Meanwhile, the corpse was headed in my direction, laughing maniacally as flames leapt out of his mouth. He lifted his hand up, and fiery fingers wrapped around my neck.
I couldn’t breathe. I fought for one little gulp, one precious breath of air, but the fingers squeezed insistently.
I’m going to die.
“Zoey, I’m here,” Isabella said. Then, with her mighty spear, she pierced the creature right through the heart, bursting it into a million little molecules.
When I opened my eyes, we were back in the corridor.
“I am so sorry, dear. It took a few minutes for the incantation to work,” Isabella said, “but all is well now. Your efforts were very successful. I am so glad my servants put the inscription in place for future generations. They wanted to keep me safe. It was prophesied that you would come to break the curse, and when you did, they knew I would need protection from the forces of darkness. It was prophesized King Geoffrey would come back and unleash his demons on the castle.”
“I’m glad they took that prophesy seriously.”
“Me too.”
I looked around, dazed, as she helped me to my feet. “Where are my friends?”
“They are safe and sound in their beds, as you shall be now.”
***
When my eyes fluttered open again, light poured in the windows. It was six a.m. Did I dream all that? I wondered. When I glanced down at my hand, I was shocked to find a bandage covering my wound, and I had my answer.
I got up, got dressed, and met the others for breakfast.
Pam was still shaken up. “What the heck was that thing?” she asked.
“A demon,” Eric said. “We all know that.”
“Yeah, I guess, but it scared the crap out of me.”
Hunter looked at me. “Did it work?”
“According to Isabella, yes.”
“Thank goodness,” Shantal breathed out. “So we’ve stopped the haunting?”
“Kind of…but not exactly. The portal is still open, but at least they can’t come into the castle anymore. They have to stay off the grounds, because the incantation created an invisible barrier to protect us.”
“So we stopped them from coming in and scaring the crap out of us?”
“Yes.”
One of Hunter’s friends walked up to the table. “Hey, did you guys hear?”
“Hear what?” Hunter asked, glancing up at him.
“About Joseph.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“He’s been zoning out for days. He had a seizure, and they rushed him to the hospital.”
“That’s horrible,” Pam said.
“Is he okay?” Eric asked.
Hunter’s friend frowned. “I don’t think so.”
“That’s insane,” Shantal said. “That’s the second medical emergency this year.”
“Something’s not right,” I muttered. “They were healthy teenagers. It isn’t…normal.”
Shantal sipped her juice. “Do you think it fits into the puzzle somehow?”
“I have no idea.”
“None of this makes any freaking sense,” Eric complained.
Pam lifted her finger. “On the contrary, my dear Watson, maybe it makes perfect sense. The principal is dying. Maybe he’s trying to jump into their bodies, but it’s obviously not working.”
I looked at her. “Enough with the crazy ideas and conspiracy theories, Pam.”
“Well, it could be anything,” Shantal said, “and we could sit here and debate this all day, coming up with all sorts of insane scenarios.”
“True,” I said. “We just need to come up with the right one, put all the clues together and figure out what’s happening.”
“Easier said than done,” Eric said with a huff.
“Most things are,” Pam agreed, nodding at him and holding his hand.
Chapter 27
Pam and I went for a walk after school, since the guys had been sentenced to kitchen duty for falling asleep in class.
“A whole week with no paranormal activity,” Pam said.
“Yeah.”
“Knock on wood,” she said, “or read it.”
Suddenly, as if on cue, William materialized next to me.
“Too late,” I said, looking grudgingly at the ghost.
“I am not an evil haunting,” William said. “In fact, I fought many of them last week. They overran our realm.”
I looked at Pam. “He’s got a point. It was bad in there,” I said.
“It is still not easy,” William said.
“We have to somehow close the gates of Hell,” Pam said, “once and for all.”
“Yes, we must shut down the portal,” William parroted. “We have Zoey and the necklace. We only require the ring Isabella keeps talking about.”
I looked at him. “I’m surprised you didn’t take me to the portal yourself and ask me to try to shut it down.”
His eyes widened. “It would mean your end without the ring. I would not do that, Zoey.”
“Right, because then you’d have nobody to free you,” Pam said.
He straightened his old-fashioned tie. “I find that offensive. I truly do care about you all.”
I rolled my eyes. “I find that hard to believe. I know you’re up to something, William,” I said. “You’re keeping too many secrets.”
Without another word, he suddenly disappeared.
“What did I say?” I asked. “I guess the truth hurts.”
“Never mind that temperamental ghost.”
“Hey, I’m right here,” William said, suddenly reappearing. “Pardon me, but I was attacked by a hellhound. It’s not safe out here for me. Why don’t we go inside the castle and talk?”
“Sure. We can do that,” I said.
“Oh no! Hold on. There are more coming this way.”
I looked toward the woods but didn’t see anything.
“Listen,” he said, “go to The Brooklyn Cottage in town.”
“Where’s that?” Pam asked.
“Use your googler and find out. I have to deal with these hellhounds before the beasts make mincemeat of me.”
