by S. A. Hunter
Rachel had pressed the button for the lobby, but when the elevator began to move, it rose.
“Darn, I didn't notice the elevator was going up,” Rachel said.
Mary wasn't so sure. “What's going on?”
“The elevator was going up when we got on. Cy must have distracted us too much to notice.”
Mary raised her hand with a shake of her head. “Where are you taking us?” she asked.
The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open, “Go to room 308.”
“Why?”
The ghost didn't reply. Deciding to humor him, she got off, took a quick look at the room signs, and began going down the hall.
“Where are we going?” Rachel asked as she caught up.
“To room 308.”
“Was there a ghost on the elevator?”
“Yeah, but he's not very chatty. He only told me the room number.”
As they walked down the hallway, the florescent lights flickered and dimmed. The hallway was empty. No hospital staff was in sight. Rachel stepped closer to her. “Is it me, or has it gotten really creepy?”
Rachel was right. Something was wrong. They came to the room. The door was closed. She grabbed the door knob and turned. The door wasn’t locked. It swung open to reveal a pitch-black room.
“This isn’t right,” Rachel said.
Mary flipped the light switch, and the room lit up. For a second, a dark shadow was draped over the unconscious patient. The shadow was humanoid like a person’s shadow, except for two red eyes peering out from the head. When the lights came on, it slithered off the patient and under the bed. As if the light switch had also turned back on the medical equipment, alarms started going off. Remembering her training from only a few hours before, Rachel rushed to the bed and hit the “code blue” button.
Steeling herself, Mary dropped to her knees and looked underneath the bed, but the Shadowman was gone. She saw a ventilation grill on the bottom of the wall. It must have gone through that to escape.
Nurses and doctors rushed into the room and began helping the patient. Rachel’s mother was one of them. “Girls, get back! What are you two doing in here?”
“We heard something and looked in. I hit the button because he wasn’t breathing right,” Rachel said.
“You did the right thing, but you two should go home now.”
“Yes, Mrs. Pillar,” Mary said.
As they walked back to the elevator, Rachel whispered, “Did we really see that thing?”
She could only nod. She had no idea what that thing had been. Except for clairvoyants, people never saw ghosts. Ghosts couldn't make themselves visible, even if they were strong enough to move stuff. She'd never seen a ghost, though of course she'd heard plenty. But that thing hadn't been a ghost. The feeling she'd gotten from it was so strange. When it had looked at her, she knew that it had never been human. “We need to talk to Gran.”
“About time,” Rachel said.
* * *
Gran was watching TV with Chowder’s body tucked beside her on the sofa when the girls arrived. She quickly shut off the TV when she saw their faces and gestured for them to take seats. “What happened?”
Mary sat down beside Gran, while Rachel sat on her other side. She took a deep breath to steel her nerves. She knew she should’ve told Gran about Vicky the moment she’d known that her dreams were more than dreams, but she hadn’t wanted to burden her with it. But now, she didn’t know what to do and needed help. Assuming she could do this on her own had been wishful thinking. She still didn’t know much about the supernatural, and the only person she knew who did was Gran.
“Remember I told you about that girl from school who’s in a coma?”
“Yes. Vicky, right? A friend of Cyrus’s?”
Her mouth twisted as she kept herself from correcting Gran’s misconception of the relationship. “Yeah, she’s somehow communicating with me through dreams. She says she’s in trouble and needs my help.”
“How is she in trouble?”
“She thinks something supernatural is attacking her. That’s why I signed up to volunteer at the hospital. I wanted to see if I could find out what could be hurting her. And I did find something out. I met a patient who seemed to know stuff. He said he’d tell me about what’s doing this, but he wanted Rach and me to get him things that we can’t get, like cigars, alcohol, and porno mags.”
“Good Lord, who in blazes would ask that of teenage girls?”
“His name’s Mr. White. I don’t--”
“Ezekiel White?”
