Ghost Betweens (15 page)

After too short a time, her lips slid off his neck. He wanted to tell her no, to keep it up, but before he could comprehend anything, her lips were on his. They enjoyed a slow, sensual kiss, even dancing the tips of their tongues against each other. Again, it ended too soon, though that was probably for the best.

She reached up and stroked his cheek, and gave him a smile. "I'm shocked my parents didn't walk in."

"I'm glad they didn't. That was nice."

She smiled and turned back to the computer. "What should we do about them?"

"Your parents?"

"No, silly," she said with a giggle. "Kendra and Zach."

"Oh, yeah."

"Don't worry," she said as she rubbed his knee. "We'll find plenty of time to make out."

He took a deep breath. "Yeah. So about tomorrow? Zach and Kendra?"

"I don't know. Ideas?"

"I guess we do what Mr. Baxter suggested. We wait and see. If they're going to cause trouble, we'll figure something out. All we really need is a minute or so for the banishing to happen. We can have them flush her out, and hopefully before anything can happen, we'll be done."

"Can it really be that easy?"

"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "Especially if the sacred trinkets are still there."

"Let's hope. Mr. Baxter didn't seem worried about it."

"Even if they're not still there, maybe we'll still be strong enough. Mr. Baxter always seems so surprised by the things we can do."

She wrapped her arms around him, but just as quickly dropped them when they heard footsteps in the hallway. Seconds later, her father peeked his head into her room. "Dinner's ready. Go wash up, you two."

"Okay, Daddy. We'll be out in a second."

He nodded. "Homework going well?"

"Uh-huh. Josh is good at math, so we're zipping through that."

Josh suppressed a smile. Luckily they didn't have much homework tonight, so it wasn't technically a lie.

"Excellent. I'm glad you two can be good study buddies." With that, he left.

"I guess we should go wash up," she said, switching the computer to sleep.

"Yeah." He paused, hoping the words would come out right. "Uh, Whisper?"

She looked at him, her arched eyebrows asking "What?"

"Maybe tomorrow after we finish the banishing, we could go out? Like on an actual date?"

"I guess we haven't actually been out on one yet, have we? Yeah, that sounds nice."

"Good. Maybe out to dinner and then miniature golf? Does that sound okay?"

As she rose, she threw a quick hug around him. "Sounds wonderful. As long as we're together, it'll be a good time."

His chest loosened a bit. "Good, good. I guess we can talk about it more later. We should probably get out there before your parents think we're up to something."

She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "There. Now I'm ready."

He followed her to the bathroom to wash up, his hand on her lower back as they went. She smiled up at him, and he knew it was okay. He couldn't wait until they could be alone together tomorrow night with all of this supernatural stuff behind them.

Josh stepped into history class and balked. Had he walked into the wrong classroom? No, these were his classmates, but that wasn't Mr. Baxter. He glanced up on the whiteboard and saw a name scrawled across in blue ink: Mrs. Gaffigan. A substitute teacher today? How could Mr. Baxter be sick today of all days? They wouldn't have discussed anything to do with the farm, but just knowing he was here was enough to give Josh courage. This was a bad omen.

Someone bumped into him. "Come on, Hart. Quit blocking the doorway." It was Bill Johnson. He still had a light black eye even a few days later, but his nose looked fine. Tuesday he'd been in bad shape, but after he figured out Josh had nothing to do with Zach's attack, he'd been as friendly as ever. Though Josh wasn't sure how Bill would react Monday with Zach back in school.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Oh, sweet, a sub," Bill said. A murmur worked through the students coming into class, everyone anticipating an easy day. Once the shock of Mr. Baxter being out worked through him, Josh allowed himself a smile. Yeah, he could use an easy day. He found himself searching for a TV/VCR tower, but realized if there was a movie, it would be shown from the overhead projector onto the pull-down screen. That was a cool thing about being in one of the newer classrooms.

 
As the tardy bell rang and everyone took their seat, the sub called role. When she got to Josh's name and he raised his hand, she said, "Mr. Hart, I have a note for you from Mr. Baxter."

