Ghost Betweens (14 page)

He gave a humorless chuckle. "But are they guarding Zach and Kendra, or the portal point for more ghosts to come?"

"Let's worry about that when they're gone."

They hustled over, stood in the middle of the foursome, and let the power erase them from existence. Once they were gone, Josh couldn't sense anything else supernatural anywhere on campus. Even the strange buzzing that precluded the adventure was gone. He took a deep breath and heard Whisper sigh in relief.

"Let's get back before we get caught," she said.

"Too late," came a voice behind them. Josh turned and saw Principal Jenkins standing a few feet behind them, his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

Josh searched for words, but none came. Whisper, however, held up the hall pass. "We have permission from Mr. Baxter to be out here."

Principal Jenkins's frown didn't lessen. "I've had a few reports from teachers of students running around campus, acting in a peculiar manner. A hall pass doesn't cover that." He pointed in the direction of Mr. Baxter's classroom. "March."

Josh tried desperately to think of some way to get out of this, but he couldn't come up with anything. Whisper had been level-headed enough to show the hall pass, so maybe she had something. Luck was with them, though, in that Principal Jenkins wasn't in a talkative mood. It gave them both more of a chance to come up with an excuse. Even though Mr. Baxter said he couldn't get them out of all trouble, at least he was unquestionably on their side.

He glanced over at Whisper and couldn't help but smile. She looked horrified, as if they were not on the way to Mr. Baxter's room to possibly get detention, but instead heading to a public execution. He couldn't help but wonder if this was the first time she'd ever been in trouble at school. Josh rarely found himself getting into much mischief, but he knew that a detention or two wouldn't be the end of the world.

As they approached his class, Mr. Baxter opened the door and held it while all three entered. "Good morning, Mr. Jenkins. Is there a problem with these two?"

"They have a hall pass signed by you. We received a few calls from teachers saying they were running around on campus willy-nilly. None of us in the office could imagine that any teacher would send them on an errand that would result in such foolishness."

"Running willy-nilly, you say?" Mr. Baxter asked. Josh had to bite back a smile. The principal nodded.

"It's my fault, Mr. Jenkins," Whisper said. All eyes went to her, but she didn't flinch. "Before school started, I dropped my bracelet. It's not much, but it's an old family heirloom. I didn't know what to do. My mom would be furious if I came home without it." She held up a bracelet for Principal Jenkins to see. Maybe she unhinged it from her wrist while we were walking. "I was a bit frantic, and we ran into Mr. Baxter before the tardy bell rang. He offered a hall pass so we could find it."

Principal Jenkins grunted. "You should have come to the office first. We'd have sent someone out to look, and you wouldn't have had to miss class time."

"But I know what it looks like. And I know where I'd been this morning." She gave a sheepish grin. "I'm still not sure I could have described the places clearly, being new and all."

Principal Jenkins grunted again. This one seemed to mean he agreed.

Josh marveled at her acting ability. Was she making this up as she went, or had she worked it all out on their walk over? If he didn't know the truth, he'd have bought it hook, line, and sinker.

"We ran across campus looking, but no luck. We didn't mean to disrupt the other classes, Mr. Jenkins, honest."

He grunted for a third time. Josh had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He'd never realized the principal had such a way with words.

"You didn't really disrupt anything. Some teachers were just afraid something was wrong, is all." He pointed to her hand. "You seem to have found it."

"Yes. Right before you saw us."

Principal Jenkins looked over at Mr. Baxter, who nodded. "I didn't think it would be a problem. I informed their teachers, and was assured they wouldn't miss much instruction."

The principal's frown finally lessened. "Okay then. All's well that ends well, I guess." He turned to Whisper. "I'm glad you were able to find your bracelet. I trust you'll keep better tabs on it in the future?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He looked to Mr. Baxter. "Make sure they have passes to get back into class."

He nodded, and all three watched the principal walk out of the classroom. He didn't glance back.

Josh let out a whoosh of breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Whoa, that was close. How did you think of that story so fast?"

She shrugged and gave a sheepish grin. "I didn't want to get in trouble."

