“What can I do?” Ms. Ellen asked.
“Don’t you have any witch powers that can help?” I asked.
Ms. Ellen sat there motionless, thinking. “If I can get close enough, I might be able to read the ghost’s mind and send you its thoughts.”
“But, if you get close, won’t Lizzy...”
“Zap me with her super ghost body odor?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“I’ll have to take that chance! If we don’t stop Lizzy soon her power will reach beyond our control and our town!” Ms. Ellen said. She stood up and headed out of the door.
I didn’t like the idea of Ms. Ellen going up against Lizzy by herself, but I truthfully couldn’t see any other option. I knew Lizzy would take Ms. Ellen out; I only hoped that I would get some useful information before that happened. Not having anything else to do, I started googling away, hoping to get lucky.
I typed in combinations. First… “tragic death Hallow Falls”. That returned close to 300,000 possibilities. Yikes. I added the word “Lizzy” to my search. That cut the search down to like 50,000 links. Better, but still a lot and no guarantee that any of them would help.
“I’m in her brain!” Ms. Ellen said in my head. “This is strange - she is thinking she has more power than the president…President Reagan…”
Okay, this was definitely a spirit who died a long time ago.
“Hey get out of my brain! You can’t stop me from finally winning in the game for Hallow Falls!” a voice said in my brain. “You’re no Peter Venkman…” Then the stray thought came. “I wish they’d made a sequel…”
That name rang a bell. Where had I heard that before? I knew it was from an old movie. Yet, it was one I had seen. Ghostbusters? A quick google showed that movie came out in 1984. Being a movie trivia fan I knew there was a sequel to the movie along with the remake. Another quick web scan showed the sequel came out in 1989.
“No! No!! Please keep your shoes on!!!” I heard Ms. Ellen scream inside my head. Then Ms. Ellen went silent. Lizzy and her stinky feet had knocked another one out.
At least now I had clues to go by: maybe Lizzy was a local soccer player. And if she didn’t know about the sequel, she must have passed away some time after 1984 and before 1989... Good thing Hallow Falls Gazette had begun putting those back issues online. Now, I saw why Maria’s dad really pushed the paper to update their website and put past issues online. He did plan ahead. I went to the paper’s website and searched the issues from 1984 to 1989 for the words…soccer and death.
A story popped up on the screen from 1986; it was about a young soccer player named Lizzy Denton who drowned in the lake right in the middle of soccer season. Wow, that was actually pretty sad, poor Lizzy was hanging around because she didn’t get to finish the season.
Chapter 7: Low Down and Show Down
When I got outside the roar of the crowd had turned into total silence. Running to the field I noticed no movement, not even the ants on the ground. Birds had dropped from the sky.
I ran by Maria, Hammy, Mr. Lopez, and my grandma; they and the entire crowd all stood or laid motionless, arms locked at their sides. All their eyes closed, but I could detect the faint traces of them breathing.
Lizzy sat in the middle of the field on top of a pile of girls, whom I recognized as the cheerleaders. Ms. Ellen lay on the ground out cold next to the pile, still holding her throat. Lizzy contently sat there reading a book.
“Lizzy, what did you do?”
“They were being too noisy,” Lizzy said, not even looking up from her book. “I just made all my fans stop. Game over. We won! I won! They’re nice and quiet now. I needed quiet.” Looking up from the book she said, “It’s fun having all these fans. This is way better than Facebook!”
I looked around at all the bodies lying on the field and standing paralyzed in the stands.
“Zara, don’t worry, they’re sleeping and resting, giving me some peace,” Lizzy said. “Watch.” Lizzy pointed to the head cheerleader, Michelle Nunez, who lay at the bottom of the pile near Lizzy’s feet. “Yo, Nunez wake up!” Lizzy ordered.
Michelle’s jumped up in a perfect cheerleader leap. I smiled...even under a pile of other girls, Michelle’s hair still looked perfect.
Lizzy waved her toes under Michelle’s nose. “Okay, I proved my point. Now lights out for you.”
Michelle’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, then slammed shut. Her face plopped into the ground, hard.
“Oh, that’s so going to leave a mark!” Lizzy laughed.
