The Ghost Files 2 (The Ghost Files - Book 2) (15 page)

“Dan, the people I saved you from are…dangerous, but her father, he’s a monster. No matter what she’s suffered in foster care, it can’t compare to what those people could do to her.”

“Who, Mom?” Dan’s voice has gone hard, cold. He sounds so grown up. “I want a name.”

“I can’t, Dan,” she whispers. “I promised Amanda I’d keep her daughter safe…”

“How would your sister feel knowing you let her daughter grow up in one abusive foster home after another, left her all alone in the hospital after she’d been attacked and left for dead? What would she say to you?”

“You don’t understand, that girl, she’s different, she’s a monster…”

I flinch and catch my breath.

“How dare you!” Dan’s voice is soft, silky, deadly. “She’s a monster? What did she ever do but try to survive? You’re the monster here for what you let happen to her. You knew who she was and yet you ignored her. Now tell me, Mother,
who is she
?”

“I won’t…”

“Give me a name.”

I have a feeling they’re at a Mexican stand-off, neither willing to budge.

“I can’t believe you’re being this selfish,” Dan says, disgusted. “I’ve been agonizing over whether to call and warn you all day.”

“Warn me?” she asks, alarmed.

“I already talked to the Malone’s,” he says. “I didn’t know if I should warn you or not. Mr. Malone hasn’t done anything yet, but his sons might turn you in. They may already have and do you know who told me to call you, to warn you because you’re my mom and you love me? The girl you’re calling a monster. She hasn’t tried to call the cops, she’s told me all day that it doesn’t matter what you did, that you’re my mom and no matter what, you love me and I love you.
She
told me to call and warn you so you could get away because she knows how much I love you. That’s the girl you’re refusing to help. She’s the only one fighting for you right now because you’re my mom!”

She’s very quiet after Dan’s outburst, but it did bring Caleb barreling into the room. He must have heard Dan shouting. He looks from me to the phone and his eyes widen. He understands what’s going on. He doesn’t look mad or anything, just resigned. Maybe he put himself in Dan’s shoes, but he’s not staring holes into Dan like Eli’s been doing.

“A name, give me a name. She deserves that much for trying to help you after you did nothing but abandon her to one awful hellhole after another.”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “Please, Dan, don’t do this, don’t make me do this.”

“Now.”

I don’t have to look at him to know he has his cop face on. Caleb looks impressed.

“Ezekiel. Her father’s name is Ezekiel Crane.”

“Thank you,” Dan whispers. “Now, go upstairs, pack a bag and get out. Run, run as far and as fast as you can. You know I have to report this, please don’t be there when they come. Please, Mama, just run.”

Caleb lets out a long breath and closes his eyes. The woman who murdered his mother is on the other end of the phone and his brother is telling her to run.

“It’s too late,” he tells Dan.

We hear a muffled pounding on a door and I squeeze my arms around Dan as hard as I can. Oh no. They didn’t.

“Oh, God, Dan,” she whispers. “They’re at the door.”

“I’m sorry, Mama.” Tears are falling on my hands where they are wrapped around him. His voice is hoarse. “I’ll be on the first flight out in the morning.”

“I love you so much.” She’s crying and it makes a sob rip from Dan.

“I love you too, Mama.”

The phone disconnects and Dan falls forward, his body shaking from the sobs. Caleb lets himself back out and I just sit there, holding him.

I can’t even promise it’s going to be okay.

It’s never going to be okay again for him.

Chapter Seventeen

Caleb is snoozing in the chair and Dan is passed out on the bed. I wish I could pass out like the dead too, but sleep eludes me. The events of the last few days have caught up to me and my mind is racing a hundred miles a second. I have so many questions and…I
know my father’s name
. I can’t believe it. Ever since I can remember, I’ve dreamed about my dad. When I was a little girl, I’d imagine he’d come rescue me and we’d all live happily ever after. Those dreams died the older I became.

I always thought my dad abandoned us, walked out and never looked back. Mom never talked about him so I just assumed it hurt too much for her to speak of him. She’d left nothing to tell the Department of Social Services where to even start looking for him. Not a name or an address or a phone number. Now I understand why, she kidnapped me.

