"We're here."
The announcement from the front roused everyone from their states.
After the four-hour-long flight from Miami to Phoenix, they had taken another bus drive to their destination for two hours. At the beginning of the drive, most of them had been alert, pointing out scenic spots excitedly. They had grabbed a meal at Rock Springs Café, then continued the journey. From then on, the chatter had died down, and many of them had begun to sleep.
Even Jess had stopped reading her book after the flight. It had kept her busy on the plane, but the loud noise from others afterwards couldn't let her concentrate.
The bus took them to Adobe Grand Villas. The driver and the hotel's valets took out the students' luggage to their rooms. Mr Melas took their key cards from the receptionist, and handed them to the students in pairs, according to the already-made arrangement.
Jess found herself stuck with Matilda Wells. Turned out that they didn't just share psychology and history classes. She only hoped that her new roommate wasn't the annoying, nosy type.
Roommates. This was the first time she was having one. Even on camping trips back in Avalon High, she'd always stayed alone.
Their room was almost the last one in the hall. Jess was pleased with the position. Matilda wasn't. The other girl kept on checking outside the windows, staring warily at the night shadows.
Jess ignored her, and fell on the bed. Matilda shrieked, causing her to jump off immediately.
"What? Is there a fire?"
"The sheets!"
Jess stared at the cerulean covers designed with pink and yellow butterflies. She frowned up at her. "What happened to them?"
"It's unhygienic to sleep on sheets placed just like that in a hotel room." She opened a big mauve case, and took out folded sheets and duvet covers.
She watched her with incredulity. "You brought your own covers?"
Matilda nodded. "I feel safer that way."
"Did you at least consider the pains the cleaners went through to dress this bed?" Personally, it wasn't a problem, but she just felt like saying it.
She stopped unpacking. Her round, greenish-gray eyes fell on her roommate. "I... I know they dress the bed themselves." Her gaze shifted to her own bed. "But what if they didn't use sanitized hands to touch the sheets and covers? What if the bed was dressed three months ago? Imagine the layers of dust and germs feasting on that thing."
"This is a luxury hotel, Matilda," she said flatly, with a big eye roll. "Haven't you ever been to one?"
She hung her head and tucked a lock of her wavy, golden mane behind one ear. "I have." When she turned to open another bag, Jess spotted a brown birthmark under her left ear. "It's just that... it's the way I was trained. Since I was little."
Jess shrugged one shoulder. "Whatever. Feel free to do whatever you want to your own bed. It's not my business." She returned to stretching out on the soft, cozy mattress. Her nose pressed into the bedsheet and took a deep sniff. Ah... The smell of freedom. Though, not total freedom. But, at least, she was away from home.
As if summoned, her phone rang. The loud ringtone of Worth It by Fifth Harmony filled the silence in the room. It caused Matilda to jump and stare wide-eyed at Jess. The other girl reluctantly rolled to the edge of the bed, and reached for the handbag on the nightstand.
Her mom was the caller. She bit her lower lip, contemplating what to say, still staring at the screen.
"At least, stop the music," Matilda snapped.
She shot her a glare. "Deal with it." Then, she tapped the red button.
Not long after, the hip hop beats resumed. "Argh!" Jess groaned out loud. She was tired and not in the mood for a long, gruelling conversation. So, she switched off her phone. Better.
The next morning, the excursion began, thirty minutes after breakfast. Their first destination was the Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness.
The bus dropped them at the start of the Boynton Canyon trail. Melas took the roll call again to make sure everyone was present.
"Make sure to stay close. There are several paths branching off the main one. I don't want anyone getting lost. This isn't time to unleash your adventurous streak. If you don't see a particular student in our midst, alert me at once."
They waited for a few minutes until a car pulled up. A man got off from the back, followed by his driver. He walked towards the students who were all dressed in jeans and khakis, and T-shirts and jackets. A big smile appeared on his face. He scrutinized theirs from behind dark sunshades.
"Good morning, everyone," he bellowed in a thick Southern accent. "Welcome to Sedona. The name's Tommy Mallory. And I'm your tour guide. Well, your teacher here told me you guys are doing some historic expedition. You've come to the right place. Just be sure to follow the rules and stick together. Then, everything is a piece of cake. We clear?"
"Yes," most of them responded.
