A scream tore through the air. Jazz's book fell to the floor as she and Sam jumped out of their chairs. Tucker shot up in his sleeping bag, blinking rapidly and shaking his head, trying to remember where he was and what was going on. Another scream ripped from Danny's throat and the raggedy comforter was thrown to the floor as he tossed and turned in agitation. It took a moment for the oldest of them to shove all her shock and horror to the back of her mind and rush to her brother's side. Right now she needed to act, not dwell on the terror that was consuming her life. Solutions were non existence within her many idea so unable to think of anything else, she clamped her hand firmly over her brother's mouth. Too tired to even shudder or be bothered by the feel of saliva on her palm. More attention drawn to them was the last thing they needed and screams from their room in the dead of the night was sure to get them some. A hotel swarming with authorities and journalists was the last thing they needed. The authorities would probably be even less thrilled than them. A young and upcoming journalist would be absolutely tickled pink to write something like this up.
Sam was on the other side of Danny, trying to calm him, mumbling soft assurances. Jazz was struggling to keep her hand over his mouth. His nails kept digging into her skin a he desperately clawed at her hands. Both siblings winced in pain several times. The frenzied activity finally registered in Tucker's sleep-fogged mind and he flung his sleeping bag aside. He made his way to the bed also anxious to help.
"Get me the sleeping medicine!" Jazz ordered him, pointing at her backpack with her one momentarily free hand. Danny lashed out at Jazz again. She grabbed one hand while Sam caught the other. He was thrashing now and both girls exchanged terrified looks. Jazz could only pray they could force more sleeping medicine down him. Vaguely, she wondered about the warnings on the label; they had yet to use that much, but at this rate, they were bound to at sooner rather than later. Tucker made a mad dash for the sack. Grabbing it, he frantically began digging through it. There was so much stuff packed into it. "Just dump it!" she cried as she and Sam continued to struggle with Danny. Tucker did as told and shook all the contents out. A bottle of the medicine rolled out of a pajama shirt. He snatched it up off the floor. He did a double take noticing the spoon among the other contents of the bag. Stooping back down, he picked it up before hurrying to Jazz's side. She gave him a look and Tucker was quick to unscrew the medicine bottle and shakily pour a spoonful. Some sloshed over and onto the floor. He briefly wondered how Jazz had managed to get this strange sleeping medication, but something more important was bothering him in regards to the medicine.
"Is this safe?" he asked worriedly. How much medicine had they been dousing his friend with? Wasn't this a big no-no?
"I've been writing down the dosages and have been verycareful. He's my brother. I won't OD him." Of course Jazz was already all over it. He should have known. Jazz herself made sure her voice sounded more confident that how she actually felt. It was true, she had been keeping track, but you could only give someone so much. Really, though, their choices were limited; either give him too much sleeping medication or have him yell and possibly hurt himself or something else throughout the night. The thought that maybe her parents would the better option crossed her mind, but she simply didn't want to go down that road yet. Not until they had exhausted these options. It hadn't yet been a full day.
Sam's voice had tapered into a miserable lull, asking Danny to please open his eyes and assuring him that all was okay. From her expression, it was clear she didn't believe her own words and Danny wasn't able to hear them so no comfort was drawn from them.
"Danny!" Jazz cried, voice rising above Sam's soft murmurs and Danny's cries. A hard and firm shake of his shoulder and her brother stilled. All noise was sucked out and the area became alarmingly silent with the only sound being that of the light wind ruffling their thick drapes. Jazz's grip tightened on his shoulders and shook him again. A groan sounded from him and she believed they were getting somewhere. He must be coming to. It was ironic that a second ago she had wanted him to fall back into a quiet sleep but now she wanted him to wake up. "Danny! Wake up! Open your eyes!" The last dosage she had given him should have worn off some time ago. She was surprised he hadn't woken up prior to this. In her mind, it would be best to simply administer the medication to a conscious and willing being than trying to jam it down his throat and hoping he swallowed. Another groan from her brother and her she waited for him to awake. It looked like he was trying to force his eyes open. He groaned again and Jazz shook him harder and a little longer than the last two times.
