Ocean Cove

“What!” Lyla exclaimed on Tuesday afternoon when we were alone at lunch under one of the strong trees in the schoolyard. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? I told you I had a feeling she had a thing for you.”

Lyla was only pretending to be angry, but through the bond I knew there was still a little jealousy there, though I couldn’t understand why. But knowing she was jealous did make me feel a bit smug.

“Oh come on Lyla, you don’t have to be jealous, you know you’re my boo,” I teased and had immense pleasure in watching her blush.

“Sweet talker. Come on, we’ve got to get to class,” she said just after the bell signaling the end of lunch had rung. As we had different classes (I had Social Studies while she was going to Spanish) I said goodbye and watched her disappear into the rush of students.

After making sure she wasn’t too concerned with the bond at the moment, I was free to let myself worry about what I had been dwelling on for the past two days: Justin’s dad. I still hadn’t told anyone I saw that siduel on his arm, and that’s mainly because I couldn’t believe he could be the one trying to kill me. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t, but I couldn’t just tell Lyla or Hilda, as I had no idea how they would have dealt with it. Either way, I needed to find out more about Mr. Pollard and I decided the best way was to talk to Justin. After that I could tell the others because then I would be sure. I just needed a way to get Justin talking without him getting suspicious. To my relief, such an excuse came in Social Studies class.

“I want to issue all of you with a little challenge, something to make things interesting,” Mrs. Cox said as she walked around the room. “I want you all to get into groups of twos or threes and research the History of one of the members. Go as far back as possible. Once you have done that, write about it. Not just about the family tree, as past students have done, but about the family’s history. Make it exciting, but don’t fictionalize it. This is to be finished in two weeks time.”

I could have done back flips then and there. Mrs. Cox had no idea how much easier she’d made my task, though it would have been nice without the extra homework. I almost swore in shock when I saw Amanda Bambang, who I knew thought Justin was God’s gift to women, heading towards him and I knew she wasn’t going to work in threes.

I pushed my table away and went over to him. In shock, I could have sworn I saw Amanda break into a fast-paced walk to try to beat me there, but as I was only two tables away and she was across the room, so I got there first.

“What’s wrong with Amanda?” Justin asked when I sat down at his table. I guess he saw the strong look of contempt she shot at me.

“Not a clue,” I dropped my books on his desk. “Let’s get started. Hey, I have an idea.

Why don’t we work on your dad?” I said with my book open and pen ready.

“Really dedicated to this class, aren’t you?” Justin joked. “Why do you wanna work on my dad, though? Really, my mom’s family history is much more interesting. Listen, the story is, her ancestors were part of a group of villagers that just disappeared overnight. When people from the neighboring village came to visit the next morning, they found everyone gone. Never seen again.”

“I’d rather… wait, what? Really?” I said with interest, momentarily distracted.

“Yeah,” Justin continued excitedly, “when they searched the villages, everything was still there, clothes, potter, everything. Only the people were gone. The story goes, there was no sign

of a struggle or fight or anything, but there was a strong, thick fog that passed through the village the night they disappeared.”

“Wow,” I whispered as I thought about it for a while, then shook my head as I remembered the matter at hand. “Well that is pretty cool, but I’d rather research your dad, I bet it would be easier to find facts about his family.”

Justin shrugged and agreed. As the class was full and now getting pretty noisy, we packed up our stuff and with Mrs. Cox, headed off to the library.

“So, what exactly do you want to know about my dad, keeping in mind I don’t know everything of his family history?” Justin said, once we found secluded seats in the library.

“Everything there is to know.” Justin started telling all he knew about his father’s family and for the first ten minutes it was so normal that I started to think maybe he wasn’t the one, that is until something Justin thought was important caught my attention.

“Wait, did you just say your dad grew up on a Somorian reserve?”

“Yeah,” Justin said, thinking on it. “My dad’s parents divorced when he was pretty young, so he was back and forth between them and his father was a Somorian, so yeah.”

I tried not to seem concerned. “How much does your father know about his Somorian heritage?”

“Quite a bit. Granddad wanted him to know about his Somorian family,” Justin chuckled a bit. “Actually, my dad said Granddad wanted to teach him about Somorian legends, but Dad just wasn’t into that sort of thing.”

Well then, how did he get a siduel too? I wondered.

