Ghost Trapped

by B L Maxwell

  “We can’t leave. I know you all want to, but I wasn’t kidding, it wants us all and it’s willing to do whatever it takes to get what it wants. Emma told me what to do, we have everything we need, and it’s best we do it before it figures out what we’re doing,” I explained. I didn’t want to give too many details in case somehow it was listening and knew what to expect.

  “We all need to calm down and work together. Jason, remember what we did in the basement of The Vineyard House?”

  “You mean the—” He left his question hanging as I put my finger to my lips to silence him. I nodded in answer.

  “We’ll need to do the same thing, only this won’t have an exit, it will have one way in.” I lowered my voice even more. “We’ll only get one chance, then it’ll be onto us. We can’t mess this up, guys.” Jason took my hand and squeezed it. Jimbo still looked terrified but nodded his agreement. Dean looked between us all and slowly nodded along.

  “What do we do first?” Jason asked, which was odd since usually he was the expert. Funny how the spirits seemed to decide to give me the information. I knew so little about this stuff, I was dependent on Jason’s vast knowledge of all things paranormal.

  “We’ll need to make an outline of salt and put a candle in the center to draw it there,” I said.

  “It might be a good idea to put one of the stones in the middle too, it’ll be drawn to that power even more than the candle. That may be what drew it to the circle,” Jason said.

  “Maybe, but mostly it wants us to know how powerful it is so we’ll give up and not try to fight it. It’s controlled by fear for years, it doesn’t seem to remember it was a human at one time. Now its sole purpose is to collect more souls and more power. We need to shake its cage, give it something to worry about.”

  “You know I’m with you, let’s do this. We’ll send this asshole back where he came from,” Jason said, and stood with his hand out for me. I took it and pulled myself up. Jimbo looked up at us before he and Dean stood too.

  “Let’s do this, assholes,” Jimbo added.

  Chapter Thirty

  Jason

  I picked up our stones and passed them back to each of us. Now we knew what to do, and I’d make sure we did it all the right way. I stepped out of the circle and half expected to be attacked, but nothing happened. The room stayed silent, with no obvious paranormal activity.

  Wade stepped out next and stood next to me. “I’ll get the backpack, it has everything we need.”

  Jimbo and Dean stepped out and stayed close. The three of us watched as he walked the short distance; we were so on edge, any noise would have set everyone off. But none came, and nothing weird happened. He took the salt out of the bag and handed me the backpack.

  “You get the candles and I’ll get started on the outline,” Wade said as he moved in that direction.

  I stopped him with a hand on his arm. “We do this together, remember?” I reminded him, and leaned in to press a kiss to the side of his head. “Together.” He smiled in a way that was only for me, and it took everything in me not to pull him into my arms and run like hell out of here. But we were here for a reason, and we’d finish the job. “Dean, you stay here with Jimbo. Actually, why don’t you guys stay in the spirit circle, it’ll be safer there.” I reached out and took Wade’s hand and we walked to the back corner. He spread the salt in a half circle, that ended at the two walls of the corner. “Does it need an entrance?” I asked.

  “No, it’ll come in through the corner,” Wade said.

  “You’re sure?”

  “That’s what Emma said, I’m just doing what she said to do, hopefully she knows what she’s talking about. I really have no clue. You’re the expert in the paranormal, I’m just your trusty sidekick,” Wade joked.

  “You’re so much more than that. You always have been, I hope I never made you feel like you were just a sidekick.” I still felt so bad about making him think I wasn’t interested in him all those years. What a waste of time, we could have been together ages ago if I would have just had the nerve to admit my feelings.

  “Baby, you know I’m joking. You never made me feel any way but your good friend. We both screwed up not being honest, but now we have the rest of our lives to make up for it.”

  “You’re right, let’s get through this one and start doing some serious living,” I said, feeling so much better just knowing we were, as always, on the same page. I took three candles out of the bag and set them in the middle of the circle.

