by Rose Pressey
Maybe I should come with you, Annie texted as I walked around shutting down the lights and the other parts of the building.
After saying goodbye to Annie and Jane Austen, I locked the door. As soon as I turned around to go down the steps I spotted Brannon. He pulled up along the curb and hopped out of his car to come over to me.
He took my book bag. “Let me take that.”
“So are you ready for this?”
“I’m ready to find out who’s doing this,” he said. “But I wouldn’t count on them actually showing up when he sees me.”
“Well, that’s the thing,” I said. “Maybe you shouldn’t be noticeable when we get there.”
“Oh, no way am I going to go for that,” he said as he opened the car door for me.
I slid into the car and watched as he came around to the driver’s side. Now I had to convince him that my idea was a good one. I wasn’t even sure myself, so I wasn’t exactly sure what I would say to him. I buckled my seatbelt.
Brannon got behind the wheel and clicked on his seatbelt. He turned the ignition and pulled away from the curb. Since his car was pointed in the opposite direction he drove a little bit so that he could turn around. We headed back toward the abandoned building where the mystery man had wanted to meet. Whatever significance that building held I supposed we would find out tonight.
“I just think that we should give it a shot,” I said. “You can be really close, where you can get to me in an instant if something happens to go wrong.”
“I don’t think you understand the danger,” Brannon said as he turned left at the light.
Chapter 24
Brannon and I soon arrived at the abandoned building.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked. Unlike me, Brannon planned things out.
He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not sure.”
Okay, so this time he didn’t have a plan.
“I’ll just walk up there to see if the guy shows,” I said, reaching for the door handle.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Brannon said, grabbing my hand. “You can’t go up there. I told you that’s too dangerous.”
“I didn’t think you were really serious,” I said.
He stared at me for a moment, as if he couldn’t believe I just said that. “I’m completely serious.”
“So what’s your plan then?” I asked. “If you don’t want me to go, then I don’t see how else this can work. This person wants to meet me. If I don’t show up they won’t talk.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Brannon said.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“You have to let me look around the place first.”
I sighed. “Okay, if you say so.” I thought he was making this more difficult than it had to be.
Brannon opened the car door and got out. Just as he made it to the front of the car, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. When I looked over to the right of the building I spotted the mystery man. He was wearing that same black coat and black hat. The wind almost knocked the hat off his head, but he managed to grab it. He continued running around the side of the building.
I jumped out of the car and yelled. “Brannon, he’s at the side of the building. He’s going to get away.”
Brannon spun around and looked at me, as if what I was saying didn’t register for a moment. All of a sudden it clicked and he took off running toward the building. “Stay there,” he yelled at me.
Sure, I wanted to help him out and get the guy, but I figured there was nothing I could do. I would just get in the way if I tried to chase the man too. Even though I wasn’t going to get out and run after him, I stood in front of the car just so that I could get a better view of what happened. Also if I needed to run to help Brannon I would be that much closer. I couldn’t believe that this guy had run away like that. What was I saying? Of course I believed it. He had obviously been the one who had left the note. If he did something like that then he would take off when confronted.
I just wanted to know why he was doing this and I hoped Brannon caught him. We would have an answer to that question soon. I needed to calm my nerves. I tapped my foot against the ground and twisted my hands together. I looked around to see if there was any sign of Brannon and the man. So far there was nothing. I hoped that I didn’t have to wait much longer.
As I stood there an uneasiness came over me, as if someone was watching me. I peered over my shoulder, but no one was back there. I scanned around and it seemed as if I was alone, so I assumed it was just my imagination getting the better of me.
The longer I stood there the more worried I became for Brannon. What if the mystery man hadn’t been alone? There could be someone else really watching me right now. I thought about getting back in the car, but then also was worried that I might have to help Brannon. So I stood there with that uneasy feeling wrapped all around me.
A rustling noise came from somewhere nearby. I jumped, but then realized it was just the tree branch in the wind. Yes, I was a bit paranoid. I had to calm down. My anxiety only increased though. Thoughts of going around the side of the building to find Brannon came to mind.
Noise caught my attention again, but this time it came from behind me. I spun around to see what had made the noise. This time I didn’t see the tree branches moving, but knew that had to be the noise. Yes, that was what I’d heard. What else could it have been? I desperately needed to calm down. What was taking Brannon so long? Had he captured the guy? Or had the guy gotten hold of Brannon?
I was ready to turn back around again when someone grabbed me from behind. They wrapped their arms around me and pulled me back. The next thing I knew their hand covered my mouth and they had placed fabric over my eyes so that I couldn’t see. Next they placed a gag over my mouth. They had to be kidding me. I was being kidnapped now? Seriously? And I couldn’t see who did this? I couldn’t scream because my mouth was covered. Brannon would have no idea what happened to me.
