Chapter 14
Lexi was walking down a street cautiously on a patrol. Suddenly, she stopped by Acme Tech. She heard something…
"I'm not afraid to use it. If I can't be with you…"
She looked at the building she was passing.
"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!"
She'd heard that before…the words that Kelly had seen scrawled on the chalkboard in the history class under ghostly force! She quickly rushed into the building and followed the sounds of the shouts and screams. She ran through the halls until she came to the hall the sounds were coming from.
There on the balcony separated from the hall by glass doors stood the professor being accosted.
And there was Bob the janitor, holding the gun. "Don't do that! Don't talk to me like I'm some—"
That's when it happened. His finger pulled the trigger before he even knew it would.
Lexi seized the moment. While the woman's dead body fell from the balcony, she jumped the fleeing janitor, pinning him down and knocking the gun out of his hands.
The gun slid across the floor and into the wall, disappearing.
"What's going on?" Bob asked in confusion.
Lexi glared at him. "'What's going on?'! You just shot a woman."
He looked at her in shock.
Meanwhile…
Wolfe led Sean and Damiana through an old building. Of course, folks referred to it as the old building. He led them through a back door and into a greenhouse. "And this…this is the garden."
Damiana smiled with joy. "Wow! Look…jasmine…blooms at night. Like us. Oh, Austin…it's fairy-land!"
"It's paradise," Sean sneered with sarcasm, "Big windows, lovely greenhouse—it'll be perfect when we want the sunlight to kill us."
Wolfe scoffed. "If you don't like it, Sean, hit the stairs and go."
"Well, our old place was just fine until you burned it down."
"Things chance, Sean, you have to roll with the punches." He then smirked at Sean's wheelchair. "Actually, you pretty much got that part down, now don't you?"
"Very funny."
"What can I say? I love to see you smile."
"Yeah. You're a giver."
Back at the tower…
"It was just like Kelly said with the couple she got between," Lexi explained, "The janitor remembered everything. He knew he'd killed that poor woman, but he had no idea why. They didn't even have any intimate relationship that would cause them to say and do they things they were doing."
"What about the gun, did you find it?" Michael asked.
"No. The police—everybody. We searched high and low, it's like it vanished into thin air. Which, given the circumstances, it likely could have."
"Guys, I think it's pretty clear what's happening," said Sophie.
"Right…it's Paige." At that, everyone looked at Tech. "The library she was working in, where she died—it's within walking distance of AT. She died under paranormal circumstances and had unresolved powers and issues. The poltergeist is her!"
"What-about-the-gun-Tech?" Rev inquired, "Austin-didn't-shoot-Paige!"
"The gun is insignificant! It's the violence of it all that matters!"
"Tech, it's the same scene over and over again," Daniella explained, "A poltergeist would only do that if they thought it would resolve what caused them to stay trapped on our planes. And the pattern doesn't fit with the way Paige died!"
"Yes, well, I appreciate your input and I do encourage you to not be cowed by authority…except in this instance, when I'm clearly right and you're clearly wrong!" He then stormed out.
"OK, I understand the grief thing, but I don't think he'd usually take it this far," Lexi said.
Sophie sighed. "Paige was his first Ghost. She's basically his messenger. Because of that, they have a very tight—very specific—bond that doesn't break after circumstances like these. This is how Seers vent: hoping the spirit can still be theirs to bond with. I'll bet even he doesn't see it, but it is the grief talking."
"No kidding," said Duck, "He's usually 'investigate things from every boring angle' guy. 'Jump to sorry conclusions' and 'always cling to my one idea' guy are my things! What gives?"
"Duck, he really misses her. I really miss her. For me, it's that I broke down; for him, it was stronger. He just can't think."
"OK-but-this-Ghost-thing-is-too-weird-I'd-better-cross-check-other-shootings-at-the-school." Rev rushed to Ryan's laptop and typed away. "Searching-searching-searching—GOT-IT! Look!"
