Amber felt a sick chill as the full implications of his words sank in.
“So, we waited for the three of you to arrive. Through me, the Darkness in the Lowry House understood what you’d come to see, so it gave it to you. Ghostly scenarios drawn from the land’s dark past, designed to scare you, thrill you, and ultimately lure you down here to me. You were supposed to join me in becoming vessels for the house’s energy, and together we would walk in the world and spread its Darkness throughout the land.” His voice had taken on a dreamy quality as he said these last words, but it returned to normal as he added, “But something went wrong, and the three of you escaped.
“After you fled, the Darkness reached into your minds and sealed away the memories of what you’d experienced here in order to protect itself. It was somewhat clumsy and brutal, I’m afraid, and you lost more of your memories than intended. Large chunks of your high-school years became blocked off, though they should’ve returned with the rest of your memories by now.”
“What happened to you after we got out?” Trevor asked. “Neither the police nor the firefighters found any indication you’d been here. You escaped the fire, but how?”
Drew shook his head. “He didn’t escape. He managed to get out but not unscathed.” He looked at Greg. “Isn’t that right?”
Greg looked at him a long moment before smiling. “Always the smart one.”
He did nothing obvious, but his face and hands changed. His hair vanished, and his flesh was now puckered and wrinkled, like wax that had partially melted and cooled before setting once more.
“You’ve been using your abilities to disguise your true appearance,” Drew said. “But we got a glimpse of the real you yesterday at the hotel bar, just for an instant. What happened? Did your control slip, or did you decide to give us a little peek at the real you for fun?”
Greg’s burn-scarred lips stretched into a tight smile. “The latter, I confess.” His voice had changed, too, becoming rough and guttural. “You’re right, of course. I got out before the house burned down but not before taking some damage. The Darkness settled for using me as its sole avatar, and I carried it with me as I left. Its power allowed me to withstand the pain and sped my healing process, though as a creature composed of spiritual energy, its ability to affect the physical world is limited, as you can see.”
He gestured at his ruin of a face. “I was able to hide my transformation from my parents, and I returned to school. When the three of you got out of the hospital, I said nothing to you about what had happened. The Darkness wanted me to keep its existence a secret. It didn’t want me to have any contact with you, in case seeing me might somehow trigger your memories. And that was the end of our friendship. I regretted that, but after a while, I became convinced it was for the best, and so we went our separate ways.”
“We know you moved to a different school soon after that,” Drew said. “What happened to you then?”
“I didn’t move,” Greg said. “After my parents died, I decided to strike out on my own and explore the newfound abilities the Darkness had granted me. Chief among them was the power to sense other Bad Places, large and small, ancient and newborn. I began seeking out those places, and once there, well, the Darkness within me was alive, wasn’t it? And that meant it needed to feed. We absorbed all the negative energy we could find, and we continued to grow stronger. And that’s what I’ve done for the last fifteen years: travel the country and feed my Darkness.” He smiled and spread his arms. “And now here we all are.”
“But why are we here?” Trevor asked. “And don’t tell me it was all so you could restore our memories. I’m not about to buy you as Greg Daniels, Supernatural Doer of Good Deeds. It must be the house or, rather, the Darkness that once inhabited it and now lives in you. It lost us once, and now it wants us back.”
Drew shook his head. “I don’t think so. If it wanted us so badly, why wait fifteen years? We had no memory of its existence and no way to protect ourselves against it. It could’ve taken us whenever it wanted.”
“No,” Amber said. “It couldn’t. Greg said something went wrong when it tried to possess us. Do you remember when that happened? I do. It was when Greg’s lantern began to glow bright. I heard the voice he told us about whispering to me inside my head, telling me how much it wanted me, how much it needed me . . .”
