progresses to
trembling as its eyes land on me.
Cooper Finnegan leaps to his
feet, jumps over the aisle, and grabs my hand.
The other me yanks her book bag
across the lab table, pressing it against her while she gapes at
Cooper Finnegan. The whole room's staring. But the fog's gone,
completely vanished as soon as my hand was touched.
I lean over to his table and
nudge his pen, rolling it to the floor.
He bends over and picks it up
with his free hand, then, apologizing in an inarticulate mumble, he
holds the pen up and retreats back to his seat. He doesn't let go
of my hand even though people are still watching him. I reposition
myself beside him, so at least he doesn't have to sit there with
his arm stuck out.
“Thank you,” I whisper as I
settle into an uncomfortable squat at his side.
His fingers squeeze. They're so
warm... He holds onto me for the rest of class, but when the bell
rings, he lets go ever so slowly, his eyes on the window. The fog
stays vanished.
“Yo, Finn!” The other two
football players in the class approach us. “What was up with
that?”
“Dropped my pen,” he says, his
tone going for sheepish.
One boy snorts at the answer
while the other says, “And you and Devil Girl?”
Devil Girl. That would be me, I
suppose. I've been called worse.
Cooper Finnegan chooses to
ignore the question, grabbing his stuff in silence and just
leaving.
“What's up with him?” one of the
jocks asks the others.
“Game nerves.”
“He'd better get over it.
Post-season rides on this game.”
“Dude, that's why he's so
freaked.”
And then I'm sitting in an empty
room, staring at the window and wondering what the heck happened.
I'm not certain, but I think Cooper Finnegan may have just saved my
afterlife.
Chapter Six
The freaky fog doesn't sweep
down on me when I leave the school building. I'm nervous about
distancing myself from Finn, but I don't think he's going to answer
the questions bouncing in my head. I'm not sure he actually could.
I need to find Fray.
Of course, my new friend isn't
in the hunting club. And there's no one in the hardware store
either. No one dead at least. The customers, being alive, rank
somewhere below the furniture for me.
Where else to find a ghost? The
cemetery maybe?
I start walking that way but I'm
stopped about a block from Finnegan's Hardware by a little girl who
calls out to me. “What are you doing?”
The sound of her voice makes me
smile. The smile dims when I notice her feet are sharing space with
a pile of cardboard without the boxes seeming to mind, but since
I'm looking for a ghost...
“Hi. I'm Drew.” I hold my hand
out to her but she looks at it like it's a viper.
“The Spirit is strong today.”
The girl's eyes are huge, more like a cartoon's than a child's.
“Get to your Place of Power and stay there.”
“My Place of Power?” I ask.
“Where's that? What do you mean The Spirit's strong today?”
“The Spirit hunts,” she replies
in a creepy voice. “Go to your Place of Power.”
She starts to back away and when
I step toward her, something blocks me from entering the alley.
“This is my Place! Go to yours!”
“But where is mine?”
“Go!” she yells as she turns and
runs behind a dumpster.
And the unnatural darkness
returns, sending terror straight into my core.
“Find your Place of Power, you
idiot!” the child screams from hiding.
My Place of Power? What the hell
is my Place of Power? Ice prickles on my back and I know without
looking that the fog looms directly behind me. So I do the only
thing I can. I run.
Cooper Finnegan. God help me,
but I have to find Cooper Finnegan.
The fog rolls closer. The voices
tumbling in it get louder. They call to me and I consider stopping,
consider letting it swallow me. I run faster, but it's no use. The
fog's catching up. I can't outrun this thing. I need a Place of
Power. I need... I need Cooper Finnegan.
The world shifts, the fog falls
back. There's a clap of thunder and
trembling as its eyes land on me.
Cooper Finnegan leaps to his
feet, jumps over the aisle, and grabs my hand.
The other me yanks her book bag
across the lab table, pressing it against her while she gapes at
Cooper Finnegan. The whole room's staring. But the fog's gone,
completely vanished as soon as my hand was touched.
I lean over to his table and
nudge his pen, rolling it to the floor.
He bends over and picks it up
with his free hand, then, apologizing in an inarticulate mumble, he
holds the pen up and retreats back to his seat. He doesn't let go
of my hand even though people are still watching him. I reposition
myself beside him, so at least he doesn't have to sit there with
his arm stuck out.
“Thank you,” I whisper as I
settle into an uncomfortable squat at his side.
His fingers squeeze. They're so
warm... He holds onto me for the rest of class, but when the bell
rings, he lets go ever so slowly, his eyes on the window. The fog
stays vanished.
“Yo, Finn!” The other two
football players in the class approach us. “What was up with
that?”
“Dropped my pen,” he says, his
tone going for sheepish.
One boy snorts at the answer
while the other says, “And you and Devil Girl?”
Devil Girl. That would be me, I
suppose. I've been called worse.
Cooper Finnegan chooses to
ignore the question, grabbing his stuff in silence and just
leaving.
“What's up with him?” one of the
jocks asks the others.
“Game nerves.”
“He'd better get over it.
Post-season rides on this game.”
“Dude, that's why he's so
freaked.”
And then I'm sitting in an empty
room, staring at the window and wondering what the heck happened.
I'm not certain, but I think Cooper Finnegan may have just saved my
afterlife.
Chapter Six
The freaky fog doesn't sweep
down on me when I leave the school building. I'm nervous about
distancing myself from Finn, but I don't think he's going to answer
the questions bouncing in my head. I'm not sure he actually could.
I need to find Fray.
Of course, my new friend isn't
in the hunting club. And there's no one in the hardware store
either. No one dead at least. The customers, being alive, rank
somewhere below the furniture for me.
Where else to find a ghost? The
cemetery maybe?
I start walking that way but I'm
stopped about a block from Finnegan's Hardware by a little girl who
calls out to me. “What are you doing?”
The sound of her voice makes me
smile. The smile dims when I notice her feet are sharing space with
a pile of cardboard without the boxes seeming to mind, but since
I'm looking for a ghost...
“Hi. I'm Drew.” I hold my hand
out to her but she looks at it like it's a viper.
“The Spirit is strong today.”
The girl's eyes are huge, more like a cartoon's than a child's.
“Get to your Place of Power and stay there.”
“My Place of Power?” I ask.
“Where's that? What do you mean The Spirit's strong today?”
“The Spirit hunts,” she replies
in a creepy voice. “Go to your Place of Power.”
She starts to back away and when
I step toward her, something blocks me from entering the alley.
“This is my Place! Go to yours!”
“But where is mine?”
“Go!” she yells as she turns and
runs behind a dumpster.
And the unnatural darkness
returns, sending terror straight into my core.
“Find your Place of Power, you
idiot!” the child screams from hiding.
My Place of Power? What the hell
is my Place of Power? Ice prickles on my back and I know without
looking that the fog looms directly behind me. So I do the only
thing I can. I run.
Cooper Finnegan. God help me,
but I have to find Cooper Finnegan.
The fog rolls closer. The voices
tumbling in it get louder. They call to me and I consider stopping,
consider letting it swallow me. I run faster, but it's no use. The
fog's catching up. I can't outrun this thing. I need a Place of
Power. I need... I need Cooper Finnegan.
The world shifts, the fog falls
back. There's a clap of thunder and
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