"But you can have anything you ask for. Dead Town has never denied you. Our relations have been peaceful!" Emmett struggled, enwreathed in spectricity bonds that glowed when he moved.
"Pah! You fail to understand the smallest iota of my position." The skeletal figure's voice echoed with whispers and hisses, numbing my mind as I strained to hear him.
"But the parties—my protégée—" said Emmett.
"Silence! Your friend Valente has left you in an awful pickle. There is no way out, for you or for me. We are locked here together. You may as well drop this pathetic disguise," said the Bellum.
Emmett stretched his neck, twisting his head completely around to look behind him. I gasped as he accomplished this with ease. "Valente's gone?"
"Yes. His portal is closed, and he's given up haunting at last. Leaving just we two," said Bellum.
I glanced up. "What do you think?" I asked Sam.
"I'm surprised you care what I think," he said, his voice sullen.
"You can't be serious!" I said, shocked. "We need your help! Get over what's bugging you and be a big brother!"
"Yeah, Sam. Really," said Trenton, while Lily and Oskar nodded.
Sam grunted. "Fine. I don't know what the Bellum wants from Emmett. But if Valente's portal really is closed, there's no way for spirits to leave. They're trapped here. As for us mortals—" Sam peered out the window blinds. "There are impediments, to say the least."
I looked over Sam's shoulder. Inky blackness, and were those waves lapping, instead of sand? I could swear I saw an ocean surrounding the double-wide.
"Any boats in that hoard of yours?" Sam asked Bruce.
Bruce scowled. "What do you think, genius? This is the desert. I've got plenty of old tires, and maybe a moon buggy out there somewhere. When I think of all the money I've sunk into this place . . ." He trailed off into a mutter.
"Heather, look!" said Sam in a tight voice.
He pointed to the Orb. Bellum's outstretched hand sent bolt after bolt of spectricity into Emmett, who jolted and shook with each blast. In the flashes, we saw Bellum's cruel smile.
"Think your mortal friends can help you now? This junkyard is my realm! You have no way out. Now you will fight me—and until you do, you will suffer!" shouted Bellum.
Emmett lifted his head and spat. A vial of red liquid landed at Bellum's feet. Bellum nudged it aside with one thin foot.
"Nice try. But you underestimate my power here. I won't fall prey to your tricks, nor open your death vials, Emmett," said Bellum.
Emmett's eyes widened in astonishment.
"That's right. I know you very well. No one knows you better than I do." Bellum laughed, a warped, echoing sound. "And in my realm, I can make the mortals my instruments. I'll make a new ghost. How about . . . Heather?"
"NO!" screamed Emmett, kicking against the bonds until they sang with charge.
"Ah. So that's where it hurts. Lovely little protégée. She'll make a nice portal for me when she dies." He burst into a fit of cackling. "I brought part of my Lexiverse into this junkyard. Then I simply put my hand in Bruce's head . . . so like a puppet, that one. He does my bidding. When he took the Ring of Esperance off your protégée, you came running like a servant. Your protégée had just convinced Valente to close the portal. And I gained everything."
He kicked at a pile of fine powder laid out on the bus floor. It puffed high overhead, and rained down like a mist.
"Not true! You're trapped here, just as I am!" said Emmett.
"No matter. I can simply kill a mortal if I want to leave." Bellum waved his hands around in a grand way. "Right now, I have you and your protégée. You'll never escape me this time. Unless you want to see her suffer for quite a long time, I suggest you show your true self."
Emmett closed his eyes, his lips a thin line of concentration. I jolted with the message a second later.
—Summon me, Heather. Summon me NOW.
Chapter Nine
A Séance in the Double-wide
I gathered the Paranormals in a circle around the Orb. "Emergency séance!" I said. "If I call Emmett, he has to come to me."
Sam's eyes lit up. He recited the rules, as we'd learned them from Dad so long ago.
"If you hold a séance, he has to stay," said Sam. "Where Emmett is the operating spirit, the Bellum can't interfere. Nor any uninvited spirit. Heather—you need a subject, so we can stretch this thing out. Try Oskar."
We all turned to Oskar, who backed away.
"Have you got someone on the other side?" I asked.
"My parents. I'm an orphan," he admitted.
"You are?" Trenton and Lily gasped in unison.
