Gone Ghost

by Sara C. Roethle

  Chase gave me an exasperated look as we stood face to face, only inches away from each other. “Really, Xoe?” he whispered.

  I shrugged uncomfortably. “It was the only relatively private place I could think of.”

  I crouched down in the narrow space to survey the floor for other feet. When none could be found, I opened the stall door and we walked out into the main part of the public restroom.

  “And how are we going to explain walking out of the women's bathroom together?” Chase grumbled.

  “Just act natural,” I instructed as I pushed the door open.

  The place was packed since school had let out less than an hour before, but no one seemed to notice as we exited the bathroom. Well, no one but Lucy, who turned to us with wide eyes the moment we appeared. She sat at a table sandwiched by Max and Lela. The three of them wore winter clothes, with their coats draped over the backs of their chairs. Chase and I hadn't thought to grab coats, since we were only outside for a few seconds. So much for keeping up appearances. Normally at that time of year we wouldn't need coats at all, but it had been cold outside with frequent storms.

  I scanned the restaurant for Jason and the other wolves, then let out a sigh of relief. They weren't here yet. Feeling light on my feet, I approached Lucy's table with Chase following behind.

  Noticing us, Max bobbed his sandy-haired head in acknowledgment. “Where did you guys come from? I was watching the door for you.”

  “Yeah,” Lucy said, raising her dark eyebrows almost high enough to meet her hairline. “I'd like to know the same thing.”

  I slid into the seat across from Lucy. “I couldn't exactly pop into the parking lot, now could I?” I whispered.

  Lucy's glare was interrupted as Jason, Emma, and Siobhan entered the restaurant. Seeing us, Jason guided his two charges over to our table. He introduced each of us, including Chase, ending with an, “and you already know Xoe.”

  Chase took the seat to my right and Jason sat next to him on the end, while Emma took the seat to my left, leaving Siobhan to the other end. The waiter, a boy I thought I recognized from gym class, came and took everyone's drink and pizza orders, then hurried away to the next table.

  The conversation initially turned to school, with Lucy assuring Emma that she would help her get caught up. Emma seemed much more comfortable here than she had at my house, perhaps reassured by the presence of two other teenage werewolves. To anyone watching, we would seem like a group of normal teenagers, with Siobhan as our chaperone. Lela was older than us, but looked young enough to pass for someone our age, especially with her messy dark hair, and clothes purchased in the junior's section.

  I nodded along with what Lucy was saying, and did my best to avoid eye contact with Chase and Jason. Both of them kept mostly quiet while Lucy dominated the conversation. Needing an uncomplicated target for my eyes, I ended up looking at Siobhan, who was giving Lela a rather unpleasant look. Lela kept her dark eyes steadily on the table.

  “Is there a problem?” I asked bluntly, drawing Siobhan's attention to me.

  Her green eyes bore into me, and I wondered how I had ever thought that they seemed kind. “Not at all,” she replied evenly, tucking a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear.

  Lela dipped her head a little further forward so that her dense, wavy brown hair shielded most of her face.

  “Isn't there some rule about lying to your pack leader?” I pressed.

  Lela was practically cowering, and if Siobhan was going to be a bully, I wanted to know. Never mind that I had been guilty of bullying Lela in the past. I wasn't about to let someone else do it.

  Siobhan just stared at me, but didn't answer my question. I glanced at Lela, but she wouldn't meet my eyes. The rest of the table had gone silent at the exchange.

  I looked to my left at Emma. “Is there a reason she's just staring at me?”

  Emma cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “She doesn't see you as dominant to her.”

  “But I'm her pack leader,” I countered, feeling weird talking about Siobhan as if she weren't sitting a few feet away with a cold stare on her face. “She seemed just fine with that this morning.”

  “That was when Abel was around,” Emma explained quickly, then looked down at the table.

  I looked back to Siobhan. “Look lady,” I began, trying to keep my anger in check and failing, “I have been through a lot, and I mean a lot, of crap these past few months, and I'm not about to take any more. If you don't want to be here, then leave. Otherwise suck it up and stop acting like a spoiled little child who doesn't want to do what the teacher says.”