“Did he have many friends on the reserve?” I pressed. I had to be sure if there was a connection somewhere, but from the suspicious look on his face, Justin was catching on.

“Why would you want to know that?” He asked, eyebrows raised.

“Just merely interested,” I said quickly, “can’t help it.” I don’t know if Justin bought that or not, but he went on anyway.

“Yeah, he had a couple friends there. He even kept in touch with them after he stopped

going.”

“Hmm, there’s one more thing, is your dad a first born?”

“Yeah, he is,” Justin replied. To be honest, I really wasn’t surprised by that.

“What’s wrong?” Justin said, catching the strange look on my face.

“It’s nothing. Something just went through my mind. Anywho, let’s see how much further back we can go.”

* * *

I knew I’d promised myself I would go to Hilda and Lyla with what I knew, but I just couldn’t bring myself to, not yet anyway. I couldn’t explain why, except I just felt it couldn’t be Mr. Pollard, so I kept quiet on the information for a couple more days at the risk of, well… my life.

I can’t really say what I was waiting for, except some kind of divine sign that would tell me if I was wrong or not, but as always, it wasn’t that easy.

When we last spoke with Hilda, she seemed convinced the attack would happen any day soon, but by Thursday evening I hadn’t seen a single ghost and the crystal hadn’t even grown warm.

I wasn’t stupid enough to think the attacker had given up, but I’d started to think that maybe with time Hilda would find a way to stop the ghost before they attacked.

That evening when I got home from school I was surprised to find Chris there, deep in conversation with my dad.

“Hey, you’re looking a lot better now,” I commented after I got a good look at him. I was glad to see the greenish tinge to his skin was gone, giving way to its usual tan color. And from the look in his eyes, I knew his strength had returned.

“Thanks. I feel a lot better. I guess all I needed was a little rest,” he said, opening his arms as if I would be able to see his renewed spirit. “So, where’s Lyla? You’re usually with her whenever I see you,” Chris asked as he sat back down. It wasn’t meant as an insult, but it certainly did sting.

“She went out with her parents, but she told me she would drop by later.” Actually, Lyla went swimming with her parents.

“What’s this?” I asked when I saw an envelope addressed to us in beautiful handwriting on the dining table.

“Oh that. That’s a formal invitation. The Morgans are holding a dinner party and we’re invited,” Dad explained as he got up from the couch with Chris to go to the kitchen to help Mom. I picked it up. It was already open, so it took it out and read:

We, The Morgan Family, are very pleased to invite you,,

The Rowland family,

To a formal dinner party that will be held in the

honor of our daughter, Lyla Morgan’s 17th birthday.

The formal party will take place on

October 31st at 7pm at our residence

RSVP

Salathia Morgan

The letter was hand-written by Salathia. It was so beautiful, yet it looked almost impossible.

Coming from the letter was an alluring mixture of roses and sea breeze, Salathia’s scent.

“Are we going?” I asked curiously. I heard Mom and Dad chuckle from the kitchen.

“Like we’re gonna keep you from this after all the horrible pain we inflicted on you by bringing you here.” Mom joked.

“Everyone’s going,” Chris said, “even I got an invitation. I wouldn’t be surprised if more people than were invited show up.”

As I laughed at his joke, something came to me. It was a wonder these ideas didn’t come to me any sooner. I dropped my backpack by the stairs and headed back to the door.

“Mom, Dad, there’s something I have to do. Don’t worry, I should be back before dinner.” I said this quickly before they could get a word in and was out the door.

Minutes later I pulled up outside Jack’s house on the Somorian reserve (I’d used my bike as it was close) but unfortunately Kristian and two of his friends were outside. I took a deep breath, then hopped of the bike, suddenly a little tense.

“Is your dad home? I need to speak with him.” Kristian’s friends started sneering, like they found something amusing, but Kristian didn’t look at all like he found the situation funny.

“Why would you…” he responded, repulsed, “…need to see my father?” He began advancing on me, but stopped when he noticed his father coming towards us.

“I’m sure he doesn’t have to tell you why he wants to see me.”

I wasn’t surprised when Kristian looked away from his father’s face, because the annoyance there was obviously aimed at him.

“Go lock up the garage, now.” Jack said softly but firmly. Without a word Kristian walked off towards his father’s garage, his friends following behind him.

