Lauren shook her head. She couldn’t worry about the ghost hunters. “Chances are Maggie won’t have gone too far, especially if some of her energy was drained by the initial blast from the ghost hunters.”
“You’re probably right, she won’t be too hard to find if she wants you to go to her. Lauren, I’m sorry, but I need to stay here and help the others.” Theo walked over to Patti who was arranging some equipment on the floor, attaching leads to boxes and typing information into a laptop perched on her knees.
“What are you going to do?” whispered Lauren. She glanced over at Joe but he still seemed unable to hear or see her any more.
“I’m going to stop her.” Theo walked around the back of Patti and stepped inside her body.
Patti gasped and the laptop fell to the floor, the screen cracking as it hit the ground.
“Careful, Patti, that’s expensive equipment,” said Max. “Everything okay over there?”
Lauren watched as Patti slowly stood up and raised a booted foot, smashing it down on the box in front of her as hard as she could. The heel of her boots repeatedly crashed into the delicate equipment.
“Joe, stop her!” said Max. “Patti what’s wrong with you?”
Joe grabbed hold of Patti’s arm. She span round and punched him in the face. Joe staggered back, blood appearing where Patti had split his lip.
Patti turned back and began stamping on the equipment again, shattering it into pieces.
Lauren felt several blasts of cold air rush past and then materialise into half a dozen angry looking Deviants.
Max ran over to Patti, wrapped his arms around her middle and dragged her away from the equipment. He paused as the monitor clipped to his belt began to bleep rapidly as more and more Deviants filled the entrance hall.
Patti slumped forward and Lauren saw Theo emerge out of her body.
He hurried over to her. “If you want to stay and fight you’d be welcome. It looks like things are getting serious here.” Theo gestured to the group of Deviants.
Lauren looked around at the increasing number of ghosts. Some of them looked drained of energy. Several had ragged edges and places on their body where she could see through them.
“I can’t stay,” she said.
“There’s enough of us left to handle these three,” said Theo. “Go and find your Charlie.”
“Try not to kill them.” Lauren’s gaze lingered on the ghost hunters. “I know what they’re doing is wrong but they just don’t understand what we really are.”
“We will do whatever we need to do to keep ourselves safe.” Theo gestured to the door. “Get out of here whilst you still can.”
“Are you going to be okay?” asked Lauren. “I mean, with the whole Maggie thing?”
Theo’s expression turned grim. “Not sure yet, things need to change here. Maggie can no longer be a part of the Deviants, but I don’t quite know what will happen to us now.”
Lauren stepped back as Frankie rushed past her. “Maybe you could take over,” she said.
Theo flashed her a grin. “I never was the leadership type. But you never know, stranger things have happened. Now, get out of here.” He briefly squeezed Lauren’s arm and then ran over to Frankie.
Lauren took one final look around the room, seeing how badly the ghost hunters were outnumbered. She just had to hope the Deviants would do the decent thing. Lauren couldn’t help them now, she had to find Charlie.
Lauren translocated outside the building and immediately sensed she wasn’t alone. She turned around, quickly scanning the grounds looking for the energy that felt familiar to her.
“She’s here. I knew she would be.” Esmee marched out of the darkness, Alex close behind her a smile on his face.
“What are you both doing here?” Lauren stared at the two of them. “It really isn’t a good place to be right now. The ghost hunters have just arrived.”
“Sounds as if we came at the perfect time,” said Alex. “We figured this would be somewhere you might try to get help for Charlie.”
Lauren felt a blush creep across her cheeks. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“That’s not a problem, we would have come here too if Charlie could be saved,” said Alex.
“So why are you here?” asked Lauren.
“Because we think Charlie has come back to the Academy,” said Esmee. “Apparently his energy signature has been detected inside the Academy but no one can find him.”
Lauren’s stomach did a slow somersault. If Charlie was at the Academy then he was most likely not alone. “Maggie took him when I tried to get us both out of here. If she’s managed to get inside the Academy she’s not there to make any friends.”
“We’ve come to take you back there as well,” said Alex. “Jeremy and Professor Altman want to help you and Charlie, and they seem to think they can talk the others round and let you stay.”
Lauren frowned, her fingers twisting into her hair. “I’m not even sure I want to come back to the Academy and be a student. Not after the way they treated me and Charlie.”
“Worry about that later.” Esmee grabbed hold of Lauren’s hand and then Alex’s. “We need to get back and make sure that Charlie is okay.”
Lauren nodded and the three of them materialised back outside of the Academy.
“We just have to wait here a moment until Jeremy can remove the barrier around the outside of the building,” said Alex. “The professors are being extra cautious at the moment. They have a permanent barrier set up around the Academy preventing anyone getting in or leaving without their permission.”
Lauren shuddered. “It sounds like Maggie managed to break through that barrier without too much difficulty.”
“The professors are worried that they are losing the fight,” said Alex. “The portal malfunctions have got them confused and it seems like they don't know how to handle the Deviants anymore.”
The front door of the Academy opened and Jeremy poked his head out. He beckoned the three of them towards him. “It’s all clear, you’re safe to get in. But hurry I can’t keep the barrier down for too many seconds or it will be noticed.”