Sam was right, of course. I peered outside, at the pitch-black darkness, the sand that moved up and down like an agitated ocean. Once or twice, I thought I saw whitecaps. I shivered in my thin ectoplasmic dress. Little plumes of our breath showed—and it would probably get colder still, with Bellum in charge.
"Let us begin," I said.
"Should I?" whispered Oskar to Trenton, who nodded up and down.
"Let's all get comfortable and dim the lights," I said. This is just how I saw Dad do it. Lily turned down the lights and we made a circle of couch cushions on the floor. "In case of fainters," I explained.
Sam emitted a low whistle.
—You lead a séance like it's what you were always meant to do. Dad didn't see that one coming.
I jolted at his abrupt message. "Thank you," I said.
—Same as he never foresaw his own death. I wonder if Dad really had much talent.
"All right, Sam," I said. Sam's tendency to brood got tiresome. I hadn't missed that!
I said, "There's no need to hold hands. Lily, Sam, Trent, Oskar—yes, you too, Bruce. Get down here. I'm just going to invite the spirit to come in."
I called in a loud, solemn voice, "Emmett! Come in and visit with us."
Into the middle of the room popped a distressed-looking Emmett, his suit tattered, cheeks gaunt, and dark circles under his eyes. Bruce screamed and fell backward at the sight of Emmett, but Sam pulled Bruce back into the circle, where he sat shaking.
Emmett eyed the room wildly, then seeing me, said, "Ah, finally! My little protégée! And Samhain! Listen carefully. I only have moments before I must be the operating spirit in this séance, or I won't be able to stay." He glanced at the Paranormals in the circle. "Oh, didn't see you there. Hello, Trenton, Lily."
They waved. Lily said, "Shouldn't you say whatever you've come to say?"
"Indeed. From Dead Town, I sensed someone separating the Ring of Esperance from my protégée's person. I was called back through the bus portal. Except . . . except . . ."
Emmett spluttered his incomprehension until we all shouted, "Except what?!"
"I couldn't leave! I came down and wreaked vengeance and all that sort of thing." Emmett gave Bruce a stern glare. "Exactly as I'm meant to. Then, on the ascent out, BANG—no portal! Nothing there. I don't believe we've met." Emmett held out one insubstantial hand to Oskar.
"We met yesterday, at the party. My name's Oskar." He shook Emmett's hand, grimacing.
"Lovely to meet you. Sorry about my hand. I really thought I had that worked out. The living tell me I've a tendency to go all slimy. So sorry." Emmett produced a spectral handkerchief from his chest and attempted to wipe Oskar's hand.
"That's all right," said Oskar, as Emmett's handkerchief smeared the slime around. "It's nice to see you again, and it was a terrific party." He seemed determined to take Emmett's faulty memory in stride.
"Oskar's our subject for a full reading. We're going to call his parents and stretch this séance out. Until I can figure out what to do," I said. There were rumblings outside, like a watery storm striking the sides of the trailer. Bellum wouldn't leave us alone long. But he couldn't break our circle if we were holding a séance.
"That won't work," said Emmett in a cross voice. "Ghosts can't get in with no portal. As soon as I have no job to do here, Bellum will call me ba
ck. I only expect a brief respite."
"Spirits can't make their own portals to attend a séance?" I asked. I'd assumed they could travel at will, if summoned. But Emmett and Sam laughed.
"Course not—all spirits have to use existing portals. Even the Bellum," said Sam, his smile smug.
"Oh. Well . . . maybe we can fake it?" I said. "We might trick Bellum into believing the séance is real."
Emmett released a sound like an old squeezebox full of holes. "Very well," he said. "It's not likely to work, though. Bellum knows the portal is closed. We . . . are all . . . trapped."
There was a horrible screech of metal twisting. We turned to the terrifying sight of the double-wide's end wall ripping away into metal shreds. The Bellum's angry face peered in at us.
"Stay in the circle," I said, steadying my shaking voice. "We'll figure something out."
Sam messaged me.
—Get him started.
"Emmett, you're up," I shouted.
Metal shrieked again, as the doors flew off the double-wide. I shivered closer to the other mortals. The roof rattled ominously.
