by AJ Sherwood
“Look, I don’t like it either.” Falisa spread her hands in a helpless shrug. “But I’ve been ordered to let him work. Unless he does something inexcusable, he’s to work.”
“Who is he related to?” Eli asked suspiciously.
Quinn was just as suspicious. “Or does he have dirty pictures of someone’s wife?”
Falisa grimaced. “Could be either. I don’t know. I do know they’re giving him every chance. Trouble is, he’s not really interested in taking them. Anyway, let’s get in and get this done. Maybe all our plans will work this time, and we can get this settled.”
“Don’t jinx us like that,” I complained to her, ducking back into the vehicle. “Alright, two more Super Soakers, who wants them?”
I handed off the water guns—one of them even had a tank for the user to wear like a backpack—with Brandon and Quinn picking up multiple bags of salt. It amused me to no end that, even though Eli and I were a sure thing when it came to our men, they still felt this need to show off for us.
We walked through the front door to find that, while Delaney had entered, he’d not gone far. Or done anything useful. I wasn’t even surprised.
Yesterday, we’d done a lot of prepping and planning for this, so we all knew what to do. Falisa and Ken tackled the two hallways, blocking them off entirely with salt and seals on the walls. Eli and Booker did the same on the stairway going up, and the elevator. Brandon and I cleared the main room of glass, sweeping it all up and into a large trash can before laying out four circles of salt with a gas lantern in each to give us safe places to dart into, in case we needed them.
Brandon and I made several trips to the SUV, bringing back every light we had, from portable LEDs to flashlights to more gas lanterns. We attached them to the wall with duct tape, trying to cut down on the possibility of flying objects while at the same time flooding the room with light. We didn’t want a repeat of the basement in any form or fashion. We moved the tables and chairs out of the room as much as possible, stacking them in an out-of-the-way area in the foyer to cut down on obstacles. Delaney seemed most comfortable doing that, so we left him to it.
Eventually, we were ready. I faced the entrance to the basement stairs with severe misgivings. Someone would have to go down there to erase the three seals and the salt line in order to give that thing a way to come up. Booker had volunteered to do it; he held a water gun with plain old tap water to easily erase everything.
“Yeah, I’m not comfortable with that,” Brandon announced out of the blue. “Booker, how about I come down and have your back, man?”
Booker shot him a smile, one of the first I’d ever seen on the normally poker-faced man. “I’d be honored. Need water?”
“Naw, you do water. I’ll take salt with me. Just in case that thing charges us.” Brandon turned to look at me, and I could read his expression well enough.
“I’ll stay parked next to Eli and Quinn,” I promised.
Relieved, he shot me a wink before hefting one of the half-filled bags of salt and heading down with Booker. Fully decked out in gear, they looked like they were trooping off to some steampunk battle. I almost couldn’t take it seriously.
We all waited with bated breath. I didn’t know what else we could do to prep for this. Even if it all went to shit again and we had to boogey, the front door was open to us, the building still sealed on the outside. We wouldn’t unwillingly unleash this thing on the world if we had to retreat. Again.
My nerves were tight, beating at my skin like a drum as I waited for Brandon to return. I didn’t like him out of my sight like this. It was completely irrational, the fear. He was with another experienced anchor, and armed with both water and salt. Brandon could handle himself. But did I like it, that he was near that thing without me? Not at all.
It felt like an eternity, but in about five minutes they were back, jogging their way up the stairs, Brandon coming up sideways so he could keep an eye out behind them. Booker and Brandon came straight to us, although they paused about two feet away, staring intently at the stairwell.
For that matter, we all did, holding our breath.
Nothing.
“Sweets, what did it look like down there?” Eli asked her husband.
“Pitch dark, like before. Barely had enough light to see by and that’s with the goggles. Had a sort of clammy, unearthly chill to it. We didn’t hear a sound, and I only got as close as I absolutely had to.” Booker pulled a face, like he’d bitten into a lemon. “Hard to aim a water gun. I need to work on that.”
