent delight, had a filmy look to them. She didn’t move or make a sound.
     She just stood there grinning.
    “You bitch! Darek hissed.
    He turned quickly to the cupboard behind him and removed the back-door key. As he
     twisted the lock, he glowered at the woman’s hideous face. He wouldn’t be afraid.
     He’d let her in and make her tell him. . . .
    But just as Derek got the door open, she ducked away. He stepped outside quickly and
     peered around through the darkness. He could see the silhouettes of the trees beyond
     the huge back yard; nothing seemed to be moving. The moon above cast a silver-gray
     glow over everything at such an angle that there were no shadows.
    “She must have run into the woods,” Derek reasoned, “and there is no way I’m going
     to chase her around out there.”
    Let her go
, his mind ordered.
    He locked the door behind him. It was all a sick joke, of course. He shuddered and
     rubbed his arms to ward off a sudden chill. Lad nudged him and after receiving a few
     strokes of reassurance, went under the table to sleep.
    Oh, damn
, Derek thought as he headed out of the kitchen.
    Never a man to be easily frightened, he decided to forget the whole thing. How could
     he let it upset him? It was just some smart-ass kid in old clothes and Halloween makeup.
     He’d ignore her. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of showing fear. Maybe she’d
     get bored and leave him alone.
    He did not know that it wouldn’t be that easy.
    * * *
    “God, you look like