The Ghost Files 3

by Apryl Baker

  “Dude, I wish you hadn’t shown up,” Paul shakes his head. “Now you have to die.”

  Paul raises his own gun and points it at his brother. Three loud pops sound and Jake jerks, falling to the ground. Red begins to spread over his white tee shirt. He stares up at his brother in shock for a moment and then his eyes dim. Paul reaches down and lifts his brother into his arms. “Pop your trunk, Mase.”

  I watch, numb, as Paul puts his brother’s body into the trunk of Mason’s car. The same trunk I’d been in just minutes before. He shot him. His own brother. He shot Jake.

  Mason shoves me and I stumble. Meg grabs me before I hit the ground. She seems to have broken free of her own shock. Seeing Paul shoot Jake must have woken her up. It only made me numb. I shiver when the wind picks up a little and I watch as Jake appears next to Mason’s car. He looks confused.

  “Mattie? What…happened?”

  “You shot your brother,” I whisper, my eyes on Jake. “You killed him.”

  Jake cocks his head and frowns. Then he looks down at his chest and sees the bullet holes in his chest, his blood-soaked shirt and stares, confused, at Paul.

  “Unfortunate, but necessary,” Paul says. “He should have stayed home.”

  “He’s your brother,” I shout, angry. Jake was the kindest person I’ve ever met. He had his flaws, but deep down, he was always a good person.

  “Mason, shut your girl up before I shoot her,” Paul growls. His eyes are insane and Meg shrinks back from him. Jake’s ghost looks at his brother, horrified.

  “You heard him, darlin’,” Mason laughs. “Now, how about we all get on board the boat before the partygoers arrive?”

  I look down and see I’m still clutching Meg’s stiletto in my hand. She has hers as well. We’ll only get one shot at this. We could have handled one of them, but two is going to be trickier. I hope to God Meg has some fight in her. Dan will never forgive me if anything happens to her on my watch.

  I need to pass Mason in order to strike, which will put me farther from the trees, but not by much. Meg needs to run. Paul is fast, though. I’ve seen him on the field. He’s crazy fast. Maybe I should have Meg hit Mason and then run. I can handle Paul. I think.

  Brushing up against Meg, I whisper, “Use the heel on Mason when you pass him and then run for the trees.”

  She nods and starts to walk. I follow, conscious of Paul and his gun right at my back. I see her grip the shoe and then swing with all her might just as she gets even with Mason. The heel sinks into the exposed flesh of his arm, causing him to stagger and curse. Meg takes off in a dead run.

  Paul snarls and starts after her, but I turn and aim higher. He wasn’t expecting it, so my aim is true. I hear a pop as the heel sinks into his left eyeball. Paul screams, his hands automatically going up to clutch at his eye. I don’t hesitate, I take off after Meg, but Mason grabs me by the hair and yanks me back.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” he hisses. “We aren’t done yet.”

  “Oh, yes, we are,” I smile. My foot comes up and hits him squarely in the family jewels. He hits the ground, screaming. I take off running again, listening to their voices fade. Now where the heck is Meg?

  I slow down a little once I’m in the trees to look for Meg. The first place I check is our original hiding spot, but she’s not there. Stupid girl! Where did she go? I can’t call out for her because they’ll hear me. The woods are dark, made even blacker by the entwined canopy of tree tops. The moonlight doesn’t even shine through them.

  After ten minutes of stumbling around, I give up. “Meg?” I call quietly. “Meg?”

  A branch breaks to my right.

  I dodge behind a thicket of trees and stand perfectly still.

  “One, two, I’m coming for you…”

  More twigs snap and heavy footsteps are just in front of me.

  “Three, four, I’m gonna even the score…”

  Oh, God, it’s Paul. How is he even up and moving? That heel to the eye should have put him down.

  “Mattie, come out, come out, wherever you are,” he calls. “If you make me find you, I promise it’ll be worse for you.”

  Come out? Not bloody likely.

  “MATTIE!”

  My heart stops. Eli. No! Mason and Paul have guns!

  “MATTIE, MEG!” There’s Caleb.

