The Haunted High Series Boxed Set

by Cheree Alsop

  “That’s strange,” the Grim said.

  I followed his gaze to the name left on his arm. Instead of glowing blue, Sparrow’s name brightened and then dimmed over and over.

  “What does that mean?” Dara asked.

  Alden’s eyebrows pulled together. “It means she has a choice.”

  I stared at him. “What?”

  Alden nodded. “It’s unique and I’ve only heard of it one other time in regard to a phoenix, but I don’t think Sparrow was supposed to die. The Demon Knight shouldn’t have killed her.” He stared at me. “I think she gets to decide whether to stay or go!” He lifted his hand to me.

  I held out my hand and the little glowing dragon crossed onto it. She sat in the middle of my palm and looked at me with her expectant expression.

  I took a steadying breath. “Sparrow, you sacrificed yourself to save me,” I told her. I blinked back tears that I refused to let fall. “You don’t have to be here anymore if you don’t want to.” My voice caught. “But I want you here if you want to stay. I-I would really like you here. You deserve to live a good life.”

  The little dragon’s head tipped to the side as she listened to me. I wasn’t sure how much she understood, but when her little red tongue snaked out to lick her nose, I couldn’t help smiling. The black and purple dragon rose to her feet and tipped her head in the other direction. She opened her mouth. A blue flame came out and washed over my face. I closed my eyes as the mint scent surrounded me. When I opened them again, her ghostly outline had vanished to leave her standing as real and fully formed as if she had never confronted the Demon Knight’s flame.

  “Look at that!” Dara said.

  I looked at my wrist. On it, inscribed in blue glowing light, was Sparrow’s name. As we watched, the light faded to leave the word written in scrolling blue letters across the base of my wrist where she liked to sleep.

  “She’s bound herself to you,” Professor Briggs said in amazement. “I didn’t know that could happen.”

  “Neither did I!” Alden replied.

  I glanced at his arm, but her name was gone. As if pleased by what had happened, Sparrow flew up my arm and perched on my shoulder. It felt as though she had never left. I turned back to the Academy. My heart felt as though it would burst with happiness as I made my way back to Haunted High with the professor, Dara, and Alden following close behind.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?” Alden asked when we walked into the corridor.

  “We’re helping with the ghosts, dear. We woke up with a plethora of names and knew we had to come back,” his mother explained.

  “They’re ready to go home now,” Mr. Grim said. “I don’t know why now is any different than earlier, but they’re ready.”

  We all exchanged glances.

  Alden smiled at his dad. “I’m glad it’s working now. Can I come with you? I had my first names today. I think I can help.”

  His father nodded with a proud look on his face. “Of course, son. Let’s start upstairs.”

  I paused at the base of the steps. It didn’t feel right to follow them up. I turned to find Vicken holding a cup of water.

  “Drink this,” he said.

  I took it with the realization that I was very thirsty again. When I downed it in a single gulp, he gave me a wry smile that showed his fangs. “I figure you know now how I felt when we got out of that river. I owe you.”

  I shook my head. “You don’t owe me anything. You saved my life and I just did what I could.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Finn, you let me drink your blood. As messed up as that is, it’s far beyond pulling someone up from a river. Also,” his voice lowered, “You helped me find Amryn. You upheld your promise. I won’t antagonize you anymore. I’m done. I promise.”

  I brushed it off. “You weren’t that bad.”

  Vicken gave me a straight look. “My coven almost killed you on my orders.”

  I lifted a shoulder. “Maybe you have too much power.”

  He grinned. “This coming from an Alpha wolf?”

  I laughed. “I’m just saying, killing on command is a little messed up. You need to lighten up on the brainwashing a bit.”

  Vicken’s smile said he didn’t take it personally. Then his expression faded to one that was more serious. “I’m going to go check on Amryn. She’s resting in my bed until my dad gets here, but I know she’s nervous to be alone.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I replied.

  I watched him climb up the stairs, then followed my stomach to the cafeteria.