"Snow burrrnss," Danny slurred, looking at his sister through half-lidded eyes. "Stuuuck in snow." His voice had an edge of desperation to it. "No name, won't tell."
Jazz tight grip on his shoulders became a painful squeeze at his words. "Danny," she said evenly, keeping her voice steady but loud so he could hopefully understand and trust her words. "We're right here for you," her voice was smooth as silk and as reassuring as she could make it. "We won't let anything bad happen to you." A few moments of silence as she met her brother's eyes, her own clear with sincerity. "Me and Tucker and Sam are here for you. We just need you need to take this," she shot a look at Tucker who moved closer with the spoonful of medicine. She assured him, "It'll help you." Danny looked at Jazz warily then turned his gaze to the silver spoon that trembled in Tucker's hand. The liquid sloshed and some dripped over the silver.
"More?" He asked doubtfully and there was no mistaking the suspicion in his question. His trust in them was fading and fast. Sam and Tucker remained quiet, unsure what to say. Jazz wished she wasn't the one who always had to talk.
"Yes, Danny, this is going to help you get more rest while we figure out what's going on with you." She avoided using the word "wrong" not wanting to panic him any further.
He gave a weak shake of his head. "No, you want to send me back to the burning snow," his was voice low and uneven. Jazz's hold on his shoulders loosened in disbelief at the accusation.
"Danny, I don't want to send you anywhere you don't want to go," she began slowly, choosing her words with great care. It felt as though she was preparing a persuasive speech for a seminar at the last moment, but her only audience was the three in the room with Danny being the only target. "It's just I know you don't want to hurt anyone and when you're up and you see that girl," Jazz paused as Danny visibly stiffened and even gasped as if just hearing her existence being hinted at caused him physical pain. She took note and continued, "You kind of lash out and hit things by accident. It won't be too much longer, I promise." Jazz finished with warnings of not making promises you can't keep echoing through her head. She banished them from her thoughts, refusing to believe there was no way she could help. There had to be a way. It was just a matter of finding it. Every problem had a solution.
Danny stared at her for a long moment before looking over at Tucker and then Sam. Each shifted uncomfortably under his intense stare. He finally looked back at Jazz. "C-can I ask you a question?" he asked his voice shaking with each word.
"Of course," Jazz was quick to assure him taking the medicine from Tucker slowly and with care. "But will you take this after?"
Danny nodded. It took him a moment to build the courage, but he finally asked the question. "Would you still help me even if you w-weren't real?" The tentative question hung in the air as the other three tried to fully process what he had just asked them.
"Danny," Sam reached over and squeezed his hand. "We are real."
He didn't look convinced. "But if you weren't would you still help me? I like it better here than in the burning snow." His eyes were welling up with tears. "I don't want to go back to the snow. Even if it is real. Don't like it."
"What snow?" Tucker asked.
"Burns," Danny replied quietly as his eyes began sliding shut like he had used up all his energy. Jazz was quick to shake him.
"I'm sorry, Danny, but you have to take this," she told him. She didn't think she could take any more sudden screams. The medicine had seemed to keep those at bay though it had obviously not given him the dreamless sleep she had hoped for. He gave another weak nod of his head and allowed Jazz to administer the medicine to him.
"Burns," he insisted, desperation making its way back into his voice. "Snow hurts. Plaza is so sad and lonely. No color," he was speaking with such earnest and sounded so sad. "No color," he repeated. "All gray. Don't like," he mumbled before his eyes slid firmly shut and he fell back into a slumber that Jazz knew would only provide her and his friends relief while offering none to the one who most needed it. None of his words made any sense at all.
Jazz brought her fist to her mouth and bit down on it, trying to overcome her helplessness at her brother's situation. Anger coursed through her veins, but she didn't know who to aim it at. She wanted to grab her brother's shoulders and shake sense back into him, but he couldn't help what was happening and she knew that would not help matters any. She certainly couldn't pin this on Tucker or Sam and she knew she had nothing to do with it. She willed herself not to scream.
Tucker took deep breaths, trying to calm himself. There was no way he was going to fall back asleep. That had been almost as horrifying as when he'd been in the bathroom at the theater. Danny sounded like he belonged in an asylum. All this bizarre talk of colors, plazas, and snow. It hadn't even snowed yet this season. He glanced at his watch. School still wouldn't be starting for a few hours and he had this suspicion he was going to conk out in more than one class. Noisy classrooms would be peaceful compared to this.