Josh endured the laughs and taunts. He knew the truth: Mr. Baxter had some final words of advice for him and Whisper. He held back a smile and did his best to put on a bored, almost annoyed look. As he returned to his seat, he gave his classmates a shoulder shrug saying he had no idea what it was about. Instead of ripping it open and reading it now, he stuffed it in his pocket. That way no one could take it from him and see what was really going on. Plus, since everyone figured it was bad news, it gave him a look of defying authority. He was sure by Monday no one would remember, so he wouldn't have to come up with a lie.

Class dragged by as instead of a movie, the sub had them read the next chapter and answer discussion questions. Mr. Baxter left a stack of office referrals in case anyone decided they'd rather talk or do something else, so everyone worked quietly. The sub even earned points by letting them work with partners. Since Zach wasn't there, Josh went it alone. He wondered if the sub knew he'd be spending 6th period in there. The handprint bruises were faded, but still visible. He'd be fine to go back to football conditioning on Monday, but not today. Hopefully Mr. Baxter remembered to mention it. He didn't want any big deal made.

His next class went no faster. He wanted to read Mr. Baxter's note, but by this time he figured he might as well wait for Whisper at lunch. That way they could make their final plans with whatever the note said. Plus she'd probably cuddle up next to him while they read it, and that would be nice.

Lunch mercifully came, and they met with a quick kiss. He led her to their new spot and pulled out the note. She nuzzled his neck as he opened it. If she was going to do that, he didn't care what it said, but unfortunately she stopped. She gave him a wicked smile when he looked over to her, and said, "We should probably stop fooling around and read what it says."

He scoffed. "I wasn't doing anything. That was all you."

Her grin melted to innocent, and he barked out a laugh. Then they turned their attention to Mr. Baxter's note.

"Mr. Hart and Ms. Douglas: I'm sorry I'm absent today, but since you are headed straight to the farm after school, you didn't need me there. I decided it best if I stayed home and conducted some final research. If I find anything that'll help with the banishing this afternoon, I'll hit you with a text message. Make sure you don't turn your phones on until after school, of course; you know the rules, and I won't be held responsible if you get your phones taken away. If you don't hear from me at all, it means I couldn't find anything pertinent, and continue on as planned. Good luck, and no matter how it goes, make sure you email me afterwards. Mr. Baxter.

"P.S. Mr. Hart--The substitute teacher knows you'll be there for 6th period. Do your homework in the back of the room, and I'm sure there will be no problems."

They read it over a couple of times to make sure they hadn't missed anything important, but it looked like no new information would come, if at all, until after school. He folded the note and placed it back in the envelope. He'd tear it up and throw it away later, but not here at school. He was also glad 6th period was taken care of.

Though Josh wasn't hungry, and Whisper admitted the same, they ate their lunches, both deciding it was best to have energy for that afternoon. When finished, they had a hard time not snuggling up with each other and making out; one of the lunch supervisors noticed them and made an obvious show of watching their behavior. They didn't want to get in trouble, so they occupied themselves with math homework. Soon after, the lunch bell rang, and Josh knew it would be a long two periods until school ended.

*****

Josh pulled his car into the farm driveway. They both ignored the sign, which today read, "Good luck. You will need it." He and Whisper made small talk on the way over, but he couldn't remember about what. It had been nothing more than to keep their minds occupied. Both knew the basic plan, so no need to rehash it over and over. Mr. Baxter sent one text telling them that he didn't find anything new, so go with what they had.

As they hopped out of the car, Zach and Kendra pulled up behind them. Kendra leaped out of the car and gave Whisper a big hug, then high-fived Josh. Zach came over and gave Josh a fist bump, and Whisper a little hello wave. Josh and Whisper shared a look. He wasn't sure if this was a show put on by the demon, or if they had temporarily broken free from her.

"So what's the plan?" Zach asked.

"You guys really want to help?" Josh asked.

"Yes. Why wouldn't we want to get rid of some yucky demon?"

Josh and Whisper shared another look. Slowly, gingerly, she said, "Well, we kind of thought you guys might still be possessed."

Zach and Kendra laughed.

