The Raventree Society Season Two Complete Collection: The Raventree Society, #17

By J.E. Purrazzi

Haunted by the spirit of a murderer, Kyle is forced to ask what type of risks he's willing to take, who he can involve, and how Tyler's legacy will affect how he lives, or dies.

Season Two Complete Collection.

Episode One: Grace Cemetery
Episode Two: The Bennett Complex
Episode Three: The Devil's Well
Episode Four: The Waterhouse Residence
Episode Five: Return to Grace

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.E. Purrazzi
• Release date: Jun 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201924010

Book preview

Episode One: The Grace Cemetery

Kyle stared through the hollow eyes of his reflection in the window, watching the winter rain turn into sleet. Trails of melting ice slid down the glass like tears. God knew there had been enough tears today.

Thanks for getting me. He didn’t dare to turn to Carl, who hadn’t said anything since he’d picked him up from the police station.

This was a familiar situation. One he’d found himself in more than once as a teen. Not that it made it any less awkward now.

Of course, Carl said, though his voice was stiff and barely louder than a whisper.

He didn’t look angry, but that was his ‘angry voice’. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, but his face was placid.

I bet they were quite surprised when you told them you were my Dad. Kyle half smiled at the thought.

Carl grunted in reply.

It was going to suck riding his bike home in the mess this weather had turned into, but Kyle hadn’t had a chance to go car shopping yet. And there was no way he was staying at the house. Not if this was going to be the atmosphere.

He reached up to trail a finger over the puckered scars around his neck. Some were still healing. One still had the stitches in.

He must look like Frankenstein’s monster right about now. Probably the most intimidating thing the little police station had ever seen. It was already a struggle trying to explain them to the people that dared his glare to ask. Car accident just didn’t cover it. It looked like someone had tried to cut his throat with a butter knife.

The lawyer your network provided managed to get the reporters to drop the charges, Carl said. Promised them he would go after them for harassing a grieving family.

Kyle swore. I still can’t believe they had the balls to show up at the funeral. White hot anger coursed through his bloodstream. Idiots. What made them think they had the right to record him and his family while they laid Tyler to rest? What did they expect would happen? They deserved much worse than the few blows he’d managed to land.

They got what they wanted. Carl raised an eyebrow at Kyle.

Kyle sucked on his teeth and focused on one of the many new scars he bore, this one a half-moon on his palm. What could he say to that? Yeah, they’d probably gotten some great footage, and he was stupid if he pretended it wasn’t going to surface somewhere. But what did he care. Give it a week or two and it would have made its rounds on YouTube and settled down. No reputable television station would pick up that kind of shit. Even rubbernecking viewers would get that it was beyond cruel. He wasn’t big enough to get more attention than that.

I’m glad it got resolved so quickly. Carl broke the silence again. Your mother and I were really worried.

Your mother and I. The phrase he’d heard a million times before.

Sorry. The apology was as close to genuine as he could manage. Mom had a rough enough time today without him pulling his stunts. He just couldn’t hold back when he saw that camera flash.

Carl nodded, keeping his eyes glued ahead. Silence reigned in the truck again. It still had the new car smell, though Carl had owned it for at least five years. It was testament to his military precision. Nothing that could even risk the cleanliness of the truck entered those doors. Maybe Kyle shouldn’t be in there. He sure as hell wasn’t clean.

We have the guest room all set up for you. Rebecca is thrilled.

Kyle cleared his throat. I was actually going to head home.

Carl twisted his fingers around the wheel as if he were trying to wring the life out of it. Maybe he was imagining Kyle’s neck in its place.

Well, if that’s what you want to do, I can’t stop you. But it’s a nearly two-hour drive, and it’s already closing in on midnight. He motioned out the window. Not to mention the weather. They are saying this might turn into a blizzard.

I’ll be ok.

Carl squeezed his lips together. You planning on finding an open bar?

Kyle shook his head. He didn’t need a bar, his apartment was well stocked. He’d been looking forward to digging into the stash all through the funeral. Saying goodbye to Tyler was hard enough, but the whole service was an echo of Dad’s. The uniformed soldiers, folding the flag, handing it to Mom.