“Come on in, Chase,” Jack said, turning to walk back into the house. He led me into the living room. “What can I help you with?” He asked once we were seated and I’d refused refreshments.

“Actually, this time I wanted to ask you about someone. What can you tell me about Anderson?”

“You mean Anderson Pollard?” Jack said, completely surprised. I nodded. “A few days ago he was at our house and I saw the death magic siduel on his arm. I asked Justin about him and he said Anderson’s father was a Somorian. I didn’t even know that. And Justin also told me Anderson used to spend a lot of time with his Somorian relatives when he was younger.”

Jack was silent. I couldn’t tell if he was considering what I’d said or if he was thinking of what to say, but I could tell he knew something more.

“Well Chase, I actually know Anderson very well and even though all you’ve said is true, I know he’s not the one after you. You see, I’ve known him ever since he was a boy and even up to now, he still doesn’t believe in Somorian legends. He thinks they’re just myths. As for the tattoo,” Jack shifted uneasily in his seat, “I should have explained to you before. The language of death magic is very old and became lost to common knowledge hundreds of years ago. There are a few Somorian who study it, not to use it in the hopes of reconstructing the language, not to use it at all, but simply to regain a part of our history. Anderson got that tattoo not because of magic, but because of what it means: summoning strength. At least that’s how most people

translate it. It actually means summoning power from darkness. But we didn’t know that when we were younger and as Anderson doesn’t believe in our magic, that tattoo is useless to him.”

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard that. To think of all the trouble I could have caused had I told Lyla or Hilda. Someone was still out there who wanted me dead, but at least it wasn’t Justin’s dad. Something else came to me.

“Justin also told me Anderson’s a first born, so why doesn’t he have any magic?”

“That sometimes happens. The power can skip the first born and go to another child or not be passed on at all. It happens. In Anderson’s case, it wasn’t passed on at all.”

I thanked Jack and stood up to leave when one more question occurred to me.

“Do you have any magic?” Jack smiled as he stood up and led me to the door.

“That would make helping you so much easier, but no. I don’t have any powers. I’m actually the third and last of my parents’ children, which is why I have such a fascination with magic, because I never had it.”

“But I thought you said siblings without magic are never told of it.”

“That’s correct,” he admitted, “but my family didn’t tell me. I met Alisa when we were in our teens and she was a lot more rebellious back then. The rules said one thing so she had to do the opposite. I think she probably only told me to get on her parents bad side,” Jack scratched his beard as he remembered days long passed. “She’s the one with the magic, not me.”

After that, we said goodbye and, I hopped back on my bike and rode away.

When I got home it was a little later than I expected. The sun had already disappeared, though outside wasn’t completely dark yet. It was more of a deep purple.

There was a strong wind blowing loudly, rustling the leaves still clinging tightly to the trees and carrying the sound of the waves crashing against cliffs far inland.

After dinner I simply went up to my room to wait for Lyla and decided to get started on my homework to pass the time, but as soon as I’d settled down, that strange magnetic feeling took hold of me and I knew where I had to go. I pushed my books to one side of the table and prepared to go down to the beach.

By now complete darkness had come, but a bright moon provided all the light I needed. Taking my shoes off and keeping them in my hand, I started walking across the beach. It was low tide and I was able to cross some rocks that otherwise would have been underwater, until I was under a small space under our cliff where I sat on a damped rock and dipped my feet into one of the pools of water left behind when the tide went out. In the other pools around me were all sorts of sea creatures such as small fish, crabs, snails, star fish and even a few eels.

Just then, a familiar presence came over me and a smile slid onto my face.

“Did you enjoy your evening without me?”

“Only the thought of your return got me through the time,” I teased as I placed my shoes on a dry patch. Lyla sat down on a rock next to me. She was wearing a short jeans and a plain white tank top.

“How did you find down here, anyway?”

“It’s funny really, cause I probably never would have if it wasn’t for our connection.”

The light under here wasn’t good, but as usual, I could see Lyla quite well and she looked confused, so I explained further.

“Well, sometimes I get this strange feeling that pulls me to you. I’m not sure I can explain it properly, but it like this magnetic pull that just takes hold of me and the closer I get to you, the stronger it gets.”

“Amazing,” Lyla whispered. “And that’s what led you here?”

I nodded.

