Mr. Worth and Courage made their way down the stairs followed by the 13 children. The movie that Eustace and Muriel were watching had just ended and the news was coming on after the comercial break.

Mr. Worth gathered the children around him speaking to them quietly as Courage curled up on the rug at Muriel's feet. A few moments later, the children formed a circle around Courage, Eustace, and Muriel. The circle of children move clockwise as they began to chant the new prayer that Mr. Worth had taught them. The children fell silent and sat down on the floor in front of the television as the comercial ended. Mr. Worth sat down on the couch between Muriel and Eustac's chairs focusing his attention on the t.v. screen.

The news was basically the same as it had been the night before. Police were investigating reports of homes being broken into. People had reported seeing large shadowy figures in their front yards or on their front porches. The Nowhere electric company was still trying to restore power to a handful of homes after last night's mysterious power outages. Courage found himself falling asleep as the news droned on. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he was awakened by one of the children. "Courage, wake up! Look!" The little girl was pointing to the television screen where a reporter was standing in front of Shirley's little shop. Courage sat up listening intently to the reporter, "The search is on for the owner of this small shop, a lady known only as 'Shirley', who disappeared earlier this evening. Shirley, a spiritual medium who is well known to the people of Nowhere, vanished when she confronted several large shadowy figures that had appeared outside her shop. Several people called police when they heard a commotion and what sounded like cries for help. When police arrived, the shop had been ramsacked and Shirley was missing. So far, police have no leads in this case and are warning people not to confront anybody they see in their yards."

Courage's fur stood on end. "Oh-no!" the little dog cried.

Eustace looked over at Courage. "Isn't she that friend of yours?"

Mr. Worth answered the question for Courage. "She's the one who helped Courage to return our necklace to us. She also helped us on one other occasion." Mr. Worth stared down at the floor with a worried look on his face. The children all gathered close to their teacher. Mr. Worth swallowed then continued, "We had thought of going to her for help but I figured that she would still be mad at me so we decided against it."

Eustace gave the ghost a puzzled look. "Why would she be mad at you?"

The ghost gathered his thoughts then explained how Courage had called him when the other ghosts kept appearing during the strange electrical storm. He told Eustace about Alden Dillon stumbling upon the stones that had strange writing on them and how he had accidently released the spirits from the stones. Shirley understood the spells written on the stones and knew how to recapture the ghosts. Only Mr. Worth did not want the ghosts trapped in the stones so he had the children hypnotize Shirley while he and Alden Dillon set the spirits free for good.

Eustace nodded in understanding. "I can see how she would be upset about that. So, what happened to all the other ghosts?"

"Most of them went 'home'. Four are still here and staying at Alden's house."

Muriel, who had been listening with great interest, asked, "Do ye think the other spirits could help us?"

Mr. Worth nodded. "Courage had the same idea earlier this evening. We are going over there tomorrow to talk to them."

The news came back on but there really wasn't anything more of interest so Courage found himself falling asleep once again. Eustace wrapped his quilt around him and also dosed off. Muriel began watching a movie but soon fell asleep herself. Only Mr. Worth and two of the children stayed awake.

It was just past midnight when Mr. Worth signalled the two children to wake the other children up. When the other children had awakened, all children gathered close to their teacher. There was a feeling of intense evil in the air all around them. Mr. Worth whispered something to the children and they all formed a circle with Mr. Worth in the center. The familiar sound of the children's chanting woke Courage up. He looked up to see the children in a circle moving slowly clockwise as they recited the new prayer they had been taught. Eustace and Muriel were also awakened by the chant. Mr. Worth signalled to the children to stop then motioned for Eustace, Muriel and Courage to join him in the center of the circle. They all moved into the center of the circle and the children started chanting again. Outside, there was a loud noise followed by the sound of something walking on the porch. Something was trying to get the front door open. At the same time, the alarm on the cellar door went off followed by the alarm on the back door. Then the lights went out leaving the room lit up only by the soft glow from the ghosts.

Eustace wrapped his arms around Muriel as Courage huddled against her legs. All three were trembling with fear. Only Mr. Worth appeared calm as the children continued to chant. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the lights came back on and the sound from the television startled everyone. Mr. Worth motioned to the children who stopped chanting. The tall ghost glanced over at the t.v. which immediately shut off.

Courage followed Eustace into the kitchen to check the back door. Courage let out a shriek and hid behind Eustace, trembling as he stared wide-eyed at the open back door.

Mr. Worth glided into the room, looked at the terrified dog, then at the open back door. In a calm gentle voice he told Courage to go back into the living room with Muriel and the children. Then he turned to Eustace. "I think the demon is gone now. Let's go check the cellar."

Eustace nodded and followed the ghost outside. The cellar door was still shut although it appeard that something had tried to open it. There were clawmarks, like the ones Eustace and Courage had seen on the kitchen door, all over the cellar door. Eustace reached down and reset the alarm then he and Mr. Worth went back inside the house.

Eustace locked the back door and reset the alarm. "That was kind of scary."

Mr. Worth nodded. "There was more than one of them here that time."

Eustace looked over at the ghost. "Why do they keep coming around here?"

"I'm not certain but it could be because this place is so isolated. I fear that, once they become strong enough, you and Muriel could be in great danger of being their first victims."

"What would they do to us?"

"Possess you, steal your energy, then take you away. Maybe even kill you."

Eustace looked angry. "Blasted demons. What can we do to get rid of them?"

Mr. Worth sat down at the table. "We have to find out who summoned them and why. Then we can figure out how to get rid of them."

"If I get me hands on the idiot who brought those things here I'll turn them inside out!"

Mr. Worth chuckled at the mental image of an angry Eustace turning somebody inside out as he and Eustace went back into the living room to join the others.