Alex patted Lauren’s arm. “We’ll keep an eye out for him as we collect up the ghosts. Maybe one of us will get lucky and collect him before his energy disperses.”
Lauren nodded and turned her attention back to Jeremy, her thoughts on Charlie and how she might be able to find him.
“I have twenty containment boxes that will each hold six ghosts. But that will not be enough for all of the ghosts escaping from the portal,” said Jeremy. “Plus, only I can use them and am restricted to the number I can capture at any one time.”
Lauren raised her hand. “I can use them too, they don’t affect me either.”
“Excellent, you’re with me then, Lauren,” said Jeremy. “The rest of you need to focus on using a little of your own energy to solidify as many of the ghosts as you can. Once you catch hold of them, direct them towards the nearest portal, which is five miles away in St Anthony’s Bay. Does everybody know where that is?”
The crowd in front of Jeremy nodded.
“We need to form a line towards the Bay so that we can pass along individuals who are particularly weak. You should be able to capture their energy sufficiently enough to move them along our line until they reach the portal in the Bay.”
“What do we need to do first?” asked Professor Templeton.
Jeremy rubbed his forehead. “Professor Granville will sort everyone into groups.” He looked over to her and she nodded. Jeremy looked back at the students. “Some of you may not be strong enough to assist and if so simply do what you can, but do not drain yourself of energy, we don’t want to lose you too. We will sort you into three groups; capture and collect, working the line leading towards the Bay portal and portal monitoring. There is every chance the portal may continue to destabilise and will need to be carefully checked and observed in case it becomes even more dangerous.” He looked over at Professor Templeton and nodded.
“Shall we begin?” asked Professor Templeton.
“One final thing,” said Jeremy. “I will be setting up containment boxes and I warn all of you not to get too close to them. I do not have space for Academy ghosts inside these boxes. When you do capture one of the ghosts, bring them close enough to me so that you can sense the open containment boxes but you do not feel compelled to go into them yourself. It will be a fine line, so be careful not to become overwhelmed.”
Professor Templeton clapped his hands together. “Students to work. Join Professor Granville and she will sort you into groups.” He turned to Jeremy. “Let’s see if we can salvage our Academy.”
Jeremy nodded and then gestured to Lauren. “You’re with me, we need to get the remaining containment boxes charged to full power and then open them one at a time. If they all open at once we may lose some of the Academy ghosts and we can’t risk that.”
Lauren nodded and followed Jeremy away from the crowd, catching Alex’s gaze as she did so.
“Don’t worry, we will look out for him,” said Alex.
Lauren nodded her thanks and then hurried after Jeremy.
He stopped by a tall oak tree. “Most of the equipment we need is behind here. Start by checking each box to determine the power levels. Any that are under sixty percent will need to be charged before we can use them, otherwise, they won’t contain any ghosts that we capture for long.”
“What do I charge them with?” asked Lauren.
Jeremy pointed to the pile of equipment. “That small generator. It’s not ideal but it should give us enough of a power boost for what we need. Connect the leads to the generator and then switch it on and wait five minutes for each box to charge.”
Lauren knelt down and began checking each box. “These three are fine.” She handed them to Jeremy and watched as he dashed back into the chaos surrounding the Academy building, thrusting the boxes into the air and capturing the wispy remains of ghosts that shot past him.
As she worked, Lauren kept an eye out for any sign of Charlie or Theo. She wasn’t sure how she would identify them, especially if they were as weak as the other ghosts that had been expelled from the portal. But she refused to give up on them and wanted to give them any possible opportunity to get back if they could.
Jeremy filled the first three containment boxes and brought them back to Lauren. “Time for another containment box.”
Lauren handed him a box. “Did you see Charlie when you were out there?”
Jeremy shook his head as he hurried away. “No sign of him. I don’t recognise any of these ghosts. The chances are they came here after they died. They aren’t residents of the Academy.”
Lauren swallowed down her disappointment and focused on charging up the next box. There had to be a way she could get Charlie back.
Once all the boxes were full, Jeremy loaded them into a backpack and hoisted them onto his shoulders. “I need to get these over to the Bay portal as quickly as possible. Once I’m there I can release the ghosts straight into the portal and they will finally get some peace.”
“Are you going to transport over there?” asked Lauren.
“I can’t, not with so many ghosts in these boxes. The energies could get muddled up, and I don’t fancy my chances if they do. I’m going to use my moped.”
Lauren’s eyes widened. “You have a bike? I didn’t know you rode.”
Jeremy hoisted the pack higher and turned away. “Only when I have to.”
“What about the others?” Lauren looked up into the sky. There were still numerous wispy ghosts floating around randomly above the Academy. She had already seen several of them drift away and knew some had been lost forever.
“The line seems to be handling the rest,” said Jeremy. “Most of the ghosts are easy to contain, there are just a few that seem resistant to being collected.”
Lauren looked at the line of students spaced out into the distance, forming a route towards the Bay portal. “Perhaps if we used a containment box to lure them in, the rest could be grabbed easily enough and then passed along the line?”