  Guns. These two have guns and Eli and Caleb don’t know it.

  “Are you sure she’s here?” Dan yells from somewhere close.

  What is he doing here? He can’t be here.

  I hear the hammer of the gun and then Paul laugh softly. “If you won’t come out, Mattie, I’ll just go looking for your friends.”

  NO!

  I jump out at the same time Meg tackles Paul to the ground. She must have heard Dan and realized he didn’t know about the gun.

  The gun goes off just as Dan and Eli round the bend.

  Slow motion. I never understood that concept until this moment. I watch as Paul stands up. He looks down at Meg and smiles and fires a bullet into her stomach. He aims the gun again, for her head this time, but Eli shoves him out of the way. The bullet fires somewhere to the left of us. Paul turns around and tries to wrap his fingers around my throat, but I dodge him. My fist slams into his throat instead. He grunts and aims the gun at me. Dan grabs his hand and forces the gun up just as it goes off again.

  They wrestle him to the ground and I run for Meg. She’s gasping for breath. Jake stands by, watching, his face a mask of shame and fear. “Shh, Meg, it’s okay,” I soothe. “You’re going to be okay.”

  She makes a rasping sound and blood begins to stain her lips. No, please no. Please don’t die.

  “Bitch.”

  The gun goes off and I feel a burning sensation in my shoulder followed by a wrenching pain that makes me scream. I look up to see Mason standing a few feet from us, holding his stomach. Blood seeps out of the gunshot wound. Paul’s wild shot must have hit him.

  Mason raises his gun again and then I hear another shot from behind me. Mason falls. Dan is standing behind me, Paul’s gun in his hand. He throws the weapon and then runs over to where Meg and I are. He takes one look at Meg and his face pales.

  “Can you do something?” he asks me. “Can you save her like you did me?”

  “No.”

  The voice is loud like thunder and it hurts my ears. I’m not sure where it’s coming from, though.

  Meg coughs and more blood bubbles out.

  “I can try,” I say and then cringe when the same voice says, “NO.”

  “Who’s there?” I call, my voice more arrogant in my fear than I meant it to sound.

  A man steps out of the trees. He’s tall, dressed in jeans and a green tee shirt. Hard as I try to focus on his face, I can’t. Every time my eyes travel up, they shy away against my will.

  “You will not save her,” he says. “This is the price that must be paid.”

  “Who are you?” I demand.

  “I am Azrael.”

  “The Angel of Death,” Eli whispers.

  Azrael nods. “If that is what you wish to call me, young Knight. I am here to see the price is paid for the young Reaper’s transgression.”

  “Transgression?” I shout. “I saved his life!”

  “It was not yours to save, child,” Azrael says calmly. “By saving him, you have killed others. Had Daniel died, Jacob would not have died and this girl would have been home, grieving. She would be alive and well. Because you held onto him, you altered her timeline. She’s dying now, when she could have lived a full, rich life. By upsetting the balance of life and death, you have altered timelines. There are more who will die, but these deaths, you will witness and understand the consequences of what you have wrought.” His voice booms around us by the time he is done. Caleb and Eli have both covered their ears, but Dan and I stare at Azrael, ashamed and scared.

  Meg’s hand clutches mine, pulling my attention back to her. Her breathing is labored and her dress is stained with blood. She puts my hand on t
op of Dan’s and smiles. He stares down at our hands, covering Meg’s heart. She is forgiving us. We both understand this. She coughs once more, her chest rises and falls, but it doesn’t rise again. She’s gone.

  Dan lets out a low moan. He closes his eyes and bends over, a low keening noise coming from him. Caleb sinks to his knees beside him and wraps an arm around him. Eli stays with Paul. They’ve knocked him out, but you don’t leave a threat unsecured. Caleb whispers words to him I can’t hear, but they seem to help.

  “Your miracle was granted.”

  Eli stares mutely at the Angel talking to him. I can see the guilt in his eyes. He would never have asked for Dan’s life at the cost of someone else’s, but I would have and I did. This is my burden to bear, not his.

