The Ghost Files 3 (24 page)

His eyes are smoldering, but he nods, knowing if he pushes too hard, I
’ll bolt. He just doesn’t understand why. “All right, Hilda. I’ll give you that one. We’ve been through a lot together, but I guess that doesn’t count.” I flinch at the hurt in his voice. We have been through a lot together in New Orleans and he
did
save my life the other day.

“It counts,” I say softly.

He nods. “So you wanna go on a date…what’s there to do in Charlotte?”

The boat rocks a little and my stomach does a very suspicious flip. It still hasn’t fully recovered from yesterday’s food poisoning. I turn away and lean over the railing, afraid that I might spew chunks any second. Mary’s beside me in a heartbeat; her face a little green, too.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” she mutters, face flaming cherry red when she gags.

“Dan, is there anywhere we can pull over and dock?” Eli shouts. “The girls are sick!”

Did he have to put it that way? I’m not seasick, just a little leftover queasiness from food poisoning. The boat slows and veers to the left, which makes my stomach roll painfully. Mary’s face pales. We probably shouldn’t have gone out on the water today.

It’s a few more minutes before the boat actually stops, but Eli is there rubbing my back soothingly the entire time. The boy has his moments. Or is it the stupid bond? That’s part of why I’m hesitant about everything. He’s right about me questioning his feelings. If the bond makes him need to protect me, I’m curious to how far that protection extends. I’ve always wanted someone to love me, all my hang-ups and snarkiness included. What if the bond made him do that? What if…
stop it
! I can’t overthink this. I’ll drive myself nuts.

Once the boat stops, I look around. We’ve pulled up to a dock. I’m surprised. Last I checked, we were nowhere near one.

“Is this private property?” Caleb asks. “It looks secluded.”

“Don’t know,” Dan replies. “It was either this or keep going for a good twenty minutes till we reached a public dock.”

My stomach protests loudly. I want off this boat. “Best to stop,” Eli tells him. “We can always apologize and explain the girls were sick if anyone asks.”

Mary and I clamber off the boat fast. Just getting back on solid ground is helping. I walk a few feet from the dock and collapse onto the grass. If I can just lie here a few minutes, I’ll feel better.

“You okay, Mattie?”

I pull my arm off my eyes and squint up at Dan. “Yeah, I’m thinking a boat ride on the tail end of food poisoning wasn’t such a good idea.”

“I never thought about that.” He sighs. “I was just excited to try and figure out what Lacey was hiding from us.”

I laugh. “Dan, you’re a great cop, don’t apologize for it.”

“You’ll be one too, Squirt.” He tweaks my nose when my face screws up in horror. “Don’t make sour faces. You’ll get wrinkles early.”

I kick him and
he jumps back, laughing. “Go away before I puke on you!”

He stands and backs away, hands held up in surrender. I grin at him. I’ve missed his playful side. The last two weeks made him so serious and
withdrawn. It’s good to see him have fun, even if it’s at my expense.

Caleb is doing his best to help Mary, but she’s having none of it. I smile at his outraged expression, guessing she must have told him off big-time. There’s a shout and then Caleb is falling backwards into the water and Mary stomps toward me. She falls down next to me, and without a word
, throws an arm over her face. I laugh as Caleb climbs out of the water, face thunderous. Dan stops him before he can take two steps. Good old Dan, leave it to him to play peacemaker.

Relaxing, I close my eyes and listen to the sound of the others talking. Before long, I’m drifting off, completely at ease. I let my issues with Eli fall away, as well as worries about my father and Silas. For the first time in days, I feel safe enough to just sleep, content in knowing that Dan and Eli are nearby to protect me from whatever might show up. Feeling safe is a foreign concept for me. I usually take care of myself. It’s weird, but at the same time, I kinda enjoy being protected, too, though. It’s nice.

I’m not sure how long I lay there, drifting in and out of sleep, but I think it’s the silence that finally wakes me. I open my eyes and squint up at the sun before turning to look at Mary, but she’s not there. I sit up and see that no one is here. The boat is still docked, swaying gently in the water. Where did everyone go?

“Dan, Eli?” I call out. Nothing. I stand up and turn, scanning the area. All around me are trees. Maybe they went exploring? No, Dan wouldn’t go and just leave me here. “Hello?” I call out again,
listening for anything, but again, only silence greets me.

I pull out my phone and sigh. No bars. Wait, how can there be no bars this close to civilization? It’s not like we’re in the mountains. We’re in Mooresville
, for cripe’s sake. The lake is home to wealthy people living on estates. There’s got to be a cell tower close by. I walk a few feet, holding up my phone like one of those idiots desperate for a signal I usually make fun of. After a few more steps, I give up and shove the phone back in my pocket. What now?

Maybe this is a dream. I mean, Dan
and Eli wouldn’t leave me and there
should
be a cell signal here on the lake. The absence of both those things smacks of another dream. The only question now is whose dream? Is it mine or am I in another memory?

“Hello?” I call out, stepping closer to the trees. There’s nothing, not even the usual sounds you’d hear from the animals that inhabit the trees. Why is there no sound? That
, more than anything else, makes me nervous.

I have the feeling I need to go into the trees, but I don’t want to. Going in there could be really, really bad. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to run, to run as fast as I can and never look back. Those trees look dangerous and creepy. I shiver
, looking into their dark depths.

There’s always this fear that’s in the back of your mind, the one from when you’re little and scared of the dark. It’s the fear that lurks in the deepest part of your subconscious, where our most
feral instincts live. That fear never goes away, not really. We tell ourselves there’s nothing to be afraid of, that there’s nothing in the dark, not really, but we never truly believe it. It’s
that
fear that’s urging me to turn and run, to scream for help, to wake up even.

