She crossed her arms. “Just knock it off, okay?” she said, then stormed off before I could say another word.
“Testy, isn’t she?” I chuckled.
“It was probably the same ghost who rearranged your furniture.”
“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “Anyway, wanna go hang out downstairs?”
“Love to. Let’s get Blair and Pam.”
I knocked on Pam’s door, but she didn’t answer. When I heard someone laugh, I could have sworn she was playing a trick on us.
“Pam, this isn’t funny!” Shantal called.
I walked in and heard her snoring, though I thought she might be faking her siesta. The odd part was that her long, blonde hair was being braided by unseen fingers.
“What the…?” Shantal said. “It’s, like, a ghost glam squad.”
“Hmm. Seems our little specter has been busy today,” I whispered, not believing my own eyes, “from banging on walls to moving furniture to doing makeovers. Elizabeth?” I asked.
She didn’t answer, but she continued braiding Pam’s long hair up in the air. It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen, which was saying a lot. I simply had to pull out my phone and record it.
“Pam!” Shantal yelled. “Wake up!”
Finally, my friend jumped up in bed. “Oh my gosh!” she wailed, clutching her chest. “What’s the matter with you two? Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?”
“Why are you taking a nap? What are you, 100 years old?”
“I don’t sleep well at night,” she snapped. “You all know that.”
“Well, whether you know it or not, you were bringing a whole new meaning to beauty sleep.”
“Huh?”
“Pam, there was a ghost braiding your hair.”
“No way! Very funny.”
“Seriously,” I said. “I recorded the entire thing.”
“Let me see it,” she said, “and sorry for being so grumpy.”
“It’s okay. None of us are getting any sleep, and we are all kind of cranky.” I tried to play the video for her, but there was nothing more than static on my phone.
“So it was a joke, right?” Pam asked.
“No! I swear it’s not.”
“Well, that’s freaky. They’ve never messed with me before.”
“They do now,” I said.
“Um…what was that you were saying about hanging out downstairs?” Shantal asked nervously.
“That’s a good idea. I can’t possibly go back to sleep now, knowing something was playing with my hair.”
I smiled. “At least it was friendly…and cheaper than going to the salon.”
Pam rolled her eyes, then laughed and followed us out.
Chapter 11
As I walked to Hunter’s room, I suddenly felt an unseen presence standing right behind me. I turned around, but nothing was there. I wondered if it was just my mother’s genes kicking in, causing me to sense something otherworldly or if it was just my overactive imagination. Whatever was happening in that castle, I was sure it was real. I stared at the seemingly sinister shadows in the dim light, daring them to move, but nothing happened.
I tried to shove the thought aside and help Hunter study. He was seriously falling behind academically, and he’d failed his last two tests. He was in dire need of a study buddy, whether he liked it or not. We spent a few hours with our noses in his textbooks, then decided to join the others in the living room for a game of Monopoly.
Hunter softly nudged me. “Look at Eric,” he said, gesturing to our sleeping friend with a book in his lap on the sofa.
“Rough day,” I said.
Eric jumped up from his slumber, startled, when something suddenly tapped on the window. “Wh-what was that?” he asked in horror, darting his eyes in every direction.
Hunter laughed. “It’s just somebody messing with us,” he said, shaking his head.
“I bet it’s Sam,” I said. “He’s always such a jokester.” Ignoring the prank, I rolled doubles. “Shoot,” I complained, moving my shoe swiftly past Park Place and to jail without passing go.
“I can’t believe I’m dating a jailbird,” Hunter said as I placed the shoe pawn down on the corner space. “I bet you look sexy in an orange jumpsuit,” he said, winking.
I playfully slugged him. “Hey!”
He wrapped his arm around me and planted a big kiss on my cheek
Suddenly, the tapping started again.
“Sam needs to knock it off,” Pam said. “We’re in a serious game here. I don’t know if I should sell my railroad or not.”
We tried to ignore it, but the tapping only grew louder.
Hunter walked toward the window and peered out.
“Well? See anything?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nah, nothin’.”
“They must think we’re stupid,” I said.
“We need to get them back good for that,” Pam said.
“Ah!”
The scream that pierced the air sounded inhuman, like the screech of some alien creature in great pain.
A shudder shot down my spine. I stood, and Hunter gripped my hand.
“You wanna go check it out?” my boyfriend asked.
“Are you freaking crazy? It’s nighttime,” Pam said.
“It was probably just an animal,” I said. “It didn’t sound quite…human.”
We all looked at each other, trying to make sense of what we’d heard. Miss Duball came in shortly thereafter, and she promised to have someone check the noise out, which put our nerves at ease.
We continued with our game, and after Pam forced us all into bankruptcy, Hunter walked me to my room. He gave me one of his amazing kisses and said goodnight.
I wasn’t tired, so I stayed up for another hour and read. When my eyes felt heavy, I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. I reached for my phone and texted Hunter to tell him goodnight. I couldn’t help smiling when he messaged me right back. It was good to know that he was just as crazy about me as I was about him.