“Googler?” Pam asked, stifling a laugh.
“Give the guy some credit, Pam,” I said. “They didn’t exactly have the Internet without electricity.”
“Right.”
“Ask for the owner, Sandra. She is well aware of all the history. There has been talk that she might harbor information that will help you.” Then, just like that, he disappeared again.
Pam’s jaw dropped. “Do you really think he’s fighting hellhounds?”
I nodded. “Yes, and I hope he’s okay. Let’s go find that address. Maybe this Sandra can give us some answers.”
* * *
“Check this out,” I said, pointing to the listing on the library computer.
“It’s a little bookshop,” Pam said. “I love cute little places like that. I wonder if they serve coffee drinks. I could sure use a café mocha latte with all that’s been going on around here,” she joked.
I laughed. “But how do we get there with no car?”
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rita glanced over my shoulder. “That’s right next door to the market. If you girls will help me carry groceries, I’ll take you. You can go to the bookstore while I’m shopping and then help me load up the car.”
“Yay! A field trip!” Pam squealed.
“It would be nice to get off the castle grounds,” I said.
“And it’s educational,” Rita added. “I’m sure Mr. Rowens won’t mind if he knows you’re going book-shopping.”
“Uh…about that…” I said.
“Yes?” she asked, arching her brow.
“Would you mind just telling him we’re going to along to help you? He doesn’t have to know we’re going to The Brooklyn Cottage, does he?” I didn’t trust Mr. Rowens and wasn’t sure how he would feel about us digging deeper into the paranormal mystery. For all we knew, he was in cahoots with Miss S
hila.
Rita smiled. “I suppose not, if that’s what you want. “I’m sure he won’t mind either way.”
“Great,” I replied. “In that case, we’re ready when you are!”
* * *
Rita walked us next door, to the bookstore. “Come find me when you’re done,” she said.
I nodded, and she left. I glanced up at the old, brick bookstore.
A bell rang as we walked in, and two smiling women glanced up at us.
“Hello. My name is Sandra. May I help you?” asked a lady with her hair knotted in a white bun.
“I hope so. We’re just looking for some information,” I said.
“Tourists?” she asked.
Pam stepped forward. “We’re studying in Scotland this year at Tiker Castle. We’d like to know more about the place. We’ve heard lots of rumors and we want to know if they’re true.”
“Ah, yes,” the lady said, “and I suppose you want to know more about the hauntings?”
“Um…you might say that,” Pam said.
“In that case, I believe I can help you,” she said. “Right this way, young ladies.” She then led us to the back of the store and pointed to a shelf. “You may wish to start here.”
We thanked her, then began pulling books off the shelf and leafing through them. Unfortunately, they didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know from the Internet and the school library.
“Not much here,” Pam said, a deep frown perched on her face.
“I know,” I said.
Suddenly, I was startled when Sandra walked back in. “Find everything okay?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure how to answer the question. “Well, we were looking for something more than just the typical information in the history books.”
Her eyebrows rose. “I see. I have some ancient books that aren’t for sale, but you’re more than welcome to peruse them.”
“That’d be fantastic,” I said.
As we walked past the counter, she turned to the redhead. “I’m going to take these girls down to the basement.”
I looked at Pam. “Sounds mysterious.”
“I’m all about adventure,” she said, “though I admit that the basement does kind of give me the creeps.”
I thought about the castle basement, which had scared us half to death. We walked down the creaky stairs and sat at the table while Sandra walked into a back room and carried out boxes of books. The wooden shelves were lined with ancient, leather-bound books and scrolls. She pulled one of them down and carefully began to turn the delicate, brittle pages. “Start reading here.”
“Thank you for helping us.”
“It’s not a problem,” she said. “Did you get that in one of the shops?” she asked, gesturing toward my necklace.
“No,” I said. “It’s an heirloom, passed down from my grandmother to me.”
Her brown eyes twinkled in the dim light. “It’s lovely.”
“Thank you.”
“Is it a replica of Isabella’s necklace, the princess of the castle?” Sandra asked.
“You know about the princess?” I asked, amazed, even though William had told me that she knew a lot.
“Oh yes,” she said, still staring at the pendant.
Pam glanced up from the book she was looking through. “Isabella was wearing that necklace in a painting we saw.”
The woman kept her gaze fixed on me, ignoring Pam entirely. “You’re here. Finally. I can’t believe this is happening in my generation. For so long, we have wondered when you’d come to set them free.”
I cocked a brow. “What?”
“According to the ancient manuscripts, the spirits from the castle were bound to the castle grounds because of a curse put on them by Isabella’s enemies, but they would be set free sometime between 500 to 700 years later by a female descendant of Isabella, the one who returns, wearing her necklace. The spirits have been waiting for you for hundreds of years. I bet they held a party when they saw you walk into that castle!”
“How do you know all of this?” I asked.
“I’ve studied the ancient scripts. The prophecy indicated that you would look just like her, and you do. Everything fits just perfect. So you’ve got to be her.”
