“We’re not staying, not for long anyway.” Lauren avoided answering Grant’s questions. “Just like you, we found this place and it looked decent so we decided to stop for a while. But we can leave if it’s going to be a problem for you.”
“No, not a problem. This house has plenty of space, lots of rooms so we won’t get in each other’s way. And we do have the added advantage of becoming invisible if we really get on each other’s nerves.” Grant’s eyes crinkled up at the corners. “I’ll not be staying for too long either, so this could work out well.”
Charlie rocked back and forth on his heels. “Hope you don’t mind us gate crashing like this.”
“It’s an open house as far as I’m concerned,” said Grant. “Providing you are friendly.”
“We are,” said Charlie. He studied Grant for a few seconds. “Your energy feels different to other ghosts. You give off an almost human vibe.”
Grant scratched his head. “I’ve heard that before. But I promise you, I’m completely ghost.”
Charlie nodded. “You proved that by walking through the door.”
Grant laughed. “Quite right. May I ask, why did you think I was from the Academy? I don’t think I quite fit their mould.” He gestured to his messy hair and grey streaked stubble, his image wavering for a second.
Lauren gave a quick shake of her head, not yet willing to reveal everything to the stranger. “Long story. I’m Lauren and this is Charlie.”
“Nice to meet you both.” Grant shook their hands. “Apparently, this place used to belong to some Duke. I had a rifle through some of the drawers on one occasion and found some paperwork about them having to shut the house up because they couldn’t pay the bills.” He looked around at the tired flooring and wallpaper.
“It seems a shame to let a house like this go to ruin,” said Lauren. “Hope the owners don’t mind us making use of it whilst it’s still standing.”
“Exactly my thoughts.” Grant’s gaze went to the stairs. “I usually take a couple of rooms at the top of the stairs if you haven’t already occupied them.”
“That’s fine. We’ve made a base along the corridor next to the kitchen, we won’t be in your way,” said Charlie.
“I’ll settle in and then perhaps we can continue our conversation?” said Grant. “Only if you want some company. I don’t want to get in your way.”
Charlie nodded. “Sure, that would be good.”
Lauren and Charlie watched Grant as he walked up the stairs, seemingly relaxed in his surroundings.
“What do you think of him?” asked Lauren.
“Shall we go outside?”
She nodded, walked straight through the front door and stepped out between the two pale stone pillars that held up the art deco porch. An old fountain stood in the middle of the lawn, the stone mermaid had long stopped pouring water from the urn she held under one arm.
Charlie followed Lauren. “I think he seems okay. He looks a bit tired, though. Did you see his image flicker? And he’s got a strange vibe about him.”
“He might be low on energy. Maybe fighting that ghost last night diminished his energy levels,” said Lauren. “I don’t recognise him from the Deviants, so I think he’s telling the truth, but maybe we shouldn’t stay for much longer just in case he’s here to observe us.”
“I like it here,” said Charlie. “Maybe Grant won’t stay for long and we can have the place to ourselves again. I also don’t mind if he keeps us safe if that weird ghost decides to come back.”
“We’ll see. I don’t think we should stay in one place for too long. If we move around it might make it harder for the Academy to keep a fix on us.”
“You do remember Jeremy and his ridiculous amount of equipment?” said Charlie. “They know where we are, they’re just not doing anything about it at the moment.”
Lauren looked back at the house. She liked it here too, and just wished the Academy would leave them both alone.
“Since we’re outside, I get a feeling we should go in that direction.” Charlie pointed to the distant tree line.
“Why, what’s over there?” Lauren raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.
“It might be a portal,” said Charlie.
Lauren gave Charlie a startled look. “You’re kidding?”
“It’s really faint, it might not even be an active portal anymore,” said Charlie. “But I’m feeling that slight tug in my stomach I get any time I’m near one.”
Lauren twisted her fingers into her hair. “Are you going to be okay, now you don’t have access to the portal suppressant Jeremy used to give you? You think you can handle being around a portal?”
Charlie rocked back on his heels. “No, doubt I’ll be okay, but I can’t avoid them forever. Eventually, I’ll have to face up to a portal without any help from the Academy.”
“Maybe we should go in the opposite direction,” suggested Lauren. “I don’t want to have to try to keep you out of a portal if we stumble across this one and we aren’t prepared.”
“No, I want to check it out, and it doesn’t feel strong,” said Charlie. “Besides, we need to keep ourselves busy doing something whilst we wait for the Academy to make their decision about us.”
Lauren’s jaw tensed. “They don’t have a right to decide what to do with us.”
Charlie touched Lauren’s arm. “I know, but we can’t outrun them. We’re just going to have to face up to whatever they give us.”
Lauren shook her head, not agreeing with Charlie.
“Most likely they will just ban us from the Academy completely, and leave us on our own, in the hope that we will just fade away or accidentally get ourselves shoved into a portal,” said Charlie. “If so, maybe we could be like Grant and just go wandering around, exploring places. I quite like that idea.”
“I’d like to shove some of them into a portal.” Lauren thought back to how angry Professor Mackintosh had been when he’d prevented them from getting back into the Academy.