Dan mutters something and pulls my hand closer. He hasn’t let go of it for hours. He fell asleep clutching it and I just haven’t had the heart to pull it away from him. He’s the only person I’m comfortable enough with looking at them. My hands are still a little disfigured with pins in them that help to reshape the shattered bones. Scars crisscross them. The hammer Mrs. Olson used not only shattered bone, but skin and muscle as well. I’ll have scars for the rest of my life.

The silence is killing me. I need to be up and moving so my thoughts don’t drown me. Everyone agreed that I shouldn’t go anywhere by myself, but
I
never agreed to it. Sure, there’s some demon out for blood and a house full of ghosts that want to hurt me, but when is that anything new in my crazy messed up life?

I gently pull my hand from Dan’s death grip and slide off the bed. Neither Caleb nor Dan awakens. The floorboards don’t creak and the door doesn’t squeak when I open it. No one is in the hallway and I softly close the door behind me. I need time alone to think. I haven’t had that since the morning of the Dan and Meg incident. The plane doesn’t count because I was so freaked out I couldn’t calm down or relax.

It’s freezing out here, I realize. I’m barefoot so the floorboards are like ice. Doc said his friend experienced a lot of ghost activity on the second floor. Looking around, I don’t see anything obvious that screams ghost. Am I seriously considering going looking for the ghosts? Maybe. There was so much pain here, so many trapped souls screaming at me to stay away. Ever since embracing my abilities, the need to help the little buggers has grown exponentially. So not me. I keep trying to squelch the urge, but it just keeps rearing its ugly head.

The door at the far end of the hall slowly creaks open. I take a step toward it automatically and then pause. I’ve watched enough scary movies and slasher flicks to know better than to be the stupid chick who goes to check out the strange noise. I’ve sat in theaters and yelled at those girls. Seriously, it’s the lamest thing in the world to go looking for the why in a haunted house. I know better.

Do I go or do I run like a girl? Taking a deep breath, I start to walk. I know its crazy stupid, but the little voice inside dares me to go into the room. When I’m about six inches from the door it slams closed and I jump backward at least a foot. Wasn’t expecting that. Maybe it’s time to run like a girl.

Instead, I force myself back to the door and listen. Scratching. I hear scratching. I put my ear to the door and listen. It’s louder this time, level with my ear. Whatever is in there is listening to me, too. I know it as well as I know Meg would never be caught dead in a knock-off. There’s something in there and it’s daring me to come in.

Do I want to? Yes. I have a newfound respect for all those dumb girls that go off looking for the strange noise. It’s hard to walk away from it. You just need to know.

The temperature in the hallway has dropped to below freezing. The hum starts in my ears, like a thousand whispers all talking at once. My ear is still pressed to the door when someone on the other side starts to knock. I jerk away and take a few steps back.

Giggles sound to my left and I turn to look, but see nothing. Footsteps pound up and down the stairs. The hallway lights dim and flicker. Don’t go out, don’t go out, don’t go out, I beg. I
hate
the dark anymore. Bad things happen in the dark.

The lights flicker once more and die, plunging me into total darkness. I blink several times, trying to force my eyes to adjust quicker to the utter black surrounding me. Just flippin' great.

The footsteps start up the stairs again, but they don’t go back down. These are heavier than before. It was kids before, but not now. The footsteps keep coming once they hit the landing. They echo closer and I realize they are coming towards me.

The door in front of me creaks open.

I’m trapped between the two of them. There’s nowhere to go.

I swallow hard, hearing the footsteps come to a stop beside me. Ice settles into my bones. It hurts. They ache and scream in protest. The whispers are gone except for one. I close my eyes and focus on it, listening, telling myself over and over, that I will hear it.

“Little girls shouldn’t be out of bed all alone…”

My eyes pop open. I heard that. Clear as day.

“
Who are you?”
I whisper the question in my mind.

“
Someone who punishes children for disobeying the rules.”

“Did you grab me before?”

He laughs.
“No, but had I seen you I would have. Come into my room, little girl. Let me show you what happens when you disobey.”

