Exile: Ghost Academy (YA paranormal adventure, book 4)

by K. E. O'Connor

  The memories flooded back to Lauren and she swallowed down her feelings of panic.

  “What was it?” asked Charlie. “You’ve gone a strange colour.”

  “I think I remember who killed me.” Lauren couldn’t even believe she was about to say this. “I just remembered that it was my mum.”

  Charlie’s eyes widened, he took hold of Lauren’s hand and led her back into the dining room. They both sat on the two chairs in the middle of the room. He stroked the palm of her hand a few times, and Lauren appreciated him giving her a few moments with her thoughts.

  “It felt so real.” Tears sprang up in Lauren’s eyes. “Like I was seeing it for the first time.”

  “Do you think it was really a memory? Your mum actually stabbed you?”

  She shook her head swiftly. “I don’t believe it myself, but it’s what I was dreaming, or remembering, or whatever it was I was doing.”

  Charlie tipped his head back, his shoulder length dark hair falling away from his face as he did so. “Are you sure it was your mum?”

  “It was her. We were standing on my porch at home, and she was in front of me with a knife, and she stabbed me.” Lauren’s hands moved to where the knife had entered her and she clutched at her stomach. “I can’t believe it, though, she would never do that to me. It makes no sense.”

  “It could be your mind playing tricks on you,” suggested Charlie as he looked at Lauren. “It’s not as if we haven’t had a fair amount of stress these last few days. Thanks to the strange visitors we’ve just had, that’s only made things worse.”

  Lauren shrugged and rolled her shoulders as she tried to remove some of the tension. It had felt so real to her.

  “Why would your mum do that to you?” asked Charlie. “You’ve always said how close the two of you were.”

  Lauren shook her head. She swallowed against the tight feeling in her throat.

  “Did you get any sense that she was involved in your death when you visited her recently?” asked Charlie. “Maybe it was a flashback?”

  “No, not for a second, and she didn’t seem at all guilty or worried that I’d come back. If anything she seemed delighted and didn’t want me to leave.” Lauren sighed. “This is crazy, and you’re right, I’m probably just stressed.”

  “Me too.” Charlie sat back in his seat and dropped Lauren’s hand.

  Lauren didn’t think he looked particularly stressed, but that was one of the reasons she liked Charlie so much; his relaxed way about everything. Although, when she studied him more closely she did notice a tightness around his eyes, maybe he was feeling the pressure as well.

  “I guess being exiled from the Ghost Academy has been one of the low points of our undead lives so far,” she said.

  “Being strangled just now wasn’t much fun either,” said Charlie.

  “I hope they don’t come back. It would be a shame if we had to leave here so soon. I like this place.”

  “Well, we have it for now.”

  Lauren looked around the room of the abandoned house they had moved into following their expulsion from the Ghost Academy three days ago. It was an empty country manor house they had discovered as they searched for somewhere to stay whilst they figured out what to do with the rest of their undead existence.

  It was run down, but clean, and even had a few items of furniture still in some of the rooms, as if the family that owned the house had intended to come back to retrieve their items. The thick layer of dust on each piece of furniture suggested no one had been here for many years.

  They’d also picked the house because it was remote and out of the way, so less likely to get any interference from humans, ghost hunters or any of the professors from the Ghost Academy.

  At least, it had been empty and undisturbed until today.

  Charlie stood up and moved to the window, cupping his hands around his face as he peered out into the slowly brightening morning.

  Lauren shivered, the sensation that they were no longer safe rolled over her.

  “Time to find somewhere new?” Charlie turned away from the window.

  “Maybe later,” said Lauren. “I’m not all that keen on searching for somewhere new, but it might be for the best.”

  “I will sense them if they decide to come back,” said Charlie. “I know what they feel like now. I can keep us safe.”

  Lauren smiled at him. “Of course you will, I trust you.” Her smile faded. “I just wish the Academy trusted us.”

  “They may still come round.” Charlie returned to his seat.