Kelly looked. "'Acme Tech Jock Kills Lover, Self'?" She read over the article. "A student at the college murdered one of his professors the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance! They were romantically involved, she tried to break it off, and he went nuts. He pulled a gun and killed her, then went into the music room and shot himself. It all fits! And it's tied around the dance, which is tonight!"
"How come Tech never heard of this?" Nadine asked, "And we're going to that school now, so how come we've not heard of it yet either? I mean, for one thing, when did this even happen?"
Kelly suddenly remembered… "2750."
Robert looked at his cousin in shock. "How do you know that?"
"I had a vision in history class the other day. I saw those two talking!" She looked at the picture. "John and Delia. He couldn't make her love him so he killed her…sicko." She groaned and went over to the wall.
"He looks so normal in this picture," Lucy sighed sadly, looking at it, "And he was smart, too, he made the honor roll."
"Smart?" Benny sneered, "Cottontail, he killed his girlfriend and then killed himself. Those are pretty much two of the dumbest things a guy can do!"
"I know, but…don't you feel kind of bad for them?"
"Sure, I do," Kelly snarled, "For her. He's a murderer and he should pay for it."
"With his life?"
"Well, for starters, he should've gotten 60 years to life breaking rocks and making friends with weightlifters."
"Wow," Jack groaned sarcastically, "the quality of mercy is not Kelly."
"So who are we dealing with, him or her?" asked Michael.
"Based on the violence of it all, I'm gonna say him," Kelly answered.
"That works."
Daniella sighed. "Maybe we should start looking through the spell books. Find a way to communicate with him, maybe figure out what he wants."
"Who cares what he wants?!" Kelly demanded, "What we need to do is get rid of him before some other innocent guy kills some poor, uninvolved girl and then blows his brains out all over the music room wall!"
"OK! Who's hungry?!" Jack jumped in.
Later…
The team was now at the cafeteria of the university.
"You know, maybe we should just boycott the dance," Sarah suggested, "I'd be OK with it. Do you realize that the girls have to not only ask the guys but pay?! Who's sick idea was that?!"
"I'm gonna guess some stinking feminist named Sadie Hawkins," Michael commented.
"Guys, come on. We need to nip this thing in the bud or things are just gonna get worse."
Ironically, that's exactly when a girl across the room burst out shrieking.
The cause for the screams quickly presented itself: all the food had turned into snakes.
That night…
"Remember the plan to contact the poltergeist and try to communicate with it?" Daniella slammed a pile of books on the coffee table. "Scrap that plan! Kelly was right, the time for touchy-feely heart-to-hearts is gone. I've done some homework; the only solution is the final solution."
"Nuke the school?" Jack smirked. "I like that."
"Not quite! We need to do an exorcism."
"Are you insane?!" Wendy demanded, "Duck made us watch that movie: EVEN THE PRIEST DIED!"
Daniella rolled her eyes. She laid out a map of the school on the table, holding up a pencil. She circled the balcony. "Here's the balcony. That's where the teacher died in 2750 and that teacher last night. That's the hotspot all the bad mojo is coming from. We need to create a Mangus tripod."
"A what?" Robert asked.
"Well, someone has to chant the exorcism incantation over here on the hotspot while other groups cast it over the other three surrounding areas…" She labeled the three best options and connected the dots. "Forming a triangle. It's supposed to bind the poltergeist and keep it from doing any more harm until it leaves."
Kelly sighed. "I'll take the hotspot. If there's trouble, that's where I'll be."
"Are you so sure about that? He's fixating on you—the dreams and everything. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Oh, I'm sure. In fact…I'm counting on it."
An hour later…
The Loonakids were loading into the building.
"Any questions while we're here?" Benny asked.
"Yeah!" Jack groaned, "What if this mangled triangle thingy doesn't work?!"
Sarah gasped. "Ooh! I almost forgot! Aunt Danni made us all protection charms." She held up nine charms and handed them out. "They'll only work for the night, but they will shield us from anything the poltergeist wants to play."
Jack took one sniff and recoiled. "What'd she put in this thing?!"
"Sulfur. Stinky but effective."
"OK, let's do this." They started to go…only for all the doors to slam shut around them…