“I heard the same thing,” Trevor said. “And the next thing that happened was the flame burst out of the lantern and began growing. You called for Drew, and he got you, and the three of us . . .” He trailed off. “That’s it! That’s how we resisted the Darkness. As we fled, the Darkness reached out for us, but we were together, our minds and spirits joined. Remember the cleansing rituals we researched? They all came down to the same thing in the end: positive energy marshaled to counteract negative energy. Our combined psychic energy formed a protection against the Darkness’s influence.” He turned to face Greg. “That’s what happened, isn’t it?”
Greg looked at Trevor without answering.
“I suspect tampering with memories is a lot less invasive than full-out possession,” Drew said, “which is why the Darkness could still block our memories even though it was unable to take us over. We were already traumatized by the events of that night, and we were physically and emotionally exhausted, not to mention suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. It wouldn’t have taken more than a psychic nudge for the Darkness to give us selective amnesia.”
“So, we flew the coop, and the Darkness decided to forget about us and make do with Greg,” Trevor said. “But that still doesn’t explain why we’re here now.”
“You’re right about the Darkness settling for me,” Greg said. “And we’ve done very well on our own for the last fifteen years. You’re not here because the Darkness wants you but, rather, because I do.”
The three friends stared at him.
“I knew you had the hots for Amber,” Trevor said, “but all three of us?”
Greg laughed. “Not what I meant. For the first few years after my transformation, I was content to be by myself, traveling in search of focal points of negative energy to absorb. You wouldn’t believe all the different ways such energy can manifest. I’ve seen some bizarre things, even by my standards. But somewhere along the way, I began to miss having anyone to share my experiences with, and I found myself thinking back to high school and those investigations of yours. There I was, living proof that the paranormal was real, visiting one Bad Place after another, and I thought how much the kids you’d been would’ve loved to know even a fraction of what I’d discovered since my rebirth. Then, one day, it occurred to me. Why not get the three of you together, see if I couldn’t restore your memories, and then, once I’d shown you the truth of what I’d become and what I could do, I’d ask you.”
Drew frowned. “Ask us what?”
But Amber had already guessed. “To allow part of his Darkness to enter us and make us like him. And then we could accompany him on his search for more Bad Places to drain of negative energy.” She looked at Greg. “It’s simple. You’re lonely.”
“It’s true, and I admit, the change comes at a price.” He gestured to his face. “At least, in my case it did. But consider the great gift I’m offering you. When you were kids, you wanted to find evidence that there was something more to existence than what appears to be reality. Once you’ve changed, you won’t just be investigating the hidden world, you’ll be part of it! The knowledge you’ll gain, the things you’ll see . . .” Excitement rose in his voice. “I’m not exaggerating when I tell you human language doesn’t possess the capacity to communicate what your lives will be like once you accept the Darkness. What you’ve experienced this weekend is nothing more than the merest appetizer for what awaits you.”
“And all we’d have to do to accept your so-called gift is to allow ourselves to be possessed by a force that can only be termed evil,” Drew said. “Assuming we were insane enough to allow such a thing to happen, how much of us—our thoughts,
our feelings, our very selves—would be left?”
Greg shook his head. “Evil is a human concept, Drew. Energy can’t be good or bad. It just is. True, I’ve used terms like Bad Place and Darkness but only for convenience’s sake. As I said, human language lacks the capacity—”
Amber interrupted. “Cut the crap. When we knew you, you were a socially awkward outsider, but you weren’t a killer. You’ve said a lot of things tonight, but you’ve neglected to mention the two men you killed this weekend: Sean Houser and Jerry Cottrill.”
“And I doubt they were the first,” Drew said. “Knowing what we know now, it’s more than a little suspicious that your parents died in a car wreck not long after your change, as you call it. What happened? Did they somehow discover the truth of what their son had become? Or did they simply stand in your way?”
Up to this point, Greg had been coming across as someone who had genuine affection for them. But now his gaze hardened, and his voice grew cold. “Neither. I just grew tired of them. And as for Sean and Jerry . . .” He shrugged. “I had to do something to amuse myself while you three jumped through the hoops I set up for you. What can I say? Boys just want to have fun.”