  “At least we can’t cause any more concern to the Academy by keeping ourselves out of the way here.”

  “I bet they’re worried about us,” said Charlie.

  “More like worried we might cause more trouble for them.”

  “Professor Altman didn’t want us to go,” said Charlie. “Professor Granville said she even fought for us to stay.”

  “Fought for you to stay more like,” replied Lauren. “She considers you a valuable asset, what with your ability to calm down her damaged ghosts. No wonder she wanted you to stay.”

  “She would have fought for both of us.” Charlie smiled at Lauren. “She liked you too, she wouldn’t want us to leave.”

  “They probably know where we are anyway,” said Lauren. “I bet they are tracking our energy signatures so they can order us back when they’ve kindly decided our fate.”

  “Most likely. I don’t think there’s much we can do to avoid them unless we decide crossing over is an option. That would wipe away our energy signatures for good.”

  “Which we aren’t going to do.” Lauren shot a cool stare at Charlie.

  Charlie held up his hands. “I know, I know, that wouldn’t work for you, and I’m definitely not going to leave you on your own.”

  “Good to hear.” The portals showed Lauren nothing when she stepped inside them, and the thought of living her afterlife in the Greyness filled her with dread.

  “We are staying here, just you and me,” said Charlie. “We’ll get things sorted out.”

  “Well, it doesn’t really matter what we sort out since we’ve both been expelled from the Academy. We just have to sit around and await our fate as the professors decide what to do with us.” Lauren bit down on one of her nails and realised there were none left to chew. She had bitten them all off in the last few days as she’d worried about what would happen to her and Charlie now they were no longer a part of Ghost Academy.

  “It may not be as bad as you think,” said Charlie. “We did do wrong, abandoning our assignment like that, and then going off unauthorised. We have to accept some sort of punishment. We did it for the right reasons, just maybe went about it in the wrong way.”

  “I’d do it all over again,” said Lauren.

  “So would I, and I agree that throwing us out of the Academy was too harsh.” Charlie stared up at the ceiling. “The professors seem to think we have to abandon our old life and the families we still love and I’m not prepared to do that, and I know none of the others are either.”

  Lauren nodded, thinking back to the friends they had left behind at the Academy, Esmee Morgan and Alex Young. She hoped they weren’t in any trouble. Esmee and Alex had tried to stop the professors from evicting them both from the Academy.

  “I just don’t understand why they are so insistent we give up on our families so quickly,” said Lauren. “I bet they didn’t when they first joined the Academy, bet they were allowed to visit their friends and loved ones and didn’t get punished for it.” She let out a sigh.

  “I get the impression they think we were doing more harm than good by keeping in touch with our families,” said Charlie. “Not that I agree with them.”

  “They’ve lost touch with the real world. I get that they’ve been ghosts for a long time, but surely they must remember what it was like to have living loved ones, and want to see them.”

  “Maybe we need to remind them of that,” said Charlie.

  Lauren laug
hed and shook her head. “I doubt they will ever listen to us again. The last time we saw Professor Mackintosh, I got the distinct impression he wanted to wrap his thick fingers around my throat and throw me into the nearest portal. There will be no persuading him to change his mind and let us back into the Academy.”

  “You never know, maybe Professor Granville can work her magic on him. She only has to look at him and he melts.”

  “Now there’s a twisted love triangle,” said Lauren. “What with Professor Mackintosh, Jeremy and Professor Granville, all trying to work out their feelings for each other. I would not want to be involved in that for a single second.”

  Charlie grinned. “I do feel sorry for Jeremy, if he ever had to face off against Professor Mackintosh he would be crushed, leaving behind just one of his funny bow ties and his glasses.”

  “Don’t be so sure. Jeremy is smart, as in off the charts smart. I bet he has a few gadgets that could best Professor Mackintosh’s fists any time.” Lauren smiled, glad to have the distraction from her worrying memory. She was sure what she’d seen was wrong, but couldn’t shake the nagging sensation of worry that clutched at her every time she dwelt on the images of her mum hurting her. They had to have come from somewhere.