  “You are right, young Reaper, this is your burden to bear.” Azrael turns his attention back to me. “Daniel’s soul is tethered to yours and it will remain so. Your burden is Daniel’s life. If you die, he dies.”

  I swallow. Hard. I’m responsible for Dan’s life?

  “I allowed you this one mistake, little Reaper, but no more. If you abuse your gift ever again, you will answer to me. Do you understand?”

  My eyes are drawn to his and for the first time since he stepped out of the trees, I can see them. They’re glowing with the holy light of vengeance and my entire body starts to shake. Fear, unlike any I’ve ever known, courses through me. All I can do is nod.

  “You’re really an angel?” Eli asks, his voice quiet and hushed.

  Azrael smiles. Or at least I think it’s a smile. I can’t seem to focus on his face anymore. “I do not look the part? We tend to try and blend in with the humans. This is what the modern day human wears and thus, so do I. If I were to show you my true form, you would not be able to bear it.”

  Eli nods, awed.

  “Daniel.” Azrael’s voice is a command and Dan looks up, his face streaked with tears. “Your purpose in this life was fulfilled. You have been assigned the task of keeping our young Reaper from falling into the darkness she is surrounded in. You were her light and now, you are forever tasked to keep her bathed in the light of goodness. Stand, young Knight.”

  Dan only stares at him, but Caleb pulls him to his feet. Azrael nods in approval. He reaches behind him and pulls a sword from an unseen sheath on his back. It looked like a magician’s trick where he pulls the rabbit from the hat.

  “We have charged you, Daniel, with the burden of being one of the Four Knights of the Holy Swords. You shall wield the Sword of Truth. We have waited a long time to pass this sword onto its true owner. It will help wash clean your sins and purify your soul. When called upon, you must fight. Do you understand?”

  Dan nods and accepts the sword. The moment his hands touch it, a flash of white light shines out from it and we can all hear the sizzle of flesh and smell the burnt skin. Dan never uttered a sound.

  “Keep her safe, young Knights,” Azrael commands. “She is very important and the three of you are to keep her safe at all costs. Do you understand?” He looks at each of the brothers, gaining their acceptance.

  Dan looks up, startled, when Azrael lays a hand upon his shoulder. His eyes fall almost immediately.

  “You knew the consequences of your decision before you made it, young Knight. You knew innocents would die. Had you known it would cost the life of this girl, would you have made the same decision?”

  Dan looks at me for a long while before nodding his head. “Yes, I would have made the same decision.”

  “Then trust that you made the right decision,” Azrael tells him softly. “If you can tell me that, despite how much you’re hurting right now, then trust that you did the right thing. Do not let this pain tear you from her. She needs your strength more now than ever. Bad things are coming for her and she needs you.”

  He nods. “I won’t let this tear us apart. I swear it. She’s mine to keep safe and I’ll do that no matter the cost. Forever.”

  Wow. What does a person say to that?

  We all turn our heads toward the wailing of police cars and ambulances in the distance. When we look back, Azrael is gone.

  We’re left to pick up the pieces.

  They’re dead. Meg and Jake are dead.

  Dan and I look at each other.

  They’re dead because of us.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  I’m in a hazy fog. People talk to me and I nod, responding when I need to, but I can’t focus on anything in particular. Shock, the doctor said. They wanted to keep me, but I refused. The bullet only grazed me and I can’t bear to be in the same place as Meg’s body. I didn’t see her or Jake again. I think maybe Azrael crossed them over. I hope so. I can’t handle that right now. Zeke demanded I go home with him and for once I didn’t even blink. I need to be alone tonight. Mary will hover. I need to think. The police asked me questions, but I don’t remember answering them. Zeke said something about my giving a statement in a few days. Nice to have a dad people are scared of. The cops would never have let me by with that if not for Zeke.

  Dan’s quiet. He’s coming to Zeke’s with me. I’m shocked Zeke agreed. He knows Dan saved my life, though. That changed his opinion of Dan. I don’t know what to say to Dan. How do I comfort him when I did this? When we did this? Meg is dead because of us and it’s something we’ll never be able to forget.