“I don’t know his first name. He’s an old man with white hair. He has the gift. He knew straight away about me.”
Gran nodded her head. “Ezekiel White.”
“You know him, Mrs. Dubont?”
A faraway look came into Gran's eyes. “Yes, at least I did a long time ago. He was a rare book dealer and occultist. His shop has been closed for years. I thought he’d retired and moved away.”
“Tell her about the thing attacking coma patients,” Rachel said.
“Mr. White called it a Shadowman.”
Gran’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? Is that exactly what he said?”
“Yeah, and we saw it. It was lying on top of a coma patient, not Vicky. When we turned on the lights, it left, but it was a black misty form with red eyes.”
Gran shook her head and got up. “This is bad, girls. You two should not be dealing with this. Leave it to me. I’ll talk to Ezekiel and work on removing the Shadowman. Don’t worry about it anymore. Your friend will be fine.”
“Gran, let us help.”
“No, I’ll take care of it. You both should probably not volunteer anymore until I’ve dealt with this.”
“Gran--”
“I mean it, Mary. Do as I say. This is far too dangerous for you. You too, Rachel. Swear to me that you won’t go to the hospital until I say it’s safe.”
“We swear, Gran. Just be careful.”
“I’m always careful, dear. No need to worry about me.”
* * *
“So what have you found out?”
Mary would really like it when she could once again claim sleep as a Vicky-free zone. She turned to the girl in the hospital bed. “There is something supernatural attacking patients at the hospital, but I think if someone’s with you, and you keep the lights on, you should be fine.”
“Oh, that should be simple to manage. I’ll just—Oh, whoops! I’m in a coma!”
“Don’t worry. My grandmother is coming to deal with this thing. You’ll be fine. She knows this stuff.”
“Is your grandmother a real witch? I always thought so, but--”
“She’s not a witch. She’s a fortuneteller and a medium. She doesn’t cast spells or perform ceremonies.”
“Then what’s she going to do?”
Mary didn’t answer because she had no idea. She wished she’d gotten more information from Mr. White. Instead, she asked, “Has the Shadowman bothered you any since last time?”
“Not really. I’ve felt it sort of pass by a few times, but it hasn’t come after me again.”
“Probably because your mom and Cy are with you.”
“You saw my mom?”
“She seems nice. She really cares about you.”
Vicky looked away. “Well, she is my mom.”
“You’re going to be okay.”
Vicky kept her eyes turned away. There was a small furrow between her brows. “Even if this thing is taken care of, it doesn’t mean I’ll wake up.”
“You don’t know that.”
“This thing didn’t put me in the coma.”
“But it might be what’s keeping you in it.”
“Thanks for helping me, Mary. And thank your grandmother. And I guess Rachel, also. She’s been helping, hasn’t she?”
“Yeah, she has.”
“Then thank her, too.”
Mary was uncomfortable with the way Vicky was talking. Why did anyone need thanking? They hadn’t
done anything yet. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Maybe, but if not, tell my parents that I love them, and tell Cy that he’s a really great guy. I wish I’d had more time with him.”
“No.”
Vicky finally turned her head to her. “What do you mean ‘no’?”
“I’m not telling your parents or Cy any of that. In fact, if you don’t wake up, I’m going to tell them all sorts of horrible things. I’ve got plenty of stuff I could tell them, true stuff at that, and if you’re not awake by the time I’m done, I’ll start making stuff up. I’ll lie, and you won’t be able to stop me.”
“You’re bluffing. You wouldn’t dare.”
“Don’t wake up, and you’ll find out.”
“I know what you’re trying to do.”
“And I know what you’re trying to do, too. Oh, boohoo, you’re in a coma. Let’s all build a shrine to the poor, unfortunate cheerleader. Nuh-uh. I’ll tear it down. I’ll spray paint 'Vicky The Hickey' on it, burn all the flowers, and eviscerate the stuffed animals. You don’t get to be a martyr.”
“Yeah, and how am I supposed to stop you? How am I supposed to wake up?”
