by Lauren James
HARRIET
“We should go,” Kasper said in Harriet’s ear, after they’d stood watching the police work for three hours. “You don’t have to watch it all.”
He’d taken hold of her hand again. He was clearly enjoying playing the role of supportive boyfriend in front of the other ghosts.
“No.” She said it through clenched teeth. It wasn’t enough to watch the police meticulously file and process every aspect of her death. When they lifted her corpse onto a stretcher and carried it through the front door, Harriet sprang into action. Time was running out. This was the perfect opportunity to try to leave Mulcture Hall again.
She would dissolve outside of a building, but what if she could follow her own body? Maybe that was different. She could tag along with her body in the ambulance, and from there, she might be able to get home.
There was a police car parked only a few metres from the entrance. If she could make it that far without disintegrating, the car might take her to her gran’s house, when they went to tell her the bad news.
Surely, with all her new energy and powers, she was strong enough to get that far? It was a crazy idea, but right now she was desperate enough to try anything.
She walked towards the main entrance, tugging her hand free of Kasper’s grip. As she passed, she waved her hand in a police officer’s face, but he didn’t even blink.
Beyond the line of police cars, students from the nearby buildings had gathered to see the crime scene. She caught sight of a girl from her lectures. Harriet had tried to chat with her before class once, but it had been awkward and strained, and the girl hadn’t sat near her again, after that.
Now, Harriet focused on her, concentrating on moving towards the police cars, and keeping her atoms firmly in place.
“Harriet?” Kasper shouted in panic. “Harriet?!”
The girl had curly hair, dyed pink at the tips.
Harriet took a step. She was not disintegrating. Not this time. Her new power was seconds away from kicking in, she knew it. She was going to leave this awful place.
The girl’s glasses were horn-rimmed, round and glossy, and Harriet was completely, totally corporeal. Her atoms were behaving like normal atoms and staying inside her body.
Harriet took a step. Harriet took a step. Harriet took a step.
The car was close, but out of reach. If she could keep going, then she would be free.
The girl was still there, talking to a police officer guarding the entrance. Harriet knew she was there, but suddenly she couldn’t see her. Her eye twitched, involuntarily.
The noise of the crowd and the car engines had disappeared, replaced by a high-pitched, aching thrum in her eardrums.
Harriet stopped. She stared down at where her feet would be, if only she could see them, willing herself to take another step.
But she didn’t have feet, and there was nowhere to step to, and nothing existed, and Harriet couldn’t even remember what she was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was…
KASPER
What was she doing? Harriet had been dealing so well with the police. She’d held his hand as she watched the whole thing without even crying. But then she’d pulled away from him and left the building.
Kasper had to go after her. She was disintegrating. Harriet was disintegrating, and he had no choice. He was petrified.
He took a step forwards then stopped, foot hovering outside the building. He couldn’t do this. He wasn’t like Rima, who had gone charging outside after Harriet without a second thought last time. His heart was thundering in his ears, and all he wanted to do was run and hide, but he could see Harriet’s atoms peeling away faster and faster as she walked.
She was only ten metres away. He should run after her. His muscles refused to move. He was going to throw up.
Kasper hated himself. Harriet needed him, and he was a coward. Just like he had been with Lisa. Kasper had been too caught up in fear to stand up to the Tricksters when she’d begged Kasper to help her. Even when it was clear that the constant demands on her power were causing her to disintegrate. Even when Rufus had offered him a way to save his friend, by asking Kasper to let them use his power.
He couldn’t do that again. Not to Harriet. He wasn’t going to let her disappear right in front of him after one night together.
Kasper shook himself. He could do this. He could.
He swallowed a lump of pure fear that had stuck in his throat and broke into a sprint. Somewhere behind him, Greg let out a delighted holler of disbelief.
Kasper made it to Harriet, sweeping her up in his arms. But when he turned, the air felt gelatine-thick around him. Her limbs were heavy and loose, her expression vacant.
