The room silently waited for her to continue.
“Oh don’t look so sad!” she suddenly spat out. “I got over it on a long time ago. However, this brings me to the next part of my pathetic tale.”
The ghast sighed woefully. William imagined she had not truly gotten over her losses. How could she? Being trapped in this form. He pitied this female. Sympathized with her plight. The life she was forced out of. The choices taken away. The loneliness she must have felt all these years… these were things he could understand.
“After the witch finally kicked the bucket and her control over me died with her, I located my body.” The ghast stopped her circling to speak. “I was free for a little while. No one controlling where my spirit had to be. What it had to do. My body was perfectly preserved and ready for habitation. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how to get back into my body so I made the next biggest mistake of my life. I went to my family, seeking their help. Believing surely they’d want to see one of their own, a long thought dead cursed soul, returned to her body; allowed to live the life she should have lived before it was stolen away from her. But no… I wasn’t to be so lucky.”
She let out a berating breath. This was clearly a sore subject.
“You see, my name is Lisbeth. Eugenia. Deane. You can call me Lizzy,” she stated, as if this announcement were no big deal.
The Howards glanced toward the Deanes, gauging their reaction to this news.
Charlie didn’t like it. The timing was too perfect. Two Deanes returning was bad enough, but now finding out there’s actually a third. He looked at his brother and William, certain they had to be thinking the same thing.
Melinda had the same thought cross her mind, but when she looked into the faces of the Deane brothers, they appeared shocked. Honestly and frankly, shocked. Clearly their dealings in magic were lacking in comparison to the Howards. Or they were really good fakers.
“I sought out my family, the Deanes,” the ghast, Lizzy, continued. “At this point in the Isle’s history the relationship between the Howards and the Deanes was showing signs of strain, but more or less intact. But this was the beginning of the end. This is when the Deane’s path turned from aiding in protecting this Isle, to claiming it for themselves. For it was at this time that they began dabbling with the dark magic. But they were family and as disgusted as I was by their behavior, I went to them. Boy, were they surprised! Especially when I took them to my body.”
She stopped again, suddenly appearing deep in thought.
“Your family betrayed you, didn’t they?” stated William.
“How’d you guess? Oh, right, still a ghast…” she jested sorely, pointing at herself.
William released a dark chuckle.
For some reason, Melinda found this odd. Did he find this Lisbeth… Lizzy… funny? Pathetic maybe. Sad even. Crude definitely, but not without reason she supposed. And why did it matter? She had no right to get jealous over such a simple thing.
“As you so brilliantly deduced, Vampire, my family betrayed me,” Lizzy explained. The manner in which she said vampire indicated a personal familiarity with the term. William wondered what she was silently implying.
“My family told me they’d help me return to my body, but explained that the ceremony would take time to prepare, and I should come at midnight the next night. I arrived at the appointed time. And they did perform a ceremony, but it was not to return me to my body. You see, it just so happened that my family was seeking out a keeper. A keeper for a new secret. And I, being a ghast and all, was rather perfect. They hid my body, again, and performed a ceremony to take control of my spirit, forcing me to protect their new secret.”
Emily blurted out, “How terrible. Your own family?”
For a moment, everyone expected another lecture about interruptions but instead Lizzy flew down to Emily’s level and peered into her eyes. “You, I like. I can sense your honesty.”
Emily smiled compassionately in reply.
“What was their secret?” asked William.
“Yes, I’d like to know that as well.” Lucas’ tone melded into concern and curiosity.
“Ah yes, the big Deane secret. You see, as they began dabbling in the dark magic, the need for a private means off and onto the Isle became crucial.”
“This is something to do with the lighthouses, isn’t it?” guessed Charlie. “There’s some sort of magical doorway, right?”
Before Lizzy could answer, or Melinda could ask what he meant seeing as she hadn’t heard the lighthouse tale yet, Eva spoke out desperately. “Do you know where my father is? Have you seen him?”
Melinda had pieced together that the white-haired chick was Eva Jordan. They hadn’t been officially introduced, but the stark color was unique, unlike anything she’d ever seen before.
“Talk about jumping ahead in the story,” the ghast, Lizzy retorted. “I’m not saying whether I know anything about him or not. Not until the story is finished.”
Eva looked as though she might hit Lizzy if it would have made any difference.
Charlie touched Eva’s arm letting her know he’d get to the bottom of it, and she bit her lip to keep silent. She was certain this ghast had information about her missing father.
“Let’s go back to the lighthouses and these magical doorways,” Lizzy insisted. “It’s… so much more than that. Are you each aware that when you look at a map of the Isle from far overhead, that the five lighthouses create a…”
“Pentagram,” realized William.
“You are smart.” She tossed him a wink. “Rather yummy to look at too.”
William cleared his throat, ignoring her forwardness.
“I’m surprised you never noticed the pentagram before, but now that you’re aware, picture where the Deane Manor is located.” She gave everyone a moment to think over what she’d said.
“Our manor is right in the middle. The center of the pentagram,” exclaimed Lucas.
“What does that mean?” asked Riley.
“Yeah, what he said,” agreed Michael.
