Ghost Betweens (24 page)

He looked up at the stage and saw the ceremony starting. Even if their plan of freezing and banishing the ghosts continued to work between picture opportunities, the demon would finish the ceremony before Whisper got all the pictures. It called for something drastic.

"Okay, new plan," he said. "I'm going to run up there and see if I can disrupt things. If I can knock her off the stage, maybe the ceremony will fail."

She frantically shook her head. "No. No way. You don't have any powers on your own. We need to stick together."

He gave her a quick kiss. "This isn't just Zach and Kendra if we lose. This is the whole world we're talking about. I need to do this. Okay?"

Tears formed in her eyes, but she nodded.

"And hopefully they'll stay off you while I'm going for her. That should give you plenty of time to snap those pictures. Be ready."

She hesitated before nodding again. "Okay."

He didn't give her any more warning than that. If he'd done a countdown, he might have chickened out. Their invisibility dropped, and he sprinted forward. The demon was in the middle of some sort of trance, and he could see energy flowing around both Zach and Kendra. None of the ghosts turned towards him, so he zipped right through and leaped onto the stage. Even though the demon was much larger than him now, he kept in the back of his mind that Whisper was taking pictures behind him, so he did his best to stay out of her way. A freak perspective from the camera's point of view could block her from a shot, and that would ruin everything.

Before he could do anything helpful, the demon, still in a trance, raised her oversized hand, sending him flying off the stage. Ghosts pounced at him, but he managed to get to his feet and lunge back towards Whisper. They spun him, but he saw she was still clear and taking pictures. As he fought to keep the supernatural beings from overwhelming him, he had a view of the stage.

Both of his friends already had the cut on their cheeks from the claw. Now the demon put her hands behind Zach and Kendra's backs and yanked up. Their souls ripped from their bodies and floated above and around their heads, exactly how it happened in the dream. Time was almost up. His struggles kept him from being pinned by the ghosts, and they were too focused on the ceremony to hurt him, but he wasn't making any progress towards Whisper. He willed himself invisible, and the ghosts stopped. Whatever power the demon shot out earlier had dissipated. Since they couldn't see or sense him, whatever power they used to make themselves solid also disappeared, and he stood up right through the pile as they untangled themselves.

He looked back and saw the ghosts now fighting Whisper. She'd also managed to keep moving, but was still trapped. "Turn invisible, Whisper! It'll work now!"

She either didn't hear him or couldn't concentrate. He leapt at her, and she managed to put her hand out. It also left her vulnerable, and the ghosts pinned her and started pummeling her. She yelled in pain, but then the ghosts jumped up and streamed away from them.

"Invisible. Turn invisible."

She did, and he helped her up. "I'm fine," she said, before he could ask. It came from her mind.

They glanced towards the stage and saw the demon in her final stages of the trance that would have her ripping their friends' souls apart. They had to end this now. He looked down at her camera, but it wasn't in her hands.

"Where is it?"

She looked at him with wide eyes, and then scanned the ground around them. "I don't know. I dropped it."

Josh saw it a few feet behind them. The ghosts were over their temporary freak out. They wouldn't be able to banish the spirits and grab the camera before the ghosts overwhelmed them. He took Whisper's hand and yelled, "Stun 'em!" The ghosts stopped in their tracks, and he leapt for the camera.

He couldn't see the counter to tell how much film was left. "Whisper, did you use up the film?"

"Yes."

"Is she in them all?"

She hesitated, fear in her eyes, then answered, "I think so."

Good enough for him. He ripped the back of camera off and tore out the film. As he threw it to the ground, the demon reached for Zach's disembodied soul. He smashed the roll under his feet. Most of the ghosts in their immediate vicinity vanished. The demon rocked back, screaming in agony.

Josh panicked. Maybe they could rush up there while she was out of commission and stuff Zach and Kendra's souls back into their bodies. Would that work? Before he could start towards the stage, the demon recovered. She snarled at them and reached for Zach's soul again.

He heard Whisper's voice in his head, and when he turned towards her, she enveloped him in a hug. "Concentrate on the film and destroy it."

He turned his attention to the crumbled film, and it fizzed, as if a beaker of acid had been poured on it. After only a few seconds, it disintegrated into dust. The demon let out a shrill shriek, and she shrank back down to human size. Her skin turned transparent, and dark light shone out of her. She folded up in unnatural shapes until she was the size of a standard envelop and joined her ghosts in oblivion.

Zach's and Kendra's souls shot back into their bodies, and they fell hard onto the wooden stage. Whisper rushed over to them, but Josh hung back. He let his powers wash over the farm, and he couldn't sense anything supernatural. Even the ghosts that hadn't been affected by the destruction of the film had been banished.

Josh looked back up to the stage and saw tears all around. Zach and Kendra didn't look any worse for the wear, but how much did they remember? How much would this affect their psyche in the coming days, months, and years? And how much had they ruined their life at school?

He took a deep breath and pulled out his phone. He'd worry about all of that as it came up. For now he needed to text Mr. Baxter to tell him the good news.

"Order number 51," Josh called out. A guy in his early twenties came up, threw his receipt on the counter, and took the bag without so much as a smile. Ah, customer service. Had to love it.

The door opened, and Whisper and Kendra strolled in. Luckily no one was in line, so he nudged Zach, who was replenishing the chicken strip sauces from the lunch rush.

"Hey, stud," Whisper said. "I already know what I want. What time do you get off?"

Kendra giggled from behind Whisper and flashed Zach a smile. He smiled back and mumbled, "Hi." It was the most attention they'd paid to each other since the possession three months ago. Josh hoped this was a good start. They still had feelings for each other. Zach had told him that plenty of times, and Whisper had confirmed that Kendra said the same. Neither he nor Whisper had yet found out what they'd gone through, or if they even remembered what had happened. They always got the same blank shrug with the plea to drop the subject. So far they'd respected those wishes, though Mr. Baxter had mentioned that sooner or later they'd need to get them talking. That wasn't something one should keep bottled up inside, and a psychiatrist wasn't exactly possible in this situation.

"Hey, baby," he said in a low voice so no other customers or any of his other coworkers besides Zach and Kendra could hear. "I get off in an hour. Why? You wanna party?"

"Does that mean miniature golf or a movie?"

He gave her a look he hoped was suave. "Ladies choice, of course. I'll even throw in dinner."

All four of them laughed, and he looked first at Zach, then at Kendra. "You two want to join us?"

Kendra blushed but looked Zach in the eyes. His cheeks reddened to the same hue as hers, but he kept his eyes locked on hers as well. They both nodded, causing Whisper to squeal in delight. She joined in the blush parade when everyone in the restaurant on both sides of the counter stared at her. Josh just laughed and gave Zach a pat on the back.

Josh ordered up two burger meals for the girls, no pickles for Whisper, and no onions for Kendra, and handed them each a large cup for the soft drink fountain. Both reached into their purses for their wallets, but he waved them off. "It's on me."

"And me," Zach piped in, his eyes still glued to Kendra.

Whisper laughed and Kendra smiled, her eyes still on Zach.

With the lobby still empty, Josh and Whisper stepped aside and let the two enjoy each others company after so long without. Before they could say anything, a ghost walked in through the glass doors and sat at the first available table, weeping into his hands. Josh felt no evil coming from him, just intense sorrow. He and Whisper could help.

"Come on," he said. "A Ghost Between's work is never done."

About the Author

E.J. Krause lives minutes from Disneyland, and he does his best to grab the spare creativity the place bleeds off. He writes speculative fiction for many different age groups. Please visit him in his stomping grounds on the World Wide Web:

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