  A smile quirked at the corner of Siobhan's lips. “Maybe you're cut out to be Alpha after all,” she said, sounding bemused.

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “So you were testing me?”

  She half-shrugged in reply.

  I clenched my teeth in irritation. “Do it again and I'll send you packing back to wherever you came from with third degree burns.”

  The fine lines around Siobhan's eyes crinkled up as she chuckled. “Yes ma'm,” she replied in her southern drawl.

  I looked to Lucy and Max, who both shrugged. I had a sneaking suspicion that Siobhan was going to be a problem, but we'd just have to wait and see.

  “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about, Xoe?” Lucy asked, drawing attention away from the small altercation.

  I shrugged. I was cranky and ready for Siobhan and Emma to leave so I could update Lucy and Max about my possible haunting situation, and my possible upcoming meeting with Ben and Cynthia. If Siobhan and Emma were going to be part of my pack, I really should have trusted them with the information . . . but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. My trust had been broken one too many times.

  “I think we should have occasional meetings,” Lucy announced. “Especially once more people start coming in. Just to keep track of everyone and make sure that they're all doing okay.”

  I shrugged again. “Fine.”

  Our pizzas arrived. I hadn't finished my turkey sandwich earlier, yet I still found myself without an appetite. Too many adrenaline spikes in one day will do that to you.

  I waited impatiently while everyone ate, listening half-heartedly to their chit chat. Max and Jason were catching up, since they hadn't seen each other in a while, leaving Lucy to engage Emma and Siobhan.

  I cast a quick glance over at Chase, who gave me a tight-lipped smile. I could tell his impatience matched mine. We both wanted to get on with the show to solve our more pressing problem. Was I being haunted, and if so, what could I do about it?

  In an attempt to lighten the mood, I stuck my tongue out at him, then grabbed a piece of pizza despite my queasy stomach.

  When the pizza was mostly gone, and the conversation had ebbed, Siobhan announced that she and Emma should get home, as Emma needed to prepare for her first day of school. With a promise from Lucy to meet Emma by the front doors of Shelby High, my new pack members headed out, and Jason stood to follow.

  I caught Jason's eye before he could leave. I wanted to tell him what Dorrie had speculated about my grandmother, but I didn't know how to do it, short of making Siobhan and Emma wait outside.

  Sensing my predicament he mouthed later, then followed the two women out of the building and into the slowly darkening parking lot.

  Lela stood next. “I have to work at six in the morning,” she announced. “Do you mind if I go too?”

  I did mind. I wanted to know what was going on with Siobhan, but given everything else that was happening, it could wait. I nodded my assent and Lela said her goodbyes, then excused herself.

  “Okay,” I breathed to calm myself. At Max and Lucy's questioning glances, I explained, “I think I'm being haunted by my grandmother.”

  Max dropped what had been his fifth or sixth slice of pizza back to his plate and widened his pale green eyes in surprise. “Seriously?”

  “She tried to drown her in the kitchen sink,” Chase added for me.

  Ma
x smirked. “I thought you smelled a little . . . funky.”

  Lucy punched Max in the shoulder, then turned to me. “How do you know it was your grandmother?”

  I shrugged. “It's only speculation. Something hit me in the back shortly after she died, and Dorrie thinks she might have hitched a ride back from the dream realm with us.”

  “But it could have been any ghost,” Lucy argued. “Why do you think it was your grandmother?”

  I sighed. “Because that would explain the ghost's motive for trying to drown me, and why it had enough power to almost succeed.”

  Lucy's almond shaped eyes squinted in thought, then widened suddenly. “You don't know for sure that it was your grandmother. It could have been Bart or Josie.”

  I inhaled sharply at the idea. It could have been either of them. In fact, my grandmother had killed Bartimus in the human world. I wasn't sure on the mechanics of spirits traveling to different planes, but his spirit would have already been in this one. I resisted the urge to look at Chase as I considered Josie. She had been low on the power spectrum, so I highly doubted it was her.