Sam closed her eyes and tried to focus her thoughts. Danny's outburst had distracted them from something. It was something important. A light went off in her head and she turned to Jazz. "What did you want to show me? You thought it might help."
Jazz stared at Danny doubtfully. She wasn't so sure anymore. "I thought, but," she blinked back tears, "maybe something is actually wrong with him."
Sam gave her an odd look. "There is something wrong with him."
"With his head."
"Oh, you don't think it's the paranormal anymore?"
"I don't know."
Tucker listened to the two try to talk. They were clearly shaken and both their voices sounded strange. He spoke up and realized he didn't sound much better. "Look, I don't know if it's the paranormal, either, but if you think you might have something let's see it. Might as well."
The girls nodded in agreement and Jazz shakily picked her book up from the floor. She flipped through it trying to find the spot she had been at. She pursed her lips. "Did you two read about the classes of ghosts?"
Sam nodded. She was really surprised that they hadn't thought to put forth this much research into the paranormal world before now. It would have been good to have this kind of knowledge before now. The inhabitants of the ghost world were either known as common or advanced ghosts. The common ghosts were those that could only haunt places for a certain period of time. They could frighten humans and they were usually trying to build the stamina to become an advanced ghost. Most of the ghosts they had dealt with were common ghosts. It had simply never crossed her mind to actually research this extensively figuring Danny knew what he needed to know and they usually figured stuff out on the fly anyway. However, the knowledge was definitely appreciated.
Advanced ghosts were given the power to haunt humans. When she'd first read about them, Sam had thought that this kind of ghost must be what they were dealing with. All the information on them had diminished that idea. Advanced ghosts usually performed simple haunts that didn't last longer than a couple days. In order to retain their advanced status they had to haunt so many people a week. The haunts weren't elaborate. They found a person and would play on their worst fears or phobias. Nowhere did it indicate they would perform a haunt that would have this kind of effect on Danny. Sam pulled away from her own thoughts and returned her attention back to Tucker and Jazz.
Jazz had just finished explaining the two classes to Tucker who had not read about them in his books. He looked confused. "Your parents never talk about advanced or common ghosts," he pointed out.
Jazz shrugged. "Well, they just want to catch aghost. They probably know all this. Why go around telling people you're trying to catch a common ghost if you would be happy catching any ghost? Besides they have enough trouble convincing people that ghosts are even real to begin with. Can you imagine how much crazier they would sound if they went around explaining all this?"
Sam nodded. "Right, besides it sounds like you could only catch common ghosts. And they sound like most of the ghosts we've dealt with."
"But you two don't think it's an advanced ghost haunting Danny?"
The girls shook their head. They had discussed it with each other already. "It could be," Sam admitted. "It has only been a few days since he first mentioned her and the advanced ghost doesn't hang around long so maybe she'll have to vanish soon like by tomorrow. It's possible that Danny's worst fear is going insane. Maybe." There was also the uncertainty of when Danny had actually first seen her.
"But you really don't think this is going to disappear any time soon?"
"I really don't think it's an advanced ghost, not a regular one, anyway. All the books indicate that the haunts shouldn't cause anything to this degree regardless of the fears or phobias he might have."
Jazz held up her book. "This is where this comes in. It mentions another class."
Tucker and Sam's ears both perked at this news. Tucker was intrigued, but Sam looked shocked. "What? I read through five books and there were only those two classes mentioned and not often. Only the really in-depth books bothered to make the distinction."
Jazz nodded. "I know. It surprised me, too. It's not much, though. See?" She looked down at the book and read, "'Other ghosts, not fully accepted into the otherworlds, are not given any class by paranormal experts. Many are not aware of their existence. However, they seem to be in a powerful, special class of their own. Common ghosts are unaware of their existence and advanced ghosts avoid them. It's odd as only certain living beings ever seem to have contact with these oddities. Often it is in some form of possession. Exorcists seem to have more information on this particular subject than experts in the ghost field of paranormal activity.'" Jazz looked up from her book. "And that's all it says."