“Good idea, but I don’t have one free. There may be a few that were left behind inside the Academy but it’s too risky to go back in right now. The sooner I get to the Bay portal and release these ghosts the sooner we can have a free box and start to entice the others towards us.”
Lauren watched Jeremy hurry over to the vehicle store and wheel out a black moped, helmet placed wonkily on his head as he kick started the engine and drove in a wobbly line across the fields towards the Bay portal.
Her attention returned to the Academy. The light from the portal didn’t seem quite so bright now but it still shot out the top and side of the building, covering the area outside in a pale cream glow.
Lauren checked no one was watching her and then hurried into the Academy. The tense atmosphere inside the building almost made her turnaround and walk straight out. The walls seemed to encroach on her as if they were breathing out their last few breaths before the portal destroyed the entire building.
She pulled her shoulders back and hurried towards the laboratory, hoping to get her hands on more containment boxes so she could help the remaining ghosts that were still outside.
As Lauren entered the laboratory she saw a mess of scattered equipment, most of it destroyed from the power of the portal explosion. She hunted across a few workbenches and uncovered a single containment box. She found three more by the cells that housed the imprisoned ghosts. Lauren hesitated. Would they be able to get free now the Academy was in so much trouble? She peeked through the window of the door but didn’t have time to check on the individual cells. It was something they would have to deal with later if the building survived.
Lauren dashed out of the laboratory, the containment boxes clutched in her hands. As she neared the bottom of the stairs she felt a strange pull from the portal. Lauren knew how unstable it was and that she shouldn’t go anywhere near it, but she felt the urge to have one final look before it disappeared for good.
She turned and walked swiftly along the corridor towards the portal. Dazzling bl
ue light splayed out from around the half open door, pulsing with a sick intensity. The floor underneath her feet buckled and she knew it was time to leave. Just as Lauren turned she thought she heard her name whispered on the air currents.
She turned back and looked at the portal. “Is anybody here?”
The voice came again, this time slightly stronger. Her name was repeated several times.
“Charlie, is that you?” Lauren stepped closer to the portal, shuddering as its unstable energy surrounded her.
She reached the edge of the portal but could barely see, the light was so bright close up. Lauren pushed the door open wider with the toe of her boot. Just inside the portal lay Charlie and Theo.
Theo had his arms wrapped around Charlie, almost as if he was trying to protect him from something that was attacking them both.
Lauren dropped the containment boxes and grabbed hold of Charlie and Theo, pulling as hard as she could to get them out of the portal. The floor rocked beneath them again but she ignored it as she pulled them farther away.
Once they were outside the portal, she slammed the door shut with her foot. Sparks of blue light shot out around the door and laced itself over Lauren’s skin, its touch icy as it fed on her energy.
Lauren gasped as she felt the portal drain her energy and she scuttled backwards on her hands and knees until she bumped into Theo and Charlie.
She jumped round to face them and rolled them both over. Neither Theo nor Charlie were conscious, their eyes closed and a pained expression on both of their faces.
Lauren grabbed their hands in hers and transported them outside the Academy. Or at least, she tried to. Lauren’s hands passed straight through them. She tried again and again to reach them but was struck with a sick realisation that the portal had made her too weak to remain solid.
She let out a groan. “Come on, focus,” she muttered to herself. Lauren wouldn’t leave them behind, not now she had found them.
Lauren tried to make contact with them again, but it didn’t work. Her gaze landed on the containment boxes she had dropped. She moved to the nearest one, focused her remaining energy and after several attempts managed to flip the lid open.
The containment box power pulled Charlie and Theo towards it. Charlie shot in almost instantly but Theo took longer, his energy not so drawn by the power of the containment box.
Lauren felt her own energy vanishing as she shoved the containment box until it touched Theo and he finally shot inside. She snapped the lid shut and then began the agonisingly slow task of pushing the box along the floor. Each movement made Lauren shake with exhaustion, and she felt her form begin to break down.
She reached the front door of the Academy after what felt to her like an hour of crawling along on her hands and knees, trying to keep contact with the containment box that held Charlie and Theo.
Lauren looked out of the door and waved an arm feebly over her head. “Can anyone help us?” Her voice was just a whisper on the breeze.
She crawled forward, her shape getting fainter by the second. Lauren spotted a figure in the distance and waved her arm again. As she dragged herself outside, Lauren’s form disappeared. Her hands slid away from her and her eyes closed.
Chapter 12
Lauren opened her eyes and stared up at the cream coloured ceiling. She looked around and realised she was in the medical room of the Academy, tucked neatly into one of the single beds they usually kept reserved for humans donating their energy to the ghosts.
She turned her head and found Charlie sitting next to her bed.
“Glad to have you back with us.” He leaned over and stroked her hand. “You had us worried.”
“You were worried!” Lauren struggled up to a sitting position. “The containment box kept you safe?”
“Yes, thanks to you capturing me in there in the first place,” said Charlie.
“What happened?” Lauren sifted through the fog of memories as she tried to make sense of just how they had gotten out and away from the portal.
“Professor Rose discovered the containment box, and what he thought was your degraded energy, by the front door of the Academy. He put you in a containment box as well, to keep what was left of you together and then handed you over to Jeremy.”