“Wait a minute, how come that doesn’t happen with me?”

I shrugged. “Maybe it’s something only I can do.” That made me feel a little smug, as though she could walk into my dreams as she pleased.

“You never told me about that.”

“In the excitement over, well everything, it slipped my mind.”

We stayed silent for a while. I felt something pinch me in the small of my back and pulled a small crab off my shirt.

“Come on, let’s go for a swim,” Lyla suggested, getting up.

“You just came from the water,” I reminded her, taken aback. Lyla simply gave me a look. I chuckled and said, “Oh, right. Aquamun.”

I don’t know exactly know what it was, but whenever Lyla suggested we do something, it was like all logic and common sense left me, allowing me to do whatever it was she wanted without fear. It was something I hoped would never change.

We ducked out from under the space in the cliff and as soon as we were out, Lyla ran gracefully back into the water, disappearing under a particularly large wave, which meant high tide was on its way back.

I, on the other hand, first walked back over to the beach before I joined her. Going back across the rocky path want as easy as the first time. The water was quickly rising and it was making it hard to stay on the rock. I kept slipping.

The sea hadn’t yet reclaimed the little space under the cliff, but it had already started on the rocks and boulders beyond. The water was now bashing against my knees was some force, though I was able to put up a proper resistance.

No matter how old I was, I knew if my parents (well, Mom anyway) knew how close I was to being caught in high tide, let’s just say Dad would be more understanding than Mom, but they would both be livid.

Once on the beach again I started to strip down to my boxers and immediately felt the cold air start to bite every inch of my exposed skin.

Even though I couldn’t see Lyla--she could have been miles away by now if she wanted--I still went willingly into the chomping jaws of the ocean. It was the same as all those months before when I’d fallen of the cliff. The water was so cold that after a few seconds my body felt like it was going numb, but then I felt two soft lips caress the lower part of my neck which, at the same time as calming me down, warmed my whole body.

We stayed afloat for some time, just swimming around, and after a while she didn’t have to keep holding me as the water started to feel warm enough for me. Before long I found my way back to the sand and simply lay there on my back with my eyes closed.

From the moment I did, my body started to relax. I hadn’t slept well in days and with all that had been going on, I wasn’t surprised at how tired my brain really was.

“I haven’t felt this relaxed in a while,” I whispered, the words effortlessly leaving my mouth as I felt Lyla’s head rest on my chest.

She remained quiet.

“I want to ask you something. You may not want to answer.”

“What is it?” she replied calmly, without hesitation.

I smiled to myself before I spoke.

“What is it you love about me? I know our connection allows you to love me as Aquamuns can’t fall in love with humans, but what is it you find so appealing about me?”

For reasons I couldn’t even think of, Lyla laughed for a couple seconds.

“The night I first met you, when I pulled you from the water, I remember thinking when I looked at you that you were an even sadder-looking person than I was. And to be honest, that’s the first thing that got me interested in you, because I wondered what a human could be going through that would make my life seem a little better.”

There was a tinge of guilt in her voice.

Looking up at the stars, I realized I wasn’t angry that Lyla was first attracted to me because of what I felt. Actually, I was glad for her interest in me, whatever the reason.

“After that, everything about your life, about you, seemed to appeal to me.”

She rose, turned over and propped on her elbows, her hands under her chin.

“You’re right about the bond.” She looked down at me. “It allowed me to fall in love with you, but it’s not why I love you. I love you because there is something normal and non-supernatural that draws me to you.”

Lyla lowered her voice, not for secrecy, but for intimacy. When she spoke, her words seemed to flow magically. It was like they danced on the soft air on their way from her lips to my ears.

“Even now I’m not fully sure of what it is, but when I look at you, I can see it in your face. Sometimes it’s like I can see it right there in your eyes, but can never tell what it is. But it’s not like I need to know. At least, not yet. A girl likes a little mystery sometimes.”

She lowered her head and the way she kissed me made me feel like I’d been drugged. It was a welcomed feeling. This was something I wouldn’t mind getting hooked on.

“Yeah,” I admitted, “A little mystery is a good thing.”

* * *

I knew Lyla very well. I could even say better than any human, so I knew even though my theory about Justin’s dad was wrong, Lyla would still have wanted to know, and when she did find out--I was going to tell her, when I got enough courage--I knew she was going to be pissed. The longer I took, the worse it was going to be.

