I remember now. After I’d lost my powers on that ski trip, Hailey continued to teach me spells in case they ever came back.
“I needed to say goodbye,” Cody says. “Then I’m going to go somewhere to figure out the rest of my unfinished business.”
“I was so happy to see him again that I told you about him and…” a sob catches in my throat. “You said he wasn’t supposed to be here, that we needed to help him pass on.”
“We have to burn his bones, BJ,” Hailey says. “It’s not good for him to be around, not natural. He can’t rest unless we perform the spell. Trust me. This is the best thing for him.”
We stand over his grave, Hailey chanting, tears streaming down my face. And then Cody materializes in front of us…
“He begged us not to do it, Hailey.” I sniff, my voice shaking.
Her eyes glisten and the nose of her gun dips. “Ghosts aren’t natural. They’re wrong.”
Hailey ignores Cody’s pleas, even though I know she can hear him just as well as I can. I cling to one of Cody’s old teddy bears — something I brought to his grave to say goodbye — and try to convince myself that she knows what she’s doing. But as the fire consumes his bones, his form twists, darkens, spins and his cries fill the air. In a moment of panic, I throw the bear into the grass and dive on the grave, desperate to put out the fire, to stop Cody’s screams.
A loud snap, a second of pain in my neck, then nothing…
“You twisted him.” I barely get the words out around another sob. “You—”
“Martin,” a man shouts. “What are you doing?”
A tall, reedy man stomps toward us, thrusting an old pocket watch in my direction. His voice raises with a powerful spell. Emptied out, exhausted, I can’t fight him anymore. My counterspell shatters and I’m dragged sideways toward him.
Somewhere, Kaz is shouting and I freeze in midair.
Then a painful wail rips through the chaos and a tumbling, twisting shadow plows into our midst. The Xers all cry out at once and the tug releases me. I crash into the grass as the Twisted Ghost sweeps over me, sending the man with the watch running.
Amidst the chaos and screams, I roll to my side, trying to find Hailey. All I see are shoes and abandoned guns. I shut my eyes against the spinning. Though dizzy with all I’ve learned and how much power I’ve spent, I push myself to my feet and pull out my staff to form my shield again. Whether or not this Twisted Ghost just saved us, it could still drag me in.
It chases after the Xers, driving them to their cars, all the time raging so loud it vibrates within me. Why does that wail sound so familiar? It’s not just because I recognize it as the one I saw at Locklear. It’s deeper than that, bringing tears to my eyes. Why..?
I gasp. “Cody.”
The Twisted Ghost tumbles to a halt and rotates as if to face me.
Slapping a hand to my mouth, I take a step in his direction. He shrinks back from my shield. I swallow, breathe deep, then let my arm drop to my side. As slow as possible, I inch closer to him. “Oh sweetheart. I’m so, so sorry.”
Its screams taper into a strange, moaning howl as it sweeps toward me. I should be terrified after what happened to the students at Locklear, after seeing the first suck the second into its chaotic orbit, but as before, all I feel is peace. I know that I can help him. If I can only get close enough.
“Cody, I—”
Kaz grasps my wrist, cutting me off. “Billie, we have to get out of here.”
“No, wait!”
Then we’re spinning back toward Locklear, away from the apartment complex, and Cody.
The second we stumble into the lobby, I wrench out of Kaz’s grip. “Why did you do that? That was my brother. He recognized me, could understand what I was saying. I could have talked to him.”
Kaz’s eyes widen a fraction, then darken. “You could have gotten yourself just as twisted as he is.”
“You don’t know that.” I’m shouting, drawing a crowd, and my throat is raw. “You’re giving up on the Twisted because you still believe the garbage the Xers taught you.”
“I already told you, I’m not giving up on them.” Unlike me, Kaz’s voice has quieted, evened out to an almost disturbing calm.
I wipe my face with the back of my hand, so emotionally exhausted I can barely think straight much less listen to reason. “Then why did you drag me away from him? Why did you drag me back here?”
“Because my first priority is to protect you,” Kaz says, hands balling into fists. “Until I’m positive we have an actual plan to help them, I can’t, in good conscience, let you confront one of the Twisted. Whether he’s your brother or not.”
Grinding my back teeth, I spin away from him and storm to the back door, drifting out toward the woods. I stomp to the dorm, then stomp to the combat building. Rather than go inside, I simply continue to pace. The cold breeze wraps around me but doesn’t do a darn thing to calm the angry heat blazing inside of me.
Hailey was an Xer who twisted our brother.
Hailey, who taught me spells.
Hailey who took care of Cody and me after our parents died.
I thread my fingers into my hair. She thought she was doing the right thing, thought she was helping. Just like Kaz. But why? Why did she think burning his bones would help? Why wouldn’t she listen to his ghost? Why do the Xers believe what they do in spite of all the evidence against it?
And then there was what she said. That it wasn’t possible for me to be a ghost. She didn’t have to finish the sentence she started, I could guess what she was going to say. Either they’d burned my bones, or simply left me in the grave where I’d fallen.
If that’s true, then why am I not twisted?
Wrapping my arms around my waist, I glance at the dorms, longing to run to Rafe for comfort. But I can’t do that. Not after I ended things with him. Not after I made the decision to protect him from himself. And definitely not with this massive question hanging over my head.
Throat constricting, I sink to the ground against a tree, draw up my knees, and sob silently.
I’m alone. And maybe it’s better that way. No matter how much this hurts. I’m like a Twisted Ghost. I can’t drag Rafe into my whirring chaos.
Follow the story in Ghost Academy: Book Two!
Also by E.C. Farrell
GHOST ACADEMY
Ghost Academy: Book One
Ghost Academy: Book Two
The Stolen Shifter - freebie short story with Rafe’s backstory!
The Blakemore Paranormal Academy Series (co-written with Sullivan Gray)
Supernatural Reform School
The Academy of Stolen Magic
Blood of the Dragon Shifter
About the Author
E.C. Farrell never met a book she didn't like. (Just kidding! But she's not going to bad-mouth the ones she couldn't finish and she is still mad about the end of Hunger Games.) She likes her characters sassy and her endings surprising. Fluent in sarcasm, she has also studied Krav Maga and could out-burpee you any day of the week. When she's not writing, she often teaches creative writing classes for a local non-profit organization Write Create.
Sign up for E.C.’s emails and receive The Stolen Shifter, a prequel short story about Rafe! https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/408948fc-e093-11e9-b4c5-17786ecf5a95
Ghost Academy: Book One Page 19