"The rules are simple." His tone suddenly switched from lighthearted to hardened. "Don't take any artifact, or corrupt an archaeological site. These things have been preserved for thousands of years, and over ninety-nine percent of them are irreplaceable. Any tampering, and you're fined. Just hope your 'rents are well loaded. Or you can spend a couple of days or weeks in juvie. So, no vandalism.
"Follow your guides. Me or your teacher. Oh..." He jerked towards the driver. "I forgot to introduce to you my friend, Riley Gonzalez. He'll be my assistant. Kind of. Follow his lead, too."
He jammed his hands together sharply. The sound of the clap was taken up by the wind. "Now that we're past that. Let's move on to the main thing at hand. For safety precautions, don't walk too close to the edge of a cliff. And make sure you're carrying water in an air-tight flask or bottle. No spilling. Clear?"
"Clear." "Yes." A few didn't say anything.
"Good. Let's go."
Jess hefted the straps of her backpack up on her shoulders, and followed the rest of them down the trail.
Tommy pointed out certain spots along the way, throwing comments in between. He had a sense of humour and a way of handling teens. His friend, Riley, hardly spoke. Melas did his job by recounting the number of students in the group every now and then.
The trail took them into the main canyon. They got into the caves, felt the walls, saw the pieces of potsherds and grinding stones used by the Indian ancestors.
While everyone else dealt with the sights with normal excitement and awe, Jess felt uncomfortable. Her eyes flitted across stones, hovered on some spots on the walls, lingered on certain crevices.
Karen noticed. She nudged her gently with her elbow. Jess slowly inclined her head towards her. And caught her frown.
"What's wrong?" the blonde asked.
"Nothing." She shook her head, not just in reply, but to clear her mind.
The frown was still in place, but she was no longer looking at her. Her attention was on what Melas was explaining.
Again, Jess got a strange sensation on her right. She tried to ignore it, but it was too strong. The group started moving again and she had to follow. Though she lingered way behind them. She didn't find it easy to get lost here.
"Cocheta."
Jessica froze. No way. No freaking way!
"Cocheta," the loud whisper came again.
Up ahead, Tommy and Riley were telling a story about how the Indians survived in the caves. No one seemed to hear the voice, of course. After all, she was the only psychic around.
"Cocheta."
Oh, come on. Can't you see I'm busy? No doubt, it was a ghost. Pesky, silly things.
"Cocheta, you have to listen." This voice was different. Soft, firm. Feminine.
She turned. A faint female figure stood tall beside her. The brown skin at the corners of her "eyes" was slightly wrinkled.
"They are angry. They are coming for you."
Jess lowered her voice to a whisper. "Um... but I haven't done anything to anybody. If you're talking about the psychic killers, I've been informed already."
"They are coming for you. Be careful."
"Look. I don't understand what the hell you're talking about right now, so..." She noticed that the group was moving again. "You know what? I gotta go. See ya." She started walking backwards. "Thanks for the advice," she whisper-yelled at her, then jogged to her class group.
They stopped again in another cave. Here, Jess could feel strong vibes. Emotions. Someone died here. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
A boy pushing his way through to get closer to the front, brushed against her harshly. She stumbled and hit the wall.
Instantly, a cacophony of loud voices filled her head. The explosion caught her off-guard that she screamed.
All eyes fell on her.
"Miss Snowden?" Mr Melas went closer to the girl that was bent over and breathing deeply. "What's wrong?"
"I'm... I'm fine." She took another calming breath. But she couldn't be calm. Her mind was going haywire.
"Do you need water?" He opened his backpack, took out a flask which he offered to her.
"It's okay. I'm not thirsty."
"She looks thirsty," Tommy said. He watched the girl with slight indifference. He was used to youngsters freaking out over the sharp altitude variations and slippery surfaces. But he could tell that this was different. Riley, too, noticed.
"You can go on with the tour," she said firmly. She stood straight. "I'm okay now." The last thing she needed was to get attention for looking weak or being fussed over for no reason.
Their attention was gradually diverted to the expedition.
"Avoid touching the walls," Jess murmured to herself.
Karen skipped over to her side. "What happened back there?"
"Someone bumped into me. I hit the wall." Her reply came quick in a calm tone.
She shook her head. "People."
However, Jess could sense her disbelief. Not her problem.
"Let's walk faster. We don't want to miss the scenery. It's great from up here."
"Go ahead. I'm scared of heights." Another lie. She was starting to lie easily these days. Her grandma would be very displeased.