I tried to break free, but it was no use. They had a tight hold on me. I thought I heard the sound of another person moving back there too. Was there more than one? They pulled me back. Where were they taking me? I couldn’t scream or anything. The next thing I knew I was being lifted up and stuffed into the car. I was thrown inside. All of a sudden I heard the slam. I moved around and tried to figure out where I was. It was a confined space. They had me in a trunk. This was not good. I wanted to say that I was a fighter, and that I wouldn’t give up, but this would be hard to overcome. I had no idea how to get out of there. Panic started to set in, but I reminded myself that freaking out would do no good. I had to stay calm.
First, I tried moving my hands again to see if I could break free. I struggled for a long time, trying to get my hands free, but it was no use. It wouldn’t budge. They had tied them really tight. Maybe when I got out of this trunk I could get loose, but that was a big maybe. I had no idea if they would ever let me out. Maybe they would keep me in here until I suffocated.
A few seconds later the car slowed until it finally came to a stop. The car doors opened and then slammed shut. The sound of footsteps echoed as they crunched on gravel and came to the back of the car. The person opened the trunk and reached for me, pulling me out of the car. I stumbled a bit until I finally got steady on my feet. The person had a hold on me and was guiding me somewhere. Of course I had no idea where we were.
The person guided me a few more steps before we stopped. They tapped my leg, indicating I should step up. Somehow I managed to get up to the steps. They still hadn’t spoken to me, not a word out of either of them. This was way too creepy. I was definitely panicking on the inside. We moved farther. The floor creaked underneath my feet with each step. This must be an old building, kind of like the one that I had just been taken from.
We hadn’t driven long, but I couldn’t place where they might have taken me. There were a few old places around Devil’s Moon. It had to be one of those. Regardless, it would do me little good, even if I k
new where I was. Contacting Brannon wasn’t an option. My phone was in my pocket, but I couldn’t get it.
The squeaking of hinges sounded from the door. The person pushed me forward and then led me across the floor. The person shoved me down. Now I was in a chair. The person tied my hands behind my back and to the chair. Although I was sitting down, still no one had spoken to me. Footsteps and a swoosh of fabric sounded from behind me. The fabric dropped from around my eyes. When it was dropped from my face I looked to my left. Joanna was beside me, holding the fabric in one hand and a gun in the other hand. She was the one who had brought me here. My hands were still tied behind my back, so I couldn’t get away. Plus, I couldn’t speak.
“I suppose you want to know why we brought you here,” she said.
I nodded. “Yes, I would love the answer to that.”
“As soon as everyone is here I can tell you,” she said.
Who was everyone? There was more than one? I assumed the other person was the mystery man, but had Brannon gotten him? Or had he gotten Brannon?
A few seconds later the group I had performed the séance with walked into the room. Except they were tied up too. Their hands were behind their backs and their eyes covered. They had no idea where they were going either. The mystery man was with them.
“Take them to the other side of the room, Denny,” Joanna instructed.
When I saw Denny complete panic took over. I wanted to know what happened to Brannon.
The chairs were all in a circle and he instructed the group to sit around the circle. One by one he took the blindfolds off the group. They looked at me with the same confused expression. I had no explanation for them. Finally, Joanna came over and took the gag out of my mouth. Now that I could talk I didn’t know what to say. I had a lot of questions, but that didn’t mean she would answer them.
“Why did you bring us here?” I asked.
“We’ve all come together here for a meeting,” Joanna said.
“What kind of meeting?” I said.
“So that we can have a séance.”
“Oh, no, we’re not doing anything like that,” I said.
“You don’t have much of a choice in the matter, do you?”
“No, it looks as if I don’t,” I said. “Where is Brannon?” I looked at the man.
“He’ll be here soon,” Denny said.
What was that supposed to mean? “I have to know that he’s all right,” I said.
“He’s just fine now,” Denny said.
Joanna clapped her hands. “Everybody get prepared for the séance.”
I wouldn’t let them get ready for that just yet. I finally decided to ask questions. “Why did you tell me that you were getting strange notes?” I asked Joanna.
“I needed a way to get in with you and I figured that telling you about these books would intrigue you. If you were fascinated then you would want to talk to me as much is possible. I heard that you love to solve crimes. I knew you’d never solve this one.”
I wondered who had told her that. It was true though. So she had done her homework and it had worked exactly as she wanted.
“Why are we doing a séance?” I asked.
“Because we need this many people to contact the demon that we want to get in contact with,” Joanna said.
Denny walked away, leaving us alone and sitting in the circle. Was he going to get Brannon? I hoped so because I really wanted to see him right now. A couple of seconds later the man walked back into the room. Brannon was with him. His hands were tied behind his back too. I had no idea how he had managed to do that. Brannon wouldn’t be happy about it either. An empty chair was next to me. The man forced Brannon down onto the chair.
“All right, now that everyone is here we can get started,” Joanna said.
Chapter 25
I still needed an explanation of why they were seeking out the spirits. It could only be for bad reasons.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked again.
“Because the demon that comes will give us all kinds of powers for our magic,” Joanna said.
As I’d suspected, this was bad.
“You do know that’s not how it works? The demon isn’t going to give you these things. It might say it will, but it’s really going to just take your soul,” I said.
She scoffed. “Like you would know anything about it. Just because you’re a librarian doesn’t mean you’re smart and know everything.”
