Ashley wondered if she had ever really seen Blaze. She had heard him, felt the storm, but he seemed to always be wearing a mask of some sort. She wished she could see what was behind it. Still, she would freak out if Blaze saw any part of her vision. Something told her, she could share it with Dom, but not Blaze.
“How’s your leg?” Ashley asked, knowing fully well that it was healed already. She should really try to reign that in.
She was torn between wanting to help, and letting wounds heal, naturally.
“It’s better, thanks to you,” Blaze said, tossing an arm around Ashley’s shoulder.
His side radiated heat, not like the fire. It was a dry, static, electric sort of heat. What is the deal with this guy? Ashley could not get her head on straight. She was just so tired, all of a sudden. Her chest felt heavy.
Ashley leaned her head on Blaze’s shoulder.
“What’s going on with you?” Blaze asked. “I thought we had fun the other night, and I haven’t really seen you since. You’ve been hanging out with Dom so much.”
“I know,” Ashley said.
She had been hanging out with Dom. They were so close to unraveling the mystery of the Fire Ghost. Ashley was so close to understanding what her Aunt Eva was trying to tell her. All this time, she thought that Eva had been burned alive, but as Ashley discovered that night, both she and Eva were impossible to burn.
“Well, make time for new friends, okay?” Blaze asked, with a wolfish smile.
“Okay, okay,” Ashley answered.
“Two ‘okays’? Now, I know you’ve been hanging out with Dom too much,” Blaze teased.
“Alright, then,” Ashley conceded. “Better?”
“Better,” Blaze agreed, and leaned in to kiss her.
Ashley still wasn’t sure about her feelings, but she let Blaze kiss her and found herself kissing him back, dizzy, while the flames of the bonfire seemed to swirl around her.
Chapter 19
Who, What, and Why
“Are you sure that thing works, man?” Keegan asked.
“I don’t think it’s working,” Ruby added, wrinkling her nose.
Keegan, Ruby, Brooklynn, Ashley, and Dom were all gathered around the counter at Aalish’s Deli, watching Isaac scan a large slab of beef with a buzzing, whirring, mechanical contraption. The hunk of meat was so big, it could have come off a dinosaur for all Ashley knew.
“No, it’s going to work. I’ll get a reading,” Isaac promised.
The machine buzzed and beeped and finally blipped a few calculations on the screen attached to the box. A perfect outline of the meat appeared, with different colors for different temperatures. The center of the meat was glowing purple.
“There you have it!” Isaac announced. “A perfect medium rare!”
Since the campout, Ashley had dreamt about Eva every single night, but the dreams were growing darker and taking a different turn. Each time, she would be with Eva, in the hall, on the second floor of the museum. They would be walking toward the room, where they saw the shadow figure.
They would pass through the door and there, waiting for Ashley, would be an old, worn leather diary. On top of the diary, burned in the leather, was a strange symbol. Ashley knew she had see it before, but she couldn’t place it.
Ashley wondered what Eva wanted with an old journal. She thought about it, as Isaac buzzed with the Mega Meat Scan.
“Hey Isaac,” Ashley mused. “Does that thing scan more than meat?”
“Well, sure,” Isaac answered. “It’s just a thermal scanner. It takes in a temperature reading, and outputs it into the code I’m using, which is the standard rare to well done scale.”
Ashley didn’t know if her visions made any sense at all, but she had to try. If Dom’s uncle, Ernesto, was right, and the Fire Ghost really was warmer than everything else, then it would show up on the Mega Meat Scan as a hot spot.
“We have to take it to the museum,” Ashley said, standing up.
“Oh, no,” Keegan took a step back.
Ruby shook her head.
“And what? Get chased out by that crazy monster thing again? No way.”
Keegan and Ruby both took one of the sandwiches Isaac was making and ran out the door to Mr. Beantown. It was coffee bean roasting day.
“Crazy monsters?” Isaac asked, raising two very bushy eyebrows.