He had to drown out those memories or he’d never sleep again.

Is my bike at home, or did you have to leave it at the cemetery? he asked.

Carl chuckled slightly. Hannah drove it back for you.

Hannah? Kyle blinked. Really, that is... unexpected.

Looked pretty comical, what with her dress and all, he said. But we decided it was better than leaving it overnight. Didn’t want to risk you… He cast a glance at Kyle’s distinct scars.

Graveyards were probably not the ideal place for him right now. Too many vengeful spirits. He seemed to be quite the magnet.

Why did Carl just assume he was going to a bar? Yeah, he’d been drinking a lot lately, but that hadn’t even been an issue before Tyler. He hadn’t advertised it to Carl and Josh. At least he’d made some effort not too.

He licked his lips and leaned back in the seat to get a better look at Carl. Was your ex-wife an alcoholic? Maybe it was rude to ask that. Josh had said almost, the night they’d found Tyler. It felt like a lifetime ago now, instead of the relatively brief two weeks it had been.

Carl turned into the gated community where the family house sat for as long as Kyle could remember. The obstinate glow of Christmas lights danced along the trails of rain water.

Josh’s biological mom, you mean?

That’s where Josh had picked up that very stubborn delineation.

Not your ex-wife?

Carl paused at a stop sign. I had a rough couple of years when I first enlisted. Made some mistakes. One of those mistakes turned out to be one of the best things I ever did. I know, it sounds cliché. He cast a sad sort of smile in Kyle’s direction. It was a one night stand, though. And the woman wasn’t… He frowned as if he were choosing his words carefully. She was less than trustworthy. Even so, as an officer often on deployment, I didn’t get full custody of Josh until he was almost five.

Carl pulled the truck into the driveway of the house. He and Josh had moved in when the families joined. Thanks to Carl, the two-story home’s light blue paint was always perfectly touched up and bricks pressure sprayed every spring. They’d moved in and out of a million homes through his life, but Mom and Dad had wanted something stable for when he retired from the military. It was close to Mom’s family, so the family often stayed there when Dad was gone.

The low-lying hedge beside the sidewalk probably still hid armies of Lego men. Tyler and Kyle used to hunt dragonflies with super soakers around the hedges that still grew there. And the treehouse Dad had built was still in the backyard, now a favorite summer hang out for Rebecca and her friends. There were a lot of memories in that home, and most of them hurt to look back on.

You never asked about Josh’s mom before. Carl waited to unbuckle his seatbelt.

Kyle shrugged. I guess not.

He shoved open the door, shivering as a wave of sleet slammed into his face. Winter. He missed it when he was down south, but he sure hated it when he was in the middle of it. It was almost bad enough for him to pull his jacket back on, but he’d be inside in a couple seconds, and the button-up shirt was already ruined from the blood that splattered on it when he broke the paparazzi’s nose.

The porch light was like a smile, digging into his aching heart with just a hint of warmth. It was strange that this place could feel so much like home, and still be so foreign. My bike in the garage? he asked, pulling open the glass door.

Carl stomped the wet snow off his shoes. Yep, figured it needed cover more than the truck.

Warmth spilled out the door, flowing around Kyle as he pushed the door open. The thick scent of fresh-baked bread followed close behind. Mom was up baking? This late?

Welcome home, Mom called from the kitchen as she caught sight of Kyle. It wasn’t an entirely friendly greeting, a hint of frustration touched her words.

Mom was always on edge. Always had been, even before Dad died. She tried her best, but her red curls were streaked with grey at a young age, and wrinkles formed where her brows were pinched together all day. Her eyes regularly swam with tears.

She was always either crying or yelling. But that was just with him. The rest of the family earned the occasional laugh.

Mom set a pan of bubbling cinnamon rolls on the counter and reached for a bowl of thick, white goop nearby. Hannah leaned on the other side of counter, her slim shoulders curled over the hot bread as if it were going to disappear.

You came back just in time. I was about to eat all these myself.