“No, but I know enough to know that this isn’t a good idea. I would think anybody would realize that,” I said.
She glared at me. Apparently I was just making her angrier. She picked up a candle and lit it, holding it in front of her.
“Why did you come to Devil’s Moon?” I asked.
“Ross Chadwick found the place. He said the paranormal power here was unlike any we’d ever seen. Too bad he changed his mind about being in our coven. We had to get rid of him.”
Ross had wanted to get away from Joanna, but she’d stopped him before he’d had a chance. That explained why he’d been headed back to Seattle. He’d apparently discovered their twisted plan.
“You have a coven?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s right,” Joanna said with pride in her voice.
“So that was why you left the letters around?”
The longer I let her talk the more time I had to think of some way to get us out of there. She seemed happy to talk about her plan. I knew she was proud of what she’d done.
“We had to let the demon know we were with him. That we were aware of his presence and thanking him.” Joanna’s eyes glowed under the flicker of the flame.
The light cast an eerie shadow over her face. It was almost as if she looked different. I couldn’t place exactly what had changed. Maybe it was her eyes. At any rate, this was scaring me. I wanted to stop her, but I had no idea how to do it.
“Why was the dark shadow after me?” I asked.
Joanna shrugged. “I guess you attract dark spirits.”
She was probably right about that. Not only the dark ones, but all spirits. I was like a magnet for them. That wasn’t really a good thing for me. So now I knew why she’d done this. I just needed to find a way to get out of there. There would be no talking my way out of this. Everyone around me acted clueless as to how to get away. Well, except for Brannon. He’d just arrived to the party. I wasn’t going to give up that easily.
They had left my phone in my pocket. I was sure they had no idea that they’d done that. If they had they certainly wouldn’t have left it. I just had to figure out how to get it out of my pocket. Yeah, that would be impossible with my hands tied behind my back. I couldn’t move like that. Though I certainly would give it a try. I fumbled around in my pocket, trying to get the phone out.
Brannon watched me. With his eyes he was saying, Don’t do that. You’re going to get hurt.
Like maybe they would shoot me for this. Possibly they would, but I kept trying anyway. I was just that hard-headed. I figured if they were going to do something to us anyway I might as well have them do it with me trying to get out of here. By some miracle I got my hand wrapped around the phone and gently pulled it from my pocket. Now I had to just keep from dropping it.
The phone slipped from my hands and dropped on the floor. It was face up when I looked down. It had dialed Tammy’s number. At least that was one good thing that had come from this. I looked over and Joanna and the man were talking to each other, so they hadn’t even noticed that I dropped the phone. They would see it soon enough though. I looked over at Brannon—he had a look of fear on his face, but what was done was done.
I reached down, trying to pick up the phone, but there was no way I could even get close. Somehow I was able to slide it under my chair just a bit, so I hoped they wouldn’t notice it. That would give me a chance to somehow maybe retrieve it later.
Joanna stopped talking and walked over to the middle of the room. “Okay, now we’re going to start the séance.” There was no way I
wanted to do this with them.
Darkness had overtaken outside and now Joanna lit candles around the room. “We need everyone to close your eyes,” she said.
This was much worse than just using the Ouija board.
“We’re going to call to the spirit,” Joanna said.
I didn’t want to leave myself open to any kind of negativity that they might bring through. I closed my eyes and only thought of good things. Maybe then nothing dark would get through.
“What is this demon’s name?” I asked.
Perhaps if I knew the name I could demand it to leave. Though I wasn’t positive that Joanna would share that information.
“Cran,” she said with satisfaction.
A growling sound came from somewhere nearby. I opened my eyes and looked around. I didn’t see anything different in the room. However, the candle flames flickered and I sensed a darkness. An eerie feeling came over the room. This was exactly what they wanted to happen. They would regret what they wished for, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to convince them of that. It was too late.
A cold gust of wind came through the room. The flames flickered again and then completely blew out. Now the room was pitch black. The growling noise sounded from somewhere behind me. I gasped and the other women screamed.
“Everyone calm down. You’re going to ruin everything,” Joanna yelled.
Footsteps sounded across the room, but I was pretty sure that was just Joanna. At least I hoped. She lit a match, but it immediately went out. This was not going to work.
“Does this place have electricity? Let’s just forget about the séance, okay,” I said.
Joanna didn’t answer me, so I took that as a big fat no. Every time she tried to light the candles they were just immediately went right back out. This was not a good sign. How long would she continue to try to light them? A more intense darkness came over the room and I knew this was getting worse.
Joanna finally lit the candles again and went back to her seat to start the séance over again. She’d barely taken hold of Denny’s hand when the lights flickered again. Then they went off again. She cursed and that was when everything went crazy. Even the walls started rattling and my chair was shaking. I was sure that I was going to fall out onto the floor. Everyone was screaming and trying to figure out what was happening. I’d known conjuring a spirit would lead to bad things. It showed no signs of easing up either. My chair tumbled sideways and I landed onto the floor with a loud thud. The same sound rang out around the room. Apparently everyone else had been knocked onto the floor too.