With that in mind, I finally decided to tell her on Friday evening after school. So the next day when she and I were eating lunch with the others, I was a little distracted. To add to the craziness was my worrying about the attack.

According to Lyla, Marcus and Salathia spoke with Hilda, but she told them the spell she was going to cast was taking a little longer to prepare than she originally thought, which meant I was still in danger in spite of the crystal.

“I think she likes you,” was all I heard Justin say. As he was sitting opposite me, I realized he was looking over my shoulder at someone behind me.

“What?” I said with an embarrassed giggle.

Lyla was sitting on my left and for a couple seconds her eyes flickered to someone sitting behind me in the cafeteria, then back to me. A small smile spread across her beautiful lips.

“You’re very… appealing, aren’t you?” she said. At that moment I shoved two forkfuls of mashed potatoes into my mouth and washed them down with a swing of Mountain Dew, not because I was hungry, but so I wouldn’t have to say anything. Lyla felt my slight amusement through bond.

She pushed her half-eaten lunch away and stood up like it was an Olympic sport.

“I’ve got to go. I promised I’d help tutor in the library.” No doubt because she felt through the link I thought she was leaving to get away from me.

Lyla ran her hand through my hair and told me she would see me later. Lyla might not have felt anything at hearing about the girl--I had a feeling it was Kimberly--but as she walked

across the room I felt an uncontrollable pang of guilt flit through me as the ogling eyes of most of the boys in the room followed her out of the cafeteria and I filled up with jealously.

I was just about to sallow another mouthful of mashed potatoes when I felt a hand clap forcefully twice in the middle of my back, which resulted in me almost coughing up everything.

“Let me guess, she couldn’t stand to be around you anymore,” Dre said as he sat down in Lyla’s vacated seat, smirking. I wanted nothing more at that moment than to punch his teeth down his throat, but I contented myself with contemptuous look I gave him and returned to my lunch.

Everyone at the table seemed poised for trouble except Nikolai, who was watching Dre with a slightly smug expression which, surprisingly, he ignored.

“So I was right.” He leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. “I know you only want one thing from her and from the look of things,” he glanced at Lyla walking away, then back to me, “you’re not getting what you want. Maybe she doesn’t think you’re man enough.” He taunted with a nasty sneer. What really surprised me was how easy it was to ignore him.

I just couldn’t help answering him.

“You really are an idiot. I’m not with Lyla just for sex, which is what you’re implying. I’ve never even thought about it.” To be honest, that was a lie. I really did think about it, but that was something I would keep to myself.

“Love and lust,” I pushed my chair back and got up, “are two completely different things. Maybe you should learn to tell the difference before you go mouthing a bunch of crap.”

“I just want you two to remember that’s my sister you’re talking about. You might want to watch what you say!” Nikolai exclaimed to both of us. His tone held a strong touch of loyalty.

When I picked up my bag, the bell sounded for the end of lunch. As I was on my way to Math, I ran into Lyla on her way back to the library and right there, for reasons I couldn’t

explained, I took hold of her, pulled her into a corner of the corridor and explained everything about my suspicions about Justin’s dad.

Like I suspected, she was upset that I had kept this from her. When I was finished with my carefully worded confession, I watched the small smile on her face quickly turn into a frown and her eyebrows contracted in anger.

“Why is it you seem to want to do such dangerous things on your own? I would have thought after the spirit world incident, you would have thought better. But maybe you don’t trust even me. If you want to do this all on your own, go ahead. You should get to class, I’ve got to get back to the library.”

She walked past me and didn’t look back despite my calling out to her. I considered going after her, but decided it was best to leave her to herself for a while. So, slightly bummed out, I headed off to Math. I got there a couple minutes late and sat at the back of the class next to an old cabinet.

Mr. Basel, the math teacher, was a small and very old teacher who was probably approaching eighty. Unlike many other teachers, he never tried to get students to pay attention to him or the work we were doing because it was his belief that if we took the subject seriously we would be attentive. That was fine by me because I wasn’t very interested in Math today with so much on my mind, plus it was so hard to think with the room being so hot. Near the end of the lesson my chest felt so uncomfortable with heat I had to unbutton the front of my shirt for some air, but this did no good.