He managed to walk a metre back towards the building, powered by pure determination, before he started to forget what he was supposed to be doing. His speed slowed, and he pushed back against it.
It was too late. Harriet was a cloud in his arms, shivering back and forth in the breeze. This was a suicide mission. They were both going to disintegrate.
Kasper pressed his lips to the remains of Harriet’s cheek. He couldn’t tell which atoms were his and which were hers. He had failed. He hadn’t been brave or quick or strong enough to save her. Gorgeous, confident, clever Harriet, who had trusted him. He had never deserved her.
When the force of an impact shivered through him, he was unprepared. Something had passed through him. Someone. That was all it took for his subconscious to come alive.
It awakened some base instinct inside him – the power he’d pushed down for decades seized control for the first time.
Human. Soul. Take it.
Kasper turned his head, the ragged edges of his mouth forming a gaping, hungry chasm. Whenever he was near a living human, all he could think about was possessing them. He got the urge to join their souls inside the bodies and take them for himself. His power repulsed him. He never let himself think about it.
Sometimes, he found himself daydreaming about this moment, completely overcome with the desperate need to know what it felt like. Whenever a human entered Mulcture Hall, his power whispered at him, persuading him to try it, just the once. He’d come close before, but he’d always held back the monster inside. Even when it hurt, he’d always stopped it. Being in the entrance hall with the police had been just bearable – he could push the hunger down, ignore the saliva that collected in his mouth whenever they passed close by.
But nothing could stop him now. The human had touched him, and all his control was gone.
Dropping Harriet, he latched on to the police officer who had walked through him. He passed inside the body, which jolted at the force of his determined entry. It was easy and natural, now that he wasn’t fighting against himself.
A feeling of panic and revulsion passed through the neurons to Kasper as the body’s soul fought him. He pressed it deep down into the subconscious to make room for himself.
Stretching out, he took a second to acclimatize, and then connected. His soul clicked into place in the brain. Immediately, vision jolted through him. Light became shapes became eyes, and then a mouth and face and a body. He had a living body.
Kasper let himself spread out, feeling along the nerves to find the fingers and toes, firing electric instructions down the pathways to wriggle his new limbs. Deep inside the body’s brain, a voice screamed. Kasper ignored it.
He stared around at the world with real vision for the first time in decades, breathed air with lungs that were fresh and new. The old soul’s terror changed into Kasper’s delight, and the body smiled.
Abruptly, Kasper remembered who he was, and what he’d done, and what had happened to Harriet. He twisted, stumbling as he found his new centre of gravity. He searched the air for any last remaining traces of Harriet. There. A twisting spiral of grey.
He pulled the cloud of molecules inside the body with him, keeping what was left of Harriet safe.
Kasper walked towards the building in slow and stumbling steps. He could feel Harrie
t was struggling for freedom, so he squeezed her reassuringly, pleased that there was enough of her left to panic. The small voice in the depths of the brain was still screaming.
Inside the foyer, he released Harriet. For a moment, he thought it was too late for her, but then the cloud twisted in mid-air and re-formed as Harriet. She gasped for breath, heaved like she was about to vomit, and then stood upright.
“Kasper?” she asked, looking wide-eyed at the body.
He opened the body’s mouth, trying to remember how to vibrate vocal cords and speak.
“Me,” he forced out, and then, “Yes – it’s – me.”
“You’ve possessed her,” she said, eyes widening in what was either shock or delight. “Is that your power?”
Kasper twisted the body’s muscles in a slow smile. He couldn’t understand why he’d resisted the urge to possess all these years. It felt so good. It felt inevitable.
He lifted a hand to touch Harriet’s cheek, but Felix dived for Kasper, pushing his way inside the body and colliding solidly with him.
Kasper pulled Felix close, pleased that he’d joined him. It would be so much better if he had someone here with him. That would drown out the sound of screaming.