But I can’t.

Something in those woods wants me to come in and walk closer. Something in
me
demands I walk toward it. So, I look around once more and then take a deep breath. Time to face my fears—real or imagined.

I walk into the trees.

Chapter Twenty

I can feel it even before I enter the trees. A deep and oppressive darkness wraps around me, almost choking me. Just a few steps into the trees and most of the light disappears. Only a few shafts filter through the canopy of tree leaves above. The trees are so thick it’s impossible to tell where the leaves of one ends and another begins. It’s damp and musty, one of my least favorite smells. There’s an odd odor as well, rot and decay, like that of dead animals. The scents clings to the back of my mouth, making me want to gag.

A twig breaks to my left and I whirl in that direction. Only trees and deep shadows. Where’s a flashlight when you need one?
Okay, just keep moving
, I tell myself.
Keep moving and ignore the little noises meant to scare you
. I jump when I see something dart to the right of me, sticking to the trees. Fudgepops, where did it go?

That old fear comes back, the one from my childhood before I got used to seeing mutilated ghosts at every corner. I used to be terrified of the
dark because I never knew what really might be hiding in the shadows. I refused to sleep with the lights out until I was ten because of it. I can feel it start to creep back in, feel it slink up my spine. There is something very, very bad here.

I take another step and hear a soft chuckle. My feet freeze and I look around, my eyes sweeping over the deepest shadows of the forest. That chuckle sends shivers up my spine and I have no burning desire to meet the person it came from. Another twig snaps, closer this time
, and I break into a run. No way am I sticking around to meet the owner of that laugh.

Footsteps sound behind me, causing me to speed up. My sides start to burn and I push my legs to run faster. Fingertips touch my face and I scream, dodging left. More twigs snap and
I veer to the right. No way am I running into whatever is waiting for me.

“Little girl.”

Fudgepops. The voice came from directly behind me.

“Why are you here, little girl?”

“I don’t want to be here,” I call, still running. “Leave me alone and I’ll get out of your woods!”

Another deep chuckle. “You’re here already, so why hurry off? Don’t you want to play?”

Strong fingers catch at my hair, yanking hard. I cry out when my hair rips free from my scalp, but I know if I stop running, something awful will happen. That thing will get me and it
is
a thing. I don’t sense anything human about it. It feels cold and dark, like death and graveyards.

“There are so many games we could play,” he whispers in my ear. “So much pain I could teach you.”

No freaking way. I jab my elbow backwards. It connects with something solid and I run faster, doing my best to get away. I just don’t know where to run to! I’m running blind and I feel like I’m being herded. Every time I veer off in one direction, it either speaks or more twigs snap, forcing me into another direction. Branches stroke my arms as I run, scratching me. Frustrated and more than a little terrified, I groan as my leg muscles start to burn. My sides ache and my lungs feel like fire has lanced them. I’m not sure how long I’ve run, but it feels like forever.

There’s a break in the trees just up ahead and hope sparks within me like a firecracker. I just need to make it a few more steps…fingers curl into my hair and yank. I fly backwards, hurtling until I land against a tree, the breath knocked out of me. I can’t breathe…I try to force air into my lungs, but all I manage is a weak gasp. Something close to me hisses and I try to scream, but nothing comes out.

“Mattie!”

My head swivels to the right. That’s Dan…I try to call out to him, but I can’t catch my breath.

“Mattie, where are you?” he calls again and I work hard to push myself up on my knees.

“Mattie!”

Eli…Eli will find me. He always knows where I am.

“Will they find you before
I’m
done, little girl?” Cold hands grip me and I shudder away from the sensation. I can’t see it, but the cold makes me feel like I’ve been plunged into ice. It burns. Whatever this thing is, it isn’t a ghost or a demon. It feels different from either. I remember Eli saying there were other things besides ghosts and demons, but I seriously don’t want to meet them.

I struggle against the hands holding me, feeling something slink around my feet.
Don’t look
, I tell myself. I finally draw a breath into my oxygen-starved lungs and scream. It’s not loud, but it’s a start. I take another breath, but this time instead of screaming, I kick backwards like Dan showed me. I hit whatever is holding me and it hisses, its grasp loosening for just a moment, but it’s all I need. I throw my head backwards and hear a satisfying crunch. The hands holding me drop and I push forward, gulping air as fast as I can.

Two steps from the opening in the trees, wind rushes me and I fall to the ground, hoping whatever it is will slingshot past me. But no. It slows, catching my ankle and starts to pull me back into the shadows of the trees. I open my mouth and scream for all I’m worth.

It hisses, claws digging into the soft flesh above my foot. I kick out with my other foot, but it’s an odd angle and the kick goes wide. Dang it! My fingers scrabble to find something, anything to hold onto. I grab a rock and chuck it at the back of the thing, but it keeps going with a grunt. Oddly, I can’t seem to get a good look at it. It’s shadowy and my eyes blur a little when I try to focus on it.

A tree root is sticking up out of the ground and I latch onto it, my fingers holding on like it’s the last
lemon filled Krispy Kreme donut. My leg almost snaps when my body stops moving but that thing keeps going. Growling, it turns on me, and this time my kick doesn’t land wide. It lands squarely on the thing’s kneecap and it goes down. YES! I’m up and running, sprinting for the trees. As I break into the sunshine, I hear it screeching behind me. Whatever it is, it’s afraid to come out into the light.

Fire burns with each breath I take and my knees buckle. I fall and try to catch my breath. After a minute I push up, attempting to stand, but my hand
slips on something and I fall again, my knees taking the brunt of it this time. My eyes widen when they land on what caused me to fall. There’s a hand sticking up out of the ground. I scream and scramble backwards. There is a freaking hand sticking up out of the ground!