Hannah had a broad smile on her face. “I know. I’ve missed our talks.” She gave Jasmine a hug. As Hannah pulled away she yelped, “Ow! Something’s hooked.”
Jasmine’s earring had snagged some of Hannah’s hair.
Jasmine took out the earring to detangle it from the clump of hair. “Eddy gave it to me.” She held up the small string of emerald ivy. Mia and Hannah stared at the earring, speechless. The gems were the same size and shape as the one found on the body. There was a long, awkward silence between them.
“I guess I’ll be going in now,” Jasmine said. It was clear that Hannah and Mia didn’t like that she was with Eddy.
After Jasmine had gone back inside, Mia said, “Are you wondering the same thing I am?”
“Where did Eddy get that earring?”
“Exactly.” Mia was very concerned.
“And what about all the weird stuff that has been happening to Jasmine?”
“It all started after she met Eddy,” said Mia.
Hannah nodded. “Eddy’s the common thread. Should we say something?”
“I guess.” Mia started to bite her nails. She knew Jasmine, and she knew where they stood when it came to Eddy. They were going to have to be very careful in how they talked to Jasmine. They were entering a minefield; one wrong word and they’d really blow their friendship to smithereens.
Chapter 13
Jasmine had been looking forward to Twins Day ever since Eddy agreed to dress like her. She had made a t-shirt for him with the words “Hands off! She’s mine.” On the bottom of the shirt was a handprint. She made herself an identical one that said, “Hands off! He’s mine.” Strutting down the hall to her locker, she was excited to show Eddy what she had made. As she got near, though, an awful, putrid smell met her.
Her eyes watered. She reached for her locker, gagging. Trying to hold her breath. The stench was unbearable. Lifting the handle, she swung open the locker door. Thousands and thousands of worms spilled from her locker. They were not the formaldehyde kind of worms she had dissected yesterday. These were worms that ate dead things and pooped dirt. They were covered in slime, knotting themselves together. Clumps fell to the ground, covering Jasmine’s feet. The earthworms twisted and rolled around in a tangle of slime.
Giving a friendly wave from down the long hall, Hannah shouted, “Hey, Jasmine!”
Jasmine was too horrified to comprehend who was talking to her.
***
“Jasmine, Jasmine. It’s Hannah and Mia.”
Jasmine opened her eyes a little. She could see Mia and Hannah standing over her, holding her hand.
“You blacked out,” said Mia. “Someone played a terrible practical joke on you.”
Jasmine remembered. She winced at the thought of all those worms and that smell.
“Did you happen to grab the other t-shirt? It looks like this one except—”
Mia and Hannah shook their heads.
“Sorry,” Mia said. “Didn’t see it. We just had the school nurse come get you right away when you blacked out. You had to be carried away on a stretcher. You’re in the nurse’s office now.”
“We actually want to talk to you about something right away,” Hannah said. “I know this is super bad timing . . . but it’s really important.”
Jasmine was playing with the earring Eddy gave her as she lay in the nurse’s office. The nurse was out for the moment making a phone call.
Mia was uneasy. “Now, I want you to have an open mind.” She shifted in her chair. She wanted so badly to make Jasmine see what she saw in Eddy: a liar, a thief, and a jerk. “Hannah and I have been doing a lot of thinking about all of the strange things happening to you lately. We found one thing all of these events have in common.”
“Really?”
“Eddy.” Hannah started to talk faster because she could tell Jasmine didn’t want to hear it. “He was around for every single event. He may not have been right there, but he was near. What if he is the one causing all of the hauntings?”
Jasmine cut her off. “That’s ridiculous! There were so many times when he was there to help and comfort me. He’s been nothing but amazing to me. He cares too much about me to do any of these things to me.” Jasmine was now sitting up.
“Even the earring looks like the one missing from the body we found in the bog,” Mia tried to explain.