"Possessed? Us?" Zach said.

"You guys are silly."

"I mean, maybe for a little while, but we're fine now. We just want to get rid of this bitch. Payback, yo."

"So the plan, Joshy?" Kendra asked.

"Okay. Why don't you two go in there and flush the demon out? We'll follow and before she knows it, we'll have her banished to whatever realm she came from."

"So just bring her out to the front of her house?" Zach asked.

"That should do it."

Zach and Kendra nodded. "That sounds too easy, Joshy. You don't need us to do anything else?"

He shook his head. "No, we have it from there." He looked at Whisper. "Ready?"

"I'm set."

"Okay. Go on, you two. We'll be there in a minute. Be careful."

"We're always careful."

With that, they walked towards the farm and disappeared around the safe corner without another word. Josh wasn't sure. They seemed normal enough, but it could all be a ruse. He wouldn't trust them until the demon was gone. He reached out and squeezed Whisper's hand.

"Shall we?" she said.

He nodded. They turned invisible, and hurried out to the fields towards the farmhouse. Even if Zach and Kendra were still against them, they should be able to get the banishing spell off before they could do anything. And if the trinkets were still in the field, it should be a slam dunk.

They ran past the oblivious ghosts and found Zach and Kendra leading the demon out of the house. Josh paid little heed to the demon's appearance before, more worried about the evil that bled off her. He remembered she looked about their age, and she was attractive, but that was it. Now he saw how really beautiful she was, though he still could feel so much evil that he didn't care. Was that part of his Ghost Between power, insulating him from her amplified charms? He guessed that was the case, and that's how she entrapped Zach and Kendra.

Whisper pointed down towards the dirt, and he looked down and saw one of the sacred trinkets glittering in the afternoon sun. They shared a smile and grabbed hands. With those scattered around, they could do it from right here, far enough away to be safe.

"Get them!" the demon shouted. Zach and Kendra looked around, not seeing through their invisibility. "There, you fools!" This time the demon pointed at them, and their invisibility dropped.

To Josh's dismay, the demon also caused their banishing power to drain a bit. It had built up almost to his shoulder, but now was back down almost to his elbow. They couldn't release it and hope for the best unless they were completely powered up. The ghosts that had been floating around zeroed in. Whisper gave him a panicked look, and he yelled, "Run!"

Before he could even take a step away, Zach tackled him. They slammed to the ground, shooting Josh's breath out of him. Zach didn't do anything else except keep him pinned to the ground. The ghosts zipped in and pounded into him. Their incorporeal form didn't feel that way. It was as if he was getting jumped by a huge gang. Was he bruising, like when the ghost in his room had choked him? How would he explain this, not just to his mom, but to everyone? But first things first; he needed to survive.

Though Zach didn't let him up, he did have his arms free enough to shield himself somewhat. He peeked over to see how Whisper was faring, and realized she'd managed to turn herself invisible again. Could he do it now, or was it too late? Before he tried, Kendra reared back and kicked him hard in the ribs. Had the demon foreseen all of this and had her wear her heavy boots on purpose, or was it a happy little coincidence?

"No!" Whisper yelled, and she threw herself at Kendra. They both splattered to the ground, but he saw the vacant smile still on Kendra's face. He guessed Zach probably wore the same expression.

Whisper's invisibility dropped as soon as she collided with Kendra, and the ghosts moved towards her. She was close enough for Josh to reach out and grip her ankle, and he willed off a burst of power, not really concentrating on anything except keeping the ghosts off of her. As it rushed out from him, the ghosts stopped, stunned. Both Zach and Kendra quit grappling, as well. Whisper crawled over to him and grabbed his hands. They concentrated and quickly fired off as big of a banishing spell as they could. Though it was nowhere near enough to get rid of the demon, the ghosts around them vanished. They stumbled to their feet before Zach and Kendra could recover.

Josh dragged Whisper towards the demon. "Let's finish this." Fear was draped over her face, but she nodded.

"Did you really think this would work?" the demon asked. "Did you think you two children would walk into my domain and defeat me? I snared your two friends so easily. You may have powers, but they're insignificant compared to me."