Just as I began to relax and close my eyes, I heard the door open. That boy, I thought, assuming it was Hunter, coming to give me one more goodnight kiss. He’s gonna get himself in trouble traipsing around the castle after lights-out.
Footsteps came from the doorway to my bed.
“Hunter,” I said, “you coulda just texted me again.”
The sheets slowly slid off of me.
“Hey! That’s not funny,” I said. “I’m freezing.”
I felt hands on my back, and then fingers brushed through my hair. The kiss I was expecting didn’t come; instead, he just breathed heavily in my ear.
“Hunter, quit playing around,” I said, expecting him to burst out in laughter any minute.
He still didn’t answer.
Pissed off, I abruptly sat up, and a strange stench wafted into my nostrils. The sulfuric stink of burnt flesh was so strong that it made me cough. Frightened and caught off guard, my gaze darted everywhere.
When I saw no one, my heart threatened to explode. I ran over and turned on the light, but even that didn’t reveal anyone. Confused and terrified, I darted out the door and glanced up and down the corridor. There was nothing stirring, and no one was around. For a moment, my mind tried to convince me that I had dreamt it, since I was on the verge of falling asleep, but I knew better. It had felt so real, and I heard the door creak open and those footsteps nearing my bed. I felt the pressure of someone sitting on the bed, the hands touching my back. My skin crawled just thinking about it. I nervously stepped back into my room and pondered what to do.
Chapter 12
The rain poured down in torrents, and I stared at the raindrops rolling down the window.
“You’ll definitely have to cancel that date with Hunter,” a male voice said.
Instant recognition hit me: William Bernard Montour. He was Isabella’s brother, and he always seemed to be around when I found myself sitting at the piano in my dreams. He was also very dead. I bli
nked twice when I looked over and saw him lying on my bed, wearing an amused smile. His hair was dark and shaggy, and he was still dressed in the same cutaway, tailored coat, satin waistcoat, and dark breeches, a brocade vest was underneath his robin’s egg-blue coat, tan knickers, and white hose. His outdated necktie looked like a scarf trimmed with lace.
“William!” I said.
He sat up, then stood. “I’ve been waiting for you for hours.”
I blinked, trying to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me. “I can’t… This isn’t happening.”
“I assure you that it is.”
“But you’re dead. The history books in the library say so.”
“No matter. I must talk to you.”
“I’ve seen you in my dreams, when I played the piano,” I said.
He raised his hand. “Guilty, as charged.”
I slowly walked toward him and tentatively touched him; when I did, it confirmed his ghostliness, for my hand went right through him. “I wish you were…solid.”
“Why?”
“So I could slug you for scaring me the way you did in the basement.”
“Ah, yes. About that, I—”
“At least your sister helped me down there.”
“I assisted you, too, my dear.”
“You most certainly did not. You only played piano, then talked to me, completely freaked me out.”
“I stopped the music as you asked.”
“Yes, but you tried to scare me with that weird mist,” I said.
“I am afraid you are incorrect, Zoey.”
“How so?”
“I was not trying to frighten you. I only wanted to help. Isabella and I hurried down there to save you from the sinister ones. She advised me to create a distraction. When I played the music, they followed it to see what other spirit was down there, but you insisted that I stop, so I did. Isabella took care of most of them, and I went after the stragglers. We are brother and sister, and we work together when we can.”
I stared at him hard, uncertain whether or not to believe him. “Why do you make me play the piano, and what does Victoria have to do with this?”
“Victoria?”
“You called me that when we first met.”
“Oh. I’m afraid I mustn’t divulge that now.”
I crossed my arms. “Of course not.”
“There is much going on that you are not aware of,” he said. “My apologies, Zoey, but I simply cannot discuss it. I am…forbidden.”
“I don’t care about your ghost rules!” I said. “You’re scaring my friends and I to death, depriving us of sleep and messing up our schoolwork because of it. I want answers,” I demanded. “You’ve got no right to interrupt our lives like this, especially without an explanation.”
“I want freedom,” he retorted. “I have been stuck here for ages.”
“We’ll help you. We have tried already, and I’ve already collected the sapphire and the medallion.”
“Yes, I know, and that is far more than anyone else has done for me. Promises are not made to be broken.”
“Promises? So somebody promised you something?”
“Yes. Another offered to help, then only stirred up trouble in this dimension where we are trapped.”
“What?” I asked, utterly confused.
“It is…quite crowded here.” He looked around, then met my gaze. “I must go now,” he said, then immediately vanished.
“Wait! William! I want answers!” I screamed, but he was already gone. Without another thought, I darted out the door and down the hall.
“Hey!” Pam said from the other side of her door. “You don’t have to pound the thing down. My gosh, what’s wrong?”
“I-I saw W-William,” I said, my heart racing.
“No way! The dead ghost who’s been haunting our dreams?”
“The one and only.” I went on to tell her about the entire ghostly conversation.
Her mouth dropped open. “You shoulda told him to quit coming into our dreams,” she said.
“I would have, and I wish I would’ve gotten more answers, but he just disappeared.”
“Well, at least he communicated with you. That’s a huge step.”