“Lizzy, do you realize that you are a super ghost?” I asked firmly.
Lizzy gave me an empty, blank-eyed smile. “Of course I know I’m a SUPER ghost. My scent is so powerful I can knock out people and even other ghosts. Margo ghost sniffed me and that was it for her. Her mind became mine to play with. A simple whiff of my feet can knock out a herd of elephants,” She stopped for a second, her smile straightened, her eyes wandering back and forth. “Hmmm, that may not be something to be extra proud of.” Her smile returned. “I choose to believe that’s a good thing.” A pause. Her smile widened. “Yes, that is a good thing.”
I drew my yo-yo and my zapper. I needed to end this, right now. “Lizzy De—“ I started to say.
Before I could finish, Lizzy pointed at me, sending me flying across the field. I crash landed a good twenty yards from Lizzy. Every muscle, bone and even hair on my body hurt. Raising to one knee, I shook off the stars. Unfortunately, I had dropped my yo-yo and zapper. Even more unfortunately, Lizzy telekinetically sent one of her sneakers at me.
“Sorry, Zara. I need to knock you out cold for a bit,” Lizzy said. “A quick sniff of my sneaker should do the trick.”
I saw the shoe flying through the air towards me. If I timed this right...I could use this to my advantage. If I timed it wrong, I would get a strong whiff of Lizzy’s shoe. That would be so bad, lights out, game over. I held my breath, because if this was going to work the way I wanted it to, I would have to let Lizzy think she had succeeded in clobbering me.
I waited until the shoe flew right over my face. Whoa! Even holding my breath and closing my eyes, I still got dizzy. I held my throat and fell over.
“Sorry about that, Zara!” Lizzy shouted. “It is for the best.”
Before Lizzy had a chance to react, I used my own telekinetic power to fling her shoe back at her. The shoe went flying through the air, smacking Lizzy right in the head. Leaping up, I used my power to position the shoe right over Lizzy’s face, giving her a taste of her own bad medicine.
“Whoa! That IS Nasty!” Lizzy shouted. Lizzy rolled off the pile of people she was sitting on. She looked at me. She looked at the mound of cheerleaders. Lizzy smiled. “Cheerleaders rise and show me some action!”
The twelve cheerleaders all jumped to their feet and began shaking their pompoms and practicing their moves. I had to admit that it was very impressive.
Lizzy then pointed to me. “Take Zara down for me!” she shouted.
Lizzy shot a finger towards me. The cheerleaders’ pretty little faces became evil and twisted.
One the twelve cheerleaders started doing cartwheels towards me. It was both amazing and freaky at the same time. I really had no idea when they would have had a chance to practice this.
Okay as extraordinary as this might be, I really couldn’t let the cheerleaders’ cartwheel kick me out. I needed to stop them. I held my hand up and decided to give my telekinetic powers a try. I concentrated on creating a wall between myself and the spinning, kicking cheerleaders. The cheerleaders reached my mental wall. They staggered backwards. They all fell on their behinds. I felt a push in my head as they hit that wall. I staggered back a step. Man, that took a lot out of me.
“Drat!” I heard Lizzy shout! “Get up and get him!”
The cheerleaders stood. They wiggled their behinds to clean the dirt off their skirts. They did a couple of stretches. They took deep breaths as one. They all lifted their arms as one. They dove forwa
rd tumbling at me again.
Okay, the mental wall thing had just managed to slow them down. Plus I think I made a lot of them angry by making them get their skirts dirty. They came at me now, eyes squinted and locked on me.
They drew closer and closer. The good news was, there may have been twelve of them but no way could they all hit me at once. In fact the twelve of them would be in each other’s way once they got within striking distance. Of course I still had no idea how to fight off twelve cheerleaders. This in fact, may have been my worst nightmare, me versus the cheerleaders.
I held my ground. I really didn’t know what else to do. I figured when they got to me I would mentally push myself up and over them and rush at Lizzy. Okay, not the most elegant of plans but it was a plan.