"Really? I pegged you for someone who loves danger."
"There's a limit to everything."
Karen shrugged and hurried on. There were "ooh's" and "wow's" coming from the front. The others stood close to the cliff watching the scenery down in the valley and on the hills across. Jess inched closer and peered through, between two bodies. The sight was breathtaking. A part of her itched to walk closer, stand right on the edge, dare to fall into the greens and browns. Hear the other students scream in fear when she'd pretend to fall.
It took her to a time a little over four years ago, months before her dad fell sick. They'd visited the Grand Canyon. Phyllis and her mom had kept on resounding in her ears that the edge was dangerous. Yet, she'd stood close and even closer. Until her mom had snapped. That was the first time since her second return from Gisella's house that she'd seen her mom freak out for her. Usually, Zoe freaked out at her.
She could try it again. Just that she'd get into trouble with Mr Melas and Tommy.
"Hey! Hey! Psst!"
She turned to see a boy waving at her. From the distance, she noted that he was wearing a red shirt with short sleeves and black jeans, with a safari hat on his head. She went closer. His features became clearer.
Deep blue-green eyes, the colour of sea; freckled cheeks; thick, full lips; sandy brown hair, partly hidden under the hat, looking like it needed a trim. He was built on a thin frame, though his arms and shoulders showed that he'd have grown into a muscular man.
"What do you want? And who are you?"
He was frowning at her. His tight fists hung at his sides. "I want payback."
"For what? I don't even know you."
More ghosts suddenly appeared around them. "You know us, because we know you."
One more appeared right in front of her just as she turned.
"What no—?"
Her words were cut off by a jolt of sharp pain in her chest. She doubled over and panted for air. What the— Another jab in her abdomen. Then, her left thigh.
I need to get out of here. She looked up at the mouth of the cave. The group had gone, moved on to another cave. She trudged forward, but ghosts stood in her path. It was easy to just walk through. Although, she had a personal ethic not to walk through ghosts. To her, there were people—just dead. It was rude.
She might have to break that principle now.
The ghosts' energies shrouded her as she put herself through their intangible forms. The intensity threw her off. She leaned against the red-rock wall, to regain her breath. The chest pain was still prevalent.
"Running away?"
"Scared?"
"Look at her. Weak as an ant."
"Just like her grandfather."
What? The last words she just heard caused her head to jerk up. Her eyes rounded and blinked twice. "What did my grandfath—" Another sharp pain. This time, she crumbled to her knees. "Stop," she choked out. "Stop." Must not beg. Must not look weak. She dragged breath into her lungs as much as she could. Steady yourself. Stand straight. Her torso inched upwards, increasing the angle between it and her legs.
"Stupid girl, you..."
"...get your payback..."
"...for what your family did to..."
Before she could demand for what her family did, she saw them gathering around, creating shadows on the walls, their cacophony of voices filling her ears. She could feel the anger, hatred, bitterness. Her only response was utter confusion.
The wall she was leaning on turned deep gray. Wind blew in from the mouth of the cave. It carried dust and the scent of nature. The temperature dropped. Luckily for her, she was wearing a denim jacket. Darkness formed a thick veil around them. If she should scream for help, whoever that would respond wouldn't see her. But she wouldn't. She wasn't a damsel in distress.
Fighting a ghost—sounded surreal. But she was willing to try anything today.
Something that Kieran had told her father the night of his funeral came to her. "I don't think you feel a thing. You're a ghost just like me. Dead and insensitive."
Well, she couldn't hurt them with her powers, or inflict pain on them. They were dead and insensitive. But they had energy. Energy that she could use. Manipulate. Control.
She closed her eyes and reached for the energies around her. Pain still stabbed her chest and legs. She didn't mind. She had to get herself out of this situation. No one was here to do that.
"Feel the energy," her father's words echoed in her head. "Use it, control it."
The energies felt like tendrils, many tiny threads intertwined yet separate, visible to her mind's eye. She held onto them, twisted, and pulled.
A ghost shrieked. The sound nearly burst her ears. She placed her hands over them, pressed her back against the wall to maintain stamina.
A few more let out screams.
She didn't stop.
Twist. Tug. Pull.
She opened her eyes, took in her surroundings. Some ghosts were still present. They were angrier, seething, clashing their teeth at her. Okay then. Time to stop playing nice, and bring on the heat. She quickly shut her eyes again.