As soon as Lauren entered the building she sensed something was wrong. The atmosphere felt thick and heavy, almost as if it was laced with something toxic. She glanced over at the others.
Esmee nodded. “You feel it too don’t you? It’s the portal, it’s been getting worse over the last two days and now every time someone goes near the portal door it shoots out some kind of energy. Two students have been injured.”
“Professor Altman believes it is portal energy leaking out and latching on to the nearest ghosts to try to pull them into the portal itself. The portal is still trying to do its job, but unfortunately, it’s picking the wrong targets,” said Jeremy.
“The whole place feels off to me.” Lauren looked around the entrance, even the lights looked dimmer to her. “Where do you think Charlie is?”
Jeremy held up a monitor. “I’ve been watching out for both of your signatures ever since you came back to the Academy. I spotted what I thought was a weak version of Charlie’s energy only a short time ago. It’s flickering in and out so I wasn’t certain it was him. But I managed to isolate his energy signature and the more I looked at it the more I became convinced that he had come back. Somehow his energy isn’t functioning as it should, though. You did not manage to get him the help he needed?”
“No, although one of the Deviant’s did try to fix him. And it makes sense that Charlie’s energy looks odd, that could be Maggie’s doing.” Lauren noticed the look of surprise on Jeremy’s face and continued. “Maggie turned on us, she took him out of the energy cell they were keeping him in and vanished. I didn’t think she would bring him here. Why would she do that?”
“Let’s see if we can find him.” Jeremy held up the monitor and adjusted the dial. “The signal seems to be concentrated close to the portal, so it’s risky for us to get too near.”
“I could try,” said L
auren. “I may be immune to whatever is wrong with the portal.”
Jeremy nodded. “My thoughts exactly. But you need to hurry. I will not be able to effectively mask either of your energy signatures for long and if any of the professors discover you are here they may not be so willing to let you get close to the portal.”
“Or stay at all.” Lauren gritted her teeth. “I’ll do whatever I have to if it keeps Charlie safe. Even if that means going up against Professor Mackintosh.”
"Have you still got the device I gave you?" asked Jeremy.
"It's in my pocket," said Lauren.
"That will definitely help distort your signature and give us some time. Wait here. I’ll let Professor Altman know you have arrived, she is keen to help you.” Jeremy hurried away from the group.
Lauren immediately turned and rushed towards the portal. “We don’t have time to wait.”
“Agreed. Let’s go and see if we can find Charlie. Jeremy and Professor Altman can catch us up.” Alex gestured along the corridor. “Lauren, do you want to lead? Last time I got too close to the portal it burnt off my hair with one of its weird energy bolts.”
“You’re such a hero,” said Esmee.
“I happen to like my hair,” replied Alex.
Lauren hurried along the corridor, Esmee and Alex right behind her. “I just don’t get why Maggie would bring Charlie here. What does she have to gain by getting into the Academy?”
“Don’t know, but she must be powerful,” said Esmee. “We’ve been trying to get through the barrier outside the Academy and it wouldn’t budge.”
“Yes, she is powerful. She’s been a ghost for a long time and apparently before that she was in the army. I’ve seen her fighting with Professor Mackintosh as well, and she seemed to be winning,” said Lauren.
“Although I normally love a strong woman, this one gives me the creeps,” said Alex.
Lauren nodded. “Me too. There’s something about her...” her voice trailed off as the memories of Maggie’s involvement in her death filled her head.
“Did she do something to you when you were with the Deviants?” asked Alex.
Lauren’s steps faltered but she pressed on, eager to find Charlie. “It wasn’t so much what she did to me when I was at the Deviants, but how I came to be a ghost in the first place.”
“Meaning what?” asked Esmee.
“Meaning Maggie was the one who killed me.”
Esmee grabbed hold of Lauren’s arm and stopped her. “Are you serious? How did she kill you?”
“She possessed my mum and made her stab me.” Lauren swiped her hands across her eyes. “I still can’t believe it myself. But I began to get flashes of my mum and Maggie as the same person and then she told me what she’d done. She almost gloated about it, said that I was ideal to join the Deviants and she’d been watching me and needed someone to help them with the portals.” Her breathed hitched in her chest as she glanced at Alex and Esmee.
“Lauren, that’s terrible.” Esmee hugged her.
“But the Academy got to you first, before Maggie could recruit you?” Alex squeezed Lauren’s hand.
“Fortunately, otherwise I don’t know what I’d be doing now,” said Lauren. “Come on, I can’t think about this right now, let’s go find Charlie and get him away from that crazy ghost.”
Esmee stepped back from Lauren. “Let’s go and get this bitch.”
The three of them hurried along the corridor, stopping as they turned left and faced the portal door.
Lauren raised her hands up in front of her. It felt as if she was pushing against a wall of warm dough.
“It’s been like that for a while now,” said Alex. “Anyone who goes about halfway along the corridor gets blasted by the portal. Most of us have tried and all of the professors have been in several times. It even recognises Jeremy and set fire to his lab coat with an energy bolt.”