Interesting enough, the terrible twelve (as I decided to call them) all leapt to a stop about a foot from me. They looked at me. They looked at each other. Michelle Nunez gave a nod. They formed a kick line. They all started kicking as one towards me. They stopped. Michelle turned to them. “You know girls, while our form is certainly amazing, this may not be the right way to attack Zara for our dear master Lizzy.”
The other eleven nodded as one.
“Let’s take turns kicking her!” one of the other cheerleaders said. “We’ll all just line up behind you, Michelle!”
Michelle beamed. “Great idea Jenni!”
The cheerleaders started to reorganize their kick line.
I scanned the field. I needed to find something that could help me take down twelve cheerleaders fast without really hurting them. I noticed Lizzy still had her shoe off. Sure it had been airing out, but I bet it could still drop these twelve pretty quickly.
I mentally reached out and grabbed the shoe with my mind. I carefully pulled it across the ground I didn’t want to attract any attention to it.
The shoe skipped across the ground towards the cheerleaders who were still trying to figure out the best kicking order. I stood there tapping my foot, pretending to be anxious while I mentally pulled the shoe closer, waiting for the right time to levitate it up towards their noses.
Finally they worked out the kicking order. Michelle turned to them and pointed to herself. “I will kick first then go to the back of the line.” She pointed to the next girl, “then Jackie you kick and head to the back…” She pointed to the next girl, “then you Sandy, then Kate, then Jenni…”
I figured now would be the time to strike. I levitated the shoe under the nose of the girl who was last in line, Cindy Smugs. The shoe passed under her nose. Her hair shot up straight. Cindy spun and fell over. I mentally moved the shoe down the line one by one passing the shoe under each of their noses. It really didn’t take much. A quick sniff. The girl’s hair would shoot up straight. Then they’d drop to the ground.
The weird thing was by the time I got to the last few girls they each stood there, happily accepting their fate.
I had to ask, “Why are you girls not fighting this at all? I really expected that you’d put up more resistance.”
Michelle turned to me and smiled. “Fool! It’s an honor to be overpowered by Lizzy’s scent!”
I mentally waved the shoe under Michelle’s nose. She smiled. Her hair popped straight up. She fell to the ground.
Across the field I saw Lizzy clapping. “Nice job, Zara! I loved the way you used my shoe against them! Very clever!”
“Lizzy Sullivan, I know you true name is Lizzy Denton!” I yelled. Now that I knew the ghost’s true name, I hoped that fact would at least weaken it, and I could use that to my advantage. “I order you back to where you came from!”
Lizzy started shaking back and forth violently. She fell backwards onto the ground.
“Zara, I didn’t like that, but it takes more than that to stop a super ghost!” Lizzy said, getting up on one knee.
“So? Do you think people like being your fans or smelling your stinky shoes,” I said. “Well, besides the cheerleaders who are just weird…”
Lizzy looked shocked. I don’t think she had ever thought about how the kids felt when she used her ghostly ways.
“Ah, Lizzy Denton, I have to ask, why are you doing this?”
Lizzy Denton smiled at me. “I thought it was obvious!”
I shook my head no. “Nope. If it was I wouldn’t have asked.”
Lizzy Denton stomped her foot on the ground. The ground shook. “I died before I had a chance to win the big soccer game!” she shouted. “So, I stayed! And since then our school has won heaps of soccer games but I just can’t bear to leave the school. I like it here.”
I had to admit she sure had dedication. I pointed to the score board. “Okay, you’ve won the big game. You can go to where you belong now.” A long shot for sure but I had to take it.
Lizzy Denton shook her head. “Nope. While my initial goal was to win soccer matches, I now know I can do so much more. I can rule everything!”
All righty I really needed a break. That’s when I heard a familiar little voice in my head. “Good job, Zara! You managed to break Lizzy’s hold on my mind. Since I’m a hamster she didn’t take me as seriously as she did the others …”
“Hammy?” I thought back.
“Zara, do you know of any other hamsters that can talk and send you mental messages?” Hammy asked in my brain.
“Nope, one is more than enough,” I thought back to him.
“Yes, well I am pretty awesome and an amazing teacher, but now it’s time for the student and teacher to work together to put down this big bad super ghost!” Hammy told me in my mind.