“Ouch,” I exclaimed when the middle of my chest burned like someone had pressed a hot coin there. At that moment, I was looking into the reflective glass of the cabinet when I realized it was the crystal that burned me, but at that same moment, looking at me in the glass was an old woman with a shrunken face and wearing clothes that would have fit in 1850. I glanced nervously around, but didn’t see anyone out of place.

What did it mean? Was she a ghost? That I didn’t know, but the crystal was burning like.. I could only keep it off my chest by holding it by the chain, still on my neck, so I knew danger was near.

I looked back at the glass and saw that the old woman was reaching out to me, or at least me in the mirror. She grabbed my reflection in the mirror. She took my throat with both hands and squeezed… hard. To my horror, I began choking and gasping for air as invisible fingers tightened around my neck like a vice grip on a twig. That’s how fragile I felt. My hands automatically flew to my neck but felt nothing but my own flesh and skin.

By now everyone had turned to watch me, including Mr. Bassell, who just stood still, at a loss of what to do. A few students rushed toward me, but they couldn’t help.

As my hand scraped and pulled at my neck, my fingers pulled the necklace. At once the heat from the crystal disappeared, but a kind of unpleasant electric shook passed through my body and through my vision which was starting to get a little blurry. It looked like everyone else felt it too. When I looked into the mirror again the old woman had relinquished her hold on me and disappeared. I started coughing badly, but thankfully.

Seeing I was no longer in distress, everyone was crowding around me and asking if I was okay and what had happened. Just then the end of lesson bell went off, and I took that chance to grab my bag and run out of class, with everyone’s eyes on me.

At that moment I didn’t care if Lyla was angry with me, I just needed to find her. Not because I thought she could fight ghosts, but because I needed to know she was safe. I knew if I was near her, everything would be alright.

A hand grabbed me and pulled me out of the corridor of rushing students.

“Where were you attacked?” Nikolai said as his eyes swept the corridor as though he was looking for something.

I nodded and at the same time the crystal began to burn again. About half a dozen ghosts appeared, all of them looking barely solid and even paler than Nick.

“They’re here,” he said to me.

“How do you know that?” I asked, surprised as we joined the students back in the corridor.

“They seem to be giving out a strange aura I can detect, but I can’t determine a specific position.”

We ran to the Library, found Lyla there and filled her in about the attack. At once, it seemed her anger towards me disappeared. She wasn’t going to let it get in the way of keeping me safe. She motioned us outside.

“We’ve got to get out of here. Those ghosts are strong enough to hurt you now, but just because you’re the target doesn’t mean they won’t hurt others. Plus we need to get…”

Lyla stopped as we were about to pass the office. At first I thought she was looking at a teacher, but when I walked forward a bit, I saw four ghosts standing right in our path. I suddenly got a strange thought to look back and when I did, I saw the same old lady from the mirror flanked by a much younger man and a little girl no older than seven.

Lyla grabbed my hand and pulled me into a run. It was the first time I ever moved at such speed on land. If it wasn’t for Lyla, I’m sure I would have been hurt. When we stopped a half second later, we were next to Sheila. Lyla got in the passenger seat, so I climbed in the driver’s seat.

“Where’s Nick?” I said hurriedly as I started the engine and realized I hadn’t seen him.

“I told him to go to Hilda, so she would know it’s happening. We need her help,” Lyla said.

I exclaimed in pain as the crystal burned my chest again. I was looking into the rearview mirror to back out of my parking space when I saw the ghost of a teenage boy sitting in the back seat. He was different from the others. Every inch of him was covered with water, but even though it was running off him, not a spot of the seat seemed to be wet.

With speed similar to the Aquamuns, he rushed forward and plunged his hand through my seat and into my chest. It was the most painful thing I’d ever felt in my life. I was actually afraid my heart was going to explode.

Using my peripheral vision I saw Lyla pull something from under her seat and with lightning speed, slash something sliver through the ghost. It vanished at once.

“What was that?” I said after catching my breath and driving away. Lyla held up a silver candle stick holder for me to see.

“Ghosts are weak against sliver, that’s why I brought this along.”

“A candle stick holder,” I said incredulously, obviously still in shock. Having your heat squeezed by a ghost wasn’t pleasant.

“Well, I couldn’t bring a knife in case we got searched, now could I?” Lyla said calmly.