“Oh that’s just great! What did he do? Go and find the dead body and steal it from her? No way! You’re crazy! Crazy jealous! You can’t handle me being happy without you—”
Eddy rushed into the nurse’s office just then. “Jasmine! Are you okay?” He gave her a big kiss. Then he turned to Mia and Hannah. “I can’t believe you have the guts to come in here and stand next to Jasmine after what you did! Putting all those worms in her locker! You should be ashamed of yourselves!”
Hannah and Mia were shocked.
“No wonder you were blaming Eddy for all of the stuff that has been happening to me,” said Jasmine. “It was you two all along!” Jasmine’s anger turned to hurt. “Why would you do that? I thought we were friends. You know I’m terrified of that kind of stuff.”
“We didn’t do anything!” Hannah pleaded. “He is lying, Jasmine! We’d never do something like that.”
“Yeah right! I saw you putting something in her locker.” Eddy pointed while he shouted. “You’re still mad about the Spirit Week mix-up, aren’t you? Well, Jasmine had nothing to do with it.” Eddy just kept on ranting so that Mia and Hannah couldn’t talk over him. “You need to leave! Now! Get out of here!”
Mia and Hannah saw the principal coming toward the nurse’s office. They left before things got even more out of hand.
They went back to the worm-filled locker. The custodians had taken care of most of the mess. It no longer smelled like something rotting. Now it just smelled like the pink barf powder they must have used to clean up all the slime. Hannah and Mia sat down at the end of the hallway.
“What was that all about?” asked Mia.
“I don’t know, but Eddy is evil. He’s lying to us. He’s lying to Jasmine. All of these things that keep happening to Jasmine, they all have to do with Eddy. I know he has something to do with them!”
“I think so too, but what?” asked Mia.
“I have no idea. I think we should keep a close eye on him,” replied Hannah.
“You’re going to have to do better than that, ladies,” Eddy was standing just around the corner from them. He crouched down and whispered, “Jasmine is mine. Soon you will never be able to change that. So keep your little eyes on me now, but soon we will be together forever.” He turned and spoke directly to Hannah, “By the way, I think you have a little something of mine.” He reached into the front pocket of her backpack and pulled out the pocket watch she found at the bog. Then he stood up and walked away.
“He’s . . .” Hannah said.
Mia finished her sentence: “The jeweler’s son.”
“But how could that be? He’d be over two hundred years old.”
“I don’t know, but I think I know where to look for our answer.” Mia had been carrying The Atlas of Cursed Places ever since that evening at the bog. She scanned the section about the Big Bog. “Read this,” she said.
At dawn and twilight the Gateway shall open. The dead can pass through from the underworld to the living. But the dead can never again belong to the land of the living. They may only visit from sunup to sundown. If a soul outstays his welcome, and the sun sets completely, he shall die a soul’s death and no more of him will remain.
“So Eddy’s . . .” Mia said.
This time Hannah finished her sentence: “Eddy’s dead-y.”
They both shuddered at the thought.
Chapter 14
The pep rally was only a day away. Jasmine didn’t want to think about what had happened yesterday, but her brain kept going back to it. Back to what Eddy had said. Then she would think back to what Mia and Hannah said. She didn’t know what to believe. She didn�
��t know whom to trust anymore. But for now, Jasmine had to get busy. There were lots of things that needed to get done before Friday. She threw herself into the work.
Throughout the day, before school and between classes, she busied herself with pep-rally preparations. Now it was the end of the day.
Microphone—the final thing on her to-do list. She needed to find a microphone. It was a pretty simple task: track down a custodian. Except Jasmine couldn’t find a custodian anywhere. It was as though all the custodians had left the building at the same time. She found herself walking up and down halls, climbing staircase after staircase. No souls in sight. She walked down a small hallway just off the auditorium.
“Excuse me, miss. Miss!” Jasmine saw a woman turn the corner. “Please, wait! I just need—” Jasmine followed her. “Miss, please stop! I just need a microphone for the pep rally tomorrow.”
The woman stopped and turned around. She was wearing a flowing nightgown and had long dark hair.
