A heavy fog had settled on the ground by the time they approached the entrance of St. Augustine Memorial Cemetery, and it looked as if they were standing on a bed of clouds. Lucely was grateful for her jacket now and that Babette had convinced her to wear jeans instead of shorts.
The iron gate had a heavy-looking chain wrapped around two bars at its center.
“Close your eyes, you two,” Babette instructed.
Lucely closed her eyes most of the way but looked over to Syd, who also had one eye slightly open to watch whatever it was Babette was about to do.
Babette placed her hands on the padlocked gate, creating a soft purple glow. Seconds later, the lock simply popped open and the chain slithered away into a nearby bush as if it were a snake. Babette looked back at the girls with a hitched eyebrow.
“You can open your eyes all the way now, you sneaks.”
Lucely laughed nervously, and Syd’s mouth was open wide enough to fit a football in it.
“Gram, I am insulted that you never told me you could do that.”
“If I sat there telling you all the things I know and you don’t, we’d never get up. Now come on.”
Lucely and Syd trailed Babette as she led them into the graveyard, Syd whispering questions about magic the entire way as Babette waved her off.
They stopped beside a concrete bench, and Babette turned to them with her Spectral Master 4000 in hand.
“Everyone got their ghost catcher?”
Lucely held up her jar. Syd held up a wriggling Chunk with some difficulty.
“All right, let’s go find that spell,” Babette said.
Beams from their flashlights intersected as they walked as quietly as they could through the cemetery, trying their best to avoid all the crunchy dead leaves. Chunk had settled into the baby carrier on Syd’s chest, her whiskers tickling at Syd’s nostrils and threatening to bring on a sneeze attack.
“This cat is so dang heavy,” Syd complained, swatting at her whiskers.
They reached the first mausoleum, and again Babette used her purple light magic to unlock the doors. Babette looked back at Lucely and Syd. “Any chance I can convince you to stay outside while I search?”
“Not even a little,” Syd said.
Lucely shrugged. “Babette, I know you’re way more capable than we are, but we did do this on our own before. Plus, it’s only fair we help out since it is sort of all our fault.”
Babette breathed out through her nose. “Sort of? Ha. Follow me,” she whispered as she stepped into the dark crypt.
In the middle of the round room sat a wooden casket with gold clasps and hinges. Babette ran her finger along the top of it before inspecting it with her flashlight. No dust, Lucely saw. The door was definitely sealed. Otherwise, that mountain of dust would not have erupted when Babette opened it.
“So why is this casket clean?” Lucely shook despite herself, a chill penetrating to her bones.
“Why indeed,” Babette considered.
“Let’s open it.” Syd gestured toward the casket.
Babette shook her head. “I don’t think we should; something feels off about this place.”
“Aren’t we looking for something off?” Syd asked.
“Something magical, yes, but not something evil. I think I should do a cleansing ritual in here before …”
“RAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Lucely grabbed Syd’s arm, and they both screamed. Babette whipped her flashlight around the crypt.
“Who’s there?” she demanded.
“RAAAAAAAAAAA!” the thing said again.
Syd made for the door, but Lucely stopped her. “Don’t go alone, remember?”
“So come with me, and let’s get the heck outta here!”
“Wait, come and stand behind me,” Babette said. “It’s not safe. Lucely is right.”
Lucely felt her way over to Babette, careful not to touch the casket. The light from her flashlight seemed suddenly dim, not bright enough to break the heavy darkness around them. Something was definitely wrong. Very wrong.
“There must be something hiding here,” whispered Babette. “We shouldn’t anger the spirits, but we should recognize when a sign is sent our way. Salt shakers at the ready.”
Lucely grabbed her container of salt from her pocket.
“Go stand in the far corner to our right and make a circle of salt around the both of you,” Babette said. “Don’t step outside it, no matter what happens.”
“But, Gram—” Syd started, and stopped once she saw the look Babette leveled at her.
