The Ghost Files

Chapter Twenty Six

"Bobby, Tina, the white place is scary, but someone is there to help you, to guide you," I tell them, remembering what I'd learned from Dr. Olivet. "Did you see someone waiting for you?"

"I thought I saw my Grandma," Bobby said, "but Eric said it was a trick. He said the bad things wanted to eat us."

I couldn't argue with Bobby there. The bad things might want to eat us, but his guide would have protected him. At least if I believe the Doc's theory. Maybe I do. All I want is to get these kids to cross over, to give them some peace. Well, I want that after I get out of here. Next question.

"Bobby, how do I find the scary place?"

"Don't tell her anything," Tina hisses. "Eric will be mad."

Oh, yeah? Good. "Where is Eric?" I ask them.

"He went to find your friend, the one that's a cop." I catalogue the new voice. It's a guy, in his late teens maybe. His voice is deeper than some of the other kids. He also sounds like he has an attitude.

"Who are you?" and hoped I had some attitude left.

"Ricky," he tells me. "Tina's right. You need to stay out of the Between. Bad stuff in there."

And bad stuff isn't here? "I will take my chances, Ricky. I just need to be there long enough to take a couple steps and move away from the table."

"No, no. You gots no idea what's in there, chica. A few seconds is all it takes for them to eat your soul. That's what they want, you know. Your soul. I tried to go in once, to leave this place, but those... things... they almost got me. Eric saved me. He saved us all. You need to listen to Tina."

"Noted," I tell him. "I am still going to try it.  Can you tell me how to find it?"

Silence. No one wants to tell me. Maybe if I can make them remember what happened here, they'll start talking.

"You guys are scared of Mr. Olson, right?" I feel the cold burn my skin, it intensifies so fast. "You remember sitting in that chair, being tied to this table? You remember not being able to see what he was doing, waiting to feel what new horror he'd think of? You remember what he did to you while you were tied up and helpless? Do you? What if someone gave you a choice of escaping, even if it meant you might find something just as deadly waiting for you? Would you choose to fight or just sit here and wait to die? I don't want to die. Please, please help me."

A chorus of voices starts hammering away at me. My head hurts and it makes it harder to filter them. I think they're arguing, but I can't tell. I can feel their terror. I made them think about things they didn't want to and it hurts to remember those things. I hate that I did that to them, but I need to get out of here.

"BE QUIET!" The awful screeching of nails on chalkboards assaults us all.

Oh goody, Mirror Boy is back. My head hurts enough without his particular brand of torture. It scatters my thoughts and the pain is almost as unbearable as the pain in my hands.

Silence settles once more and the nails stop raking hot coals across my battered mind and I can think again. "Eric, did you find Dan?"

"Yes, but I don't know if it helped. I did everything I could, Mattie. He doesn't believe in us like you do." Eric did not sound happy.

I sigh, knowing it had been a long shot to begin with. Dan would refuse to see anything supernatural if it hit him in the face with a big neon sign that said GHOST. Back to plan B where I save myself with a little ghostly help. Here goes. "How do I get to the Between?"

"Mattie..." The screeching edged into Eric's voice.

"No," I cut off Mirror Boy. "I am not just going to lie here and die if I can do something about it. I know the risks, I know what's in there and I'm willing to take that chance, Eric. I need to-to find it."

"Okay. It's the cold," he says at last. "Concentrate on the cold, on looking for where it comes from and it will find you. You have to want to see it."

I think back to my one encounter with it. I hadn't been feeling cold at all. What is Eric talking about? Well, fudgepops! I know for a fact I hadn't felt any ghost cold when I'd seen it. What had I felt? We'd been talking about my extra-curricular criminal activities. I remember he'd felt sorry for me and it brought back a lot of memories too. I'd been scared and alone, trying to survive. I'd lived in a cold harsh world then...cold. He's not talking about ghost cold. He's talking about emotions. Ghost manifests emotions with the cold. Eric said I had to really want it. I want it. So I force myself to think back to my time as a thief. I remember how I'd gone to bed hungry almost every night until I started stealing. I'd hated doing it, but it had been me or them back then. Shame also floods through me. What I'd done wasn't right, still isn't. I haven't ever done it since, but the guilt is something I can't shake.

"It's working," Eric hisses." I see it coming. Everyone get out of here now!"

The ghost cold dissipates, all except for one. "Eric?"

"I'm here," he whispers. "I won't leave you, Mattie. It's at your feet. Can you feel it?"

I concentrate, trying to sense anything but Eric and my own fear. There. The pain I remember is starting to eat its way up my body, like a live flame is burning me from my toes up. It hurts so much, but I welcome it this time, I don't try to fight it. I can't breathe when it reaches my face, its burning me alive. The pain goes up my arms and then I hear the door open. No...

The feeling of the snow goes away and I groan in frustration. Eric does the same. So close, we were so close.

The door closes with a bang and my body focuses on that one sound. Fear pushes every other thought out of my mind.

He's back.