“Let go of the body, Kasper. Now,” Felix said, his voice layered with the full force of his hypnotism.
Against his will, Kasper found himself releasing his hold on the brain. He slipped free of the body, as the soul he’d pushed aside expanded back into the space he’d taken from it. Kasper fell to the ground with Felix sprawled out on top of him.
It took Kasper a second to process what had happened. Then he burst into action, furiously writhing underneath Felix. He had to get back inside the body and retake control before it disappeared for ever. It was his, and Felix had no right to force him out. It had felt so good, being inside something so warm and alive and full of energy. He needed that back, right now.
Felix hissed, “What the hell are you doing?” and held on more tightly to Kasper.
“It’s mine!” he yelled, struggling to escape. “Let me go! I need it!”
Panic exploded in his mind like fireworks. He couldn’t live without a body, not now he knew what it felt like. It was so cold and vulnerable and dull out here without a solid form. His instincts had been right all along. He was meant to have a body. It was his right.
Felix fought him, pinning Kasper to the ground with a surprising amount of strength.
“Someone help me!” Felix yelled, voice thin and frantic. He clamped his hands around Kasper’s shoulders, knees locked to the ground, but his arms were trembling. He couldn’t hold Kasper down for long. And the body was still there, frozen in shock while its current soul tried to process what had just happened.
He still had time to claim it. For him and Felix. It could be theirs, to share. Kasper heaved upwards with all his might, and in one smooth movement rolled Felix over to the side. He broke free of his grip and staggered to his feet.
Then a hand touched the back of his neck. Gentle, soft fingers stroked the skin, and then sharp fingernails dug in.
Suddenly, he was filled with a staggering, overwhelming terror, so complete that it stopped him in his tracks. Everything went monstrous and threatening. He was so so scared. Whatever it was, it hurt. Kasper’s vision went blurry. He fell forwards as everything abruptly faded to black.
In the late twelfth century, there was a ghost here who could possess people, like Kasper. This was before Mulcture Hall was built, of course. When there was nothing here but farmland, ancient ruins and one little wattle-and-daub barn.
It was quiet, for a century or two. The only time we got new company was when a tramp took shelter alongside the cattle and died in his sleep. Though for one golden summer, the farmer’s son brought the butcher’s daughter here every night at dusk. That kept us all entertained for a while.
We fed off the spirits of calves and lambs from the slaughterhouse next door – and sometimes, when everyone got bored, we’d hunt the youngest ghosts and feast until we were bright with energy for a few more decades.
One day, a pedlar took shelter in the barn during a spot of light drizzle. He hit his head on the door frame, dying quickly. He adapted to being a ghost even faster.
The pedlar’s power worked like Kasper’s, but he wasn’t afraid to use it. The farmer was convinced the barn was haunted, because any time he came near, he would lose control of his limbs and dance the jig. It made us all laugh – and stopped us from hunting the pedlar down, for a little while. That didn’t last, but the pedlar had a good run of it.
After a dozen possessions, the farmer started to change. He became jumpy and confused, holding tight to his dog’s collar for comfort whenever he fetched something from the barn. He would often stop and stare into space, lost inside his own brain, like he had forgotten how to think for himself after having someone else take the reins so often.
Still, it was a lot of fun. Kasper is missing out – I don’t know what he’s so worried about. But then, I’m still getting the hang of morals and ethics and all those modern concepts. My father raised me according to his own rules, which valued power, secrets and control above ethical concerns. You haven’t met him yet. You’ve only seen traces of him, heard echoes all over the hall.
You will meet him soon enough.
Chapter 12
FELIX
Felix’s breath left his chest in a whump when Kasper collapsed on top of him, unconscious. Harriet was staring down at them both in complete shock.
“What just happened?” Felix asked, wheezing. It had been so quick that his brain was threatening to short out. Kasper had rescued Harriet, and then lost control and accidentally possessed a police officer. Felix had used hypnotism to force him to release the woman and then Harriet had touched his skin, and – what? What had Harriet done to him?