“We were chased by a shadow figure in the museum, before the campout,” Ashley explained.
Dom told Isaac about the shadow and how it was making Ashley sick. He explained that they were trying to get evidence of the Fire Ghost that he had seen the night the museum caught fire. To add to the mystery, Ashley swore she felt Eva in the museum. Eva shouldn’t be there, since her painting was supposedly burned up in the fire, two years ago. If Eva Glass was in the museum, that means that her painting was still there.
“And if her painting is still there,” Isaac continued, “then the other paintings might be there, as well.”
“It has to be a stolen painting, too,” Ashley added. “Mine and the one at Valley of Ashes are family heirlooms, so somewhere along the way, that painting must have been stolen.”
“I knew there was something messed up about the Phillips family,” Dom growled. “Price is trying to condemn the storefronts so that he can build more shiny, new apartments. There has to be something in that museum that he doesn’t want us to know about.”
The funds raised from the campout, combined with the anonymous donation, was enough to hire a contractor to bring all of the storefronts up to the ridiculous Phillips code. He had to have some other way to get the land that the storefronts sat on.
“Are you sure?” Isaac asked. “Everyone says all that Fire Ghost stuff is made up.”
Brooklynn shrugged, but agreed to put down her cell phone long enough to tag along.
“I’m sure that if we scan the area, we’ll see something,” Ashley said. “I just don’t know what, who, or why.”
That night, Ashley, Domino, Brooklynn, and Isaac took the thermal scanner to the museum. The foursome crept quietly along the perimeter of the museum. The building was old. It dated back to the late 1800’s, when Tulsa was a small outpost in Indian territory. Dom’s hair stood on end as he thought about how the building was used as a courthouse and then a hospital in the fifties. It had probably seen it’s fair share of death before it was converted into offices, and finally, a museum.
When Dom and Ashley told Aunt Patricia about the shadow figure, she warned her niece about going back. She said that shadow phantoms are formed when the elements bend and collide with dark forces. Patricia admitted that sadly, when she descended back into time, to save Eva, she may have brought back some of Prospero’s dark, murderous energy with her. The spirit may have attached itself to Prospero’s earthly possessions and used his dark energy to grow.
Isaac and Brooklynn were busy setting up the thermal scanner, while Ashley and Dom searched the perimeter for a way into the building. Dom grabbed Ashley’s shoulder.
“Do you hear that?” he asked.
They both stopped. Someone was walking behind them. They turned, but no one was there, so they continued. After a few more steps, the footsteps picked up. They turned again, but no one was there. After a few more seconds, a twig snapped.
“Dom,” Ashley hissed.
A dark shadow disappeared behind a corner of the building.
“Who’s there?” Dom called out.
The air around them was silent. Dom leapt over the front steps and ran back around the building. He was lightning fast and sped around the building and over the back steps.
“Ash! Run the other way! Meet me back around the other side,” Dom called out.
Ashley started running the other way. As she rounded the corner, she saw Domino chasing a man in a hoo
die, running away from the museum. Dom ran and jumped on him. The two struggled, fighting, but Dom had him pinned. Dom pressed his weight onto the man and tore off his hood, as he rolled him over, so he could get a look at his face.
“Baron?” Dom said, confused.
Ashley ran over and saw for herself. A sweaty, heaving, Baron Watson was laying on the leafy ground, struggling to breathe. He pushed at Dom, but Dom was much stronger than Baron and kept him pinned down to the ground.
“Get off me, Chavez,” Baron shouted, swatting at Dom, but unable to get away. “I’m not going to buy any tacos, so leave me alone.”
“Shut up, Baron,” Ashley kicked him in the side, a little harder than she had meant to.
“Get her away from me!” Baron squealed.
“Not until you tell us why you’re following us,” Dom said, using his elbow to shove Baron’s face to the ground.
Ashley was surprised that Dom took so much grief from Baron at school. He was a lot stronger than Baron was, and he could have beaten him up at any time. Then she remembered that everyone had to be nice to Baron and Kylie, because their parents were the founders of Watson Academy.