“What about our ghost catchers?” Lucely asked.
“Keep them with you in case … in case the salt is not enough.”
Lucely nodded, trying to be braver than she felt. The truth was that she’d give anything to be under her covers right now with a book about a boy wizard, instead of living an adventure where he’d be a lot more useful than she was. But she did as Babette instructed. Standing in the middle of a salt circle with Syd and Chunk, Lucely wielded her ghost catcher, ready to capture anything that came their way.
Something cold swept through the room and their flashlights blinked out, plunging them into a thick blackness. Syd frantically clicked the switch on her flashlight, but instead of the light coming back on, candles lining the perimeter of the mausoleum flickered on.
Lucely rubbed her eyes. “Do you also see candles everywhere?”
“Yep.” Syd nodded. “I’m not scared at all.”
Lucely’s nerves were getting the best of her. She’d grown up around spirits, but she had never in all her life experienced anything like this.
Babette turned to them, now fully illuminated by candlelight, and held one finger up to her lips.
“Babette …” A raspy voice filled the room. “Why have you come here to disturb my sleep?”
Lucely froze. She felt Syd go deathly still beside her, and she searched for her hand wildly, not daring to look anywhere but straight ahead.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Babette’s voice rang out clearly, calmly. “We were only searching for something … missing pages from a book.”
“A book you say?” The voice sounded amused. “Why, I believe you must be lost. This isn’t the library.”
“It’s a special kind of book, one that contains a spell. A spell to return the dead to their home.”
Syd squeezed Lucely’s hand. Lucely’s eyes watered with fear.
“Why would I help you send us back there when we’re having such a grand old time here?” The voice laughed maniacally.
A burst of cold hit Lucely from the back, knocking her to the ground.
The candles’ flames grew so high, they almost touched the ceiling.
Lucely tried to get up, but something kept her legs pressed to the ground.
“Babette!” she cried out just as something made of smoke dove toward her, stopping right in front of her face.
The figure was inhuman except for two red, glowing eyes staring back at Lucely and a mouth like an open wound. It smelled like death.
She couldn’t move her arms or legs; she couldn’t even cry out for help. Beside her, Syd looked as if she was in shock. She watched as the figure jolted to the side, a flash of purple light pinning it to the far wall.
Lucely struggled to her feet and tried to get Syd up as well, but her friend seemed lost in another world.
“Syd, come on, get up,” Lucely pleaded as she tried again to pull Syd up from her place on the ground. But it was no use. Instead, Lucely grabbed the salt container from her pocket and redrew the circle to encompass Syd.
“Back in the circle, Lucely!” Babette instructed as she fought off the monster.
Lucely had always done as she was told, had always listened to her father, had always tried to be good. Now she had to do the opposite of what Babette was asking. She knew she did, or it might be the end—for all of them.
Lucely opened her ghost catcher instead and charged into the swirling mass. It felt much lik
e it had when Mamá had gone through her body, except worse—so much worse. This spirit was filled with anger and hate. Years and years of it, pent up, was now surging through her. She just hoped she’d pressed the capture button in time.
Noise like a vacuum choking on a hair tie erupted all around her.
Lucely opened her eyes, and the evil spirit was gone.
Her legs gave out from under her, and she dropped painfully to her knees.
“Are you okay?” Babette asked when she reached Lucely’s side.
Lucely was dazed but nodded slowly.
“Don’t you ever do something that foolish again, Lucely Luna!” Babette wrapped her in a tight embrace. “Though, I have to say … that was quite impressive. But I’m afraid there are still more corrupted spirits lurking here. I can feel their presence. Come on then, we haven’t got much time to keep searching.”
With a splash of something from Babette’s bag on her face, Syd woke up from her trance.
“Figures I’d miss the good stuff,” she said.
“Help me get this open.” Babette signaled to the casket.
The large casket opened with a low groan, and inside they found the remains of a skeleton in musty clothing, a brittle piece of rolled parchment still in its grasp.