“I don’t know,” she said, and looked from Kasper to her hand, still raised from where she’d gripped his neck. “I think I knocked him out.”
“What?”
Behind them, Felix heard a paramedic say to the police officer, “Are you all right, Petra?”
“Just had a dizzy spell for a second there,” Petra said, sounding stunned.
Felix winced. Kasper – who was completely unconscious and breathing damply into Felix’s collarbone – was going to be horrified when he woke up and realized what he’d done. His biggest nightmare had come true. He’d accidentally possessed someone. Kasper wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt. For his sake, Felix hoped that he stayed asleep for as long as possible.
“Sorry, what did you do?”
Harriet was still staring at her hand, blindsided. “I think it’s my power.” Slowly, like a cobra preparing to strike, she smiled. The expression, combined with the unnaturally white hair, sent shivers down Felix’s spine. “I think I can control emotions. I can see them all inside you – like harp strings waiting to be plucked.”
Felix was chilled to the core. Harriet was dangerous. And stronger than they’d ever imagined.
“I don’t understand,” Rima said. “Invisibility is your power. Isn’t it?”
Harriet shrugged.
Harriet had two powers? He’d never heard of such a thing.
At that moment, Kasper gave a little groan.
“Come on,” Rima said. “Let’s get Kasper upstairs. We can make him more comfortable there.”
Felix helped her carry him up to the bedrooms. Their bystanders stared after them in disappointment, clearly wishing they could carry on watching the drama. It was probably the most exciting thing they’d seen in years.
They propped Kasper up in the corner of Rima’s room. He groaned again.
“Where’s Leah?” Felix asked. He hadn’t seen her down in the foyer.
“I’m here. Unfortunately,” Leah said, coming in from where she’d been sleeping on the fire escape with Claudia. When she saw Kasper, and noticed Harriet’s bone-white hair, she raised her eyebrows. “What did I miss?”
&nbs
p; As Rima brought her up to date, Felix stood at the window watching the police cars pull away. Kasper was starting to come around. He leant forwards, his head falling heavily between his knees. There was sweat on the back of his neck. Felix could hardly stand to look at him, knowing that he was hurting but unable to offer any comfort.
Right after Lisa had disintegrated, Kasper had retreated to his room in grief and guilt, convinced it was his fault because she’d asked him to help her stop the Tricksters. Felix had sat with him in the dark and the light and dark again. He’d wrapped his arms around Kasper, who hadn’t said a word through all the long days. Finally, in a voice rusty with disuse, he’d told Felix, “If you hum any more Christmas songs, I’m going to scream. It’s August, you monster.”
Afterwards, Kasper had acted like his long grieving period hadn’t happened. Felix had never been able to work out what to say to bring back the peaceful, trusting companionship that Kasper had allowed for such a brief time. Eventually, he’d given up trying. It was easier to return to the old bickering dynamic their relationship had always had.
“How do we know you did anything to Kasper at all?” Rima asked Harriet. “Maybe the possession was just too much for him and he passed out on his own. Two powers is impossible, it’s—”
“No. I did it.” Harriet’s expression was vacant, like she wasn’t seeing them at all. “I thought he had gone crazy and was going to hurt that human. When I tried to pull him away, something clicked in my head, like a sense I hadn’t known I had. I realized that if I touched him, I could push a feeling of fear over him and immobilize him.”
No. Felix felt sick. It couldn’t be true. She couldn’t possibly have two powers.
“Prove it,” Leah said, voice tense. “Show us your powers.”
Harriet held out one hand to Rima, palm upwards. “Can I?”
Rima looked from the hand to Felix, tilting her head questioningly. He nodded once. He had to know for sure whether Harriet could do this. Surely she wouldn’t risk doing anything to hurt Rima, not while the four of them were here to stop her? Well, three of them. Judging by Kasper’s still vacant expression, he wouldn’t be much use in a fight.