  “Remember that symbol you made on the door to the basement at The Vineyard House for protection?” Wade asked.

  “Yeah, should I draw one for us here?”

  “I think so, maybe on the far wall. Do you know of one that will draw a spirit to it? We could use all the help we can get,” Wade explained.

  “I know of a summoning symbol, would that do?”

  “Sounds perfect,” Wade said as he reached in the bag and handed me a stick of chalk. “If you could do it in the middle of the salt ring, that would be perfect.”

  I cleared my mind and thought about the symbol I needed to draw for a moment. This wasn’t the time to make a mistake. This was a more complicated form than the one for protection, with a swirling design that had a Celtic look. I’d never used this one before, and I hoped what I drew didn’t end up causing us more trouble than we already had. I finished the design and stood back to check that it was as correct as I could get it.

  “How’s it look?” Wade asked.

  “I think it’s good, we can use a candle to increase the power, and maybe one of our stones to draw it in.”

  “Which stone? I’m not sure which one would be best for that,” Wade said. “I know nothing about any of them.”

  “Use mine,” Jimbo said as he walked toward us with his hand outstretched, offering his stone. “It’s the strongest between us all, it’ll give you the kick you want.”

  “Are you sure? I know this helps keep you safe, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen once we draw it into the circle,” I said.

  He hesitated for a moment and looked at Dean, who returned his gaze. “I’m sure. Let’s kick this spirit’s ass back to hell, or wherever it’s supposed to be. Just as long as it’s not here bothering Dean.” He looked to Dean then and gave him a fond smile. I met Wade’s eyes and he gave me a similar look.

  “Come on, Jason, let’s do this,” he said. I reached in and lit the candles in the center of the salt circle and set the stone on top of the summoning rune. For a moment it seemed to glow with an energy the room now pulsed with.

  “We should get in the spirit circle, we’ll be safer there,” I said. The four of us made our way back into the circle, the candles still burning brightly, and we all settled back where we’d been sitting before.

  “Now what do we do?” Dean asked.

  “Now we wait and hope like hell we have enough protections up to keep us safe,” Jimbo answered.

  We all looked around the dark area, but I wasn’t able to see much beyond the two circles, and I doubted anyone else could either. Then something changed; it started with a scratching sound.

  “I’ve heard that before in the restaurant, I thought it was mice,” Dean whispered.

  “It’s not mice,” I whispered back, and kept my gaze locked on the other circle. The scratching got louder, more insistent, and seemed closer than it had moments ago. Everyone’s attention was on the wall closest to the back corner, where most of the noise seemed to be emanating from. There was a bright flash, and we all cringed away from it. I pulled Wade closer to me, and Jimbo and Dean swiveled to look in the direction it had come from, behind them. I looked over to the corner, and in the center of the salt circle was a glowing orb of light.

  “Wade, look,” I said, having a hard time staying calm.

  “What is that?” Dean asked.

  “Come on, let’s go check it out.” I stood and stepped out of the spirit circle, and the others followed. Wade walked up to the edge of the salt
and reached his hand out, as though he was pressing it against a glass barrier visible only to him.

  “Jason, we made a mistake. We have to let her go.”

  “What do you mean? I thought we needed to trap it?” I asked.

  “We do, but this isn’t the master, or whatever we’re calling it today. I know who this is, and we have to let her go. She’s scared, and it’s slowly draining her power being in there. Soon she’ll cease to exist, and it’ll be our fault.” He sounded frantic to help, but I still wasn’t sure why he was so upset. We’d accomplished what we’d set out to do.

  “Jason, we have to set her free, it’s Emma.” Wade reached down and brushed his hand through the salt. As soon as he did that, the glowing orb rushed out of the circle, and Dean was thrown into the wall, hard. He slid down to the floor and didn’t move. We stood there in shock for second, and then Jimbo rushed over to his side. Blood was trailing down the side of his face, and he still had not reacted. Jimbo’s hands shook as he cradled Dean’s face.