“He rushed off in a hurry, just like when Elizabeth ran off. There’s something going on, some kind of evil force messing with the spirits who are trapped here, and I think the school has something to do with it.”
She nodded. “Hmm. Well, that one day, we were all talking about being chosen for this school for something other than our scholarly abilities.”
“Yeah. I don’t think it was by coincidence or anything to do with luck. I think the school officials know the place is haunted. I think they chose us for that very reason.”
“For our psychic abilities?”
“Exactly.”
“But they didn’t know who could tap into it and who couldn’t.”
“Right, so they just accepted anyone with a…paranormal history.”
“That makes sense. They weren’t looking for straight-A students or students with academic potential. They wanted students who had a history of communicating with spirits or had some kind of paranormal link. I guess they’re more interested in that than our GPA’s.”
“My gosh. We were literally handpicked for this haunted castle.”
“Maybe that’s how the spirits decide who to inhabit. I have a rich history because my mother is a fortune teller and talks to the dead all the time. It runs in my family, so I have a connection with the dead, whether I wanna believe it or not. I’m here so they can inhabit me,” I said. “William is leading them right to us. He once called me Victoria, and she lived in this castle and ruled as queen. Still, I wonder why she inhabited my body that first night I woke up?”
“It doesn’t make sense. Why would long-lost souls waste their time inhabiting us, just modern-day teenagers? Are they trying to take our bodies over for good?” she asked, shuddering.
“They can’t hold a connection that long,” I said. “That’s why I keep waking up during the process.”
“Hmm. Do you think the school promised them our bodies?” she asked.
“That’s a horrible thought.”
“I know, but maybe it’s true. If they can’t get free on their own, maybe we’re their Plan B. The school probably wants to be rid of them, and the ghosts what to be free. Maybe the school officials offered our bodies as vessels, a win-win for all of them.”
“But it could kill us…or at least eliminate us from existence.”
“Maybe that’s what they want. Maybe if they die in our bodies, they can escape the curse and go to the other side. Maybe they need us in order to finally rest in peace.”
“You think they just wanna jump into our bodies so they can die and cross over?”
“Yeah. Maybe they’ll piggyback on our souls to the pearly white gates, like some kind of spiritual stowaways.”
“How would the school explain our deaths?”
“I don’t know. Carbon monoxide poisoning, asbestos, school food, aneurisms from one of those impossible algebra story problems… The list goes on and on.”
My hands began to shake. “That’s a scary thought.”
“I know it sounds crazy to think the school staff sold us out to the spirits, but we have to think outside the box. The souls want to be free, and they’ll do anything to get out of here. At the same time, the school wants to get rid of them, at all costs.”
“I get it, Pam, but if that’s the case, why haven’t they tried to kill us yet? They are in a hurry to get out of here, and they could have hopped into us and taken care of that the first night, but they didn’t. Plus, Isabella protected us in that dark basement.”
“You look a lot like her,” Pam said. “You might be connected to her somehow. Maybe she’s protecting you from their evil plans because she’s your great-great-great-great aunt or your seventh cousin or something. I mean, it’s possible. You look just like her.”
“Yeah, I kn
ow I’m connected somehow. I feel it deep inside my bones. Sill, none of it makes much sense, and the more we talk about it, the crazier it gets. We’ve gotta fit the pieces together somehow. We know the castle is haunted, and we know Isabella is protecting us. What we don’t know is the real reason we’re here. We also don’t know who is connected to the spirits in the castle or how.”
“Well, I guess we have to keep digging. If we’re going to die here, I guess we need to leave, even if it means no fairytale happy ending. Eric said if we have to leave, he’ll move near me as soon as we graduate. That’s only months from now. Maybe we should just get out of this crazy place.”
“I don’t want to leave Hunter.”
“I don’t wanna leave Eric either, but there’s always Skype and Facebook and cell phones for a while.”
“Are you sorry we came here?”
“No way! I met my prince in this castle, even if the place is haunted. I never would have met Eric if we didn’t come here, and I don’t regret the fun times we’ve had here, wandering around the grounds and hanging out in rooms with knights and all kinds of cool medieval artifacts.”
“I can’t believe you and Eric are so serious already.”
“What can I say?” she said, shrugging. “I love him, and he loves me. We’re not gonna call it quits just because we have to leave Castle Casper. I’ll give the place a few more weeks, but I’m really in no mood to be inhabited by anybody.”
My face quickly faded from worry to seriousness. “We just need to figure out what’s going on. If we leave too soon, the good spirits will be trapped here. They need our help to get out. I have to help them, and Hunter wants to help too.”
“Maybe you two are too nice for your own good,” Pam said.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re assuming they’re friendly and good and deserving of your help, but you don’t know that for sure. Why would friendly ghosts jump into us like that, without an invitation?”
“I don’t know.”
“They wouldn’t. I think there’s something far more sinister at work here, and I’m not sure any of the ghosts are good guys.”
“Maybe the paintings and writings and so forth are just clues, something that can help us help them.”
Enchanted Dreams - Book 3 Page 7