  “But why would they just attack now?” I countered. “It's been months since they died.”

  “It's been nearly two months since your grandmother died,” Lucy argued. “If she came back with you from the dreamworld, why did she wait until just now to act?”

  I shook my head. “Well hopefully Ben and Cynthia can help us figure it out tonight.”

  Max, who had picked up his piece of pizza, dropped it again. “Now witches are involved?” he asked incredulously.

  “I think so,” I replied as I stared down at my own partially eaten slice of pizza. “I received an anonymous text that claimed I had offered my help. Rose, Ben and Cynthia's still-living daughter, is the only person I can recall making that offer to.”

  “So now we'll be involved with tracking down a murderous demon as well?” Max groaned.

  I sighed. “I will be involved. As far as I'm concerned, this is demon business. I'm just telling you guys so you know what's going on, and because I need to ask you to keep an eye on Emma and Siobhan while I deal with this.”

  “Are you sure you don't at least want us to go with you to meet the witches?” Lucy pressed, worry clear in her tone.

  I shook my head. “Honestly I'm not worried about it. Without my grandmother or Sam to conspire with, three witches don't pose much of a threat, especially when I can just poof out of there.”

  Lucy sighed. “What time are you supposed to meet with them?”

  “They didn't say. Chase and I will go there after we're done here.”

  “Well . . . I have homework, so . . . ” Lucy trailed off.

  “So we're done?” I questioned.

  Her face scrunched into apologetic lines. “Sorry.”

  I smiled. “It's fine. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible anyway.”

  Lucy smiled in return as she and Max stood. “Let us know how it goes?” she asked.

  I nodded, feeling a little strange at my friends' lack of worry. I couldn't blame them, I did tend to go from one emergency to the next, and I always came out okay. Others got hurt, but not me. I was beginning to feel like I was charmed in a really bad way. Like the universe was saying, “Oh hey, let's help this girl escape mortal peril repeatedly, but as payment we'll kill and maim everyone she cares about.”

  I didn't know if it was fate, karma, or bittersweet luck, but whatever it was, it was being a real . . . witch.

  4

  Apartment #201 seemed normal enough, except for the itchy feeling I got when I stood too close to the front door. Chase gave me a worried look as he rubbed at the goosebumps that had erupted across his bare arms.

  “It feels just like Sasha's house,” he commented, referring to the coven's now-deceased head witch.

  Sasha had claimed that her home was warded against evil, or to be more specific, demons. It hadn't kept me out, but I wasn't a full demon. I shook my head in irritation. “Witches and their wardings.”

  I reached my hand out to knock, but Chase placed his fingers gently on my wrist. “You sure about this?”

  “Nope,” I answered, then lifted my hand again to knock anyway.

  I heard footsteps approach the door, then there was a pause as someone presumably looked through the peephole. Eventually the door swung inward to reveal Cynthia, looking skinnier than ever with deep purple bags beneath her pale eyes. Her mousy brown hair hung lank around a face riddled with worried lines.

  “I didn't think you'd come,” she said softly as she stepped aside for Chase and I to enter.

  “I almost didn't,” I answered honestly. No need to divulge that a big part of the reason I'd chosen to come was because I needed their help.

  I looked around at the barren, dark apartment as Cynthia closed and locked the door behind us. The threadbare couch and cheap, wooden furniture led me to believe that the apartment came pre-furnished. Perfect for someone who might need to leave quickly.

  “Where's Ben?” I asked, realizing we were the only ones in the apartment.

  “He's dead,” Cynthia admitted, drawing my gaze back to her. “It's why I contacted you. We'd thought that maybe the demon had left town after killing Sasha, but we were wrong.”

  I thought of Ben with his tall, skinny frame, glasses, and messy hair. I hadn't particularly liked him, but I still felt a twinge of guilt knowing I probably could have saved him had I decided to pursue the demon earlier.

