Ghost Punk

Chapter Nineteen

Time flew by as they gathered the ingredients for their plot. Danielle and Andy took a quick trip to the nearest convenience store, purchasing the necessary salt, and finding a few candles. The forums had mixed opinions on how many were needed, but they eventually settled on seven.

After their important shopping spree, they met back up with Logan and Ralph.

"We can fit it all in the back of the truck," Logan said, loading the candles and salt into the truck bed. Ralph handed her his camera, which she carefully secured between the other pieces of the ritual. "It'll be a tight fit in the cab, but we should be able to make it in one car. Just make sure not to break anything stuffed in the backseat."

"Right," Danielle said, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets. "Just a quick trip to figure this out, and get the video to work."

"Definitely," Logan nodded in confirmation, unlocking the truck as she pulled the keys out of her pocket. "The last spare camera we have is in the glove box, Ralph. I'll show it to you when we get there. Let's hope this one survives the forest."

"As long as everything goes as planned," Ralph muttered, opening the door to the backseat.

"It'll be fine," Logan reassured, ducking into the truck and turning on the car.

After a few moments of fussing and fidgeting, they managed to fit into the cramped space. Danielle and Ralph sat in the back, left to sit with their thoughts for the drive. Meanwhile, Andy helped Logan navigate from the passenger seat.

The drive felt painstakingly long, and Danielle couldn't stop her heart from pounding in her chest. Her arm hadn't even healed, and they were already back for another trip into the woods. She wanted more time to think this through, or find a better option. But they were running on a tight schedule, and she had no plan that had a better chance of success than Logan's.

Her nerves left her hands unsteady as Logan pulled off to the side of the road.  They had arrived. There was nothing but a thin car door between her and the woods.

She slowly got out of the car, trudging over to help unload the truck. When she finally made it to the back, Logan had already started pulling things out. She handed items to Ralph and Andy, stacking their arms full of candles.

"Take this," Logan said, handing Danielle the camera. Logan reached into the trunk to grab the salt. "We should set it up a little bit off the road, keep it more private."

Danielle nodded in agreement. She certainly didn't want any passerby calling the cops after seeing a mysterious ritual. She followed after Andy as he headed towards the woods, the camera clutched close to her chest. They barely entered the forest, the car still seen between the tall trunks of trees. It would be enough to hide them from anyone driving by, but also provide the quick safety of the car if anything went wrong.

"Here we go," Logan said as she set down the large container of salt. "All that's left is to set it up, right, Ralph?"

Ralph nodded. "We can start with the circle, let's make it as big as we can without encompassing any of the trees."

Logan slowly poured out the salt, with Danielle's careful eyes watching her. After a few minutes of opening new containers and making sure the ring looked to be the same width around, she deemed it finished. "Just need to add the candles."

Andy and Ralph started to set them down, doing their best to line them up at the edge of the circle and keep the candles at relatively equal distances. After a few stressful moments of lining them up and being careful not to mess up the circle, it was finished.

"I'll put the camera in the middle," Danielle said, taking a few careful steps over the circle and placing the camera relatively in the center, before she backed up to look at their handiwork.

Logan examined it, trying to remember all the information she had gathered from online. "Seems right to me," she announced, "the setup is done. The show's ready to start. "