by Kasi Blake
Another hour passed without incident. Keisha went to the bathroom several times but always returned safely. Bay-Lee danced twice more with Nick. Jordan stood off to the side and glared at them the whole time, but she didn’t try to steal him away again. Bay-Lee watched the new kid, Jonah, as he networked within the crowd. He seemed to be trying to make friends with the highest ranked hunters in the room. Although his eyes found Bay-Lee, he didn’t even say hi to her.
When Jonah left the party, she followed. On the phone in the break room, he was reporting to someone. “I’ve been keeping an eye on them. Don’t worry.”
Although she wanted to confront him, she returned to the party figuring he was probably one of Van’s spies. First Gavin and now Jonah, it seemed like everyone was reporting to someone shady. What was going on?
The party slowly came to a close. Tired students peeled off from the pack until the only ones left were the disappointed four hosts. Bay-Lee glanced around the trashed room. The floor was littered with torn and wrinkled wrapping paper, ribbons, streamers, and paper cups. It would take over an hour to clean the mess and all for nothing. Nick was still going to die.
“I told you it wasn’t going to work,” Mike said.
“Do you have a better idea,” Keisha asked. “Cause I don’t hear anything coming out of your mouth but complaints.”
“There’s got to be some spell to keep ghosts away.” Mike flung his arms around, frantic. “Maybe there’s a talisman. We can hit the books tomorrow morning, do some research. There’s got to be something we’ve missed.”
“This is Maxx’s area of expertise,” Keisha said. “If there was a talisman or a special spell we could use to keep the wraiths away, he would have told us.”
Mike shook his head. “That guy doesn’t know everything. He even admitted it. Van has always taught us that for every bad thing out there, there is a way to stop it. We just need to find it.”
“Elf is right,” Nick said. “We just need to find—”
A scream cut him off. All eyes went to Keisha. Hands slapped over her mouth, she continued to scream into them, the noise barely muffled. Bay-Lee followed the direction of the girl’s horrified gaze. There was a woman staring at them, partially hidden by a bookshelf. She wore an old-fashioned grey-black dress from an earlier period. “Who is that?” Bay-Lee asked.
Keisha stopped screaming long enough to say, “It’s my mother.”
“Get the stuff to cast the spell,” Bay-Lee shouted.
Keisha started for the corner where the supplies were waiting in an Army green duffel bag. She only made it a few steps before the wraith tackled her. It zoomed through the air like a rocket. Mike ran for the spell supplies while Nick went for a weapon. There was a locked cabinet with swords at the back of the library and he had a key.
Bay-Lee shouted, “I am going to kick your butt!”
The wraith glanced up, seemingly surprised by the fact someone was speaking to it. Keisha took advantage and rolled to the side. The wraith glided over to Bay-Lee, a foot off the ground. Polished black shoes with thin laces dangled above the floor. Flashes of a skeletal face and red eyes imposed itself over the woman’s face in sporadic bursts. “I cannot be stopped,” the wraith said in an echoing voice.
“You aren’t Keisha’s mother.”
It cackled like a witch. “I am her mother, and I am untouchable on her birthday. You cannot stop me.”
Feeling smug, Bay-Lee said, “It’s not her birthday. As her mom you’d think you’d know that.”
The thing shrieked.
Bay-Lee ran and jumped into the air, leg flying up, and kicked the wraith in the stomach. It flew backwards. A cry of pain was her reward. She’d hurt it. If it could be hurt, it could be killed. Unfortunately, they couldn’t afford to kill it. They needed to find the master and stop him (or her) before it was Nick’s turn to die.
“Hurry up!” she yelled to Mike.
On the floor in the corner he was frantically digging into a duffel bag with both hands. He dragged out a bowl and some plastic bags filled with assorted herbs. Ignoring her, he continued to gather the stuff for the spell.
Keisha dragged her injured body to a nearby bookshelf and rested against it. Both of her hands were on one leg, rubbing it, and a pained expression crumpled her features. She wasn’t going to be any help to them.