Tucker looked at her doubtfully. "So, it's basically hinting that it's not really a ghost but a demon?"
Jazz shook her head. "I don't think so, I mean, it doesn't say 'demon' and this book has a separate section for demons so why would they put this in the ghost section if that were the case?"
"Either way, it doesn't sound good. Should we look into getting an exorcist?" Sam asked and she felt chills go down her spine. Never had she ever thought she would be considering hiring an exorcist to help one of her friends.
Jazz sighed. "But he's not possessed. I'm pretty sure about that much, anyway. It also has a whole section on possessions and he doesn't seem to be showing any of the signs that one normally would. Not only that but what would we say if Danny went ghost in front of them?" The exorcist would probably think Danny was an evil spirit.
The three fell into a contemplative silence as each tried to process this new information. It had been a bad situation before, but the words in the book and Danny's latest outburst made it seem dire. It wasn't going to be solved in a couple days. The thought hit Jazz like a brick and she fell into her chair. They would need to seek someone out to help them with this. Obviously, the three of them had no clue what they were doing and Danny wasn't getting any better. It wasn't just going to up and disappear. They'd have to contact an exorcist; it was their only lead.
Sam bit her lips. "It's going to take longer than a couple days," she murmured quickly figuring out Jazz's train of thought. The older girl nodded mutely.
"What are we going to tell our parents? What about school? How long can we stay here?" Questions were falling from Tucker's lips at an anxious pace. He couldn't help it, his worry kicking into high gear, and needing to have some assurance and a sense of normality.
Jazz sighed. "Look, we'll stick with the original plan. Tucker, you can go to school tomorrow." Which was just a few hours away. Tucker would be like the walking dead. She continued, "I'll try looking up an exorcist." Tucker looked ready to protest, but Sam cut in first.
"We're really going to ask an exorcist to look at him?" Sam asked.
"Well," Jazz paused. "I don't know. I want to just talk to him or her on the phone and get more information about these other ghosts. I mean, I don't really think there's anything to be exorcised here."
Tucker and Sam looked over at Danny with raised brows before returning their looks to Jazz. She forced a tiny grin. "Okay, I do wish we could exorcise it out of him, but I think I'm just going to get information." They fell into silence again for a short while before each picked up a book and started skimming through it, though Jazz and Sam quickly dozed off on their notes.
Things had been relatively peaceful for a couple hours. Tucker glanced at his watch, surprised it was already time for him to head out. He marked his spot in the book and stood up, stretching. He made the trek to a nearby bus stop and took the city bus to school, trying his best to avoid eye contact with anybody. He really didn't think he could walk to the school from the motel. The walk would take over an hour. He hoped the school day would pass by quickly so he could get back and help.
He was actually a little excited that they had some direction and how he hoped that the exorcist Jazz contacted would wind up being their answer to all their problems. If he was being totally honest, he was excited because Sam had said there was a possibility that it was an advanced ghost haunting and would leave today if that were the case. Even though the girls rejected this idea, Tucker was clinging to it for all he was worth. Maybe today would be the end of this horror.
Upon his arrival to school, he quickly deduced that the school day was going to be one of those days that painfully dragged on and on and on. Leaning against the locker next to his was Dash and a few of his friends. They were all smirking and looked very pleased with themselves. Seeing Tucker approach, they all straightened and gave him amused looks.
"Hey, where's that loser friend of yours?" one of them called out in greeting.
"Heard he lost a fight...to cardboard!" another one snickered.
Tucker gave them all a pointed look. They must have been at the movie theater when Danny had completely lost it. Dash pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Yeah, someone go the whole thing on camera." A small image of Danny punching and kicking a giant cardboard movie standee played out on Dash's screen.
Tucker looked horrified for a moment before regaining his composure. "You actually recorded that? We were wondering how many people had nothing better to do with their lives."
"No," Dash answered. He grinned. "I wasn't at the theater this weekend. Someone else was. All I did was type 'freaks' into youtube and guess who turned up?" Tucker was speechless and Dash laughed. He and his friends walked away, a couple of them snorting, "Losers."
