Rebecca said that she had a hunch where the bloody footprints came from and motioned for me to follow her. I did without any hesitation, but stayed as close as I could to her. I did not want any ghost to appear and drag me away. Drag me away to the grave. And since that Rebecca knew more about this ghost stuff than I did, I felt safer with her.

"You were not joking when you stated that you know your stuff," I said as we followed the footprints.

"My memory is fabulous," Rebecca replied. "It is one of my many talents. I can memorize all kinds of facts and dates in less than ten minutes." She snapped her fingers. "Or just like that."

"What other talents do you have?"

She stretched her arms out. "Look at me, Ann. I am a monster. What other talents would a monster have?"

"You do not look like a monster now. You are in your human form."

"Oh. Right. You are right, Ann. I have been in hiding for so long that I hardly transform into my monster form."

I raised an eyebrow. "I am not understanding. If you have been in hiding, how come you have not been in your monster form?"

She sighed. "You are my friend, Ann. My only friend. So I should trust you every step of the way. However, you must promise me that you will not tell anyone."

"My lips are sealed, Rebecca." I accidentally stepped on - or should I say, into - a footprint and raised my foot. I stuck out my tongue in disgust. "Ew."

Rebecca smiled and gave me a pat on the back. "Nice work!"

"I did a good job at ruining my shoe?"

She shook her head and wiped the fresh blood off the bottom of my shoe. "You confirmed that the blood is fresh."

"'Fresh'?"

"As fresh as your flesh, Ann. Which means that these footprints were recently made."

"What dead child would want to visit the mansion?"

She tapped her chin with her finger. "That is what is puzzling me. I cannot imagine a dead child from the hospital standing on that porch and knocking on the door."

"But I did not hear any knocking sounds, Rebecca."

"You did not?"

I shook my head. "I just smelled the blood."

"The porch was completely covered with footprints," she pointed out. "Like that the child was pacing back and forth."

"So why would a kid's ghost be pacing back and forth on the porch and do nothing else? Why would he or she not enter the mansion and terrorize me and you and my parents?"

"Now I know that answer." She scratched the side of her neck as she cleared her throat. "All the kids who died because of your great-grandparents' selfishness are afraid of your family. It does not matter whether your relatives are living or not. They are afraid of the Archers. They are afraid of you, Ann." She rested her hand on my shoulder. "They are absolutely terrified that the Archers will mess them over again."

I pointed at myself. "What if they saw me?"

"I told you. The children's ghosts are scared of you."

"I know, but...is there a way that they can sense that I am not a threat? That I have a heart."

"We all have hearts, Ann. Humans and monsters and the dead and the living all have hearts. There is only one difference with each heart. It is how we are using it." She halted and forced me to do the same. "Here we are."

I examined the old building in front of us from top to bottom. "Is this place abandoned?"

"Yep! This is the hospital where all the sick kids were staying at...and died in."

I was surprised that the hospital was not that huge. I expected it to be as huge as the Forlot hospital, but it looked like a two-story house. The building was blue, although that the paint was peeling. Its roof that was as red as the footprints was missing a few tiles. I was looking for a sign, but there was not one. There was not even a symbol to indicate that this building used to be a hospital.

Rebecca and I took our time walking to the entrance. The door was open and swaying in the breeze. A chill crawled down my spine when I noticed the figure in the doorway. It was all black from its head to its toes and seemed to be facing me and Rebecca.

The figure was taller than me and Rebecca. No doubt about that. The creepiest part was that this person - or thing - was moving. Its head was bobbing, and its arms at its sides were swinging back and forth.

I squinted at its feet - and noticed that they were red.

I pointed at the feet. "Rebecca," I whispered. "Is that blood? Is that more blood?"

"I think so," she replied. "But I cannot say for sure."

As soon as Rebecca spoke, the figure spun around on its heels and disappeared into the dark.

I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Boy, am I glad that whatever it was is gone."

"I have been to this hospital before," Rebecca said.

"How many times?"

"Four or five. I do not come here a lot because I have to stay hidden in the attic in your mansion."

"Do the ghosts know you?"

"The ghosts here? Or the ghosts in the mansion?"

"The ghosts here. In this hospital."

"They do not know me, however, they do not seem to be bothered by me wandering around and touching their stuff. I guess that it is because I do not have the blood of an Archer. Plus, they are monsters like me. We monsters have to stick together."

Before I could respond, Rebecca grabbed me roughly and forced me under a hospital bed.

Then we heard footsteps.