  “You hungry?” I asked Sparrow. “I imagine coming back to life has to give you quite an appetite.” The little dragon’s tail lashed back and forth in answer. I dug through the refrigerator until I found a bowl of spaghetti left over from the day before. I held it up for Sparrow to see. “Do dragons like spaghetti?”

  She tipped her head at me and blinked her green eyes.

  “Worth a try, I guess,” I told her. “Bugs are going to get scarce around here the colder it gets. Maybe we need to branch out.”

  I carried the bowl to the microwave and put it inside. I had just sat down to eat the leftovers when I heard Alden calling my name.

  I held up a strand of spaghetti to Sparrow. To my surprise, the dragon grabbed it from my fingers so fast I barely saw it. She slurped the noodle down, then flapped her wings for more.

  I grinned at her. “At least one of us can eat.”

  I carried the bowl with me to the hall.

  “Finn, there you are!” Alden said. “I know you can always find me in the kitchen, but you’re another story. I never know where to find you! I’ve been all over this school from the thirteenth floor to the basement.”

  “Sorry,” I told him. “We were hungry.”

  I glanced at Sparrow and saw that her face was covered in spaghetti sauce. She licked her snout with her forked tongue, cleaning it effectively.

  “Come on,” Alden said. “We’re going to miss it.”

  The urgency in his voice caught my attention. “Miss what,” I asked as I followed him up the stairs.

  “You’ll see,” he said elusively.

  As he climbed up the flights, he pulled on the banister to go faster. I glanced over and saw the end of a name on his arm.

  “Alden, does your arm say ‘Briscoe’?”

  He gave me a searching look but continued up without replying. The Grim slowed so that I reached the thirteenth floor ahead of him. I wondered if he was tired, then the sight in front of me told me what was really going on.

  “Hello, Finn,” Mrs. Grim said.

  Mr. Grim inclined his head in welcome.

  They stepped aside to reveal the ghost they had been talking to. I found myself face to face with the ghost of my mother once more.

  Two thoughts warred in my mind. I feared first that it was merely her memory I saw again and worried she would repeat the saying on how to get to the clubhouse and then disappear as she had before. My other thought argued that she was the demon from the Otherworld, that she was possessed and that she was dangerous to anyone inside Haunted High.

  “Hello, Finnley.”

  Her warm, motherly tone chased all doubt from my mind. I walked forward until I stood between the two Grims.

  “H-how is this possible?” I asked them. My gaze never left my mother.

  The Grims exchanged a smile. “Sometimes, we get miracles, Finnley. They’re little gifts, a chance to say goodbye to those we care about before they move on.”

  “This is your chance,” Alden said from behind me.

  His parents stepped back to give us some privacy. At Alden’s offer, I handed him the bowl of spaghetti. Sparrow was happy to fly over and join him in eating it. She had apparently found something she enjoyed more than flies and moths.

  I turned back to Mom. I didn’t know how much time I had, but I wanted to make it count.

  “Mom, I’m trying so hard,” I began. My throat tightened and I couldn’
t speak.

  She set a hand on my cheek. I covered her hand with mine, happy that I could feel her touch.

  “I’m so proud of you, Finnley,” she said. “You’re doing so much good here.” Tears showed in her eyes, but she smiled. “I’m so glad I got to see the young man you’ve become.”

  “I’m so glad I got to see you,” I replied. “I didn’t think it was possible.”

  Her smile was warm when she said, “Anything is possible for you, Finnley. You are pure and good and mean well in what you do.” Her smile touched her eyes when she said, “Just try to take care of yourself, alright?”

  I nodded. “I will, Mom.”

  “It’s time,” Mr. Grim said from behind me.

  My mother gave me one last smile and then nodded at the Grim. “I’m ready.”

  Alden stepped forward with his parents and Sparrow returned to my shoulder. I fought back tears as the Grims circled my mom. She watched me with a warm smile on her face until the name on Alden’s wrist grew so bright that I had to shut my eyes. Silvia Roe Briscoe’s name remained bright in my retinas with my eyes closed. When I opened them, the Grims and my mother had gone.