Jasmine was surprised by her appearance. Most custodians didn’t dress up for Spirit Week. “You have the best ghost costume I have ever seen. Go Phantoms!”
The woman motioned for Jasmine to follow. She walked quickly, almost floating, through back doors and secret halls. Yes, Jasmine had been given permission to enter rooms and areas that were otherwise off-limits. But who knew there were all these tunnels? The woman occasionally glanced over her shoulder to make sure Jasmine was still following. Then she rushed on. The hurried unlatching of doors and noisy clanking of keys echoed down the hallways and corridors. Then silence.
Jasmine hurried down a gray hall. At the end of it there was a large room with its doors flung wide open. It was as though the doors were inviting Jasmine to enter.
“Hello? Are you in here?”
The windowless room was empty.
Jasmine saw a microphone sitting on a work table. She went over and grabbed it. Just beneath was the match to her emerald ivy earring. Jasmine turned the earring over in her hand, wondering what all of this meant. Then she felt a cool breath on her neck. “Beware of the jeweler’s son,” a voice hissed. Its warm breath smelled of death and decay.
Jasmine spun around to see who it was.
No one.
A chill ran down her spine. She didn’t know if she was more scared of the figure that seemed to have disappeared into the air or the fact that Eddy was somehow involved.
Chapter 15
It was finally Friday, the day Jasmine had been planning for and looking forward to for weeks—but after the incident with the microphone, all Jasmine could feel was scared. Fear of what may happen next consumed her. And her heart ached over her troubles with her friends. Her heard broke for the boy she’d trusted. Yet still Jasmine was convinced that the show must go on.
Over the last couple of weeks, she had taught all of the teachers, the marching band, and choir members the dance routine for the flash mob, but it was hard to trust that everyone would be where they were supposed to be and that they all would know the routine. Jasmine would introduce the principal. Then Eddy would start the music. The principal would start dancing. The teachers on the sides of the gym would break out their best (and probably most awkward) moves next, followed by the band and choir students who were sprinkled throughout the bleachers. It’s going to look pretty amazing, she thought. Definitely a great way to end Spirit Week.
Jasmine plugged in the mic as everyone crowded into the gym. Teachers shushed students, trying to get everyone “under control.” There was a brief pause. Then the pep band began to play. Cheerleaders flew through the air, flipping, clapping, cheering. The crowd was on their feet chanting their graduation years. Finally it was time. Jasmine stood up and walked to the center of the gym.
“I’m excited to introduce a man who is full of school spirit, Principal Mock!”
Jasmine handed the mic over to him. That was Eddy’s cue. He turned on the music. Principal Mock started to dance, mechanically at first. As the other teachers joined the dancing, Principal Mock busted out his best Michael Jackson-esque moves. The dancing spread out from there just like the roar of the student body. The hard part was done. Now she just needed to fade in with all the other dancers in the bleachers.
She stepped into the bleachers toward Eddy. Something hit her, like a giant winter wind. It lifted her off her feet, but she did not fall on her face. The music kept blaring. Jasmine felt her whole body gripped by something cold as death. The icy wind flung her back and away from the bleachers, away from Eddy. She was a kite at the mercy of a hurricane—up and up she went, higher and higher. She was pinned, midair, in the center of the gym above the dancing principal who thought the increased cheering was because he had now started doing the “Gangnam Style” dance. Jasmine could do nothing. She just had time to catch her breath when the invisible power dragged her back to the opposite end of the gym.
The crowd went berserk. They leapt to their feet and clapped their hands. As far as the students were concerned, Jasmine had stolen the show, being carried up and over the gym by an invisible wire. But there was no invisible wire.
As the song faded, students and faculty surrounded Jasmine. They raved about the “special effects,” about how real her “flying” routine looked—no visible cables or anything. They wouldn’t stop bombarding her with compliments and questions. All the while not noticing Jasmine’s posture: slumped, silent, and white as a ghost.