“You’re not human anymore, are you?” Drew said. “Maybe you still were when you first changed, at least partially, but the years continued to change you. The more negative energy you found and absorbed, the less human you became. The whole process was something like fossilization. You’re like a skeleton whose bones were replaced with minerals over millions of years, until there’s no bone left, only rock. You look like Greg, you walk and talk like him, but the man you were died long ago. You’re not even a ghost. You’re nothing but a bad copy that doesn’t even know it’s a copy.”
“How many other people have you killed over the years?” Trevor demanded. “Do you even remember?”
Greg’s grin answered for him. Then the grin fell away, and he let out a weary sigh. “I’m disappointed, but I can’t say I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d take me up on my offer. Not willingly, anyway.” He glanced down at the kerosene lantern, and the light within began to glow more strongly, just as it had fifteen years ago.
Amber understood what was happening. “The lantern is the focal point for the house’s negative energy, isn’t it? We keep calling it the Darkness, but it first manifested as fire when we were teenagers.”
“It couldn’t take us over back then,” Trevor said. “What makes you think it will be successful this time?”
The glow inside the lantern burned even brighter, until it became too painful to look at, and the basement, which up to this point had been cool and damp, began to heat up.
“The Darkness is far stronger than it was then,” Greg said. “And fifteen years ago, it had only a short time to probe your psychic defenses and search for weaknesses. This time, it’s had an entire weekend.
Plus, now it has me, and I know the three of you. I can help it find your weak spots.”
“We’re older now,” Drew said, “and we’re stronger, too.”
“You’re right on one count, at least,” Greg said. “You’re older. But during the intervening years, your psyches have acquired as much bad as good. More hurts, disappointments, regrets, self-doubts, and every one of them is a chink in your spiritual armor for the Darkness to exploit.”
“That’s how it got to you, isn’t it?” Drew said. “You came here as a teenager filled with resentment, determined to get back at us for leaving you out of our plans. The Darkness used those negative feelings to create an inroad to your psyche, and while you sat here waiting for us, it poisoned you and took you over.”
“Yes,” he admitted. “So, in a sense, I’m your fault. All three of you. If you’d been better friends to me, I wouldn’t have been so full of resentment, and the Darkness would never have found a foothold in my soul.”
While he spoke, the “Darkness” grew even brighter, filling the basement with so much light that even with her eyes squeezed shut, Amber could still see its glow through her eyelids. She couldn’t see Drew or Trevor, but she assumed that they also had their eyes closed. She wondered if Greg did or if, as a servant of the Darkness, he had no need to avert his gaze from its full glory.
“You’re full of shit!” Trevor snapped. “We managed to resist the Darkness, and you could’ve, too, if you’d really wanted to. But you wanted to be strong, wanted to have power like no one else had ever known.”
Greg said nothing, but an instant later, the lantern’s light winked out. Amber opened her eyes a crack and saw him illuminated in the beam of Drew’s flashlight. His burned lips formed a half-smile. “Don’t think it’s over,” he said. “The Darkness is loose now, like a genie that’s escaped its lamp, and it’s ready for you.”
Amber wasn’t certain what he was talking about, but then she noticed the basement walls rippling, as if they were made of some soft spongy substance. The ceiling did the same thing, as did the concrete floor beneath their feet. She started to lose her balance, so she reached out toward Drew and Trevor. The three of them grabbed hold of one another and huddled close to keep from being knocked off their feet.
“The Darkness was, for all its age, inexperienced the last time you encountered it,” Greg said. “It reached out for you like a toddler stretching out its hands to try to grasp hold of a toy it wanted, and you were able to run away from it. But it’s learned a lot since then.”