Nick came running with a sword clutched tight in his hand.
Bay-Lee yelled, “No! You can’t kill it. Just keep it busy until Mike can do the spell.”
With a vicious snarl Nick tossed the sword. He went at the thing with flying fists instead. The wraith was strong. For every punch, kick, and hit Nick or Bay-Lee delivered, it responded with three of its own. They took turns tumbling across the floor only to return to the fight seconds later.
Bay-Lee spoke to the thing, hoping to reach it through logic. “We aren’t trying to kill you. Stop fighting us. We just want to release you. Then you won’t have to kill anymore. You’ll be free.”
The wraith digested the information slowly. A malicious smile spread thin lips, making them thinner. Instead of speaking, it replied with a sudden hit to Bay-Lee’s face. She fell backwards, landing hard on her butt.
Body aching, Bay-Lee turned her desperate gaze in Mike’s direction. It looked like he had the stuff inside the bowl and was about to light the match. Keisha was still on the floor, massaging her injured leg. The wraith hit Nick extra hard. He flew through the air, slamming into the wall with a sickening thud. Bay-Lee prayed he would get up, but he didn’t move. She tried to run to his side to check on him. The wraith caught her, bony hands around her throat. It lifted her off the ground.
Bay-Lee’s palms covered the wraith’s hands as she struggled to get loose. The bony fingers tightened, choking her. She couldn’t breathe. It was slowly killing her. She silently prayed Mike would light the contents of the bowl and hurry through the long chant to free the thing. Her time was running out. Where were the other hunters? Where was Jordan, Jonah, Maxx?
Due to a lack of oxygen, strange stuff flitted through her mind. Dizziness washed over her entire body, and she couldn’t think rationally. Odd thoughts tortured her. In her mind she saw a werewolf pack. Nick and Mike were running with them, a part of the pack. Nick’s eyes glowed golden and he snarled, flashing sharp teeth. Those teeth ripped into her mom.
The wraith screamed in pain, and it dropped Bay-Lee on the floor. She rubbed her throat as she gaped at the fallen monster. Keisha’s jeweled dagger stuck out of its back. It was dead. Bay-Lee groaned. Her gaze went to Mike. Lit match in hand, he was about to do the spell. He saw it was too late and blew out the tiny flame. Her eyes went to Keisha next. The girl shrugged. “Sorry.”
Bay-Lee struggled to her feet. “Why did you kill it? You knew we needed it alive.”
“It was about to kill you,” Keisha said. “I saved your bacon. You’re welcome.”
Nick moaned.
Bay-Lee rushed to his side. She cradled his head in her lap, asking him over and over if he was okay. His eyelids flickered a few times before opening wide. Dazed green eyes stared up at her. “What happened?” he asked.
Her gaze went to the dead wraith. Its body faded until there was nothing left. To Nick, Bay-Lee said, “The plan didn’t work.”
He groaned again. “What do we do now?”
Instead of answering the question, she helped him to stand. Mike gave Keisha the same treatment. He pulled the girl to her feet, and the four of them met in the center of the mess. A long drawn out silence ruled the room. No one knew what to say. Bay-Lee wrapped her arms around Nick’s waist and rested the side of her face against his chest. Somehow they were going to save him.
Several students had returned, unnoticed, and they were glaring at them. The sight of Bay-Lee in Nick’s arms had the others ready to finish what his parents had started so long ago, terminate him. Gavin took the lead, shouting at
Nick about being stupid and not caring if he killed millions of people.
Nick stood there, silently taking the abuse.
Bay-Lee couldn’t allow him to suffer a second longer, not when she could do something about it. She shouted, “I am not Van Helsing’s daughter!” Everyone froze, mouths agape, including Mike and Keisha. “His real daughter is in hiding. I was only pretending to be her so the monsters wouldn’t go after her, but I’ve had enough.”
Questions flew at her from every direction, but there was only one thing they needed to know, one very important thing.
“If you tell anyone, his real daughter will be hunted and killed, and Van will blame you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
NICK’S REAL BIRTHDAY