Emmett spun around, then levitated in a seated position in the middle of the circle. "I'll skip the theatrics. First, messages. Who in the beyond might want to speak to you?"
"My mom and dad," said Oskar. "They died when I was fourteen."
The Paranormals murmured to each other and Trenton squeezed Oskar's hand.
Emmett intoned, "Silence!" To Oskar, he said, "You have catching up to do. What's your full name?"
"Oskar Ottokar Chandler." He stared up at Emmett, his hazel eyes glinting with apprehension.
Emmett took my hand. Together, we intoned Oskar's name, until the room hummed with echoes—then, from the wall, floated a greenish and ghostly couple. "Oskar!" they moaned.
Emmett's face slackened in astonishment. "It's really them! How? Did you do that? Did they get here? With no portal?" He flew to the wall where they'd entered and started tapping all over it with his fist.
"Mom! Dad!" Oskar jumped up.
"Ah, yes. They've been in the sea," said Emmett, gliding back to the circle.
"Charming. They smell like it, too," said Trenton, holding his nose.
Oskar flung himself at his parents, attempting to hug them, but fell through them instead. He landed on the cushions and gazed up at his parents in wonder.
"Careful, son. Don't hurt yourself," said his mother.
"Oskar, we're so proud of you," said his father. "We've been watching over you. We know you're on the journalism team, and you've won a poetry contest. You're so talented, just as we knew you were. I wish we could be there for you, son."
"Okay, messages. Don't forget your messages," I said. Spirits always had something urgent or personal they yearned to wrap up with mortals.
Above us, an unearthly screech. The entire double-wide roof ripped off and flew away, leaving us open to the night sky. I stared upward at the Bellum's enraged face, peering over the side.
"He can't get in," said Emmett. He turned his back on the Bellum. "Ignore him. He's jealous that he hasn't got an amazing protégée like Aether."
"Why would the Bellum want a protégée?" I asked.
"He wants everything I've got," said Emmett, still refusing to look at the Bellum, who paced back and forth, looking at us over the torn edge of the double-wide.
"My house," moaned Bruce, rocking back and forth.
"How's he changing everything like this?" I said. "He's in the mortal world."
"I do not think so," said Emmett. "He's brought some of the spirit world here. But attend to the séance, Aether!"
Oskar's mother said, "Oskar darling, my message is to follow your heart in love. It may be difficult, but when you find the one you love, it will be the right one, and you can trust in this. I know the person you love will care for you, and it is my hope that you will always be cared for."
She reached to embrace Oskar, but had to waft through him instead. He smiled and squeezed his eyes shut, as if he'd received a hug.
Oskar's dad floated forward. "Oskar, my advice—this is going to sound weird, but trust me—"
"Weird?" Oskar perused his floating ghost parents, then nodded to his friends . . . a medium, a seer, a punked-out librarian, Trenton, and an otherworldly spirit. "I think I can handle weird at this point, Dad."
"Of course you can, son. Well, then, my advice is to stick with these people. If you do, you'll have a very good—and very interesting—future. Okay, Oskar. I suppose it is time for us to leave."
"Aha!" Emmett had a fierce look in his eyes. "Now I'll see. If they get out, so can I!"
I said, "I'm sure we can do this again soon."
The double-wide started to rock back and forth, as if buffeted by large waves. We mortals all grabbed on to each other—so much for not holding hands.
Oskar's father said, "We love you, Oskar. We watch over you every minute. If you need us, you know who can get to us." Reaching out to Emmett, Oskar's dad shook the spirit's hand until he wagged up and down. Then he patted me on the back, though I could hardly feel it.
"Thank you for the portal," said Oskar's father to me. He winked. "Very nicely done."
Still calling out their good-byes, the ghostly couple floated out through the wall. Emmett sped after them, but when he breached the wall, a hand burst through the metal and grabbed his throat. It began to pull him outside.
"Emmett Fitzhugh!" I shouted. "Your protégée summons you to complete the séance!"
Emmett disappeared, then, gasping and choking, he reappeared in the center of the medium circle, flickering like a faulty light bulb. I almost sighed in my relief.
"Can't—get too far out of the circle," sputtered Emmett. "But there was a portal! It opened up—then closed, quickly! I couldn't get through." He floated with his mouth hanging open, stunned. "I don't get it. Portals don't just open and close." Emmett spun slowly in the middle of the circle, frowning at each of us in turn.