  The ride to my house is full of a heavy silence. I asked Zeke to take me there first so I could pick up some things. I don’t have anything at his place I need. Plus, I want my sketchpad. I have a burning urge to draw before the dam inside bursts and I hurt someone.

  When we arrive, Zeke opens the door and steps out of the limo. “Do you want me to go in with you?”

  I shake my head. I’ll only be a minute.

  Mary and her mom aren’t home yet. That’s why I find it odd the downstairs lights are on. Frowning, I head to the kitchen. There’s a briefcase laying open on the island. Curious, I go over and look inside.

  There’s a picture right on top. I blink just to make sure I’m seeing what I think I see.

  It’s the picture of me and my mom, the one I have upstairs in the shoebox in my closet. I turn the picture over and read the inscription.

  For my darling, Lawrence. Love Mattie and Claire.

  Lawrence? I glance at the papers in the briefcase and my eyes land on a business card. Dr. Lawrence Olivet. Why does the Doc have the same picture of me and my mom that I do? How did he get into the house for that matter?

  “Mattie?”

  He’s standing in the doorway, holding my sketchpad, staring at me.

  “I can explain…”

  “Why do you have this?” I demand.

  He tilts his head, assessing me. I can see the calculations being made in his head, the decision in his eyes. My insides freeze up. My instincts kick in and I bunch my muscles to run. For the first time since I met the Doc, I’m afraid. There’s something in his eyes, something I’ve only ever seen in Silas’s eyes.

  His answer floors me.

  “Because your mother gave it to me.”

  The End of Book 3

  Acknowledgements

  (Pst…If you’re reading this, you’re awesome! I love it when people read about all the wonderful people who helped make the story they just read and loved (hint, hint) and are going to leave me an awesome review on Amazon!)

  This time again already? Can you believe how far Mattie and Dan have come since he first met that scared little girl in the hospital? It has been quite a ride for all of us, let me tell you! I’m sure Mattie and Officer Dan are both ready to strangle me for all the nonsense I’ve made them suffer through. (Please hide me when they come back for volume 4!)

  First and foremost, Maggie, you’re awesome and never fail to help me edit this beast I call The Ghost Files. You always manage to focus me when I’m flailing and push me in the right direction even when I don’t always take the advice. I know, I’m a glutton for punishment and should just do as I’m told!

  As some
of you know, The Ghost Files has been optioned for film and we are hopeful of going into production in 2015. This would not be possible without all the wonderful people who read my books. You proved that an Indy author can do great things with help – the help of the fans! I love you all and appreciate each and every person who reads my books more than I can ever tell you.

  Ang, Sheree, Susan, Ann – as always props to my girls! You keep me inspired!

  I’ve made some really wonderful friends this last year who have helped me tremendously with all the crazy stuff that goes on while I’m writing.

  Penni Taylor, you rock! I would have fallen on my face in trying to promote these books without you! You rallied the troops, created a street team, and managed them! That helped me more than I can say. You are awesome and I don’t know what I’d do without you!

  Kelly Ann Blount, you have listened to me rant and rave for months struggling with so many things. You listened, cheered me on, and gave me a good swift kick in the butt when I needed it! And yes, we will be like those silly cat emoticons you like to torture me with sitting in the movies, snacking on popcorn, watching The Ghost Files and Grishma during their premiers in Hollywood!

  What can I say about all the folks over at Limitless Publishing? You took a chance on me when no one else would. You’ve supported me, been there to listen to me rant and helped me when I needed it. Jennifer, Jessica, and the rest of the staff, thank you!

  Got to give the family props for putting up with me when I was half-crazed trying to fix plot lines. You shoved food through the crack in the door and made sure I was alive every few days! Thank you and I love you all.

  Big shout out to the fans of The Ghost Files – you are the absolute BEST bunch of fans a girl could ever hope for. I love you guys so much and to The Reapers of my Street Team – you make me laugh and you keep me inspired by how hard you work! Thank you all so much!

  And last, but certainly not least, I have to thank God for blessing me with this crazy huge imagination that never shuts up. You have me a gift even if it took me a while to figure that out. Without it, I think I’d be lost, so thank You, for all the blessings you’ve bestowed upon me and mine.