“Come on, let’s go and see what we can find,” said Charlie. “This portal’s energy feels different than the others I’ve experienced, and I want to know why.”
After a few seconds of hesitation, Lauren trailed after Charlie, anger still running through her as she mulled over just what the Academy would do to them. She wasn’t prepared to give up without a fight if they did decide they were going to force them both to cross over.
They walked for several miles, the sun splashing across the fields and warming the day.
“We’re getting closer to the portal,” said Charlie.
“Just don’t go crazy over it when you do find it.” Lauren glanced over at him. “You need to keep control of your portal addiction.”
“I’ll do my best, but I don’t think we need to worry. This one is really weak. I can handle it if I concentrate.”
Lauren grinned. “You know, Esmee used to reckon you were away with the fairies most of the time.”
Charlie laughed. “It’s not such a bad thing, having an imagination and thinking about the bigger picture.”
“True, if everyone’s world revolved around cookies and pink nail polish we’d be in trouble,” said Lauren.
“That’s not fair. Esmee sometimes wore red nail polish.”
“But she was obsessed with cookies,” said Lauren. The smile on her face dropped. “Hope she’s doing okay.”
“She’s got Alex by her side, and we both know how crazy he is about her,” said Charlie.
“Yeah, he’ll look after her,” said Lauren.
“I think the portal is over there.” Charlie pointed forward. “I don’t see anything, but then you can never tell exactly where a portal will be. That one we discovered that had grown with the tree at Hitchin’s Bay surprised me. I’d always assumed they would be actual doors.”
Lauren concentrated as she tried to pick up any trace of a portal’s energy signature. “Are you sure this is the right place?”
“There is something here, an
d it does feel like a portal, but somehow different.” Charlie walked forward slowly, his hands outstretched. His speed increased as if he sensed something.
Lauren ran forward and grabbed the back of Charlie’s black jacket, yanking him towards her. “Look down. There’s water just in front of us.”
Charlie stepped back. He had been only feet from plunging straight into the water. “It’s a lake. I get the feeling the portal is in there.”
Lauren raised her eyebrows. “Actually in the water itself?”
“I’ve never heard of a portal being underwater,” said Charlie. “But I guess it’s possible. Maybe we should take a look.”
“Go swimming you mean?”
“It’s not going to do us any harm,” said Charlie. “We can’t drown.”
Lauren eyed the water with suspicion. “Why would a portal be underwater? How would anyone find it if it’s so well hidden?”
“The pull of the portal will alert people to it, so it can be as well-hidden as it likes, as long as it’s giving out the right signals the newly dead will find a portal and go inside.”
Lauren shrugged, she had never felt the pull of a portal before, not like Charlie did, so she had nothing to compare it to.
“I’m going to take a look,” said Charlie. “You can stay here if you like.”
She squinted across the water. “I’ll look around the edge of the lake. Maybe the portal is right on the water’s edge.”
“Could be, but I’m going in. It just feels like I need to be in the water to actually see the portal.” He walked slowly into the shallows of the lake, the water swiftly soaking into Charlie’s clothes. “It’s a good job the cold no longer bothers us.”
Lauren smiled. “Let me know if you find anything.” She began a slow circuit of the lake, dodging around tree stumps and leaping over uneven surfaces. She found a small jetty halfway round the lake and walked its length to see if there was any sign of a portal, but she found nothing.
Lauren looked across the water, but couldn't see Charlie. He was most likely swimming along the bottom, happily oblivious to the soaking wet clothes he had on as he hunted for his mysterious portal.
She returned to search the rest of the lake’s perimeter but found no sign of any portal. Lauren returned to the place Charlie had entered the water and stood waiting for him to emerge.
A trace of worry ran down her spine. If Charlie discovered a portal and its pull on him was too much to resist, there was every chance that he may simply step inside and disappear. Lauren knew that he had always been torn about staying at the Academy, and didn’t really enjoy going out and doing their assignments. He was more of a laboratory and theory kind of guy. That was fine by Lauren, but she knew that Charlie would one day step into a portal and never come out, happy to simply cross over. She really hoped that he wouldn’t be doing that today.
She stepped to the very edge of the water and looked into its dark interior. What if Charlie never came out? Lauren’s gut tightened as her worry increased.
“Still trying to figure out that guy of yours?” Theo Light stepped out from behind a tree.
Lauren took a few steps back, but then sighed, almost not surprised to find Theo tracking her. “My friend doesn’t need figuring out.”
“If you say so.” Theo walked over to Lauren. “How is life treating you?”
“Just fine.”
“Have you finally come to your senses about just how badly Ghost Academy looks after its students if they don’t fall into line?” Theo’s dark, messy hair blew around his face.
Lauren ignored his question. “How did you find me?”
“You’re easy to find, I’d know your energy signature anywhere.” Theo grinned. “Plus, Maggie likes to keep track of her favourites, although you may not be on her list of top ten most wanted ghosts anymore. But she still has an interest in you, she wants to know what you’re doing and whether or not you may be joining us any time soon.”
Lauren turned to face Theo. “She still wants me after everything I’ve done to the Deviants?”