Mr. Baxter laughed and shook his head. "I'm going to have to watch your missed homework excuses, Ms. Douglas. I almost thought your story was true, and I knew what was going on." His expression snapped to serious. "Did you finish your assignment?"

"Yeah," Josh said. "We got the last group right before he caught us."

"We think Zach and Kendra have something to do with it," Whisper added. "Their point of origin was right next to the in-house suspension room. Maybe the demon used them to send the ghosts?"

"I believe you're right, Ms. Douglas. Using them as anchors is probably the only way to get the ghosts here. But something doesn't add up."

"What?" they both said.

"There was no point to this. Why have the ghosts cause trouble here when she knows you two will be back on her turf? Did they seem to have any sort of plan?"

"No," Josh said. "They just wandered around. One walked into a classroom, but I didn't hear any commotion before we banished it. And a small group stood guard, but we couldn't tell if it was for Zach and Kendra, or for their arrival point."

"Could she just be showing us she's growing in power?" Whisper asked.

Mr. Baxter nodded, his gaze far away, as if he was mulling something important over. Finally, he said, "I think it's time to banish the demon."

"How do we do that?" Josh asked. "You keep telling us to stay away from her."

"As Ms. Douglas suggested, if she can do this, her power is growing. Soon she'll figure a way out of her prison, and then we'll all be in a heap of trouble."

"So what do we do?" Whisper asked.

"We'll go over the whole thing after school, but here it is in a nutshell."

As they drove by the sign in front of the farm, Whisper read it aloud. "Twelve is the holiest of numbers." She rattled the bag with the sacred trinkets Mr. Baxter had given them.

"How many are in there?" Josh asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Twelve. She knows."

As he pulled into the driveway, he said, "I wonder if she'll let us drop them. Is there anything she can do?"

"Maybe she's just trying to get into our heads."

Before Josh could reply, he slammed on his breaks. Zach's car was parked in the driveway. Those tire tracks yesterday had been from his car. They weren't driving straight home after school.

"Did she call them here to stop us?" Whisper asked.

He shrugged and pulled up next to the car. "Let's get this over with. Maybe we won't even see them. We'll get this all sorted out, and they'll be back to their normal selves."

She nodded, and they stepped out of the car and turned invisible. The plan was to wander over close to the farmhouse and drop the trinkets around it in varying lengths from each other. Each would power the others, fueled by Josh and Whisper's Ghost Between powers. It would create a perfect banishing spell, enough to force the demon out of this plane of existence. Neither she nor the ghosts would be able to touch the trinkets. At least as far as Mr. Baxter knew. The infamous sign out front proved she knew what was going on, but that didn't make him wrong.

As they turned towards the farm, Zach and Kendra stalked around the safety corner. Neither moved in their normal walk--both had an awkward gait with none of their natural grace. Josh held his breath, waiting to see what they'd do when they saw them. Whisper tensed next to him.

Instead of saying or doing anything, they walked past without so much as a glance. Josh frowned and dropped his invisibility. Whisper did the same.

Zach and Kendra kept walking, but they at least looked at them. After a few steps, it was like something popped in their brains.

"Whoa, what are you doing here?" Zach asked. His voice sounded normal.

"You two hiding somewhere?" Kendra asked, her tone as flirty as always.

Josh didn't want to tip off their invisibility power, so he said, "Sorry. We thought we saw something over on the other side of the driveway, so we were checking it out. We were about to say hi when you noticed us."

They both smiled. They'd either bought the story, or hid well that they didn't.

"What are you guys doing here?" Whisper asked. "I thought you had to go straight home after school."

Kendra held up a bracelet. "I dropped this last time we were here, and I needed it back. It's a family heirloom, and my parents would be pissed if I didn't bring it home."

Josh's blood ran cold, and Whisper stiffened next to him. They couldn't possibly have heard what was going on in Mr. Baxter's room this morning. He also couldn't see Principal Jenkins relating the story near where students could hear, especially students at in-school suspension.

"Glad you found it," Whisper said. Josh was impressed she kept her voice so smooth. "Did you have to look long?"