“What it means, is that the Deane’s used the power of the pentagram to create a secret means to get onto and off the Isle. For themselves, and for your enemies,” she aimed at the Howards.
“I always wondered how they accomplished this,” uttered William.
“Underneath the Deane Manor, below the basement, is a second basement, an underground lair of sorts.”
The Howards looked toward Lucas and Riley for confirmation.
“I don’t know any such thing,” insisted Lucas.
“Oh it’s there,” Lizzy told them with certainty.
“I’ve been in the basement, I don’t recall seeing another door leading deeper below,” Lucas argued.
“That’s because until now I’ve have been hiding it. You see that’s my job. The job I was forced into. My ghastly spirit was supplied with the magic required to protect this secret. Thankfully, that magic also allowed me to create that nifty little scene that got all you guys in here. Anyway, below the manor is a set of five doors, each leading to one of the Isle’s lighthouses. This serves two purposes, one, as I said, was to draw off the energy of the pentagram, and the second allowed the Deanes and their allies to quickly reach certain spots on the Isle. But in the middle of the five doors is another door, a door which can be opened on either side. One side leads to the actual basement of the Deane Manor in the center of the lighthouses, the other leads to the old Deane property in Boston.”
“A property we no longer own,” informed Lucas.
“So when little Freddy Collier got lost that day, so long ago here at Suicide Light, he really did go somewhere else. Didn’t he?” queried Emily. She had explained her story to Charlie, Michael, William, Eva and Mack. Only Melinda, Lucas and Riley had no idea what she was speaking of. They listened intently, trying to understand.
“Yes. Poor little boy, I did feel for him. And did try to warn him. But the Deane’s were still living in their house in Boston at t
he time, and although they were no longer living on the Isle, I was still under my curse to protect those damn doors. I had opened the door, for reasons I won’t get into now, when Freddy fell through. First into the manor, here on the Isle, and after, through the door leading to the house in Boston.”
Emily had not yet informed the Howards about the part of the story Freddy had left out of the official reports, the one about the monstrous creature, possibly the same creature that had captured their missing father, Jack. She decided that for now she would keep silent. It didn’t seem like the right time to bring it up, not when Eva’s father was still missing.
“Freddy made it home okay. A little scared but unharmed,” spoke Lizzy.
“I’m sorry, Lizzy,” said Charlie. “I don’t mean to be rude as I understand you’ve been betrayed by both sides. Someone from our family did this to you, and someone from your family betrayed you and imprisoned you again. But why are we here? What is the point of all this?”
“Yes, now we finally get down to the real business. I have been waiting a very long time for this day. A day when I could gather family from both lines, Howards and Deanes. A day in which I could explain what I am and who I am, in hopes of you both working together. You see I don’t trust any of you, but I unfortunately need you, if I’m going to succeed.”
“Succeed in what?” Charlie sought impatiently.
William answered. “She wants to be returned to her body.”
“What the vampire said.” Lizzy eyes beamed in anticipation.
“You would still want to return after all this time?” said Charlie. “So many years have passed, nothing is the same.”
Melinda came to her defense. “Like she said though, she picks up a lot from all the tourists. And doesn’t she deserve a chance to live a full human life?”
“It would mean another Deane on the Isle,” murmured Michael, feeling the need to state the obvious.
“One that’s already claimed not to like either side,” reminded Mack, casting a wide eye at both the Howards and the Deanes.
Charlie whispered softly, so only William could hear him. “Do you think this is some sort of trap? Some long term plan by the Deanes?”
William turned his face just slightly to see Charlie’s eyes and shook his head. However, even with William’s approval Charlie wasn’t certain.
“So how do we do this, Lizzy? How do we find your body? And how can we be sure that returning you to your body isn’t a mistake? How do we know if you’re lying to us about how you were cursed to become a ghast? There’s no one to backup your claim. Even William’s only been on the Isle just over a hundred years.”
“I was afraid you might think like that.” Her ghastly eyes drilled into Eva’s. “So… I got myself some leverage.”
“My father. You do have him, don’t you?” she accused.
“Ask yourself to what lengths you would go? After being betrayed by both sides, having no one I can trust. I want my body back! I want my life back.”
Eva opened her mouth to reply. Charlie feared she would say something that could endanger their already precarious predicament. He grabbed her arm with a silent plea to keep quiet and let them handle it. She furrowed her brow but bit her tongue.
“And if we do this, Lizzy, you return Eva’s father?” confirmed Charlie.
“Yes. Done. Simple. And he’s perfectly fine. Just a little lost at the moment. I’m not a cruel person. I don’t like to hurt people. On the contrary, I always thought myself on the side of good. But I need to make certain that no one betrays me this time. I’m sorry. But I have to protect myself from all of you. Your father wandering into the wrong place was the final piece of the puzzle to end this so called existence called my life.”
Charlie glanced at his siblings. Shit. What’s the right thing here? He didn’t want to make the wrong choice. But if he thought about it logically, if Lizzy really was telling the truth, she deserved her freedom. Her life had been hell and they could end that for her. And she had every right to distrust them all. But the timing of this… and Eva’s father finding this map… how? And where?