  “You’re probably right,” said Charlie. “I miss that guy. I miss them all actually.”

  “I don’t. They didn’t want us, so I don’t want them.” Lauren jumped up, unable to keep still any longer. “Maybe we should keep watch for a while, just to make sure that ghost doesn’t come back.”

  “We could do a patrol around the house now it’s getting light,” said Charlie. “Do you want to take the inside and I’ll go outside?”

  “Fine by me. See you back in our room in an hour?”

  “See you later.” Charlie vanished, leaving Lauren alone with the dust and the worrying memories that kept creeping into her thoughts.

  She walked around the room, doing a slow circuit, tracing her finger along the fireplace, leaving behind a trail through the dust. Lauren checked the kitchen, study, ground floor bathroom and pantry and then made her way up the stairs to the first floor bedrooms.

  The house was still, Lauren’s only company being dust motes and cobwebs. There was no sign of the mysterious ghost or the strange guy who had helped them.

  Lauren moved to one of the windows at the front of the house and looked out, the sun now poking over the tops of the nearby trees. She spotted Charlie as he made a circuit of the lawn. She raised her hand to him but his attention was fixed on the woods in the distance and he didn’t notice Lauren.

  She closed her eyes for a few seconds and a vivid image of her mum standing over her with a knife leapt to the front of her mind. Lauren turned away from the window, a sick feeling in her stomach, and left the bedroom. She refused to believe what she had seen, it just couldn’t be her own mum who’d killed her.

  After walking through the house several times, Lauren was convinced no one else was there and she returned to the main living room. Charlie was already there when she passed through the door.

  “Did you find anything interesting outside?” asked Lauren.

  “Definitely no one lurking about,” said Charlie.

  “There’s nothing inside the house. I think we’re safe.” She let out a sigh. “I need something to take my mind off our recent visitors, though.”

  Charlie rocked back on his heels. “I saw one of those old record players in the study. There’s some vinyl next to it too. We could always have a look through that and see what tunes the former house owner used to enjoy?”

  “Sounds great,” said Lauren. “Wonder what sort of music they were into?”

  “I get the impression the owner probably wasn’t really into rock or metal.”

  “And Esmee has you pegged as a Goth,” said Lauren. “There was me thinking you’d be into all the Emo type of music, lots of angst and broken hearted wailing.”

  “No, give me a heavy metal band any day. Although there’s always room for the Smiths.”

  “Sure, there’s always room for the Smiths.” Lauren led the way to the study and opened the door. The room was lined with empty book shelves, a faded green and red rug covered most of the wooden floor and a desk had been pulled to one corner of the room.

  “There it is.” Charlie pointed to the back of the room. A dark coloured wooden box stood with its lid up. Inside was a record player. “Let’s get this party started.” He walked over and bent down, exploring the vinyl next to the record player.

  Lauren walked over and blew the dust off the record player. “It might not even work after so many years of just sitting here.” Lauren lifted the needle and blew on it several times. “Looks in good condition, though.”

  “We’ll need to juice it up ourselves. No electricity in this place.” He looked up from his crouched position. “Have you got a little spare energy?”

  “Always.” Lauren located the ancient looking plug and held it between her hands for a few seconds. A warm feeling of energy seeped through her pores and the plug glowed. “That should keep it going for now.”

  Charlie pulled out a record. “Elvis, a classic.” He carefully extracted the vinyl and placed it on the turntable. “You ready?”

  Lauren nodded and placed the needle on the record. It scratched and crackled for a couple of turns but then the distinctive tones of Elvis filled the room.

  Charlie grinned. “You cannot beat vinyl.”

  “I’m more of a download fan myself.”

  Charlie gave a mock grimace. “And I thought we were friends.”

  Lauren laughed and felt some of the tension seep away from her shoulders.

  Charlie finished looking through the vinyl, made a few more selections and then stood up. “Would you care to dance?”