“THAT WAS A DISASTER,” proclaimed Lucely. “We could’ve been murdered.”
Babette swept into the loft carrying a tray of hot cocoa and cookies. She placed it in the center of the table, where Lucely and Syd were waiting for her.
All of Babette’s cats lay on the top bunk of one of the beds, their little heads peering over the edge at them, lined neatly in a row.
“I don’t think ghosts can murder you. I think, at best, they possess you and drag you into the underworld,” said Babette.
“Oh, right, okay. That’s so much better, Gram.” Syd took a bite of a cookie and shook her head. “What’s the plan, then? We can’t exactly run around town as ghost bait all night while you search every casket.”
“We have a spirit map now. A map that will hopefully lead us to the spell if we follow its instructions.”
“What instructions?” asked Lucely.
Babette pulled the rolled-up paper from a pocket in her gown and unfurled it on the table in front of them. They sat in a circle, looking down at the map.
“Here.” Babette pointed to the small red dot that marked Tolomato Cemetery. “I think this is where we should go next.”
When they left St. Augustine Memorial Cemetery, the dot marking its location on the map faded to a light brown. The map didn’t have much detail to it, but Lucely knew the layout of St. Augustine like she knew Syd’s favorite food was macaroni and cheese. “Do you think the spirit map is trying to point us to the next destination?”
“Certainly seems plausible,” Babette said. “It looks like those are the only two locations that have been marked. Which means that either more will appear as we progress or the pages must be somewhere in Tolomato Cemetery.”
Just as Babette was starting to roll up the map, Lucely saw a flash of red at its edge, near the old lighthouse, but when she looked again it was gone. Chunk yawned and rolled onto her back. “You’re right, Chunk. I’m probably just tired.”
“Gram, listen.” Syd jumped up and grabbed a handful of Oreos from the cookie jar. “What if you taught us to fight? Nothing too advanced—and not witchy stuff—but enough to kick some major ghost butt!”
Syd held up her hands in a show of surrender at the look Babette gave her. “You said Lucely’s firefly spirits could fight back. We just want to help out! Also, most of the ghosts in town are just people who used to live here. You must know some of them, Gram.”
“Syd Faires, you better not be calling me old …” Babette arched an eyebrow threateningly.
“It’s a good thing. Age is wisdom, blah, blah, blah. This could work in our favor!”
Lucely bit her lip. “If it worked, I bet we’d have a much better shot at winning this thing. We’re not quite ghost-hunting amateurs anymore, but if we are attacked the way that one ghost came at us at the cemetery, we’ll probably die.”
“We would definitely die. We would one hundred percent die. Dead, toast. Then it’d be up to you to send us into the underworld, Gram, and I am going to be the most annoying ghost of all time! And—”
“Enough, I get it. You don’t have to remind me how annoying you can be when I have you right here.” Babette took a sharp breath. “I can try to send out a spirit signal. It might not work, but we can try.”
Syd threw her arms around Babette’s neck and hugged her. Lucely’s face went hot. She felt awkward watching their family moment. Just as she started to turn away, Babette pulled her into a group hug. Chunk mewed, jumping down from the bunk bed, and tried to wiggle her way in too.
“We’re gonna have to quickly level you two up if we plan on whooping Eliza’s ghost army tomorrow night.” Babette stood up. “Meet me out back in five.”
Babette’s backyard was enclosed by a dense perimeter of trees and hedges, concealing it from what she liked to call Nosy Nellies. Strings of light spanned the width of the lawn, making the property look like Lucely imagined a fairy glen would. The pleasant aroma of lavender and rosemary carried over from the herb garden. Syd launched herself onto the cushioned swing that hung from an ancient-looking oak, almost causing the entire thing to collapse.
Babette appeared moments later, two skinny flashlights in hand.
“We’re going to protect ourselves against evil spirits with flashlights?” Syd asked.
“Hush, child. They’re not flashlights,” Babette said. “I haven’t used these in many years, but they’re powerful weapons. Magic weapons.”
