Chapter 26

They pulled up to the gates of the school about an our later. Wendy had given them the address, whilst trying to get a closer look at the amulet, and Lauren and Dani had stocked up on freezing and exploding potions. Amy was now in charge of the healing potions, just in case she still couldn't power up and they needed them. 'Yep, this place is haunted.' Lisa said as they looked over the building.

'How can you tell?' Amy asked.

'Can you see that kid standing in the window? Top floor, third from the left.' Lisa pointed.

'Nope, alright then.' Amy said.

'Fantastic.' Lisa sighed.

'Okay guys.' Christina and Katherine turned around in their seats. 'No one goes anywhere alone. It looks like there's lots of rooms so we may need to split up when we're in there.'

'I don't really want to split up.' Lauren admitted.

'I know, but the quicker we can rule this place out the quicker we can get back to finding Abaddon.' Christina said.

'And what if we find him here?' Dani asked.

'Then we deal with him.' Christina told them as she exited the car.

'Yeah because it's that simple!' Dani mumbled as she followed her out of the car. They were standing in front of heavy iron gates covered in vines. They could see beyond the gates were the ruins of old school desks scattered on the yard.

'I don't like the way this place feels.' Amy admitted. Katherine walked up to the gate and attempted to push it open when a vision hit her. She held her hand on the bars as she watched the pictures flash through her mind. After a moment she snapped back to reality and stepped back.

'What did you see?' Lisa asked.

'Jack was here.' She told them. 'I saw him walking through the gates carrying boxes of something.'

'Did you see what was in the boxes?' Christina asked.

'No, but they had a medical logo on the side.'

'Probably equipment like syringes, surgical tools, small stuff that's easy to manoeuvre' Amy told them. Dani was up at the gate messing with the chain. It fell off easily in her hands as if it was only there for show.

'Guys, it's open.' She said, pushing the gate in. The loud creaking only added to the sense of foreboding they had as they crossed into the yard. They walked slowly down the path, Dani in the lead with the others behind them. Christina came up next to Dani.

'You okay?' Christina asked her.

'Yeah I'm fine.' Dani assured her.

'Dani.' Christina looked at her suspiciously.

'I'm a little nervous.' Dani said. 'Which is stupid, because I have a new power, an offensive power. I should feel more confident.'

'It still takes time, just do what you can.' Christina said. 'And don't put pressure on yourself. It'll drive you crazy, trust me.'

'I'll try not to.' Dani smiled as they reached the door. Christina stepped up to it and took the handle, only to be sent flying backwards when a demonic forcefield sensed her hand. She landed on the ground about five feet from the door, narrowly missing her sisters who were waiting behind.

'Chris!' Lauren cried, rushing to help her up. Lisa looked back at the door.

'Demonic forcefield?' She questioned.

'Yep, felt like one.' Christina grimaced as Lauren got her to her feet.

'Now what?' Katherine asked.

'I'm pretty sure I can blast it until it short circuits.' Christina said, stepping back up to it but not within touching distance.

'Won't that be loud?' Lauren asked.

'No, not necessarily.' Christina said. 'Depends what kind of forcefield it is. Only one way to find out.' She was studying the door, about to lift her hand to it, when a small child appeared in front of her, but she couldn't see him.

'Stop!' He yelled, as Lisa stepped forwards.

'Chris, wait.' She said, coming up beside her.

'For what?' Christina looked at her, bemused.

'There's a kid in front of you. He's like six years old.' Lisa told her. Christina turned back to face the door. 'What's your name?' Lisa asked him.

'Bobby.' The child said tentatively.

'Okay Bobby, I'm Lisa and these are my sisters.' Lisa smiled kindly. 'Why did you tell Christina to stop?'

'You shouldn't go in there. There's bad people.' He said.

'We're trying to find the bad people.' Lisa said.

'No, these guys are really, really bad!' Bobby protested.

'How bad are they Bobby?' She asked.

'They keep bringing people in and doing horrible things to them. Most of them don't leave.'

'Okay, well we're here to stop the bad people.' Lisa assured him. 'Then they'll go away, and you can be in peace again. Do you like your school?' Lisa asked.

'I just want it to be quiet again.' He said sadly.

'We can make that happen.' Lisa knelt so she was eye level with him. 'But you need to let us inside. Would that be okay?'

'You'll really make them leave?' He asked.

'We'll try our best buddy.' Lisa smiled as he faded away. She stood and turned to the group. 'All right then.' She motioned for Chris to try the door.

'It's still weird when you do that.' Christina said, facing her palm to the door and focusing. She sent a small beam of energy into the door. They saw it connect to the forcefield as the blue energy travelled over it, reaching up to the corners of the door and spilling over, until eventually the whole front of the building was glowing blue.

'Erm, Chris, someone's going to see that.' Lauren said, looking over the building.

'I know.' Christina gritted her teeth. 'It's really strong.' She said. She sent a little more energy into it as some orange flakes started to appear in the power. Christina's eyes widened when she saw it, looking to Lisa who was next to her.

'Chris, your eyes have orange in them.' She said nervously.

'The amulet's still blue though.' Dani noticed.

'It might be a side effect of Wendy's potion.' Amy said, just as a final blast of energy from Christina shattered the forcefield. All the colour faded, and Christina was panting heavily.

'Aimes.' Christina turned to her.

'I know.' Amy calmed her. 'It's probably just because the medication is still in your system.' Amy assured her. 'Once it wears off, it'll be nothing but blue.' She smiled.

'Okay.' Christina nodded, trusting her sister. Christina looked back to the door and was about to take a step forward when Dani stopped her and jumped between her and Lisa.

'Let me go first.' Dani said, Christina smiling and nodding, allowing her to take the lead. Dani gently pushed open the door and took a step inside the building. There was light coming through the windows, but it only illuminated the ruin of the building. They followed Dani into a large reception room, with a long desk running across their path.

'This must have been the school reception.' Katherine said, walking around the desk and looking at the old computers and abandoned books. 'Looks like a register.' She said, flipping open one of them.

'It's a pretty small school.' Lauren said, looking at some old portraits hanging on the wall.

'It was probably a private school.' Amy said.

'Wonder what that was like?' Dani asked.

'Judging by the uniforms in these paintings, I'd say not fun.' Lauren said, moving to stand with Amy. Amy was looking around curiously. 'Aimes, you okay?' Lauren nudged her shoulder.

'Yeah.' She said unsteadily. 'It feels really off in here. I don't want to be in here any longer than we have to.'

'So, we split up.' Christina said. 'Lisa and Lauren come with me, Dani take Amy and Kath.'

'Shouldn't I come with you Chris?' Amy said, subtly reminding her that she may need more of Wendy's potion.

'No, just give us a couple of healing potions. I want you with Dan, just in case.' Christina said.

'Alright, if you're sure.' Amy said.

'We'll take the top two floors; you guys stay on this floor and the one above.' Christina said. 'Meet back at the car in one hour, no longer.' She said sternly. 'Or text if you find anything.'

'Yes boss.' Dani said, saluting.

'Okay, let's do.' Christina said, leading Lisa and Lauren up the stairs.