Something invisible, intangible, pushed at her lungs and ribcage. She let out a deep exhale. A streak of light shot out of her mouth at the apparitions and shadows. The shrieks intensified.
"Take that, assholes."
The more they screamed, the more she felt the energy bursting out of her. At a time, it became too much. It became a tightness in her chest, constricting her lungs and heart. She had to let go.
Due to the weight, she collapsed on the floor at the last exhale which left in a deep sigh. The shrieks stopped. Everywhere was suddenly calm. Even the wind had stopped howling.
Ghosts could inflict pain. That was new. Something to note down in her book of facts.
Quick, heavy footsteps pounded from outside the cave. Jess opened her eyes and tried to stand. She pressed her fingertips to her temples, hummed the Latin song she usually used for energy healing. The footsteps sounded closer. She waited.
"Miss Snowden!" Mr Melas' voice came. It sounded panicked. "Jessica!"
"Yes?" she called back.
"Are you all right? What happened?" He held her shoulder, lifted her chin, tilted her face left and right. She reached up and put the hand on her chin down.
"I'm fine, Mr Melas. Nothing to worry about."
The lines of worry on his face remained. "You don't look so well. Miss Burden mentioned that you're scared of heights. I hope you don't feel nauseated."
"I'm not nauseated. And I'm not scared of heights," she grumbled out. "Just a little frazzled. It'll be gone in a moment."
"I hope so." He still held onto her arm. "Let's meet up with the others."
They walked together out of the cave. "How did you know where to find me?" she asked.
"This was where you were last seen."
"Oh."
The other students turned to the them when they entered the cave they were at. Tommy, who was standing with arms folded and legs apart, surveyed Jess' form with his eyes.
"You were told not to leave the group."
"I didn't leave the group," she retorted. "The group left me."
"The next time you go missing, no one's coming for you."
"I didn't go missing," she said between clenched teeth.
He scoffed, then faced others. "Along this side, we can see the supposed kitchen of this... 'apartment'. It's a little small, but who cared then? As long as those people could roast their goats, they were fine." He threw another quick glance at Jess before continuing with his description. "Over there..." He pointed at a cavette with a small doorway. "...you'll see stones. Those are believed to be the basis of the cooking hearth, or the matchsticks. How many of you here can make a fire with stones?"
Only two hands came up.
Tommy shook his head in dismay. "Too bad. Not all of you will survive in a jungle, then."
Jess snorted. She was already back to her usual self, but her shallow heartbeats were evidence of the ghost attack. And she couldn't wait to leave the canyon.
After that day's round of exploring, she went straight to the shower to wash off the dust and jitters. As per habit, she examined her naked body in the wide mirror directly facing the shower stall, while rinsing off the soap suds. The spiral mark was there, staring back at her. It had itched a little during the ghost attack, but there was currently a buzzy feel on that spot.
Strange.
She got out of the bathroom, slipped into a tank top and leggings, and went out to cruise the leisure spots in the hotel.
Originally, Mr Melas had said that the pool area was restricted. Jess found two seniors and some of her classmates lying on deckchairs beside the pools. Karen was one of them. She didn't show off much skin like the others, as she was in a tankini. Jess spotted a scar on the outer side of her right thigh. It was thick and long, and ended as a needle-like strip at her knee.
No wonder she never wears short clothes.
Dean tried to get her to join him and his little clique in a meat and music party. Which never worked. Even though they played her favourite songs and served one of her favourite foods, she'd never hang out with Dean. He was a jerk to her in gym class most times.
Karen, however, wasn't in the mood to talk to her. Every attempt at conversation was stopped with cold silence.
Jess had to leave the pool area. After all, she wasn't friends with water. No need to stay close to it. She had a book to read, secrets to expose, places to discover. She took her handbag, and went outside.
The next destination was the garden. It was closed off from the rest of the world by thick, well-trimmed hedges. Kudos to the gardener. Rather than the stone benches like those in Mike's garden, the sitting spots were made from tree trunks. They had been cured and sculpted. Beautiful engravings had been made all around each of them. Some resembled the pictographs in the canyon's caves. The tops of the stools were smooth, freeing clothes from frays.
Jess sat on one of them. She faced one of the lamps placed at the six corners of the garden. She took out the book from her bag, opened it, and immersed herself in the world of the supernatural.