Tucker stared at their retreating backs, flabbergasted. He wished he could think of something witty to say, but he was still too shocked that someone had actually posted it on the internet, youtube no less. He really hadn't thought it would happen. A couple girls walked up to him while he was still in his stupor. He recognized one from a class but didn't have classes with her friend.
"Hey," the one he recognized greeted him.
He found his voice, "Hi."
She looked around. "Where's your friend? You know, the guy on youtube?"
Tucker did not like where this conversation was going. "There's a lot of guys on youtube," he said evasively.
"You know him. We see you with him all the time."
"If you already know, why bother asking." He really wasn't sure what he was saying but anything to throw them off.
"Well, you know what?" she looked totally offended now. "I happened to really like the movie he hates so much."
"He doesn't..." Tucker trailed off. He couldn't go into detail about Danny with them. He shrugged. "Okay. I'll pass it on." They weren't going to let him off the hook that easily. Her friend finally piped up.
"There are better ways to express your opinions. Like editorials. Reviews. That rottentomato site lets you write movie reviews. And throw virtual tomatoes at movies you don't like."
"Acting like that in public is not cool."
Tucker's locker door slammed shut and he took a deep, calming breath. "All right. I will let him know. He's out sick today but when I see him, I'll pass it on, okay?"
Both girls looked at him before replying in unison, "Karma." They said it as though they were both wise, old sages.
Somehow, Tucker made it through all his morning classes. Not everyone aggravated him, but he did have to field a lot of questions about why Danny was out sick today. Most doubted that he was sick and asked if he was staying away because of the youtube video. It was amazing how many people knew about the stupid thing. Tucker had tried to dodge these questions as best as he could and insisted that Danny was sick. He was relieved when he made it halfway through the day. He sat by himself in the cafeteria picking at his lunch. He had no appetite whatsoever. He kept seeing flashes of his friend losing his mind, and now, if Danny did manage to hold it together he was going to be totally mortified. What if he refused to go to school? He had talked about having to transfer schools if anyone from the school saw him freak out on that standee. It looked like practically the whole school had seen it! Not to mention any other visitors to youtube who happened to stumble onto that particular video.
Dash went up to the table looking happy as a clam. This was probably one of his favorite days, Tucker thought bitterly. Did the guy really have nothing better to do than to go out of his way to humiliate peers?
"Eating by yourself?" Dash asked. A few of his friends were with him and they laughed. Yes, hilarious joke, Tucker thought sarcastically. Dash went on, "Your loser friend too embarrassed to show his face? And his girlfriend? She too embarrassed, too?"
Tucker sighed. "Don't you have some brain cells to destroy?" Dash stared at him blankly and Tucker shrugged. "Guess not."
"I think he's insulting me," Dash did not look amused. A fist was thrown and Tucker soon found himself in the nurse's office with an icepack over his right eye. Despite insisting that Dash had caused it, the nurse and other school officials were quite happy to write the incident down as him tripping and hitting his eye on the corner of a table. They had a big game tonight, after all. Couldn't lose a star player. His parents couldn't be reached so he had to settle for finishing his classes.
The rest of the day wasn't more eventful, but a couple of teachers did ask about Danny. One even went on to say he thought the movie in question was brilliant. Tucker had been very grateful when a popular kid in the class was quick to say he had hated the movie and thought Danny should've burned the standee. Tucker had never been so happy to see the end of a school day. He left and headed back to the motel, his parents under the impression he was staying at school after hours for some extracurricular activity.
"What happened to your face?" Sam demanded when Tucker walked in. He looked over at Danny dismayed to see his friend in the same state as when he had left that morning. His hope of it turning out to be an advanced ghost haunting vanished. It would've been over by now. It was disappointing and he'd swear he felt a bit of his spirit wilt away. He turned to Sam.
"What?"
"Is that-is that a black eye?"
Tucker shrugged before taking a seat. "I am black," he pointed out.
"Don't be like that. You've got a shiner! What happened?"
Sam wasn't going to let it drop. He rolled his eyes. "Dash said some stuff, I said some stuff back, and he punched me." He picked up a book and refused to meet his friend's eyes.
"You couldn't just ignore him?"