  Chapter 2

  The sun peeked through the windows of the study as their final record came to an end.

  “Although some of your choices were questionable, that was fun.” Lauren leaned back on her elbows as she stretched out on the rug on the floor.

  “I wondered about becoming a DJ.” Charlie lifted the record from the turntable and placed it back in its sleeve. “You know, if the band hadn’t worked out. I always wanted to work with music in some capacity.”

  “Me too,” said Lauren. “I practised the guitar for hours, hoping I’d get good enough for someone to actually pay me to perform.” She looked down at her bitten nails.

  “Anything else you want to listen to?” asked Charlie.

  “I’ve think we’ve exhausted the collection.”

  They both jumped as a loud knocking began on the front door.

  Lauren gave Charlie a startled look as she scrambled to her feet and then dashed into the hallway.

  Charlie followed her but paused, a hand on Lauren’s arm. “I recognise the energy. It’s not human.”

  “Who is it?”

  The knock came again.

  “It has the same energy signature as one of our unexpected visitors from yesterday,” said Charlie. “But why come back, and why wait outside? Neither of them did before.”

  The ancient letter box snapped open, rust making its hinges shriek. “Are you going to let me in or simply talk about me for the rest of the day?” a male voice said.

  Lauren slowly approached the door. She recognised the voice from last night. It had a pleasant gravelly quality to it now he wasn’t yelling. Even so, she didn’t like the fact that there was someone out there who knew the two of them were inside the building.

  “Let’s just hide,” whispered Charlie. “Maybe he’ll go away.”

  “No, it’s that guy from last night, the one who fought the ghost. How does he know we’re even on the other side of the door?” asked Lauren.

  A head poked through the door, covered with pale blonde hair and topped with a black woollen hat. Bright blue eyes stared intently at Lauren and Charlie. “I know you’re in here because I’m one of you, and although we didn’t get an opportunity to meet last night,
I hope to remedy that. Mind if I come in?” The stranger pulled the rest of his body through the door without waiting for an answer.

  “Are you from one of the institutions?” asked Lauren, noticing how Charlie had moved to stand just in front of her.

  “An institution? Like an asylum?” The stranger took off his hat and shook his hair, making it fly around his face in a fuzzy wave, before he smoothed it down. He wore the same battered windcheater he’d had on last night and black cargo pants.

  “No, I mean are you from the Academy or are you a Deviant?” Lauren moved forward to stand level with Charlie. “Is that why you were here last night?”

  “He’s not from the Academy,” said Charlie. “I’ve never felt his energy before and I’m used to sensing the other ghosts in the Academy, even if they don’t reveal themselves to us.”

  “So you’re a Deviant. Why are you here?” asked Lauren. “And what was last night all about?”

  “No, I’m neither from your Academy nor a Deviant, although I am aware of both organisations. I’m Grant.” He smiled brightly at them both. “And I am here because this is one of my stop overs when I am on my travels.”

  “And last night?” asked Charlie.

  “Ah, yes, last night. I must apologise for the dramatics. But you were being stalked by an unpleasant character. He may have gotten the scent of a new presence in the house, and decided to investigate. I decided to give him a fright and scare him off.”

  “That was another ghost,” said Lauren. “Why fight him?”

  “Because he would have done you harm, and I can’t have guests getting into any trouble.”

  Lauren and Charlie exchanged a glance.

  “So you aren’t here to take us away?” asked Lauren.

  Grant smiled again. “No, I come by this place sometimes when I’m in the area. It’s a nice house. I like the finer things in life, or death. I don’t, however, like it when an angry ghost decides to enter and cause problems.”

  “This is your house?” asked Charlie.

  “I didn’t own it when I was alive, but I discovered it one day and thought it was a safe place to utilise. I know we don’t need roofs over our heads any more, but old habits die hard, and I like a place to lay my hat.” He tilted his head to one side. “Did you say something about people coming to take you away? You’re not planning on bringing trouble to this place are you?”