“Prophecy?” Pam asked. “Zoey is destined to save them?”
“Of course. Wow. You look so much like her,” Sandra said. “It’s uncanny. It’s absolute proof that you have arrived, that you are here for a purpose.”
Pam and I looked at each other in stunned disbelief.
“Take your time combing through all this. I’ll be back in a while.” Then she whooshed out of the room, her white bun bouncing up and down as she walked.
I began leafing through the old, ancient book. As I started to read, I was amazed. After a few minutes, I gazed up at Pam. “It says a witch cast a spell on the castle.”
“Yeah, well, at least you got the good book. This one is just a boring one, with a bunch of dates in it like all those begats in the Bible,” she said with a laugh.
I flipped the page. “Well, hundreds of years ago, there was an evil king named King Geoffrey. He wanted Isabella for his queen. But he didn’t love her. He just wanted to use her for sinister purposes.”
“That doesn’t sound good at all,” Pam said.
“It wasn’t. King Geoffrey wanted to use The Lady of the Lake, the gold medallion, Isabella, and the necklace.”
“For what?”
My fingers skimmed the words. “He needed lots of power.”
“To open a portal?”
I shook my head. “No. He was after…immortality.”
Her jaw dropped. “That’s crazy!”
“Tell me about it.”
“The wedding was a farce. He just wanted to sacrifice her in an ancient ritual. He had the gold medallion in his possession. He just needed Isabella, the stone, and the necklace. Her father figured it out and wouldn’t give him Isabella’s hand in marriage. So King Geoffrey secretly joined King Edward in his war. Tiker Castle stood no chance against those two armies. When King Geoffrey found Princess Isabella, he learned she had already smuggled the stone out and refused to tell him where it was. He needed lots of energy for the immortality ceremony. Isabella’s necklace was powerful, but it just wasn’t enough. He desperately needed more of a power source.”
“So what did he do?”
“He went to Plan B. By killing everyone in the castle, he’d hoped it’d raise the energy he needed for the ceremony. His warlock told him that the energy from hundreds of innocent souls would equal the power of the ancient sapphire.”
“Did it work?” Pam asked.
I kept reading. “It almost worked. But Isabella froze time, escaped, and stabbed him before the ceremony was completed. When time was restored, the king’s men killed Isabella in retaliation.”
“It’s why King Geoffrey hates Isabella,” Pam said. “Not only did she kill him, but she stopped his immortality ceremony.”
“It’s why he hates me,” I said.
“King Geoffrey’s men were very upset about him dying and were loyal to him to the very end. As payback, his warlocks and witches cursed the land that awful day so no souls could ever leave. But Isabella found a loop hole in the curse. After 500 years, the curse could be broken with a descendant from Isabella’s unique bloodline.”
“So after all those souls died, they were kept bound to the castle grounds with a curse. Well, that’s just cold when all their loved ones are on the other side waiting for them.”
“It’s heartless.”
“Who hid the sapphire?” she said.
“One of Isabella’s servants, a rare survivor. If King Geoffrey had found it, he would have become immortal for sure. The servant couldn’t bear to see anybody use the stone for evil, so she put the gemstone in a hidden place. Nobody found it…”
“Until you came along.”
“Yeah. I can’t believe that crazy king would kill all those poor people in the castle just to create an
energy force for his ceremony. The guy is nuts, a psychopath.”
“This is serious stuff,” Pam breathed out. “Because that very king is a ghost and he’s loose in the castle tormenting you.”
“And he’s scaring me to death,” I said.
“He could be dangerous, even as a ghost.”
I sighed. “We’ve got to evict him from the castle.”
“I know.”
“He’s a serial killer,” I said.
“Imagine the castle spirits now being trapped with their murderer. They can’t even run from him because they’re cursed to the castle grounds.”
“It’s awful.”
“We gotta kick him out pronto.”
I pondered. “I think if Isabella knew he planned on killing every single person in that castle, she would’ve given him the stone right away, and never sent it off with her servant.”
“And then we’d have a psycho immortal king on the loose for all eternity.”
I gazed at Pam, long and hard. Something sparked in my head. “Yeah, he’d be immortal.”
“Do you think that’s what the teachers are after?” she asked. “Immortality?”
“Maybe. It could be why I was chosen to come here. They must realize who I am. The book says that the necklace went dormant after Isabella died.”
“So what happened to the necklace after she died?”
“According to this, one of Isabella’s male servants dressed up as one of King Geoffrey’s soldiers and pretended to be part of the army. He secretly removed the necklace, escaped, hid it, and made sure Isabella’s descendants got the precious pendant.”
“What a hero,” she said.
I sighed. “Yes, what a hero.”
“So the necklace could only be activated by a descendant of Isabella in combination with a very high energy source, such as the sapphire. The school has to know about this.”
“I bet they know I’m the one who was prophesied to help the spirits. They also knew I’d be drawn to the ancient stone, that my necklace would lead me to the location.”
Enchanted Dreams - Book 3 Page 17