Considering how cool Eli’s arm was, I had no doubt he could build something better than a mass-produced toy.
“I think it’s aware we’re up here laying down traps,” Brandon whispered to us. “Maybe we should give it some encouragement to come up and play.”
Delaney, of course, was the first to respond, his lip curled up in a sneer. “And what do you suggest, schoolyard taunts?”
I ignored him, as I had an idea of what Brandon was planning. Not that I’d ever seen it, but I’d heard his family talk about it once. “The Tongan war cry?”
Brandon looked at me over his shoulder, expression full of mischief. “I think a Sipi Tau will just about do the job, don’t you?”
Whether or not it did was moot to me. I selfishly wanted to see it. “Do it.”
Seeing how everyone else was confused, I hastily explained as Brandon handed the Super Soaker over to me for temporary safe keeping. Apparently, he wanted his hands free. “From what the Havilis explained to me, the war cry is what you do in order to rouse fighting spirit, but it also serves to rile up your opponent. A rallying cry, but also a show of force.”
“More or less.” Brandon cracked his neck to either side, then stepped closer to the stairs. He stood not four feet from the stairwell. That close, he should be clearly audible to the basement area.
Eli leaned into my side to ask confidentially, “Have you seen this before, then?”
“No, only heard about it.”
“Because I’ve seen something like this on YouTube once, and it was kinda terrifying. I’m having a hard time imagining Brandon as terrifying. He’s the sweetest man I’ve ever met.”
“Just wait,” I advised wryly. She’d not seen Brandon pissed off before. He was a sweet man, sure, but he did have a temper too if you pushed the wrong buttons.
Brandon got into horse stance, feet braced, and thumped a fist over his chest, loud enough to be heard. His voice rang thunderously, filling the room: “Teu to ki he tupe!”
I literally jumped, despite having an idea of what he would do. Alarm sent chills racing across my skin.
He raised both arms in challenge before slapping his hands against his thighs. “Ko e 'aho! Ko e 'aho mavava mo e tangi!”
In a quick motion, Brandon went down on one knee, then popped up again, turning sideways as he did so, punching the air back and forth in front of him as if daring an enemy to come out and face him. “Teu mate maa Tonga!”
Crossing both arms, he stomped one foot against the floor, the sound loud and echoing. “Tonga 'e! Ta ke hu ki ai!”
The cry wasn’t even aimed at me and my heart still raced, adrenaline spiking in my blood. I wanted to either run or lift a weapon in automatic defense. My hands automatically gripped the Super Soaker so tightly my knuckles shone white. It cramped my hands, and still, I couldn’t force myself to let go of it.
Probably not the right place or time, but I kinda found it a turn on. What was it about my flight-or-fight signals that were getting all screwed up and made me want to throw this man to the ground and have him?
Brandon abruptly stopped, peering ahead. “Yup, that did it. Battle stations!”
If he was seeing something through the thermal goggles, then it was probably bad. Those things weren’t exactly the most sensitive piece of equipment.
I thankfully handed him the Super Soaker as he rejoined me, and even though we only had a second, I took it. “Good job, cher. You were terrifying.”
“Remind me to not have you and the rest of your family do that together. I like my heart in my chest.”
Snorting a laugh, he got the Super Soaker situated in his hands.
I heard it before I saw it. The screech came high and piercing, like a dying train whistle, painful to the inner ear. I winced and clamped a hand over my right ear in automatic defense. Eli and her anchors immediately took up a stance in front of me, ready to tackle this thing. Falisa, Ken, and Delaney flanked us on the right side, just in case it went that direction. They didn’t intend to battle it, though, rather throw water and salt at it to force it back towards Eli.
Me? I had every intention of grabbing it if I could. Holding it would be hard, but I wouldn’t try to exorcise it. Just keep it still long enough for Eli to work her magic.