After a while there was no more activity and I began to calm down, until we were close to Hilda’s house and the crystal grew white hot again. But this time, before I could even realize it, the car was filled with them and many others were blocking our path.

“We could drive through them,” I suggested after we had got rid of the ones in the car.

“The car won’t be fast enough.” The fear in Lyla’s voice found its way through the bond and into me. There was no other choice. I grasped the crystal tightly. That same unpleasant electric shock passed through me again and this time Lyla. Every one of the ghosts, as far as we could see anyway, vanished.

“That did come in handy,” Lyla said, sounding relieved, “but the next one should be the

last.”

I looked over at Lyla withthe crystal still clinched in my hand. “That was the second time. The first was by accident.”

“Then we’ve got to get to Hilda’s. Fast.” Lyla’s phone rang and she answered it. She didn’t say anything until after a few seconds. “We’ll be right there.” She hung up. “Hilda found the spell to put the spirits back to rest, but she needs you to be there for it to work.”

The rest of the drive to Hilda’s house felt long and silent. I still felt Lyla’s anger at me, but despite that she reached out and squeezed my arm reassuringly. I looked over at her and smiled.

Before Hilda’s house came into view, the crystal began burning again. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to take it off.

“Don’t you dare lose that Chase Rowland,” Lyla said angrily.

“I’m not going to lose it, Lyla. Besides it’s almost out of power.”

“I’m not speaking about the magic,” she clarified.

“Don’t worry, I won’t lose it.”

I was starting to get scared, but didn’t want Lyla to know. And it was the degree of heat that had me panicked. I came to realize that the greater the danger, the hotter the crystal grew, and right now it was so hot even the chain on which the crystal hung was getting unbearable to hold.

When we turned into the gap to Hilda’s house; that’s when I saw them. More ghosts than I could ever count. I started to breathe quickly. I looked over at Lyla and saw she was worried, but she gripped the silver candle stick holder tightly.

“I’ll get out of the car first and make a path for you.”

“No. they’ll hurt you.” I pleaded, trying to hold her back, but she simply shrugged

me off.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, looking at me meaningfully, her deep sea blue eyes were somehow burning red. She hopped out of the car and bounded toward the ghosts. As

she had predicted, it didn’t matter that they were supposed to be coming after me; they saw nothing wrong with attacking Lyla too.

Nonetheless, she fought her way through them with the candlestick holder. If I didn’t know better, I would have said she was doing some kind of dance with them, because she looked like she was doing it with such grace. I was amazed at how well she fought. I’d never seen Lyla, or anyone in fact, move like that in real life. She was slashing through them faster than my eyes could keep up with.

At first I thought this was going to work in our favour after all, but before that thought was even complete they all came back, all of them, and they attacked Lyla again at once.

Whether they could hurt her or not I neither knew, nor waited to see. I got out of the car and as soon as I did, they surrounded me. For the last time, I squeezed the crystal in my hand. The last blast wasn’t as strong as the first two, but it was just as effective. Every one of the ghosts vanished before our eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked Lyla as I rushed over to her.

“I’m fine, but the crystal—“

“It doesn’t matter. Come on!” I shouted, grabbing her hand and running towards Hilda’s house.

“They’re back!” Lyla shouted. Despite being mere feet from Hilda’s door. I turned around, and dozens upon dozens of ghosts were advancing slowly on us, as though they knew they had won, so there was no rush.

At that moment, Hilda burst out of the house with Nikolai behind her. Clinched in her hand was a bowl which I supposed contained whatever it was she needed.

It was as if the ghosts understood what was about to happen, because they all turned and charged at Hilda, but before they got too close, Nikolai lit a match and threw

it into the bowl. There was a huge explosion of light which, when it made contact with the spirits, seemed to burn them. They all withered and screamed as bright red flames engulfed them, and after a few seconds they exploded and left behind a huge cloud of ash which drifted on the air as easily as leaves in a slight gust.

For some reason none of us could take our eyes of the drifting ash, like they possessed a hypnotic magic of their own. However, they quickly disintegrated, releasing us from their hold. This was finally over, at least for now.

I’d turned to thank Hilda, but shocked had taken over my relief.

“Hilda—no!” I shouted. Nikolai and Lyla were already crouching by her.

Hilda had collapsed.