  Cynthia's expression said that she blamed me too, which wasn't fair. They got themselves involved with demons all on their own. So what if my grandmother had manipulated the situation?

  “What do you want from me?” I asked, more in answer to her accusing glare than her words.

  At my tone, Chase gripped my hand and squeezed, reminding me not to lose my temper.

  Cynthia inhaled and let out a shaky breath. “I just want to keep Rose safe.”

  I squeezed Chase's hand, then let it fall away so I could stand on my own. “And where is Rose?”

  The door adjacent to the front door opened to reveal a small closet with Rose inside. “I'm here,” she said as she stepped forward, pushing her red bangs out of her eyes. She wore a pale blue sweater set with a knee-length skirt. The clothes looked wildly out of place on her, especially with her blunt-cut red hair. I had a feeling Cynthia was strict on the dress code.

  “I told you to stay in there,” Cynthia whispered harshly as her daughter came to stand beside her.

  Rose rolled her eyes. “I don't think Xoe is the demon we have to fear.”

  Rose looked healthy and in a much better state than her mom, even though she had lost her father. The thought made me uncomfortable. I had been a total wreck after my dad died.

  “Sorry about your father,” I said in acknowledgment of Rose sticking up for me.

  She shrugged her bony, pre-teen shoulders. “He was only my step-dad.”

  “Oh,” I replied, not knowing what else to say. I hadn't known that information previously. Ben had referred to Claire and Rose as his daughters, and though I knew that many step-parents took on the parenting role splendidly, Rose's tone made me think that Ben hadn't been one of them.

  I met Rose's defiant gaze, and felt that I couldn't really relate. My teenage years felt so far behind me, even though I was still technically a teenager. Part of me felt like I'd stepped into adult life the day I found out I was a demon.

  I walked over to the ugly couch and sat down uninvited, then stared over at Cynthia, letting her know that it was time to get down to business regardless of how we all felt about each other. Chase sat down beside me on the middle seat of the couch, then Rose plonked herself down beside him.

  Cynthia's eyes widened at her daughter's behavior, but then she took a chair from the small dining room set, placed it in front of us, and sat.

  “I can track the demon,” Cynthia began before I could say anything. “I've been tracking it ever since Ben was killed so that I wou
ld know if it was coming for us.”

  “Well then what do you need me for?” I asked sweetly, knowing just what she wanted me for. The wardings in the house were making my nerves twitch, but I did my best to hide it.

  “To kill it,” she said like it was obvious.

  I crossed my arms and leaned back against the couch cushion. I could feel the tension radiating from Chase. I gave him a small smile, then turned back to Cynthia.

  “What's in it for me?”

  Cynthia opened her mouth to reply, then closed it as she thought about her answer. “I assumed as a demon, you would want to remedy the situation.”

  I snorted. “I'm not the demon police. I have no obligation to fix this. So I ask again, what's in it for me?”

  Cynthia turned to Chase with a pleading look, obviously hoping that a man would be more compassionate toward her plight.

  “I am also not the demon police,” he replied when it became clear that Cynthia wasn't going to look away until he said something. “Maybe you should call them.”

  Cynthia looked back and forth between us, finally letting her desperation leak out into the room. Eventually her eyes settled on me. “What do you want?”

  I hadn't come in knowing the exact answer to that question, but what Cynthia had said gave me an idea. “You said you can track this demon, which I assume means you can track any demon. I want you to find the demon that my grandmother was working with, and I want you to summon him fully into this world.”

  “I-I can't,” Cynthia stammered. “Summon him fully, I mean. I'd need a full coven, and something powerful to draw upon. The only demon I've been a part of bringing over was the one who is now after us. You're grandmother found another way for you and your father, since the first attempt weakened her a great deal. I would need a large amount of demon . . . interference, to even attempt such a thing on my own.”

  Something akin to hope clenched my stomach into a knot. My dad and I had been carried to the human world by Sam's ghosts, but Cynthia had just confirmed that it was possible to summon a demon fully without that extra factor. “I'm a demon. What if I . . . interfere?”