  Peace filled me. As hard as it had been to watch her go, I knew she was where she needed to be. And for some reason, she was proud of me. The smile wouldn’t leave my face when I walked back down to my dorm room. I felt as though I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. I settled for falling onto my bed. I was asleep before I could even think to take off my shoes.

  The next morning felt disappointingly uneventful as I sat through Professor Seedly’s discourse on the difference between petal veins and leaf veins during Care of Green Multicellular Organisms. One of the students whispered ‘plant’ and nearly got himself kicked out. Even Sparrow wearied of sitting on my shoulder and flitted between the shrubbery that covered the room from floor to ceiling in search of bugs. Alden made bets with the sphinx girl who sat next to him on whether the sylph dragon would catch a fly or a spider.

  I tossed my books onto my desk in History of Witches and Warlocks and flipped my notebook open to an empty page before I realized something was different. I looked at the paper and noticed that I could see the lines too clearly. I glanced up at the lights overhead. The faint hum of the neon lights sounded strange to my ears even though I heard them in every other classroom. But the candles weren’t lit and the lights were on. I heard other students whispering about how strange it was as they entered the room and took their seats.

  Headmistress Wrengold arrived at the door after the bell rang.

  “Where’s Professor Briggs?” I asked before she could address the class.

  She gave me a small smile. “He had to go away for a while. I am just here to introduce Professor Gertrude, your substitute until Professor Briggs returns.”

  A woman with short blonde hair and green cat eyes entered. She smiled at the students with a hint of nervousness on her face.

  “I am honored to be here—” she began.

  I rose from my seat. “Can I be excused?”

  “Mr. Briscoe, that’s not polite,” the Headmistress told me.

  I looked around. Everyone was watching me. Aerlis, the boy with orange horns, stuck out his tongue and then grinned.

  “I, uh,” I searched for an excuse. “I’ve got to use the bathroom.”

  “You better let him, Headmistress Wrengold,” Aerlis said, coming to my rescue in his crude way. “I’ve heard werewolves can make quite the mess.”

  Laughter flooded the room, but I didn’t even care. If it helped me leave, I was grateful for it.

  “Yes, well, go ahead, Mr. Briscoe,” the Headmistress replied in a flustered tone.

  I left my books on the desk and rushed out the door. “Sorry Professor Gertrude,” I called behind me. “It’s nice to meet you!”

  I ran down to the main corridor and slipped behind the huge unicorn photograph. Taking the stairs four and five at a time, I burst through the door into the basement. No one was there. I ran to Mercer’s box in the far corner and threw the lid open. The small box with the piece of Chutka’s heart was gone. In its place, a small, folded piece of paper waited. The name ‘Mercer’ was written on the front in Professor Briggs’ elegant handwriting.

  I opened the letter and read quickly.

  Finn, you really shouldn’t read a note left for someone else, but since I suspect you’re the one who found this, I want you to relay a message to Mercer. Let him know that the Wiccan Enforcer is in our world. She is searching for the piece of heart in the box. I’ve taken it far enough away to save the Academy from retaliation, but we both know she’ll have my trail before long. Find me at 40.730610 and -73.935242.

  Briggs

  Trepidation filled me as I ran back up the stairs to the infirmary. For Professor Briggs to leave his classes and the school, the threat the Wiccan Enforcer posed must be serious.

  “He knows you can’t follow him,” I said as soon as Mercer finished the letter and set it down.

  “I would,” he replied. “But I think Dr. Six would shoot me herself if I tried to get out of this bed.”

  “I’m going.”

  “That’s a bad idea,” the sweeper told me, his dark stone face expressionless despite the pain of his wounds.

  “Somebody has to help him. We both know Briggs wouldn’t have left a message if he was alright.”

  Mercer had to acknowledge my reasoning. He looked at the note again, then said, “Maybe he meant for it to be found later.”