“I’m not following you losers,” Baron cried. “I’m investigating.”
“Investigating what? Your own ugly face?” Brooklynn asked, walking up behind Dom and Ashley.
Dom could see that Isaac had the thermal scanner ready to go. He pointed it down, and their feet were clearly visible inside their shoes. Anything with a temperature above ninety five degrees would show up on the scanner.
“I’m investigating the shady crooks you may know as the Phillips family,” Baron spat out.
Dom looked at Ashley, confused, but removed his elbow from Baron’s throat. He could tell that she was relaxing, trying to pick up Baron’s thoughts. She looked at Dom and nodded. Baron was apparently, telling the truth.
“What makes you think the Phillips family is stealing?” Ashley asked.
“Tell hot sauce to let me up, and I’ll tell you,” Baron said.
Ashley and Brooklynn both landed square kicks to Baron’s ribs. He rolled over and howled in pain, but Dom let him up.
“This building is really old,” Brooklynn said. “Stupid gutter rats like you can get hurt snooping around here.”
“You think I give two food stamps what you think?” Baron scoffed. “I’m only here because Price Phillips has been stealing funds from the Watson Academy, and I can prove it.”
“I’ll give you five seconds to explain yourself, and then I’m kicking you in the face,” Brooklynn threatened.
“Fine, hear me out,” Baron wheezed. “The school board signed off on a building project a long time ago. The charter school has to stay competitive since the morons in the government made school choice a thing. You think I like going to school with all you losers? I don’t. My dad says it’s good for me though, so I can see what happens if I end up a failure, like all your stupid parents.”
Baron doubled over in pain. Dom glanced at Ashley. He realized she had done that with her powers.
“Residual pains,” Dom explained.
“Whatever,” Baron continued. “So Price Phillips’ company bought all the construction materials, but they never made it to the school. I think that if I look in the basement at the Phillips Museum, they’ll be down there. This thing has miles of tunnels underneath it, from when it was a government building. I think he has one of the storefront owners helping him, too.”
“Why is that?” Dom asked.
“Because one of the tunnels runs underneath the storefronts. Our family used to use them during prohibition to run alcohol, illegally, but I don’t know which stores have access to the tunnels today and which ones don’t.”
“Makes sense,” Dom said, straightening up. “Our tunnel access was converted into a walk in freezer,” Dom said.
“Ours, too,” Isaac chimed in.
“Aunt Patricia’s is sealed off for a climate controlled storage room, for artifacts,” Ashley said. “And our basement that would have had tunnel access, has an old dark room from when one of the previous owners had a photography shop.”
“Then who has tunnel access?” Brooklynn mused.
“Guys,” Isaac prodded.
Everyone turned around to look at Isaac, who was holding up the thermal scanner. A shape, slightly warmer than the air, was molding into a human form on the scanner.
“What is that?” Baron asked.
Dom could practically sense his teeth chattering.
“And what is that?” Brooklynn screamed, pointing to the windows at the far end of the museum.
A black shadow hovered in the large windows. It was swirling, sparking with energy. It settled into a crouching shape, like shadow they had seen that night inside the museum on the second floor. Ashley took one last look at the thermal scan. The warm shape had taken on the form of a man, standing up. The warm shape was getting warmer. Suddenly, the dark figure disappeared from the windows.
“I’m getting out of here,” Isaac said, shoving the scanner in his backpack.
Baron was already sprinting off toward his neighborhood, full of mansions and old money, on the other side of the tracks.
“Me, too,” Brooklynn said, tearing off, behind Isaac.
Ashley took one last look at the museum. Dom pulled her away. It was getting late, and they’d be in trouble if they weren’t back before their curfews. If anyone asked about Baron’s bruises, they would just say he had slipped on some leaves. Technically, that was the truth.