"No, okay? He kept pestering me!" He looked up at Sam. "It was awful! Sam, someone did record Danny trashing that standee and they posted it on youtube! Dash had it on his cell phone. And a couple girls came up to me just to tell me it was uncool for Danny to express his opinion like that. And a teacher hinted that Danny needed to take anger management classes." Tucker was seething, fists clenched tightly. "It was so annoying. Oh," he unclenched his fists. "But a couple kids did tell me they wanted to form a Trash Lame Movie Standees Club and wanted Danny to be the president."
"Sounds like you were Mr. Popular today," Sam remarked.
"More like Mr. Target," he grumbled in reply. He shook his head and muttered disbelievingly, "It's on youtube."
"We can't do much about it."
"Maybe we should look it up and see what everyone is saying? Maybe people think it was staged."
Sam shrugged. "I guess. But do we really care what people on the internet say? Won't Danny be more worried about what people at school think?"
"Both."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course."
He looked around having finally calmed himself enough to realize someone was missing. "Where's Jazz? I thought two were supposed to stay with him?"
"She doused him with more medicine earlier and she checks in, like, every hour. Turns out part of the deal with the manager is she has to clean rooms."
"For this? She has to work so we can stay here?"
"It's a room, Tuck."
"Yeah, I know, but..."
"I don't like it, either."
"When will she be back? From work?"
"One."
"In the morning?"
"Yup."
"Oh. Did she call the exorcist?"
Sam grinned madly at him. She had been waiting for him to ask the question. "Yes! She did call a couple earlier before she had to work and we found out some very interesting information." She held something up for him to see. He grabbed it feeling excitement bubble up within him. He skimmed over the papers and his excitement quickly gave way to total confusion.
"Uh, these are papers about your family genealogy," he pointed out. "And obituaries of some of your relatives." He looked at Sam uncertainly. "Okay, I can't pretend this isn't really creepy. What's up? What does this have to do with the exorcist or Danny?"
Sam's grin only broadened. "That's just it. Those exorcists were full of information because this type of situation usually is mistaken for possession." She was going to continue but Tucker held up his hands.
"Wait, this happens often?"
"No," Sam shot the idea down quickly. "Neither have ever had it happen to them, but one of them said it sounded like a situation her mentor had encountered and written about. They've gathered information from other exorcists over the years that have also had this problem. It's when people think their loved one is possessed but they aren't and an exorcist gets called in but can't exorcise the spirit. It doesn't happen often enough for them to really figure it out, though. Just enough for them to piece stuff together and know when the situation is beyond their help."
Tucker glanced down at the family genealogies. "And this has something to do with..." he let his question hang, not even sure what exactly he was trying to ask. Sam shot him an annoyed look.
"Let me finish. They've been able to piece together a theory from the other exorcists that have had this problem over the years. They believe it to be a cursed ghost haunting the person."
Now his interest was definitely piquing. "A cursed ghost?" Tucker repeated.
Sam nodded. "There was a common factor in each of these situations the exorcists encountered. According to the one Jazz spoke to, they found out that each of these people had a relative or was close to someone who'd had a relative that was cursed in their life. After being cursed, the person would begin acting strangely and out of character as if they had developed a severe personality disorder. They talked a lot about their death and insisted they had been cursed to anyone who would listen. They're death was also either strange or happened at an institution." Her voice dropped into a conspiratorial whisper. "And the most chilling bit of info is that they insisted they would have vengeance against the one who brought the curse upon them." Sam's voice sounded odd when she spoke the last bit like someone talking to him from beyond.
Tucker shuddered. "So, someone put a curse on someone else, the cursed person died, became a ghost, and would have revenge on the person who cursed them?" He tried summing it up to make sure he was following.
"Well, the exorcists aren't really sure. They don't know if they are still cursed but they do believe the ghost seeks out revenge against the one that cursed them in life either through family or close friends of the family."
The puzzle was starting to look a lot simpler now that he had the bigger picture. At the same instance, though, the picture had become a little too big for his liking. Tucker looked at the genealogies he held in his hands. "You're trying to see if any of your relatives died in an unusual way, were institutionalized, or if they have friends that were. If they died in a weird way, and especially if they were institutionalized prior and sounded crazy, then they would be the cursed person?"
"Exactly," Sam said with a nod and hint of pride gleaming in her eyes. "You're quick, Tuck," she teased playfully.