  “He knew I’d find it when he didn’t show up to teach second period.”

  Mercer gave the first chuckle I had ever heard from him. “He knows you’re a stubborn snoop.”

  I stared at him.

  The sweeper met my gaze, his laughter gone as if it had never happened. “But you’re a good kid and you put together a good team. They’ll take care of this school while you’re gone.”

  “I can go?” I said in surprise.

  “You will whether I allow it or not,” Mercer replied. “I’d tie you up or something creative, but since I’m confined to this bed, I doubt you’ll let me get close enough.”

  I hid a grin as I backed away. “Not a chance.”

  Mercer nodded. “Take care of yourself and grab the black box on the table before you leave.”

  “What table?” I asked.

  “The table in the basement,” he replied.

  “It was empty when I went down there.”

  “It’s not empty anymore,” he said.

  I was shocked when I hurried back to the basement and really did find a black box in the middle of the table. I grabbed it and jogged back up the stairs to the main corridor, then out from the picture frame and up the stairs to my room.

  “We really need fewer stairs in this place,” I muttered. I shoved a few belongings into my backpack along with the box.

  “Where are you going.”

  I paused at Vicken’s voice. I turned to face him in the doorway.

  “Uh, class,” I said. I cringed at the sound of the lie in my voice.

  “Isn’t werewolves being horrible liars a bit cliché?” the vampire asked.

  “You mean like stealthy, sneaky vampires who snoop around in someone else’s business is cliché?” I shot back.

  He gave me a toothy grin. “Where are you going, Finn?”

  I sighed and admitted, “I’m leaving to find Briggs. He left a note for Mercer. Mercer can’t go.”

  “So you’re filling in. Does Mercer know?”

  “He didn’t try to stop me.”

  Vicken rolled his eyes. “He’s confined to a bed. Of course he didn’t try to stop you.”

  “He gave me a box to take.”

  Vicken’s dark eyebrows lifted. “I’ll get my backpack.”

  “Where are we going?”

  I sighed at the sound of Alden’s voice. He came into the room with an innocent, inquiring expression on his face.

  “Nowhere. You need to stay and cover for us.”
>
  “No way,” the Grim replied. “I know that expression on your face. It says you’re about to do something dangerous and you need someone to watch out for you.”

  I glanced in the mirror hung crookedly above the desk in our room. “It doesn’t say that.”

  “It does,” Vicken called from the doorway as he left for his room.

  I sighed. “Fine, but I can’t guarantee your safety.”

  Alden laughed. “What is this, some spy movie? This is life, Finn, and in life, you’re going to have to accept that you have friends that have your back whether you like it or not.”

  “Why wouldn’t I like having friends that have my back?” I asked.

  “Why were you going to leave alone?” Alden shot back as he threw a change of clothes into a satchel.

  I sucked in a breath to reply, then realized I didn’t have anything to say. I grimaced and went with, “You know me too well. It’s scary.”

  “That’s the problem with roommates,” Alden said.

  I rolled my eyes and headed for the stairs. “I’ll meet you by the front door.”

  “If you leave, I’ll just follow,” he called out.

  Grumbling about friends who couldn’t leave well enough alone, I hitched my backpack up higher and made my way for the front entrance.

  I had just reached the main corridor when someone called out, “Finn, wait!”

  I closed my eyes for a moment, took a calming breath, and turned with the thought that I had made too many friends at Haunted High.

  “If I bring anyone else, Mercer, Briggs, and the Headmistress will have my hide,” I said to Dara.

  She stifled a smile when she said, “I wasn’t asking to go with you anywhere.”

  Caught off-guard, I admitted, “You’re right. I jumped to conclusions.”

  She stopped a few steps away and said, “I just want to make sure you’re alright.”

  “Me?” I thought about everything that had happened; my thoughts lingered on saying goodbye to my mother. As hard as the last few days had been, I knew my answer. “I’m fine,” I told her.