Ghost Betweens (13 page)

They watched him gather a few books and head out the door. When he was far enough away, Whisper said, "Why didn't he answer the question? Why does it take some Ghost Betweens days to perfect that?"

Josh frowned. "He's still not telling us everything."

*****

As they got out of his car at the driveway of the farm, Whisper called Josh over. "Look over here. Is it just me, or do these look like fresh tire tracks?"

Josh was no expert at such things, but he had to admit that it looked as if she were right. In all the times they'd been here, there had been no sign anyone or anything else. These, however, looked as if they'd been laid just minutes ago.

"Do you suppose it's Zach's car?" she asked.

"I don't know. It would explain the message on the sign, though."

"Yeah. 'Welcome back all my friends.' It's like she's welcoming them and taunting us. Have you heard from either of them since Monday?"

"Just that weird text from him yesterday afternoon. He never answered my reply. I wonder how deep the possession is. I mean, they seemed normal until then."

"I don't know. Either way, the demon probably calls them here right after school."

He looked at her. "I guess there's nothing we can do about it until we perfect these powers. Hopefully then we can save them."

"Yeah."

They walked out to the fields, both invisible. They'd discussed it in the car and decided to try banishing the ghosts while invisible. Mr. Baxter hadn't said whether their powers would make them appear to the ghosts or not, so it was worth a try. They figured they'd try to banish them, and then if the ghosts saw them, they'd stun or scare them away.

Ghosts littered the farm. There wasn't anywhere to look that wasn't teeming with spirits of all kinds. They strode to the middle of the field closest to the driveway and joined hands. Just like they practiced, they began their ceremony. None of the nearby ghosts took any notice. As the energy built up from his elbow, Josh willed it bigger. By the time it reached from his wrist to his shoulder, he and Whisper exchanged a glance, and they let the power leave them. Each of the ghosts within twenty feet vanished. Those further away didn't notice anything.

"Wow, this'll be easy," Josh said. "How much of the farm do you think we can clear?"

"I don't know, but I'm guessing the demon would try to stop us before too long. Mr. Baxter didn't seem too confident that we could hide from her."

"Maybe one more practice before we call it a day, then? We should try it one handed, just in case that ever comes up."

She nodded. "Good idea."

They walked back towards the safety of the driveway amidst a few ghosts. Since they'd always tried it by holding both hands, they didn't know how far the power would work. And if they messed it up entirely and drew attention to themselves, they wanted to be able to get to safety as quick as possible.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Josh grabbed her right hand with his left and they started their internal chant. Again, nothing was agitated, and he was pleased to feel the power build up and down his arm from his elbow. When it engulfed him from wrist to shoulder, they shared a glance and let it go. It seemed to work just as well as two-handed. Just like before, none of the ghosts outside the twenty-foot radius noticed anything afoot.

They strode towards his car, hands still entwined with each other. "One hand's just as good," Whisper said.

"Yeah. Next time we'll have to try it with just touching shoulders or something. Mr. Baxter said we just needed to be in contact."

She looked over at the farmhouse. "Definitely next time. I don't feel her, but let's not take any chances."

"Agreed."

They rounded the corner and closed the length to his car. He reached into his pocket for his keys, and then looked up. Their eyes met, and they giggled.

"We just sent ghosts out of this world," she said. "How's that for power?"

"We really are super heroes."

"Yeah," she said, leaning into him. "Super heroes."

This time he didn't miss his chance. He leaned, too, and their lips met. Gently. Carefully probing and feeling. Her tongue brushed his bottom lip. That did it. They pushed together and made out like the action stars in movies after a hard-fought victory.

Josh hadn't slept well, but he rushed right out of bed and was even a bit early to school. He rarely saw Whisper, except occasionally in passing, before lunch, but he couldn't wait to see her today. Hopefully he'd find her before first period.