Uh, no, not gonna happen.
“I don’t think so.”

The cold intensifies, and it burns its way through me. The ghost standing beside me takes another step towards me and I shudder, trying hard not to run screaming down the hall. I’m not sure what will happen if I run and I don’t want to know, either.

Instead, I turn my head slightly and much to my surprise, I can see the ghost standing beside me. He is a large man, heavy set and wearing overalls like a farmer. He’s swinging an axe back and forth. It drips blood, spraying the dark substance as it swings. I swallow. His gray eyes are flat, empty and cold. The malice emanating from him eats at me. He enjoys hurting people.

The ghost standing in front of me causes me to shrink back against the wall as far as I can get. He’s shrouded in darkness, but his eyes, his eyes I can see clearly. They are bright, shining with glee. It isn’t anger or rage that comes from him. I’ve never felt anything like it except for once. My mind thinks back to the dream I had in Dan’s place, the one where I woke up with my wrist bleeding. The man in that dream exuded the same kind of…evil that this one does. It terrifies me.

He leans closer and sniffs. The smile that lights his face makes me cringe.
“You smell good, girlie. So much energy…I will feast on you for days.”

“Who are you?”
I ask again.
“Did you live here before?”
Maybe if I can get him to talk, I can figure out how to escape without causing myself any harm.

His finger runs down my cheek. I gag at the stench of rot. He smells like my old ninth grade science experiment where I recorded the rate of decomposition of a piece of meat left out in the sun.

“Should I let Mikey here have at you first?”
he whispers against my cheek, his breath foul.
“He has been so patient, waiting for someone like you. Do you know why that is, little girl?”

I shake my head, unable to answer. Fear is beginning to spiral out of from the center of my stomach and spread through me.

“You smell of the void, The Between. Your light shines as bright as the light of Heaven. Mikey here, he needs that light to live, to sustain himself.”
He leans into me, and I want to scream, but I can’t.
“You are a piece of the divine, gone and come again. Your energy can sustain us both for a millennium.”

“That’s what you do?”
I ask snidely. Fear has always makes me react badly. I go on the offensive and usually say things I shouldn’t
. “Go around snacking on little girls like a perv? You’re nothing but a coward.”

“Hmm,”
he whispers.
“You need to learn some respect, little girl. By the time we’re done with you, you’ll be begging for mercy and I won’t have any. You’ll be here forever with us, feeding us.”

“Yeah, about that…never gonna happen, creep. I don’t do old pervy men.”

He laughs and it hurts my ears. His hands stroke my bare arms and I shudder in revulsion. It only makes him chuckle.

“Why am I not surprised you’re out here by yourself?”

I turn my head slightly and see Eli glaring at me as he advances, his sword in hand. The ghosts take one look at him and vanish. I slide down the wall, my feet giving out. I have never been so glad to see someone in my entire life.

“What are you doing up so late?” I whisper when he sits down beside me.

“I was on monitor duty,” he says. “I saw you up here and then the equipment went crazy. Figured I should come see what kind of trouble you’d gotten yourself into.”

“Did you see them?” I ask, shivering at the memory of his hands on me.

He nods and switches the blade back and forth in his hands. It’s a telling movement. He was worried, is worried, and trying hard not to show it.

“Why were you talking to them?” he asks. “It was a foolish thing to do.”

“Ghosts always talk to me.” I shrug. “Could you hear what we were saying?”

“No.” He shifts closer to me. “You were talking out loud though, so I could guess. Pervy old man, huh?”

I smile and shake my head. I really should learn to control my mouth. The ghost might have done some real damage if Eli hadn’t come along.

“How do you kill them?” I ask. Those two need to pass over to what awaits them. I so hope they end up down under suffering the same fate as they’ve caused so many others.

“You have to salt and burn the bones to really kill them,” Eli tells me. “The sword here will do it as well. It’s a holy blade, supposedly blessed by God himself.”

“You sound as if you doubt that,” I say, hearing the sarcasm at the end of his statement.

“Not sure I believe in the whole God thing.” He shrugs. “I’ve seen too much to believe someone up there gives a damn.”