“I don’t remember that,” said Lauren.
“You wouldn’t, you were almost gone when he discovered you. Some of my memories are hazy as well but Jeremy filled me in on what happened,” said Charlie. “I do remember being with the Deviants and them trying to help me, but then Maggie coming in and taking me away. Oh, and you telling me that it wasn’t safe and we had to get out. After that, it’s just a mess of images in my head.”
Lauren nodded. “That’s right, Maggie lost the plot. She’s gone now, she won’t be a problem for the Academy anymore.”
“That’s good to know.” Charlie’s gaze held a hundred questions, but he kept them back and continued to stroke Lauren’s hand gently.
Lauren laced her fingers through Charlie’s. “I thought I’d lost you forever.”
“I always tell you, I’m never going to leave you alone.” Charlie smiled. “One day you’re actually going to believe me.”
Lauren dipped her head. “I might one day.”
Charlie shrugged, the smile remaining on his face. “I’m happy to wait.”
“Were the professors successful in getting the rest of the ghosts safely into the other portal?” asked Lauren.
“I think they lost a few, but there were so many that had been repelled from the portal that they couldn’t capture them all. Most of them got in safely, though. Everyone did an amazing job.”
Lauren looked over as the door opened and Alex and Esmee hurried in.
Alex’s grin seemed to light up the whole room when he spotted Lauren awake. “Finally, you’re back with us. I had a bet on with Esmee that you would sleep for a month.”
“No he didn’t,” said Esmee. “He’s such a loser.”
“Okay, maybe I reckoned a week.”
“How long have I been in here?” asked Lauren.
“Four days,” said Charlie. “You should have been able to regenerate in just a few hours, but Jeremy couldn’t get you to take any new energy at first, so had to keep you contained.”
“You were a mess.” Esmee reached the side of Lauren’s bed and smoothed a strand of her hair down. “You still are.”
“Charlie was just telling me what happened.” Lauren squeaked as Alex engulfed her in a rib crushing hug. “It’s okay, you don’t have to squeeze the life out of me.”
“Just checking you are whole again.” Alex released Lauren and stepped back from the bed. “From what the professors said it was touch and go if they would be able to keep you in one piece. They said something about you having more holes in you than a Swiss cheese.”
Esmee swatted his arm. “They did not.”
“I really was that bad?” asked Lauren. “All I remember is going back to the portal and it drained me of my energy. It was strange, normally that’s where I get my energy from, it has never taken energy from me before.”
“Well, the portal wasn’t exactly behaving itself,” said Alex. “After it decided to blow a hole in the Academy no one knew what it was going to do next.”
“How is the portal now?” Lauren looked around the ward. “Seeing that I’m here, I guess it means it didn’t blow the whole building up?”
“The portal is dead,” said Esmee.
No one spoke for a moment.
“What does that mean for the Academy?” asked Lauren.
“We’re about to find out,” said Esmee. “Professor Templeton has arranged for all the students to meet in the main library.”
“He has a new plan he wants to propose for the Academy,” said Alex.
“What does he have in mind?” asked Lauren.
“No clue but the professors have been in discussions for days,” said Esmee. “All lessons were cancelled and only the most urgent of assignments have been give
n out. We’ve been on clean up duties since the portal went into meltdown whilst they worked out this amazing idea of theirs.”
“I want to be there to hear about it.” Lauren flipped the covers off her.
“You will be, that’s the reason we came here,” said Alex. “We wanted to see if you were strong enough to come along.”
“I feel fine.” Lauren placed her feet on the floor and suddenly became aware she was in a pair of green pyjamas. “I haven’t worn sleep wear in such a long time. I’m not going to be sleeping now am I?”
“No, the professors believe you were in some kind of stasis whilst your energy rebuilt itself,” said Charlie. “You should be back to normal now.”
“Is that why I kept drifting off to sleep?” Lauren asked Charlie. “Was there a problem with my energy reserves?”
“Jeremy reckons it was because your memories were coming back, about your murder,” said Charlie.
“Yeah, Charlie filled us in on what you got up to whilst you were away from the Academy, playing Sleeping Beauty,” Alex grinned. “Jeremy theorised that the more contact you had with Maggie, the more your memory started kicking in, which made you go into a fake sleep as your system overloaded with confused memories.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Lauren shifted in the bed as images of her murder came back to her. This time, she clearly saw Maggie standing over her with a knife. She shook the thoughts away.
Charlie tightened his grip on Lauren’s hand. “You’re going to be fine, we all are.”
“So that’s it?” asked Lauren. “We’re all back to normal?”
“Yes, we’re all back to normal again. Charlie is still a massive dreamer, Alex is a loser, I’m perfect, and you’re, well, you,” said Esmee.
Lauren grinned at Charlie. “It does sound like we’re all back to normal doesn’t it.”
“We should go,” said Esmee. “Don’t want to miss the big announcement.”
“Okay. Lauren, if you hurry you won’t be late.” Alex gave Lauren’s arm a quick squeeze and then followed Esmee to the door. “We’ll catch you in there.”
Exile: Ghost Academy (YA paranormal adventure, book 4) Page 15