He planned to casually ask how the installation of her anti-ghost strip went, but he really wanted to see if she was still happy about their kiss yesterday. They'd been together until after seven o'clock last night when he decided he should get home before his mom. Her parents had hovered around quite a bit, like they sensed something happened between them and weren't about to enable a repeat performance. They had to make do with homework, occasional hand-holds, and a lot of shared smiles. Now, away from her parents, he hoped they could at least share a few quick smooches at school.

As he neared the parking lot and the usual line of cars waiting to pull in, something didn't feel right. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was no doubting that it was supernatural. Did it have to do with the farm, or was it one of those random events Mr. Baxter warned them about? On the plus side, in his wonderings, the line to get in the parking lot seemed to take no time at all.

He headed to the far side of the lot where he always parked and couldn't shake the feeling. Now he really needed to find Whisper. She'd have to feel this, too, right? And maybe she'd already figured out what it was. For the life of him, he couldn't.

It didn't take long to find her. Her mom dropped her off almost right in front of him.

"Hi, Josh," Mrs. Douglas called out from her car, a little sporty four-door he hadn't seen before. She probably parked it in the garage.

"Hi, Mrs. Douglas." He gave her a wave.

"Have a good day, sweetheart. You, too, Josh." And with that she drove off. Whisper didn't say anything for a second. She watched her mom leave, and when the car maneuvered out of the lot, turned to Josh and gave him a deep kiss, just as he hoped she would.

"Hi," she said when she pulled away.

"Hi. You feel that?" He knew he wouldn't need to explain.

She nodded. "Since the school was in sight. What is it? I mean, apart from the obvious."

"I don't know. I was hoping you would."

"Maybe we should find Mr. Baxter. This feels big. He can't get mad at us this time, even though it's not after school."

They walked towards his class. He had first period off, so they weren't sure if he'd be there or not. He might spend his morning in the office or teacher's lounge. As they headed in that direction, Josh realized he was holding her hand. He couldn't remember when he'd taken it. Even better, as they walked, she leaned into him a bit.

They reached his room and dropped their hands to their sides. She gave him one of her bottom lip-biting smiles, and it took all his self-control not to kiss her again. But this wasn't the time. That nagging, buzzing feeling only grew stronger.

The door was locked, but Mr. Baxter had seen them approach because he opened it just seconds after they tried the handle. "What's up?" he asked, oblivious to the strange sensation.

"Can we come in?" Whisper asked. "Homework questions."

Good cover. Mr. Baxter obviously agreed. He gave them a big smile. "Sure, sure. I know all the treaties and tariffs can get a bit difficult. Let's see what I can do for you guys."

Once the door was closed, his face turned serious. "What's going on?"

"You don't feel it?" Josh asked. "Something isn't right, but neither of us can figure out what."

"It's like sensing ghosts, but there's none around," Whisper said. Josh nodded. That explanation was spot on, and probably better than he could've come up with.

"So ghosts are here but they're not?" Mr. Baxter frowned, and then his eyes grew large. "The demon might be sending ghosts right here to the school. I've heard of this before, but for the life of me I have no idea how she can do it in her prison."

"But if she sent ghosts here, wouldn't we feel them?" Josh asked.

"It takes an unusual amount of power to transport them from one place to another. Unless I'm grossly mistaken, they'll pop up in a few minutes."

The first bell of the day sounded, causing Josh and Whisper to jump. "What can we do?" Whisper said. "We need to get to class."

Mr. Baxter rose and walked to the school phone at the side of the room. "I'll call your first period teachers and excuse you. Tell them I have important assignments for you."

Josh waited for him to ask what they had first period, but he dialed first his science teacher, Mr. Roth, and then Whisper's first period teacher, Mr. Harris, their math teacher. Both calls went smooth.

"You're all set."

Before he could say anything else, Josh's head felt like it was going to explode. He clutched his eyes shut and grabbed his ears, as if that would do any good. Seconds later, the feeling passed. Instead of that strange buzzing, he could sense a large group of ghosts nearby.

"They're here?" Mr. Baxter asked when he and Whisper straightened up.