“Omg omg omg omg,” Syd whispered under her breath. Lucely wiped her sweaty hands on her pants.
Babette handed one to Lucely and the other to Syd.
“Don’t touch any of the buttons,” she said. “Just look it over while I explain.”
The flashlights were much heavier than they looked. They had a chrome finish and deep grooves that gave them a vintage look, almost like lightsabers.
“I call these beauties my Razzle-Dazzlers. They are capable of stunning any supernatural being within a ten-foot radius. You don’t wanna get caught in the beam though or um …” Babette rubbed her neck. “Let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty.”
Lucely’s eyes widened. “Noted.”
“All right now, careful not to hit the trees,” Babette said. “There might be birds in there.”
“On three?” Lucely asked, and Syd nodded.
“One … two … three!”
When they pressed the button, a brilliant rainbow-colored light emitted from the Razzle-Dazzlers, casting a wash of pink, blue, and purple over the entire backyard.
“Okay, off, off. Don’t waste the juice,” Babette said. “We don’t have time for a training montage, but, in my experience, the best way to learn fast is in the real world. Now let’s go hunt some ghosts.”
Something in the air changed the moment they entered Tolomato Cemetery. It was close enough to freezing that even though Lucely had buttoned her Ghost Squad jacket all the way up, the hairs in her nose felt like tiny icicles. Even Macarena’s firefly appeared to be shivering inside her mason jar.
“It’s colder than the mashed potatoes in the cafeteria out here,” Syd said, her teeth chattering.
Chunk mewed angrily.
Babette positioned Lucely and Syd around a ring of flickering candles and instructed them to hold hands. “For this spell to work, you will have to close your eyes. I want you to pour every ounce of good energy, thoughts, and feelings you can muster into the circle.”
Lucely closed her eyes and thought of her father. She thought of Mamá and of Syd, of summers spent playing at the beach and of nights lying out beneath the willow tree, watching her firefly spirits for hours. She thought of curling up with her favorite book and a cup of the Dominican hot cocoa her abuela used to make. Waves of energy radiated f
rom within her as she imagined pushing it all into the space within their held hands.
“Open your eyes,” Babette said.
Radiant bands of golden light danced before them, intertwined like living vines.
“Whoa.” Lucely and Syd were transfixed.
With a flourish of her hand, Babette released the light, allowing it to spread out across the cemetery. Babette turned toward them. “There’s a dark energy here, something dangerous. I believe the map has led us here for a reason, either to find the spell we need or to draw us into a lethal trap.”
“Well, now I’m feeling much better about this whole ‘real-world experience’ thing.” Lucely turned to Syd, who was nuzzling Chunk with her nose.
“She does have a way with words,” Syd said. “It’s the Faires flare.”
Lucely sighed. “Can we bring back the happy lights?”
“Let’s get going before the protection spell breaks,” Babette said as the girls followed behind her. “I stored a magical item here years ago for safekeeping, and it might come in handy.”
“Who stores their stuff in a cemetery?” Syd whispered to Lucely.
“Your grandmother, apparently.” Lucely patted her jacket pocket, making sure her Razzle-Dazzler was still there. “Don’t tell Babette, but I’m kinda hoping a ghost pops up so we can use these things.”
“You’re telling me,” grumbled Syd.
Babette halted when they came to an oddly shaped hill, too tall and narrow to be natural. She let her hand graze along the moss-covered surface, circling the mound until an opening appeared before them. “In here.”
Lucely and Syd followed silently.
The space lit up with a dim, warm light from the camping lantern Babette had brought with her, and Lucely’s eyes slowly adjusted to her new surroundings. It was a small, round room with no outlet except the entrance they’d come through.
Lucely ran her hand along the dirt wall, marveling at how the dome didn’t collapse under the weight of the earth, when her fingers brushed against something solid. She brushed some of the dirt aside to reveal bones.
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