"Nah," Zach said. "We found it almost right away. Over by the farmhouse. It's pretty easy to see dropped objects over there."

Though Zach said it in his own voice, there was no doubt that statement came right from the demon. "Good. Good to know," Josh managed to squeak out.

Zach and Kendra gave them a smile, and though it looked harmless enough, Josh could swear there was a sinister undertone to it. "So what are you guys doing here?" Kendra asked. "Going to make out where no one can see?"

"No," they said simultaneously. "Mr. Baxter sent us to do some scouting of the place," Josh added.

"What's in the bag?" Zach asked.

"Nothing," Josh said. "Just some things that he think will help."

Zach leaned in close, and looked around as if he thought someone might be listening in. "You are going to help, right? I don't like what she's doing to us. I can't take it anymore."

Josh's eyes went wide. Kendra leaned away from Whisper, and he had the feeling she'd relayed the same message. Josh's eyes met Whisper's, and they both nodded.

"Yeah. We're going to free you from this tomorrow afternoon." He pointed to the bag of sacred trinkets. "Those will help. We'll get you back. Promise."

Kendra smiled, and Zach nodded. "We'll be here," he said. "We'll do whatever you need us to. We want to be free."

Without so much as a goodbye, they turned and headed for Zach's car. Josh and Whisper didn't move as they watched them drive away. Kendra might have smiled in the passenger seat, but he couldn't tell.

"That was weird," Whisper said.

"Yeah. Where to start?"

"How did they know about the bracelet story? And was that them, or is the demon trying to trick us?"

"They didn't say goodbye," Josh said. "They always say goodbye. That wasn't them, the real them."

"Unless the demon shut them down after they talked and made them leave."

He shook his head. "I don't know what to think. Let's just plant these things and get out of here."

*****

Josh tried to concentrate on his math homework, but two things made the task almost impossible. One, they'd typed up an email to Mr. Baxter and were both anxious to see his response. She had her computer set to chime when a new email came in, but so far, five minutes later, nothing. Two, Whisper kept kicking him. Lightly, and seemingly accidentally, though her coy smile after each one made him think she wasn't as innocent as she let on.

Just as he gave up on getting anything productive done, the computer beeped, signaling an email. Had to be Mr. Baxter, and sure enough, his reply was in.

"This is quite an interesting development. I didn't doubt she'd know you were out there dropping things on her land, but I'd hoped she wouldn't be so brazen about it. This could be bad news, or it could just be false bravado. I take it as a good sign that she sent Mr. Riley and Ms. Phelps out to talk to you. To me that means she can't do anything to stop you on her own. I don't believe they were anything but puppets the entire conversation, so be wary. It doesn't look as if you have a choice but to have them there with you, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. You can keep them in sight during the entire ordeal. I also found it interesting that they couldn't see you in your invisible form. It's my understanding that it only works on ghosts, not possessed cases. You can use that tomorrow if necessary. Though if you turn invisible in front of them, they might still see you. Either way, use extreme caution. If this works, they'll be free, but you can bet they'll do anything in their considerable power to stop you. You two know what to do and what's at stake, so I have no doubt you'll do everything you can to make this work. Good luck."

They read it through a few times, and as they did, Whisper cuddled into him. He wasn't sure how her parents would react if they peeked in, but he didn't want to break the moment by bringing that up. Instead he just went for broke and leaned back into her.

"I guess we're really doing this tomorrow," she said, her voice as low as her name. "We're fighting a demon. A few weeks ago I didn't even know they existed."

"It's been an interesting couple of weeks, hasn't it?" he said. "And I bet you thought moving would be hard enough."

"Believe it or not, it's actually made it easier. I've been so focused on the ghosts that I haven't really paid attention to the transition." She smiled up at him. "Plus, if it wasn't for all of this, we wouldn't have gotten to know each other so fast."

Josh gasped as she nuzzled his neck. It tickled a bit, but not in a way that made him want to laugh. If he could breathe, he would've moaned. With her bedroom door open, though, he knew he had to be as quiet as possible.