“She wants you more than the Academy does.”
Lauren took in a breath, before exhaling slowly. “Okay, I’ll admit that the Academy does punish students harshly for not following the rules. But they did have good reasons to punish the two of us.” She glanced over her shoulder to see if Charlie was visible.
“But to evict you simply for helping your family, that seems too harsh.”
Lauren looked down at her fingernails, wishing there were some left to bite. “We’re just waiting to see what decision they make about us. They may still let us back in.”
Theo gave a strangled laugh and shook his head. “You mean to say, even though you are no longer a part of the Academy, they still intend to punish you? That place simply gets worse.”
“I know you don’t like them,” said Lauren. She didn’t like them much at the moment but still felt she needed to defend them. “They were good to me and Charlie whilst we were there, and we did mess up.”
“But you don’t deserve whatever ridiculous punishment they are going to give you. You aren’t even their concern anymore.”
“They did bring us to the Academy in the first place. They saw some potential in us, it’s just we didn’t quite work out. We didn’t fit into the Academy mould. Not how they want us to anyway.” Lauren kicked the ground with the toe of her boot.
“As I’ve said to you so many times before, you don’t fit in there, but you do fit in with the Deviants,” said Theo. “Join with us, you’ll be happier.”
“No, I don’t think I do fit in with you. Maybe the Academy’s not right for me, but the Deviants aren’t either. Your ways are too chaotic, and you have such little respect for human life. I don’t think I’d enjoy being a part of the Deviants. Charlie definitely wouldn’t.”
“What are you and lover boy going to do then?” asked Theo. “Set up home together and pretend that you are content to be rogue ghosts with no purpose other than to annoy each other until one of you finally gives up and slips into a portal?”
Lauren decided not to rise to Theo’s taunting. “At the moment, we’re looking for a portal. Charlie seems to think there’s one around here and that there’s something wrong with it. You wouldn’t have anything to do with damaging a portal around here would you?”
“No, this area is nothing to do with me. I’m just here to visit you.” Theo looked out over the water. “And he’s looking under the water for the portal?”
“He seemed to think that’s where it is. I’ve done a search around the lake and can’t see one anywhere. Not that they always respond to me, so I may have missed it.”
“And what are you planning to do when you find this portal?”
“That’s what I wanted to know, but Charlie was just insistent we find it.” Lauren looked back over the water. “He’s been gone a long time, though. Hope he’s okay.”
“Think he’s abandoned you already?”
Lauren’s head snapped around. “No, Charlie would never abandon me. He’s better than that.”
“I guess you’d know.” Theo’s eyes narrowed as he continued to study Lauren.
“Why are you even here?” asked Lauren. “Wait, did you have anything to do with the attack last night?”
Theo’s eyes widened. “An attack? Were you hurt?”
“Do I look hurt to you?”
“No, you look fine, as always. But that was nothing to do with me or the other Deviants. Like I said, Maggie is still interested in you joining us and sent me to offer an olive branch.”
“How very kind of her.”
Theo smirked. “Now you are officially a free agent, she figured you might be interested in coming to spend some more time with us. We would keep you safe and you wouldn’t be under any obligation to join us straight away. I get that you’d need time to think about what you want to do next.”
“I don’t need any time. I’ve been with you to the Deviants, and don’t agree with what you
do.”
“Just hear me out.” Theo held his hands up. “When I left the Academy, well when I was forced to leave the Academy, I drifted around for a while not really knowing who to join and who to trust. I was weak and drained and on the point of giving up. Maggie let me stay with them for weeks before I decided to join. She helped me to get stronger and educated me, showing me that there were other ways of doing things, that the Academy was not the only way or necessarily the right way to be a ghost.”
“If we turned up there she would probably just put us both in those cells you have, the ones for the broken Deviants,” said Lauren.
“No, she wouldn’t do that to you. And remember why most of the broken ghosts are in those cells in the first place.” Theo arched an eyebrow. “Most of them got in trouble with the Academy. We are saving them by having them in those cells.”
“How’s your friend Frankie doing?” Lauren almost didn’t want to ask the question, having handed him over to some ghost hunters in return for the release of her friends. Frankie’s essence had been drained so badly that he’d almost lost his form and broken down completely.
Theo’s expression softened. “Frankie is doing okay. He can stay out of a cell for about an hour a day at the moment, and we are hopeful that he may get stronger, but we will always need to keep an eye on him and make sure he gets regular boosts of energy.”
Lauren pushed away the feeling of guilt. “Well, it’s good to know that he is making progress.”
Theo’s eyes narrowed again, but he made no further comment. “The offer to join us still stands, for both of you. Spend time with us. It will be a refuge if you like, a place for you to get your thoughts together and make a final decision. Ultimately, if you decide not to stay with us, you will be free to leave, both of you can just go.”
Lauren shook her head. Her experience with the Deviants had shown her that they could not be trusted. There had been shades of truth and lies in everything she'd experienced when she had visited them. Their leader, Maggie, was both open and kind but brutally cruel, switching between the two roles with comparative ease.
Exile: Ghost Academy (YA paranormal adventure, book 4) Page 3