She tried to speak. “I-I-I didn’t do anything. I d-d-don’t know what happened. P-P-P-Please believe me.” But no one did. In fact, they loved the whole spectacle even more. They thought it was all part of Jasmine’s act, trying to make the stunt look like a supernatural event.
Only Mia and Hannah knew something was wrong. They pushed their way through the throng of people. Eddy was already next to her, whispering into her ear.
Before Hannah or Mia could stop him Eddy was lifting her from the chair saying, “I believe you. We have to get out of here. I can protect you.”
All Jasmine wanted to do was leave, so she let Eddy scoop her up and carry her away.
Without Jasmine there the crowd quickly broke up. Teachers shooed students out the door or to their lockers. It was the end of the day and the end of a very long week. Students were happy to oblige. The homecoming football game was that evening with a dance to follow the next night.
Mia and Hannah slowly walked out the main doors of the school.
“We have to find her, Hannah.”
Chapter 16
Mia and Hannah heard footsteps running up behind them. They turned to see Simon, to Hannah’s disgust. They had known him since middle school. He had a gigantic crush on her.
“Hey ladies,” Simon said. He was slightly out of breath
“Seriously, Simon. I’m not in the mood.”
“No, I-I-I’m not going to ask you out, at least right now.” He held out his phone. “You have to check this out. Jasmine, she’s being lifted up. During the pep rally just now. It really wasn’t just special effects! I got the whole thing on my phone.”
They watched Jasmine get picked up by what could only be described as a shadow of a woman in a white dress.
“Did you see that! Did you see that! The lady in the dress.” He was smiling from ear to ear.
“Rewind the clip, please,” said Mia. At the bottom of the screen Hannah and Mia saw Eddy reaching for Jasmine as the shadow swept in between Eddy and Jasmine, forcing Jasmine away from Eddy.
“Oh, man, I can’t wait to show everyone this.” He sounded like he just won the lottery. “A ghost, a real genuine ghost. And she’s hot! Of course, she’s not as pretty as you, bae.” Simon winked at Hannah.
“Simon!”
“Just saying!” Simon replied.
“Do you have a car here?” Hannah asked, ignoring him.
“Yeah.”
“Can you give us a ride to the bog?”
“Heck no. I have big plans tonight, ladies!” He shoved his thick-rimmed glasses up his nose.
>
“Listen. I’ll dance with you for one song at the homecoming dance this weekend if you just give us a ride out to the bog.”
“Dance with me on all slow songs,” Simon countered.
“Fine, but you have to erase the video, too,” replied Hannah.
“Deal.”
Hannah was already getting into his station wagon.
It was the longest five miles they had ever ridden. It was silent. Their minds raced. Even Simon could sense the gravity of the situation. The sun tucked itself behind some trees.
“I hope we aren’t too late,” said Mia as Simon parked the car.
The girls launched out of the doors and bolted to the bog’s edge.
“I’ll just wait here, ladies,” Simon said nervously.
Chapter 17
Eddy stood on the edge of the bog with Jasmine. “I love you, Jasmine,” he said, combing her hair with his fingers. “I only want you. Every night before the sun goes down I come back here and cross through the Gateway alone, but now we can cross together. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives.” He chuckled as if he had just heard an inside joke, “Well, actually the first day of the rest of our deaths.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Jasmine.
“At twilight I cross through the gateway into the land of the dead. That is where I belong now. If I don’t return to where I belong my soul will die. Turn to dust.” His eyes were wide. He put her hand to his heart. “In the past I wouldn’t have really cared if I existed, but everything is different now. You are here.”
Nothing. Jasmine felt no heartbeat, not even lungs that sucked in air.
“Last time, things went very wrong. Melanie fought me. I almost ran out of time, and she drowned.” He gripped Jasmine’s hand tighter. “I won’t let that happen again.”
“Ow, you’re hurting me.”
“Oh darling, you won’t have to feel pain ever again.” He pulled Jasmine into the bog. “Quickly, the sun is almost down.”
“Stop! What are you doing?” Jasmine was up to her chest in the cold sludge of the bog.
The Gateway Page 4