And just how was it there were still secrets to discover about The Demon Isle? How did their family not know about this map, or the doorways in the lighthouses? Or that their layout created a pentagram… so many things to take in. He let out a breath, going with his first instinct before he could let paranoia take over.
“Okay, Lizzy. We’ll help you. What do you need us to do? Do you know where your body is?”
Lizzy let out an ecstatic exhale.
“Yes. I do. But right now there’s only one of you that I trust to tell. The rest of you will need to ready the ceremony. You will all need to work together.”
No one spoke for a moment; no one relished the idea of Howards and Deanes working together.
“One question, Lisbeth,” began William. “You have been watching these doors for many a long year. What happens to these doors once you’re no longer in charge of them?”
“They will need to be closed. Permanently. If I am not in control of them, they can still be used. And there’s something else you should know about these doors. The Deanes cast certain protections, to ensure that the evil they allowed onto the Isle would do their bidding. When one steps onto the Isle via the door from the Boston house, that being would be stuck on the Isle unless they returned the same route.”
“So once through, they had to leave the same way?” Oddly, it was Emily that asked. Michael threw her a questioning gaze. “Tell you later,” she whispered.
“You are correct. I only explain this because you should be aware that there is a creature still stuck on this Isle. There were two; one died a few years back. They came through the door in Boston and were not allowed to leave, either by myself, or the Deanes. On the Deanes part because they did not consider the job finished. And on mine, once the last Deane that knew of my existence died I just didn’t feel like letting them go back through.”
“Do you think if this creature learns of your plan to return to your body, it will try to escape? Or attack?” asked the sheriff. “I have to take into account the safety of the non-magical folk on this Isle.”
“It might,” Lizzy returned. “Which is why I have a follow-up plan that you will need to implement to ensure the doors remain closed, once I’ve successfully reunited with my body.”
“Perhaps we should just let it escape,” suggested Michael. “It might be safer to let it go. Let it off the Isle, away from causing any possible harm to anyone.”
Emily could not allow this to happen. She’d have to explain what she’d learned in her talk with Freddy Collier before it was too late. “Lizzy, could I please ask you a question? You’re the only person that could answer since you are the door’s protector.”
“For you, I will grant one question.”
“Back when little Freddy Collier got lost, he told me that he saw a monster come from the house in Boston, onto the Isle. It was a… oh gosh, I’m not even positive how to describe it, a swirling blackness sort of thingy… did that creature ever leave the Isle?”
“Emily?” questioned Michael.
She motioned for him to wait.
“No. No such thing has left the Isle.” Her eyes lit up. “It just so happens, it is the living creature of which I spoke. The one still imprisoned on the Isle.”
Charlie’s face wrinkled together as he began putting together the pieces. But it was William that spoke.
“Lisbeth, you’re saying that this creature is still here, on The Demon Isle.”
She smiled knowingly. “I guess I might have had leverage all along, which I did not know I possessed.”
“Oh my God! Is it possible?” Melinda blurted, to no one in particular.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” warned William.
“But our dad might have never left the Isle!” Charlie and Michael stated at the same time.
Melinda thought she might fall over. Her legs went limp. Riley put his
arm around her waist but quickly let go once his brother noticed and shot him an evil eye.
Charlie took a sharp breath. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time. Even if it is true and our dad is here, somewhere, we still need to take care of the issue in front of us. We need to get Eva’s father back.”
“Um, okay, yeah,” agreed Michael, tensely.
“The swirling blackness you speak of is called a Soul Hunter,” advised Lizzy. “It was hired to come here many years ago after the Deanes were banned from the Isle.”
“For what purpose?” inquired William.
“After their removal from the Isle they still had me, and they still had access to the door, from their house in Boston. They sent the Soul Hunter through the door in hopes it might seek out the soul of The Demon Isle.”
“The power source,” mumbled Charlie. “Did the Hunter find it?”
“No idea. It disappeared for quite a long time, never reappearing to attempt exit, until a few years ago. But I would not allow it to leave and to my knowledge it’s in hiding somewhere on the Isle.” She paused. “Do not take this foe lightly. If it captures your soul it won’t just let you have it back.”
The Howard siblings all looked at each other, a gloomy doom settling over them. Was their father dead or alive? Had this thing captured his soul? Keeping him from moving on? Or was he somehow still alive?
“Don’t worry,” said Lizzy. “Once I am back in my body we can instantly do a spell to lock the doors. The chances are quite slim that this Hunter will escape.”
“Slim chance still means there is a chance. Is there anything we can do to keep the doors locked while you’re in transition?” asked Charlie.
“Other than guarding them, no.”
“We don’t know how to go up against this Hunter,” reminded Melinda. “Look what happened to Mom and Dad…”
“I will find a way,” advised William swiftly.
“Yes, this is all good and what not, but shall I tell you all what you need to do?” Lizzy interrupted, reminding them of the task at hand. “You do have a ceremony you should be preparing for.”
Ghast Me Gently (Wicked Good Witches Book 4) Page 8