“I don’t know, but you’ll figure it out. You’d better. You don’t want to leave me out here to do as I please, and I’ll have Rachel to help me. It’ll be fun.”
Vicky glowered at her from the hospital bed. Mary stared back defiant. The dream snapped off like a phone being slammed. As she drifted back to normal sleep, Mary hoped she’d convinced Vicky not to give up.
* * *
Mary and Rachel were sitting together in the crafts classroom during TAB. Crafts was Rachel’s next class.
“So what do you think Gran’s going to do?”
Mary shrugged. “I have no idea. I wish she’d let me help her on this.”
“Hey, Mary.”
She looked up and saw Kyle. He came over to their table.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Heard you went by to see Vicky.”
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t a big deal. We were already there for something else.”
Kyle sort of shuffled his feet and ducked his head. If he weren’t a two-hundred pound wrestler, he’d have looked bashful. “I think it was pretty cool of you that you did. Not as many people as you’d think have been by to see her.”
“Who has been by?” Rachel asked.
Mary threw her a look. Why’d she ask that? But Rachel wasn’t paying attention to her. She’d opened a spiral notebook and had a pen ready.
“Well, my brother and I, obviously, her parents, Carolyn, Mary-Jo, and I think that’s it, except for you two.”
“Anyone else not from school or the hospital?” Rachel asked, writing down the names he’d given.
Kyle thought about it a moment and shrugged. “No, I don’t think so. Mrs. Nelson hasn’t mentioned anyone else.”
“What about Helen, Brittany, Gloria, Denise, Bobby, Trevor, and Harry?” Mary rattled off the names in surprise. Those were some of Vicky’s posse. She figured they’d have gone by at least once to see her. Really, she figured half the school would have visited. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find a bunch of them keeping vigil until the queen bee woke up.
Kyle shook his head. “I think the girls may have sent some flowers, but they haven’t been by.”
That news made Mary feel bad for Vicky, which put a nasty taste in her mouth. She may be in a coma and getting attacked by a Shadowman, but to be abandoned by her supposed friends was the worst thing of all. “That sucks.”
“Yeah, I think her mom isn’t taking it well. I mean she knows how popular Vicky is, and for no one to be coming to see her, it's really bothering her.”
“Have any of the medical staff been acting weird? Have any of them been overly attentive? Wait, not just medical staff but anyone else like volunteers or janitorial staff?”
Kyle squinted at Rachel. “I don’t know. Why are you asking?”
Rachel scribbled a few words in her notebook and shrugged. “No reason. Just making conversation.”
Kyle looked at Mary, clearly not buying Rachel’s lie. Mary knew what her friend was doing, but she wasn’t about to blab about it to him. Later, though, she'd make Rachel look up the word “subtle.”
“Mary Hellick, please come to the principal’s office.”
Everyone in the room turned to look at her and made “Oooh” sounds, like little kids. “What’d you do?” Rachel asked.
Mary sighed as she picked up her book bag. “I have no idea. Bye, Kyle. Thanks for the info.”
Chapter 7
Falling Down
As she walked to the principal’s office, she tried to think of why she’d been summoned. Nothing was coming to mind. She hadn’t done anything disruptive in over a month. She hadn’t had any confrontations or pulled any pranks, which Rachel could attest to, since one of them never did a prank without the other.
Which reminded her, they really needed to do something. She’d have to think on it. She’d already decided to target the student government this time. They’d been harping on about some trip to D.C. and having bake sales, car washes, and donation drives to raise money. She’d taken special offense to the donation drive. Why should she give money to help buy plane tickets for kids who drove BMW's?
When she entered the principal’s office, the secretary smiled at her. The way she smiled put her on guard. The secretary never smiled at her, and this smile wasn’t a cheery smile. It was a pitying one. The secretary led her back to the office. Principal Hoke and Mr. Landa were inside. Principal Hoke and she had never met under pleasant circumstances, and this time looked to be no different. But she still didn't know what the unpleasantness was.
