Muriel nearly jumped out of her chair as two figures slowly materialized in the middle of the living room. Eustace looked up just in time to see the two ghosly looking figures turn into one tall teacher and one small pink dog.

Mr. Worth glided over to talk to the four children for a second or two then sat down on the couch between Muriel and Eustace's chairs. He carefully chose his words as he explained a little bit about what he and Courage had found out. The rest of the children had materialized and now gathered in a half-circle listening to their teacher. When Mr. Worth was finished speaking, the smallest one of the children glided over to sit in the teacher's lap leaning close for security. Mr. Worth put his arms aroundthe little girl. "Don't worry, everything will be okay. I have been given a new prayer of protection for all of you to learn. It will keep those things away from us." The ghost motioned for all the children to come near. Courage listened as the teacher taught his students the new prayer but he coudn't understand a word of it.

When Mr. Worth was finished, Courage asked, "What language was that?"

The ghost focused carefully on what Courage was saying. "It's Aramaic."

Eustace and Muriel exchanged glances wondering where the teacher had learned the ancient language.

Mr. Worth seemed to read their minds. "In the last eighty or so years that we have been walking the earth, I have learned a lot of things. I now speak several languages fluently including the language that the prayer of protection on this pendant is written in." The teacher pointed to the pendant he wore around his neck.

Suddenly, everybody was startled by a loud noise on the front porch. The children huddled close to their teacher while Courage followed Eustace to the front door. Eustace opened the door to find a nervous looking man standing there. "Sir, my car just broke down just a little ways down the road. Could I please use your phone to call a tow truck?"

Eustace nodded. "Come on in." He led the man to the phone.

The man made the call then timidly asked if he could wait inside the house until the tow truck arrived. "I don't want to be out there after dark with those shadow things around."

Muriel went into the kitchen for a moment or two. She returned with a picture of tea and several cups.

The man's hands were shaking as he gratefully took the cup of tea Muriel offered him. "I'm sorry I'm so nervous. It's just that I haven't had a good night's sleep since those things started showing up. I was on my way out of town when my car broke down. I just want to get out of here before any more bad things happen."

Muriel sat down on the couch next to the man. "Why, what has happened?"

The man's voice trembled as he spoke. "I had been having these horrible nightmares. Then, two nights ago, one of those creepy looking shadow things started hanging around outside my house. I kept the doors and windows locked just like the police told me to but it busted my front door down and just stood there on my front porch until the police arrived."

Eustace was listening intently to the man's story. "So the police saw it?"

"No, it ran off as soon as it heard the sirens."

"Did you get a good look at it?"

The man took a long drink of his tea, empying the cup before he was able to speak. "That was the weirdest part of the whole thing. My porch light was on but it was so dark around that thing that all I could see was a big black shadow! One thing I can tell you, I sensed pure evil from that thing. I was hoping that it wouldn't come back after being chased off by the police but I was wrong." The man watched gratefully as Muriel refilled his teacup. He took another long drink before continuing his story. "I have been sleeping in the front room on the couch with the lights and tv on since all of this started." Eustace and Muriel just looked at each other. "I was almost asleep when I heard a loud noise outside my window. I was afraid that if I went to the window I would see that thing again so I just stayed on the couch. A few minutes later I heard the noise again only louder and it was right behind me. I sat up and looked around to see that thing standing
right in my hallway! I just got up and ran out of my house. I spent the rest of the night in the hotel. This morning I went back home just long enough to get as much of my stuff loaded into my car as I could. I was going to leave town then but my car wouldn't start. I had to wait two hours for a two truck to take my car to the garage. I just got it back a little while ago but I guess they didn't fix it right because it just quit running as I was passing by your house."

Everybody jumped as they heard a loud noise outside. This time it was the tow truck. The man went outside to meet the driver of the tow truck. Eustace stood out on the front porch where he could see the man's car being loaded onto the back of the tow truck. He waited there until they had driven off before coming back into the house locking the door behind him and turning on the little alarm.

It was completely dark outside by the time Muriel finished cooking dinner. Instead of eating at the kitchen table, Muriel, Eustace and Courage all ate in the living room. For once, Courage didn't mind eating out of a bowl on the floor. After dinner, Courage went up to the attic where Mr. Worth was sitting in front of the computer searching for more information on the demons. The children were all resting in preparation for what promised to be a very long night.

Mr. Worth turned around as Courage entered the attic room. "Did you hear what the man said about the demon being in his house?" the teacher had a grim expression on his face.

Courage just nodded silently understanding exactly what this meant. The demons were becoming stronger.

Mr. Worth looked back toward the computer screen. "I have found only a few refrences to demons but no real information. I am at a loss, Courage. The children and I are nowhere near strong enough to hold off these things for very long even with the prayers. We need help and we need it fast."

Courage looked up at the ghost then turned into a perfect image of Shirley then a question mark.

The ghost looked down. "She may still be very mad at all of us because of the way we hypnotized her and released those spirits against her will."

Courage began to hop from one foot to the other excitedly. "What about the other ghosts! Could they help us?"

Mr. Worth looked up at Courage. "That's a possibility. Only we will have to wait until tomorrow before we go to Alden's house. The demons are much to active at night for us to attempt to travel."