Haunted

Ten

Sam looks up at me and I decide to joke. "Great, because I'm not sure I could handle some crazy long ritual where we all get naked and bath in the mud under a full moon." Though I wouldn't mind seeing Myka perform in a ritual like that. A section of it anyways. I motion for Sam to speed it up. "Just get to the actual ritual part."

"Alright, alright. I was just giving you some history." He leans down and reads some more before continuing. "Belief."

He goes quiet, so I narrow my eyes and echo him. "Belief?"

"Yes. In order for this to work, we all need to believe it will." He stares at the page. "And it must be very important, because this section is underlined."

"And if we don't?"

His eyes meet mine, his expression serious. "Then Caleb is dead."

I swallow hard and nod slowly.

I can believe, right? I wish I could say yes confidently, but I'm hesitant. The only thing I've ever believed in the past six years is that I can't trust anyone.

Maybe it's time to finally change that.

"Four souls are required," Sam continues, dragging me out of my thoughts.

"Four souls?" I question. "You mean four people?"

He reads the passage again. "No, it definitely says souls." His eyes suddenly light up. "Me."

I blink. "You?"

He laughs. "Yes, me. I'm the fourth soul!" I shake my head, not understanding. "In Myka's drawing there was a light." He taps his chest. "It's me. This means I can help out! It doesn't mention people or ghosts, it specifically mentions souls. I can actually do this. This is the reason I stayed behind." He sounds so confident, and he looks over at his son with a wide smile.

"I was meant to be the fourth soul," he continues. "I'm really here to help you save Caleb." A smile starts forming on his face. "This must be what destiny feels like. Everything is actually falling into place."

When he looks over at me with his grin still in place, I smile back because, well, what else can I do? Maybe he's right. Or maybe he's wrong. I'm not so sure I believe in destiny. But he seems happy, and who am I to take that from him? He's the only interpreter we've got, and if he says the ritual requires four souls, we have no choice but to hope he's right.

God, I hope he's right.

Sam claps his hands together joyfully and looks back to the book. "It also says we'll need some supplies. Hmm, earthbound restraints? Uh, I think it's trying to say we'll need some dirt or sticks, maybe some leaves or something." He scratches his chin. "It definitely mentions sticks."

"Okay, that's easy," I voice hopefully, eyeing the woods nearby.

"And we'll need . . . salt." He frowns to himself. "Why does everything always require salt?" I frown too but keep listening. "And there's something we'll have to say. But I think we'll have to say it in Latin. Nunc erit destructi vos. Relinqua. Discede."

I grimace. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Uh." Sam rubs at his eye like he's got a headache. "I don't even know if I'm saying it right, but I think it roughly translates into telling the evil spirit that it's about to be destroyed and that it needs to leave."

"Brilliant," I mutter. "I bet it's really going to like that."

"And you're really going to like this," Sam says sarcastically. "We have to somehow figure out where this thing is at its strongest. That's where the ritual needs to be done."