“Mary, please have a seat.”
She sat down, but the two grown-ups remained standing. Principal Hoke had both her hands clasped before her, and Mr. Landa had his in his pockets, but their stances weren’t relaxed. They looked stiff.
“Mary, there’s been an accident.”
At that statement, she went still. Goosebumps rose on her arms, and a shiver went down her spine. She was startled when Mr. Landa pulled a chair up beside her. She looked at him with wide eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Your grandmother fell at the hospital. She’s been admitted.”
“Will she be all right?”
He patted her back. The contact made her shoulders tense up. “I’ll give you a ride there.” His non-answer made her tense up more.
“Mary, I’m very sorry. Let us know if there’s anything we can do.”
“Thanks, Ms. Hoke.” In a slight daze, she stood and followed Mr. Landa out. The bell hadn’t rung yet for next class. Students were milling about in the entryway. Mr. Landa guided her to the door. His hand was again on her shoulder. She wanted to shrug it off but couldn't bring herself to do it. What had happened to Gran?
“Mary!” She looked up at Rachel’s call. She and Kyle were standing at the stairway entrance. Mr. Landa paused to let her speak to them. Rachel rushed up.
“What’s going on?”
“Gran’s been hurt.”
“What?” She pulled Mary into a hug.
“They say she fell. Mr. Landa’s taking me to the hospital.”
“Okay, I'm coming.”
At that statement, Mr. Landa jumped into the conversation. “I’m sorry Rachel, but you need to go to class.”
She turned to glare at him. “I love her, too!”
“That may be, but the hospital will only allow family to see her right now. You can come by after school, during visiting hours.”
“It’s okay, Rach. I’ll see you in a little while.”
Rachel nodded and gave her a hug. “Don’t do anything stupid until I get there,” she whispered.
Mary nodded and hugged her again.
Her eyes met Kyle’s over Rachel’s shoulder. He looked uncomfortable. She gave him a small smile. “Hope everything’s okay,” he offered.
She nodded. The bell rang. Mr. Landa
began going to the main doors again. She followed behind to the staff parking lot. She didn’t know what car he drove. She was surprised when the black Kia Amante’s lights blinked. She’d figured him for a Chevy Corsair or maybe an Ugo.
She got into the passenger seat. “Thanks for giving me a ride,” she said as she buckled her seat belt.
“It’s no problem. I’m glad I can help. Do you know why your grandmother was at the hospital?”
“She was going to see an old friend. I met him while volunteering, and she was going to talk to him.”
Landa nodded absently as he backed out. “How’s volunteering?”
“It’s okay. Everyone seems really nice.”
“That’s good. So you’re friends with Kyle?”
She got the feeling that this was no longer a simple favor for her but a scheduled session. “Yeah, I guess. I’m friends with his brother, so I guess I’m friends with him.”
“Vicky and Cyrus are close.”
She slouched down in her seat and fixed her eyes on the windshield. Why did everyone feel the need to discuss this with her? “Yeah, they like each other.”
“But you and Vicky have never gotten along.”
“No, but we’re doing okay now.”
His eyes slanted to her. “Since she’s been in a coma?”
She knew what he was thinking, but she wasn’t being sarcastic. “Yeah, we talk all the time now.”
He shook his head.
“I do want Vicky to get better. I may not particularly like her, but her parents and Cy care about her, so I want her to get better.”
“That’s good.”
“Do you know anything about Gran?”
He didn’t answer. She wanted to curl into a little ball. What had happened to Gran?
They arrived at the hospital in silence. Mr. Landa pulled up at the front. She opened the door and had one foot out when she turned back. “Thanks for the lift. I got it from here.”
“Are you sure?”
She glanced toward the hospital. “I know the layout pretty well. I’ll get the room number from information. I’m sure you need to get back to school. Mrs. Pillar is here if I need anything. Don’t worry about me.”