“And how do we do that?” I mentally asked him.
Somehow Hammy managed to make a raspberry sound in my brain.
“Not cool, Hammy!” I thought.
“That’s my think think think, Hammy sound,” Hammy mentally insisted.
“Oh, okay, what did you come up with then, Hammy?” I thought to him.
“The good thing about being a hamster is that I am small and people and ghosts sometimes forget about me…” Hammy thought. “The bad thing is, when it comes down to the crunch, I am still a little HAMSTER and not at all equipped to take down a super ghost…”
“Not the encouragement I had been hoping for there, Hammy!” I thought back hard.
“Don’t think at me when I’m thinking at you!” Hammy scolded me with his mind. “The cool thing is there are two of us now and together we can take her down. We can take down this super ghost!”
“Okay, great! How?” I thought back.
“No idea, really. Lets just wing it and see what happens,” Hammy thought at me.
Great, that was not the best plan ever. In fact it could barely be called a plan. But then again, most of my plans usually were “just winging it”. I’m fast on my feet and good at adapting to the situation. It’s pretty much what I do. Now it was time to adapt for the win.
It was time to end this. Sure, the odds might be against me but I knew I could do it. I figured saying her real name out loud may not have sent her back but I was betting it did weaken her. If I could zap her, I could finish her. I had to grab my yo-yo and zapper. Reaching out with my left arm I concentrated with all my might at getting my yo-yo and zapper to fly over to me. The zapper and yo-yo lifted up off the ground. I didn’t want to smile because that might tip Lizzy off. I simply smiled on the inside.
Suddenly my mind filled with screaming...horrible echoing screaming. Lizzy Denton howled in my brain. “SORRY, ZARA! I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO, SO I AM SCRAMBLING THAT LITTLE THING YOU CALL A BRAIN…”
The zapper and yo-yo both sank to the ground and so did my heart.
“Zara you WILL obey me and be my greatest fan!”
“No!” I shouted. I stomped my foot. “You will not beat me!” I said, curling my hands into fists. “Lizzy Denton, you may be strong but my mind is just as strong!” I yelled and thought at the same time.
“HA! YOUR FOOLISH HUMAN BRAIN IS NO MATCH FOR MY SUPER GHOST BRAIN!” Lizzy screamed in my head. The w
ords echoed back and forth in my brain.
“You do realize that a ghost brain is just an old used up human’s brain!” I shouted back mentally.
“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Lizzy Denton thought.
“Sure it is!” I said.
Lizzy stopped and looked at me. I could see that the kind-hearted, easy-going side of Lizzy was thinking. It was unusual for a human to challenge her.
“Zara, I know I’m a ghost and quite a powerful one, and I’m just not ready to go,” said Lizzy, with a tear running down her cheek.
Lizzy stood there with her hands curled into fists, her eyes locked on her me. “First, I’m not hurting anyone. I’m helping my friends. Second, I have no idea why I have so much power.” Lizzy smiled. “But I like it.”
Not wanting to waste any more time, I flicked the yo-yo out at Lizzy Denton. Lizzy bent over backwards making my yo-yo pass harmlessly over her. Lizzy Denton pointed at me. “Nice try, Zara.”
Pointing her finger at me, she sent me flying backwards, once again forcing me to drop my zapper. This time, though, I had secured the yo-yo string around my finger so I wouldn’t drop it. Like Grandma always says...learn from your mistakes.
That meant I still had my yo-yo in my hand. More good news - Lizzy was now totally ignoring me. She had zeroed in on Hammy who was bravely distracting Lizzy from me. The little show-off, he was acting super cute and doing little tricks for her, like standing on his head and doing cartwheels.
I had one chance here. I removed my finger from the yo-yo’s string. Grasping the yo-yo firmly in my hand I threw it as hard as I could at Lizzy’s head. The yo-yo smacked her right in the back of her skull, stunning her.
“Great job, Zara!” Hammy shouted.
Not wanting to give the ghost any time to recover, I extended my left arm, opening my left hand as I concentrated on bringing my zapper to me. The zapper leapt off the ground and flew into my open hand.
The Super Ghost Page 5