  “Dean? Can you hear me? I’m here, you’re going to be okay,” Jimbo said to him as he leaned closer. “Dean?” Still he didn’t answer, didn’t even move. Jimbo turned to look at us, a frantic look on his face, and his eyes wet with tears. He turned back to Dean, but nothing had changed. “Dean?” He crumpled forward and gently took Dean’s hand in his, as I reached for Wade. For just a second we were distracted, and just a second was all it took for the real bad things to start.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Wade

  At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, or maybe I didn’t want to believe it. Emma was trapped, and soon she’d be destroyed. Somehow, she’d been drawn into our circle made to trap whatever it was that had threatened us all. I couldn’t see her, but I could hear her scream out in pain, and couldn’t stand it anymore when she started to fade slowly away. Pulling away the salt was all I could think to do. Thankfully it worked, she’d rushed away and hadn’t been completely destroyed. But it had all been a trick. The other entity had used her to enter without us realizing and attacked Dean.

  “We need to move him to the circle, something else is here,” I said, trying to remain calm, but knowing shit was about to get out of control.

  “Wade, can you help me carry him?” Jimbo asked. He looked so devastated, and I totally understood that feeling. He’d brought Dean here even when he didn’t think it was safe, because he couldn’t tell him no. How many times had I done the same thing just to spend time with Jason?

  “Yeah, man, let me help. We really need to hurry, something’s here, I’m not sure what, though.” Jimbo didn’t react, just slipped his arms under Dean’s, and I took his legs. We carried him to the spirit circle and set him down on one side. I had stepped inside, when Jimbo set him down and moved just outside the ring. As soon as he was clear of it, a force hit him and threw him back away from the circle.

  “Jimbo, are you okay?” Jason asked, and rushed over to him. I was about to follow when I hit the boundary lines of salt and ran into a solid wall. I felt along the smooth surface, looking for a way through, but everything I felt was solid.

  “Jason! Jimbo, are you okay?” Jason was still bent over Jimbo, and his breathing had picked up. It reminded me of when Robert Chalmers had entered his body, his shoulders rose and fell with each breath, almost as though he was panting. “Jason?” I tried again.

  Jimbo still hadn’t moved, but something had shifted in the room; there was an invisible energy I could feel pulsing, almost like a beacon, blinking out a location. Then it hit me: Jimbo couldn’t keep his power to draw spirits under control when he was unconscious, and now Jason was trapped out there with him. Exactly what Emma had said would happen was about to.

  Jason continued to kneel next to Jimbo but didn’t move for a full minute. His breathing continued to be labored and intense. Finally he froze, and slowly turned to look at me. “Wade, can you come here?” he said, wearing a smile that didn’t look quite right on his face.

  “Jason?”

  “Wade, come here,” he said again, and this time he turned and started to walk toward me.

  “Is Jimbo hurt?”

  “Wade, come here. I need you.”

  “Who the hell are you? Get out of him!” I yelled, unable to take anymore. It grinned at me, like I’d reacted the way it wanted. It wasn’t Jason that was talking to me, I wasn’t sure what it was. Something started to move around the basement, a mass of swirling debris filling the room. Jason didn’t move, and none of it touched him. Jimbo still hadn’t moved, his face turned away from me so I couldn’t tell if he was still knocked out.

  “Wade, you know what’s going to happen, you’re going to come out here and I’ll take control. I’ve brought all of my friends to help. They’ll make sure everything goes exactly like I’ve planned,” Jason, or the creature who was now Jason, said.

  “No, I won’t let you take me.”

  “You know there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Now step out of the circle, and we’ll begin with me taking over your body—don’t worry, you won’t feel a thing. Ever. Again.” A deep guttural laugh broke through the sound of swirling wind and grew louder and louder. I covered my ears, but it didn’t help. “You fool, you’re the one I need, this body was just a temporary means to get what I truly want. You’re the one with the power, you and that other one there on the floor. With him asleep, I now have more spirits than I’ll ever need to exist on this plane forever. No one will be able to stop me. Not ever.”