Rolling his eyes, Tucker began scanning some of the papers in his hands. "So, any luck?" he asked without taking his eyes off the paper.
"Well, we were hoping you could get your family trees together for us along with some obituaries you might have."
"Yes, I have a ton of family obituaries locked in my little safe box," Tucker replied. "Oh, yes, and family trees. I'll have to get the key to the big box of family trees I have stashed under my bed."
Sam sighed. "Tucker," she said warningly.
"I'm sorry, Sam," Tucker looked over at his friend. "But I really don't keep up that much. I mean, other than my great-grandmother who died a few years back, I don't really know of any relatives who have died any time recently. All my grandparents are alive and so are my cousins, aunts, and uncles."
"But what about their friends?" Sam asked, desperation edging into her voice. "It could be one of your relatives that put the curse on their friend."
Tucker stared at his friend, mouth agape. "Do you realize how impossible this is? I mean, I have to go ask every one of my living relatives if they'd had any friends whom they didn't like and, oh by the way, did they happen to curse that person? I'm sure my relatives are just dying totell that story!" Tucker's voice had steadily risen with frustration.
Sam blinked, taken aback. "Tucker, I know it looks hard, but..." she trailed off at the look in Tucker's eyes.
"Looks hard, Sam?" he asked incredulously. "It's more than that. You're basically telling me that any of our relatives could have cursed someone and that person is seeking revenge through Danny or any of our relatives had a close friend who cursed them and," Tucker paused. "Wait, it would have to be one of our relatives who cursed someone. If someone had cursed a relative why would they be trying to seek revenge through Danny?"
"Exactly. Also, they try to get revenge while the person who cursed them is still living."
"You and Jazz already thought about all this, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"But if we're all convinced that one of our relatives did the cursing, why are we still looking for a relative who died in a strange way? Their friend wouldn't be related to us."
Sam sighed. "The exorcist basically said to just go through all our family histories and see if we can't find anything we think might be odd. Obituaries, genealogies, any diaries a relative might have left behind, and anything that we thought was even a little bit weird."
"That's it?"
Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Well, Jazz wanted to ask one of them over, but remember? We don't want Danny to go ghost on them."
Right, right, Tucker thought annoyed, we always can't get him the help he needs because of this ghost thing.Granted, Tucker thought it was really cool sometimes, but right about now, it looked like the cons outweighed the pros. He had tried asking his mother if he could spend the night again but she had been furious he had even asked. He was lucky that he had gotten away with spending one school night away from the house. He could spend the night researching his family history and he could use some time this evening to call family members and pry into any dark past one might have. He could say it was for a school project.
"They said once you find the person you suspect, start asking hard questions to get some information out of them. The person in question usually knows how to fix everything," Sam explained. "At least, that's what they're led to believe from previous exorcists' journals."
"Still not a lot to go on but better than nothing. Are you staying here again?" He asked her.
Sam shook her head. "Mom said no way, I'm already pushing it." She sighed. "Never thought I'd be acting like a delinquent. Guess I'll be sneaking out to check on them tonight."
"No." Tucker was shaking his head now. "If anyone comes back tonight, it'll be me. You have to go to school tomorrow and I'd probably be safer at night than you." She was ready to protest, but decided against it and nodded in agreement. Tucker looked back at the documents in his hands. They would be digging deep, trying to find any skeletons one of their relatives might be hiding. With a sudden jolt, Tucker realized this could lead to the destruction of relationships. There was usually a good reason people kept certain things to themselves. Thinking that one of his relatives might have actually been angry enough to curse someone gave him the goosebumps. He shuddered and looked over at Sam.
"You're freaking out now, too," she commented. Knowing that someone she knew and love might have brought such pain to Danny, not to mention caused someone else to die had been a startling and very unwelcome revelation. She knew that she, Jazz, or Tucker would never admit it, but each hoped that it wasn't one oftheir family members that turned out to be the one responsible for this mess.
"Yeah, and I'm scared it's only going to get freakier," he admitted. It was a strange feeling. He was thrilled they finally had some kind of idea of what was going on, but at the same time, he was terrified at what they might find out. Someone they knew and loved was hiding something big and they would be dragging it out into the open.