"You'd better keep going," I said.
Emmett gave me a doting smile and sat down before Oskar. "Care to continue?" he asked.
"Just a moment." Oskar's voice shook with emotion, and he wiped away a few tears. Trenton hugged him.
"Listen, mortals," said Emmett. "After I realized the portal had closed, I dropped into the bus to see what happened. And he was there! Bellum! You can imagine my surprise when he entrapped me with spectricity bonds. Luckily, Sybil flew through me, which allowed me to attach a warning origami to her collar." Emmett wagged his eyebrows, as if he'd been exceptionally clever. "And thank All, Heather called me for a séance. If my protégée calls me as the operating spirit, I have to go. Nothing can hold me."
A banging sounded outside, like someone punching the trailer walls with a steel bat.
"Dios mío, will you focus?" said Lily. "We have the small matter of Bellum to deal with!"
"May I ask one thing?" said Oskar with a watery smile.
"As the subject, you may ask the operating spirit anything," said Emmett. "I do not promise an answer."
"How did universal evil get into this junkyard?" asked Oskar.
"That's what I been wonderin' too!" shouted Bruce, as the clanging continued outside.
"You should keep your mouth shut on things you know nothing about!" said Sam in a severe voice.
"Seems to me, things were fine until that thing came down to my private property and attacked me." Bruce indicated Emmett. "Now the roof is tore off."
Emmett glowered at Bruce. "You're a fine one to talk. What do you think a space is going to be like, when you hide a body on it? Do you think that tends to contribute to a peaceful atmosphere, spiritually speaking? Plus, you must admit, it's a mess out there. You have a hoarding problem, Bruce."
Sam covered his face with his hands, but Oskar, Trenton, and Lily stared at Bruce like he'd grown bat wings out of his forehead.
Emmett kept talking. "Don't anyone try to deny he's a hoarder. You know it's true! People have been hurt! Pe
ople could even be killed! Not that you'd care. You're in cahoots with the Bellum. You'd love it if stuff fell on all of us!"
"It's true." My voice had sunk to a whisper. "Bruce helped the murderer to hide Valente's body."
"The Bellum put his hand in Bruce's head," said Emmett, nodding wisely. "There are some he will use, who are willing enough, if he wants evil done or a mortal killed."
"That is how universal evil got into the junkyard," whispered Oskar.
Spectricity rippled along my arms and hands, dangerously close to Bruce's face. A feather-light touch stopped me. Emmett's hand touched mine, passing partway through with a tingling sensation.
"Some mortals leave a path open for Bellum. They are easily turned against," said Emmett. He encircled me with his arms, merged into me, and hummed. I rested my head on his partially materialized shoulder.
Emmett bobbed across the medium circle now, reaching out his ghostly hand. "Once this séance is at an end, we must get you mortals to safety. Bellum has us trapped where his powers hold sway. And he seeks to destroy me—and then he will kill a mortal, if he has to, to secure a ghost portal for his own escape."
"What a mess. How are we going to get out of here?" said Sam. He lifted the blinds. We all gazed out at the cold dark sea full of whitecaps under the black sky. Never had a place seemed so uninviting.
"I hope my stuff will be okay when that water is gone," grumbled Bruce. "I've sunk a lot of money into it."
"Shut up!" yelled Sam. "Say one more word, and I'll punch your lights out! I ought t0. Maybe Bellum did influence you, but you were open to the influence!"
Bruce jumped to his feet, yelling, "He had no right! Taking our jobs! Running drugs! Ted Bells made it look like a drug shootout because Valente was a drug runner!"
Sam swung. He punched Bruce hard in the jaw, and Bruce slumped back, out cold.
"Sam!" I said, shocked. Where did he learn to hit like that?
Trenton tsk-tsked over Bruce's unconscious form. "This is exactly what I meant to speak to you about, Heather. You wouldn't believe what Sam's turning into. Fighting, swearing, driving like a maniac—he's quite the ruffian, Heather."
"Bruce deserved it," I said. I was secretly impressed, but I wasn't about to admit it, even in a mind message. "Trenton's right, though. You are a spiritualist, Sam, not a street fighter. Next time, drive him mad with visions or something."
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