Chapter 20
Hunted
Ashley was exhausted when she stepped out of the steamy shower. They had expected to see some strange activity at the museum, but Baron being there was the strangest thing she could have imagined. If someone was helping Price Phillips steal funds and building materials, Ashley’s number one suspect would have been the Watsons.
She had vaguely remembered her mom saying that there had once been tunnels built under downtown Tulsa. That must be how Price was moving supplies out of the museum. After the museum caught fire, whole pallets of supplies for the restoration had disappeared, seemingly into thin air. Everyone had blamed it on the paranormal activity that the renovations had stirred up, but what did a spirit need with building materials?
Ashley’s head swirled with questions and confusion, sending her into a deep and troubled sleep.
When she woke up, she wasn’t awake, but she was aware of someone, standing to her right on the shores of a warm, marshy bog. Layers of the hot, wet air separated, and revealed a woman, with creamy skin and auburn hair, standing beside her.
“How did you do that?” Ashley asked.
“It was a gift,” the woman said, with a coy smile that Ashley recognized.
The woman shook the air cloak, turning it around to reveal a beautifully woven, patterned material.
“How am I talking to you?” Ashley asked Eva.
“You’ve descended, like your Aunt Patricia did, the night she pulled me down from the stake,” Eva said. “The element of Fire can burn time. I’ve learned that, but there is much more to learn, and much more to pass down.”
Eva pulled her cloak around her and gestured to the bog.
“The water holds knowledge and mirrors it back to you. Fire cleanses and creates power. The plants sustain life. Stones can heal and recharge. The air and the wind connect and bind us, the earth, and the heavens. The Old Ones knew that, but we’ve lost our connection to the elements. All but a few of us,” Eva said, her voice growing dark.
“Why are you telling me this?” Ashley asked.
“We are being hunted,” Eva said. “Titus and I had to move South. I fear Prospero knows I am alive. At anytime, his hatred and greed could separate into a phantom of sorts. When he dies, his darkness will live on.”
“I think it already has,” Ashley said.
She explained to Eva about the shadow figure at the Philips museum. It seemed to be guarding something. She told Eva about her dream and the journal with the strange symbol.
“Prospero will follow me all over this land, and I fear that his obsession will not stop with me. I have found a way to hide. You need to find what the shadow phantom is guarding. We have passed down our magic through our daughters, so it would be more difficult to track. History has a nasty habit of forgetting its women. However, I fear that if our family line is traced, we will be exposed. If we are exposed for our magic, there is no end to how evil and greed can exploit us.”
Ashley thought back to how she had manifested the money in Brooklynn’s pocket, how she could repair things, and heal wounds.
“Could you imagine? The wars waged if anyone knew that someone could heal a battlefield full of soldiers within minutes? The economies that would collapse, if anyone knew we could conjure up gold and jewels, whenever we wanted?”
Ashley nodded, letting her Aunt Eva’s words sink in.
“We are bound by blood, my dearest. You are mine and I will not rest until you are powerful enough to protect those who are yours.”
Ashley shot up in bed. Eva was gone from the canvas. She hadn’t been in Ashley’s room or Valley of Ashes for quite a while, which meant there was only one place that Ashley knew she could be. She was going back to the museum tomorrow night. She was going to find the journal, destroy the shadow figure, and protect her family and friends. Now that they had saved the storefronts, there was no telling what Price Phillips was going to try to steal, but when he did, Ashley was going to be ready.
Chapter 21
The Symbol Forged in Steel
Ashley had worked on her painting for art class all month long. She had sketched the dragon, then mixed her own blend of paints. She used natural charcoal to make a deep, rich, black color, with a texture that looked like dragon scales. She set the charcoal aflame herself and flicked little bits of copper off a penny to make parts of the dragon glow, a metallic shine on the flat, scaly body. Their teacher, Mrs. Easton, said it was remarkable, and begged her to show it in the school’s gallery, but Aunt Patricia had insisted that she bring it to Valley of Ashes.
The Fire Ghost (Phantom Elements Book 2) Page 8