The game plan seemed doable right up until the malevolent slapped energy onto either side of the wall and clawed its way out of the stairwell.
Holy shit. We might have underestimated this thing.
It was huge, to start with, a ball of inky black that rolled and pitched. A storm ready to unleash hell on earth might look like this, if you took all light out of it. It made me faintly nauseous just looking at it, and the idea of touching it made my skin crawl. This specimen of ghost was the Nope Ghost of the genus Fuckius Nopeus of the Hell No family, indigenous to the No Way José region of Lord Help Us All. And I frankly wanted nothing to do with it.
It seriously sucked some days, being the good guy.
The malevolent didn’t have a body or a shape, just a mostly-opaque mass. So, I shouldn’t have gotten the sense that it turned, or looked at us, as there was no head I could discern. But that’s exactly what it felt like as it stopped near the top of the stairwell, floating a good three feet off the ground, pausing there as if surveying the area.
“Quinn, get ready to launch,” Eli said. She looked grim, hunkered a little as if prepared to spring forward at any second.
In that eerie way, the malevolent screamed again and charged straight at us. Multiple people fired holy water at it all at the same time, hitting it dead on in most cases. It screeched with pain and writhed. I tried to find some way to reach it, but there was no way. It hovered near the ceiling now, out of my reach. I’d have to be taller than Brandon to manage a grab.
Just as the thought occurred, Eli flew past me. Literally flew, her body sailing through the air. I tracked her automatically, spluttering, even as her flesh arm stretched toward the black mass.
Quinn, get ready to launch, she’d said. Had Quinn actually thrown her?
I had no time to question it. Eli missed by a hair’s breadth, her fingers lightly scoring the mass even as it darted out of range. She landed spryly on her feet, rolling as she hit the ground like a martial artist, before popping back up.
“Shit! Missed. Quinn, again.”
Before I could check my mouth, I asked her, “Can I do it too? I can at least hold it still.”
An unholy grin bloomed over her face. “I knew I liked you for a reason. Brandon, you think you can throw him?”
Brandon scoffed. “He’s not even a hundred fifty soaking wet. I’ve picked up dogs bigger than him. Question is, do you know how to land, Mack?”
“We’re about to find out.” I was reasonably sure I could do this without breaking a leg. Or an arm. Or my head.
“Don’t get hurt,” he ordered me.
He lifted me into the air, my ass cradled in his hands like they were a chair. I felt more than a little ridiculous, to be honest. But I still had every intention of doing this. I wanted that thing caught and gone, and we wouldn’t manage it if it kept hovering up top, near the ceiling and out of reach.
Ken shot the malevolent with his Super Soaker, forcing it back into the common room area and out of the foyer. Eli shot up once again into the air, and I was glad Brandon didn’t immediately throw me up as well, as I’d have crashed into her from this angle.
It all happened in a split second. I saw the malevolent dodge her, Eli’s fingers once against just missing. It dodged my direction, and Brandon threw me up, angling me towards it. I flailed a little—this was seriously disorienting—but I kept my hands up and forward. Inky darkness bit arctic cold against my skin, and I felt more than saw that I had it. I closed my hands around it, using every bit of power I possessed to lock it down, to manifest it enough so I could drag it back down with me. The power was both draining and electrifying all at once. I gritted my teeth, riding that spark as it danced over my skin in an unpleasant tingle.
With all of that happening, I didn’t spare a bit of attention for landing, and I realized a second too late. Oh shit, I really was going to break a leg—
Hard arms caught me, a little off-center against a chest, and the air left my lungs as I made impact. It took me a second to realize Quinn had caught me, keeping me steady even as I scrambled to get my feet properly under me.
“Don’t let go!” Eli commanded, a touch frantic. “Don’t let go, Mack!”
“I’ve got it,” I choked out, still trying to get my breath back. The air around us grew colder and heavier. I felt like I was breathing water, and I wanted nothing more than to get rid of this thing.
She sprinted to us and in a second, thrust her hand into the middle of it. “Come here, you son of a bitch!”