But the gluten… Kyle feigned horror.

Hannah shrugged. Even I need a bit of sugar occasionally.

Mom smiled proudly, lifting a brimming spoon of glaze. She was one of those incomprehensible people who liked to work when they were upset.

Why was Hannah still there? Kyle shrugged and turned into the sitting room. Rebecca was curled up on the couch, her whole body tucked under a thick, burgundy blanket. Her eyes were swollen and puffy but she smiled up at Kyle as he dropped onto the couch.

What are you doing up still?

Rebecca was the real beauty of the family. Her thick, black hair hung around her like a cape, framing a perfect, heart-shaped face and pale green eyes. At sixteen, she was still so skinny that her hair probably made up half of her body weight.

She leaned forward, wrapping both arms around Kyle’s waist and laying her cheek on his rib cage.

No one could sleep tonight.

Kyle frowned as the commercial ended and the Raventree Society icon flashed across the screen. Come on, really?

They are rerunning all of Tyler’s first episodes, she said.

Vampires. Kyle reached around her and grabbed the remote. Do yourself a favor and break the TV so you never have to see this shit again.

Rebecca snuggled under his arm as he flicked off the TV. Self-hate much?

Whatever.

You didn’t know that it was all real back then, did you? Rebecca indicated the now-blank TV.

Kyle turned to glare at Carl as he settled in the oversized armchair. You told her?

We sat her down and explained everything when you were in the hospital, Carl said.

Healthy, Kyle muttered.

I’m not a baby. I can handle just as much as you can. Rebecca sat up to scowl at him.

Besides, if I know what is going on, I might be able to help. And at least I will be able to take care of myself if I ever come face to face with a ghost.

If you see a ghost, do what most logical people would do and run.

Carl nodded. I do have to agree with that.

If you keep your distance from me that should be a good start, Kyle mumbled.

Rebecca ignored him. Do you think, if ghosts are real, that some of that other mumbo jumbo is?

Such as? Kyle urged.

Hannah twisted around on her stool, licking icing off her fingers. She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and tilted her head, as if trying to hear a little better.

You know, mediums, witchcraft, Ouija boards, seances, that kind of stuff. Rebecca said, tightening her grip around Kyle’s waist. Like, you could kick a ghost out of your house right, or maybe… she paused for a long moment while all eyes in the room hung on her. Maybe we could talk to Tyler.

Kyle nearly tossed her off the couch. What good would talking with Tyler do now? It was too late, he was gone. The idea of setting up some sort of ritual, trying to see through the veil or whatever nonsense, was not just stupid, it was dangerous. It was better to leave Tyler alone, see if he could move on - or whatever that deal was. Poking around in the spirit world tended to end with dead bodies. At least from his experience.

Why? he asked. Leave him be.

But wouldn’t you like to know why he’s still here? Find out how he died? Rebecca pulled the blanket tighter around her chin as she looked up at him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind she was still five years old, begging him to play Barbies with her, pretending that her bike was a horse.

Kyle rubbed his neck, the puckered skin tingling as his fingers slid over it. The images of the night he got them were impossible to push away. Not just because he’d nearly died. That had happened more than a few times already. It was the flashes of visions, the implantation of someone else’s memories that he couldn’t quite shake. Tyler’s memories. He was sure of it, even if there wasn’t any good reason to be. He didn’t want to glimpse any more.

Despite his earlier intentions, avoiding the full-blown vision of Tyler’s death was the closest thing to mercy that he’d had as of late.

I already know enough. He cleared his throat.

Mom stepped abruptly out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron and turning an all-to-stern look onto the collection of people in the living room. I think we all need to get to bed, she said. It’s been a long day, and a hard one. And conversations like this are probably better had in daylight.

Rebecca climbed off the couch, dropping the blanket in a crumbled mess onto the abandoned cushion. Her eyes glinted as she leaned over and dropped a kiss on Kyle’s cheek. Goodnight, she said lightly, heading toward Carl for more tokens of affection.

Mom pulled Carl up with a gentle tug on his hand. "Hannah, I figured you could stay in Josh’s