Lauren took a few steps forward, feeling the sticky atmosphere surround her as she inched along the corridor. She looked back at the others. “Are you coming with me?”
“We can come a certain way along the corridor,” said Alex. “But will have to stop by that portrait.” He gestured at the wall where a gold framed oil painting hung.
“Any farther than that and the portal tries to roast us,” said Esmee.
Lauren nodded and continued her slow journey towards the portal. The hairs on her arms stood up as energy fizzled around her.
“I don’t see any sign of Charlie or Maggie,” said Esmee. “Maybe they can’t get close to the portal either.”
“Wherever she is, Maggie’s days are numbered,” said Lauren. “She let slip in front of Theo that she’d been killing people to get strong candidates to join the Deviants. He’s not going to let her back in and I reckon he’ll convince the others not to follow her after he reveals what she’s been doing. Chances are many of them were her victims as well.”
“You think she came here for one last attack on the Academy?” asked Alex.
“She might have, she’s twisted enough to try it.” Lauren paused as the door to the portal clicked open. “Do you think they are inside?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” said Esmee.
Chapter 10
The three of them inched forward again, but paused and turned around as footsteps pounded along the corridor. Jeremy and Professor Altman rounded the corner.
“You’re definitely in the right place,” said Jeremy. “I’ve managed to isolate Charlie’s energy signature to this location.” He paused and swallowed, his gaze on the portal.
“He’s in the portal, isn’t he?” said Lauren. “It just opened.”
Professor Altman nodded, her dark curls a mess around her head and her hands clutched in front of her. “It would be sensible if Alex and Esmee retreated from the portal. If it has a ghost in there already it may destabilise the portal even more and neither of us knows how it will respond.”
“There could be two ghosts in there,” said Lauren. “Maggie from the Deviants disappeared with Charlie. We’re pretty sure she’s brought him here and taken him inside the portal.”
Jeremy nodded. “That tallies with the strange energy patterns we are seeing around Charlie. He is not alone.”
“And you think this Maggie is here to harm the portal?” asked Professor Altman.
“She’s twisted enough to do it by the sounds of it.” Alex took hold of Esmee’s hand and they walked back towards Professor Altman and Jeremy. “From what Lauren has told us, Maggie is way out there on the crazy scale and might want to try one last big attack before she’s knocked off her pedestal as leader of the Deviants.”
“We cannot allow her to do that.” Professor Altman’s eyes narrowed and she looked at the portal door. Her gaze went to Lauren. “I would come with you if I could...”
“No, it’s okay, I can do this on my own,” said Lauren. “I don’t want to put anyone here at unnecessary risk. You know the portals don’t bother me so I can go inside and see what Maggie is doing and try to get Charlie back if she has him.”
“We will monitor you from here,” said Jeremy. “If I detect anything wrong I will come get you out. I’ve bought my rope with me so will throw it in and get hold of you if you run into any problems whilst inside. We won’t leave you trapped in there.”
Lauren shrugged her shoulders, tension making her neck ache. “I’ll do what I can.” She turned back to the portal.
“Just be careful,” said Professor Altman.
“Like I’m going to be able to do that,” Lauren muttered under her breath as she inched closer and closer to the portal.
Bright blue light shone around the portal door, spilling out through the crack as the door continued to slowly open wider.
She reached the door, relieved not to have been attacked by any of the energy bolts experienced by the others. Lauren turned and looked back at the group. Esmee clutched Alex’s hand and Jeremy and Professor Altman stood shoulder to shoulder their gaze on Lauren a
s she opened the door.
“Wish me luck,” she whispered as she stepped through the door.
Energy sparked around Lauren and she raised her hand over her eyes, surprised by how much light was in the portal. The energy pulsed under her feet making it feel as if she were on board a ship and it took Lauren a moment to steady herself and get used to the sensation.
She moved farther inside the portal looking around constantly for any signs of either Charlie or Maggie. Blue light flickered around her and a jagged energy pulse shot from one side of the portal to the other making her jump back. The light faded and Lauren continued on.
After a few seconds of walking, Lauren detected the outline of a person in front of her. She hurried towards it. As Lauren drew nearer she saw another shape. It was a person hunched over on the ground. It was Charlie.
“So good of you to join us, Lauren.” Maggie’s voice echoed around the portal.
Lauren slowed her pace as she neared Maggie. “You need to give me Charlie. You can stay in this whacked out portal for as long as you like but he needs to get out.” She looked down at Charlie and saw his eyes flickering open and shut, his hair appeared singed. There was a rip in his top and most of the fabric had been burnt away from one arm.
Maggie noticed her staring at Charlie. “Those injuries were not of my making. The portal does not seem to like him. I managed to get in without any problem but had to drag your friend through several powerful energy bolts before we were able to get inside. The Academy’s portal seems to be having a few problems.”
“Of your making,” said Lauren. “You must be behind the latest attack on the portals, none of them are working around here.”
“Now that is interesting,” said Maggie. “We have been experimenting with the remote manipulation of portals, but so far our results have been poor. It appears that some of our efforts were not entirely wasted. Perhaps our work simply needed a little time to bed in.”
Exile: Ghost Academy (YA paranormal adventure, book 4) Page 13