The malevolent tried to escape, tearing at me to get free, but between the two of us, we had a firm grip on it.
Mediums have their own light, their own auras visible to other mediums. Eli didn’t register as a medium to my sight, never had. But I realized now that her general aura was worlds different from her power when she actively used it. She lit up like a beacon as her power unleashed and tore this thing to shreds.
The malevolent howled in pain, writhing and fighting, doing everything it could to get away from her. I held on with gritted teeth, leaning back as if I needed my body weight to help keep this thing rooted.
Light imploded from the center of it, billowing out and out and out, tearing it apart like a bomb in slow motion. Eli put more force into it, her expression wild, hair standing out from her head like a wicked witch.
“Let go,” Quinn said sharply, pulling me free. “We need to get clear.”
I let go, as I trusted him to know, and we both scampered back about five feet. In the process of moving, I almost missed it when the light overtook the inky darkness. The malevolent let out one last screech, this time almost sounding like a human scream of pain.
Gone.
I blinked, breathing hard and looking around the room, making sure it hadn’t somehow escaped again. But I knew it hadn’t even as I panned the room. The air was warming up steadily, back to a normal temperature. The lights were no longer fighting to keep the area illuminated. It was like a theater stage in here. It was gone.
Eli beamed at me. “Good catch!”
Laughing, I patted Quinn’s shoulder. “I could say the same to you. Thanks, Quinn.”
“First time throw is always a bit sticky with the landing,” he said, like it was quite normal for people to throw other people around the room.
Now, at least, I understood his drive to be a body builder. He’d need those muscles to throw his wife around.
Falisa and Ken moved towards us, relief on their faces.
“I can’t believe you guys!” Falisa exclaimed. “You bunch of nuts. Have to admit, it worked, though.”
“It’s not like we can move a ladder around in order to reach it,” Eli said reasonably. “We don’t do it often, fortunately for Quinn.”
I wasn’t about to say it aloud, but the feeling of flying through the air had been quite fun. I might have Brandon throw me again. Take the malevolent ghost out of the equation, see if I like it.
“Wait. Where’s Delaney?” Brandon looked around the room, then moved forward so he had line of sight into the foyer. “Did he duck out?”
“While you were chasing the malevolent
around the room, he slipped through the front door,” Falisa confirmed darkly. She shot an irate look toward the door in question. “That’s what distracted me from helping you for a second. I cannot believe that kid. I’m so not giving him any more chances; I don’t care what the higher-ups say. He’s not reliable.”
Him running away from a ghost would pretty much seal his fate. There was no excusing that. But Delaney was no longer my problem. I stretched both arms over my head, getting the kinks out. I was so relieved this was over, words almost failed me. “How about we report in, clean up a little, then go for an early victory lunch?”
Ken sighed as he looked around the room. “And then come back and clean up some more? ’Cause this will take more than a few hours.”
That, I believed, qualified for understatement of the year.
20
‘Clean up a little’ turned into a lot of cleanup because we had made one hell of a mess.
I met everyone at the dorm building, where a small group of students gathered to hopefully get in long enough to extract some of their stuff. Mack was intent on going into the building and finding the good ghost, if she was still around. I leaned down and murmured near his ear, “You really okay with going in there with just Eli?”
“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” he said with a dismissive wave. “The aura here is so much better than it was. But the friendly ghost, if she’s still here, is likely still really spooked. Better if we just sit and talk for a while and let her come to us. No reason to make you sit through that when your time will be put to better use.”
Quinn and I were slotted to head back to Edmée’s in order to repair the sheetrock. We’d had no luck finding someone with an opening in their schedule to fix the damage, but Quinn knew how to hang sheetrock, and Mack was right that it was a better use of our time than hanging around for a ghost who may or may not show up.
It was the first time he was willing to work something without me, and I wasn’t sure if I felt proud of his growth or petulant because he wanted to play with someone else.