"Yeah. A big group. I can't even tell how many."

"They're centered around the administration area," Whisper said. "But who knows how long they'll stay there."

"Okay, you two know what needs to be done. Turn invisible and banish them." There was a twinkle in his eye when he said it. He explained in his email yesterday that he didn't bring up with them trying to banish ghosts while invisible because he didn't think they'd have the power to do it. Not only was he impressed, but he promised not to underestimate them again. "You had no problem yesterday, so this shouldn't be any different. But remember that your invisibility only works on the ghosts. Everyone else on campus, everyone living, can see you. I'll keep you out of huge trouble if you get caught, but maybe not all. It could mean detention. Got it?"

They nodded. He scribbled out a hall pass and handed it over.

"These should help, but act rationally. Good luck. And I don't think I have to explain the consequences if any of those ghosts stay free." Neither of them knew exactly what the ghosts could do, but nothing good, for sure. Josh's neck tingled a bit where the handprint bruises lay.

Once out of the classroom, Josh took Whisper's hand and headed for the center of campus. "Are you invisible?" he asked her. He could sometimes sense if she was, but with his head full of all these spirits, he couldn't now.

"Yeah. Too bad it doesn't work with people."

"Just have that hall pass handy."

They reached the middle of campus with no troubles. The ghosts wandered the area aimlessly. It looked like the demon could send them here, but not give them any direction. Good. Hopefully that continued. This would be tough enough.

"Just like yesterday," Josh said. "And make sure no one sees us."

"Sounds like a plan."

They zipped into the middle of a group near the main office. A quick build up of power banished them into nothing. Josh pulled Whisper against the building. They looked around, saw no one, and half-walked, half-jogged towards another group in the middle of the quad. Josh noticed none of the ghosts looked like farmers, but they all had the taint of the farm on them. There was no doubt the demon sent them.

They built up the power, and as soon as it encompassed their entire arm, released it. These ghosts dissipated into nothing. There were still quite a few wandering around, most still in rather large groups. Good, that made them easier to dispose of.

After knocking off another couple of groups, Whisper pointed over to the stand-alone building just across from the office. "Which class is that? They look like they're coming from right around it."

"It's the in-house suspension building."

"Where Kendra and Zach are?"

Josh swallowed hard. "Yeah. Do you think they're helping her?"

Whisper shook her head. "Even possessed, they wouldn't attack the school. Would they?"

Josh shrugged and pulled her over next to it. "If we do the banishing here, maybe no more can come. Or maybe it'll cut off the power from those already here."

"Worth a try."

"Both hands," he said, hoping by now they were practiced enough that the double hands would make the spell more powerful. They concentrated, sending the blast all around them. A few ghosts disintegrated, but the sense of the rest still hung in the air.

"Guess we need to pick them off one by one until they're all gone," Whisper said.

Josh both saw and sensed there was now a manageable amount, but he had to hope their luck with not being caught would hold up. A couple meandered over towards the Language Arts building, but they managed to head them off. Same thing with a group of four that made a break for the library.

"Josh, one just floated into that room over there." He looked to where she pointed and saw it was an art classroom. They couldn't very well run in there; Mr. Baxter wouldn't be able to explain that away.

"What do we do?" he asked.

She bit her bottom lip, and then pulled him over towards the room. "Let's see if we can get rid of it through the wall."

It was their best bet, their only hope, really. Who knows what kind of havoc it'd cause if left to its own devices. Maybe it'd choke someone out like the one in his room had tried to do. Or maybe it'd enter someone's body and possess them. Either way, it wouldn't be good.

They stood next to the wall near the door and performed the ceremony. When they released the power, Josh waited a second but couldn't sense it anymore. He looked over at Whisper, who nodded.

"How many more do you feel?" he asked. If her answer matched his, he'd know he wasn't missing any.

"I sense four, and I see them all over by the in-house suspension room."

"Yeah, same with me. But why aren't they going in?"

"I don't know. Is it me, or does it look like they're standing guard?"