  I looked around, frantic for something, or someone, who could help. I noticed Dean’s eyes were open, and they were fixated on a point behind me, but I was afraid to take my eyes off Jason for fear whatever was in him would do something to hurt him or Jimbo. Dean met my eyes briefly, before once again focusing his attention behind me. I met Jason’s eyes for a second before I glanced to the left. What I saw made me do a double take—dozens and dozens of spirits, all standing crowded around the spirit circle. None of them moved, but they all focused on Dean and me.

  “They’ll tear that spirit circle apart and you’ll be mine,” he said with a sneer.

  “No, they won’t, motherfucker.” Jimbo jumped up and punched Jason hard, right in the mouth. Jason’s head reeled back from the force of it, and he stumbled backward.

  “What? But how? I used your power to draw them all here, you shouldn’t be awake,” Jason screamed at Jimbo, fury written all over his face. He lunged at him, but Jimbo was faster—which shocked me—and dodged him.

  “I’ll tell you how, asshole. I know you thought if we’d put our stones in the circle I’d be unprotected, and all you’d have to do was knock me out to use my power,” he said as he dodged Jason again and gave him a hard shove away from him. Jason slammed into a crate, and for a moment he seemed stunned. But then he rushed back at Jimbo. “Don’t do it, man, I’ll kick your fucking ass and you know it.”

  “Jimbo, don’t hurt him, that’s still my Jason,” I yelled at him, still trying to wrap my mind around what was happening. Dean sat up, rubbed the back of his head and winced.

  “Tell him to back off, Wade. He hurt Dean, did you see that shit?” The whole time he was yelling, he kept his eyes locked on Jason, and slowly circled in anticipation of his next attack.

  “Jason, stop. What are you doing? Fight it, whatever it is, fight! This isn’t you, stop this now,” I practically begged. I didn’t want to see either of them hurt, but Dean and I were still trapped behind the invisible wall of the spirit circle, so there was nothing we could do besides watch. I pounded on a wall I couldn’t see but was as real as if it were made of brick or cement.

  “You don’t know everything about me, fucker. You think you can use my ability to draw spirits to you and then use their power for your own. You don’t know shit!” Jimbo yelled. I’d never seen him so animated, or so pissed. He shoved Jason back from him again and continued to dodge all of his attempts at restraining him.

  Dean’s eyes grew wide as he once again l
ooked at the area behind me. I turned to look, and there was Emma. “Wade, I need you to help. We have to make him leave Jason, or all will be lost.”

  I hit the invisible wall in front of me. “I can’t,” I said, knowing I was letting us all down, but not knowing how to fix it.

  “You can. You know the answer, you can get yourself out of there and save Jason, but you’ll need to hurry.”

  I thought about it for a moment and turned back to Dean. He was sitting up now and looked like he wasn’t sure he could trust what he’d just witnessed. “It’s real, they can talk to me, and I can hear them,” I said to Dean as I leaned down and blew out the candles. The sound that had seemed loud before now increased, and as I moved to cover my ears, I realized the wall was gone. I looked up just as Emma’s form seemed to blow away in the wind.

  Jason looked at me, and for a moment I knew it was him, and I was willing to fight whoever, or whatever, it took to bring him back to me. “Let’s go, asshole,” I yelled as I joined Jimbo’s side.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Jason

  For a while . . . I’m not sure how long, I didn’t know what was happening. I was awake, but it was as though I was underwater or waking up from a deep sleep. I knew Wade was there, I could feel him, but I couldn’t see him or speak to him. Something happened, and there was pain, white-hot pain. Jimbo—I could see Jimbo—and he was yelling at me. I tried to ask him what the hell had just happened, but my vision was blocked again, and once again I had that sensation of not being conscious in this reality.

  “Jason, wake up, asshole. You need to fight. Don’t give up, you can beat him,” Jimbo yelled, while shaking me. I snapped to attention.