Pseudopods emerged from every surface in the basement. Thick tentacles formed of wood, plaster, and concrete extended toward them, wrapped around their legs, caught hold of their arms, encircled their chests, coiled around their necks. The tentacles pulled them away from one another until they were no longer touching. Amber tried to reach out toward Drew and reestablish physical contact, but she was bound tight in the tentacles’ hold and could barely breathe, let alone move. She thought she heard a soft whispering just beneath the threshold of hearing. A voice speaking words that she couldn’t make out but could sense the meaning of. It promised her strength, promised her power, promised to show her sights beyond anything she’d ever imagined. All she had to do in order to accept its gifts was submit and let it in.
She fought to resist the voice, but its promises were so tempting. She’d lived the life of an invalid for so many years, gotten by only with the help of copious amounts of meds. The Darkness promised her that if she let it in, she’d never feel weak or scared again. Tempting . . . so tempting . . .
The tentacles had reached around Greg, leaving him untouched. “I’m not going to lie to you. The change is going to be unpleasant, but it’ll go more easily if you don’t resist. But either way, in the end, you’ll belong to the Darkness just as I do. I’m so excited! I can’t wait to share the things I’ve learned with you.” He turned to Drew. “And don’t worry. I’ll be happy to share Amber, too.” His smile became a leer. “After all, we’re going to be one big, happy family.”
The tentacles had left their mouths uncovered, and Drew shouted, “Don’t do this! You might feel like you don’t have a choice, but you do!”
Greg sighed. “Really? I thought you said I wasn’t human anymore, that I was just a fossil. If that’s true, how can I have a choice? Make up your mind.”
“I was wrong,” Drew said. “You still have some humanity left inside you. Maybe just a spark or a distant echo, but it’s there.”
The whispering grew louder, threatening to crowd out Amber’s thoughts. She felt herself growing weaker, becoming almost drowsy, but she forced herself to ignore the voice’s urgings and focus on Greg. “He’s right. If you weren’t still human, at least a little, you’d never have gotten lonely, never have sought us out and brought us back here to join you.”
“And if you’re still human, you do have a choice,” Trevor insisted, “whether you want to believe it or not. That means Sean and Jerry died not because some big, bad bogeyman made you do it but because they pissed you off back in high school, and fifteen years later, you decided to get back at them
. End of story.”
The voice inside Amber’s head had grown so loud by this point that she had trouble hearing Trevor speak.
Greg still smiled, but he looked uncertain now.
“Do you really like what you’ve become?” she asked, barely able to hear her own voice. “Is that what you want for us? For me? If you truly care about us, you won’t let this happen!”
The last of Greg’s smile fell away. “I . . . I don’t know.”
“We could’ve been better friends to you,” Drew said. “ Should’ve been. But we were just kids. We all were. You can’t condemn us because of that.”
The tentacles of wood and concrete that had hold of Amber tightened, as if the Darkness was becoming worried. The voice inside her head became even louder, and now it seemed as if it was screaming at her to listen to it and nothing else.
She spoke again, although she could no longer hear her own voice and wasn’t certain that any words emerged from her mouth. “Separating us so we can’t touch doesn’t matter, Greg. Drew, Trevor, and I were united the first time the Darkness tried to claim us, and our minds and spirits are just as united now. Even more so because of what you’ve put us through this weekend. Thanks to you, we’re stronger than we’ve ever been.”
And it was true. She could feel it, feel Drew and Trevor with her, their minds and spirits one. And together they directed their combined positive energy at the voice shrieking inside them. That was all a cleansing ritual was, after all. Positive energy versus negative, one pushing against the other, fighting to nullify it and cast it out. She felt their energy pushing against the Darkness, and at first, it seemed as if there was no hope, for the Darkness was so old, so powerful, and it wasn’t just the negative energy that had built up on the site of the Lowry House. It was the combined energy of the dozens, maybe hundreds, of Bad Places that Greg had visited and drained over the years. How could the three of them, no matter how unified their spirits, stand against such power? They were, in the end, only human.
Ghost Trackers Page 25