At a time, she felt like she was being watched. She looked up. Her eyes scanned the hedges. Nothing.
She slipped her hand into her bag to check the time on her phone. Wristwatches were a burden to her, or she wouldn't have bothered with her phone. It was on 'airplane' mode to prevent calls and messages from coming in.
Nine fifteen.
Something flitted past. From the corner of her eye, she caught it. And jumped up from her seat.
There was no one.
What now? First, ghosts. Now, this? Perhaps, another ghost. But if it were another ghost, she'd feel its energy hovering around her.
Time to call it a night. There went her "me" time.
She was leaving the gardens when she saw a figure—a familiar male figure—leaving the same gardens from a different exit.
Is that...? She paused in her tracks, watched him calmly walk away. She glanced back at the hedge, remembered that someone had been watching her.
Never trust anyone.
Later that night, she lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Beside her, Matilda was asleep, away in wonderland. Sometimes, Jess caught her smiling to herself.
She sighed. What she'd give to have utopian dreams these days.
The sound of a door slamming startled her. She opened her eyes. When had she slept? She checked the time. Woah! She'd actually napped for about three hours. Without weird dreams. Wishes do come true, she thought.
However, going back to sleep wasn't as easy as the first time. She sat up and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. When she looked up again, what she saw dissipated every atom of sleepiness from her cells.
Well, it wasn't what she saw, but who she saw.
"Grandma?"
The apparition stood by the door, hands clasped in front of her. Like Kennedy and that ghost boy in the cave, her eyes weren't gray orbs. They were deep brown like they had been during her lifetime.
Instead of feeling excitement that she was meant to have, Jess was wary. She got down from the bed slowly, her eyes trained on Taylor's ghost.
"Grandma?"
The ghost said nothing. Her face still as stone.
Jess put one bare foot in front of the other. Nothing happened. Her feet slipped into her furry slippers. Her footsteps were soundless on the hard, vinyl floor.
The ghost turned around and phased through the wall.
"Wait!" she whisper-yelled. She hurried to the door and ripped it open. There was no one in sight. She walked hastily down the hallway, trying to be as silent as possible.
Taylor stood at the entrance in the lobby.
"Grandma?"
The ghost inclined her head to the teenager approaching.
"You haven't shown up since you died. There are so many things I want to— Wait!" She ran out, giving Taylor chase.
Jess followed the ghost's trail, not minding where it took her to. Sometimes, the apparition faded in and out, making its path disjointed.
This was her grandmother's ghost. She'd been wanting to talk to her. She'd even told Ken's ghost on the day of his funeral, to tell Taylor that she was expecting her. Since then, no sign of the woman. Or even Edna.
Now that she was here, she was trying to be elusive.
"Hold on." She didn't want to yell. Security guards or awakened guests might see her and question why she was wandering the compound in the middle of the night.
"You have got to be kidding me," Jess muttered out loud when she saw the ghost phase through the gates. Well then...
She paused and looked around. More cameras. She moved back, away from the cameras' points of view. Then, she closed her eyes and imagined them blowing up. Sizzles and sparks flew around within seconds. She opened her eyes, placed her hands on the gates, and manipulated them to open. The hinges creaked. One of them slid upwards.
Outside the hotel, the autumn air was more chilly. Jess wrapped her arms around herself. She walked briskly, bent her head low. Each breath she took released a white puff of air in front of her face. And here she thought that Arizona would be warmer.
The ghost led her to a canyon, she realised later. They entered a cave. As it had no light, Jess had to feel her way through by following Taylor's ghost energy.
"Grandma, wait!" Here, she was free to talk loudly. "Hold up. You can't keep avoiding me. I've been wanting to talk to you. Didn't Dad tell you?" A stone intercepted her path. She nearly stumbled. "Let's get out of here. It's dark. You know I hate the dark."
As if the ghost heard, she led her out of the narrow cave through a narrower opening.
"Whew! Thank goodness. Now, we can—" Jess' words cut off when her foot stepped on air. She threw herself backwards and fell on the floor. She looked around—the ghost was nowhere to be found. Not even a tendril of energy was felt.
I was led to my own death? Her eyes went to the cliff that she'd nearly fallen off from. Beyond was a cavern of emptiness. Across was nothing but darkness and rocks.
She took in a deep breath. There was no way her grandma's ghost would want her to throw herself off a cliff. Maybe, she'd gone sideways. However, Jess was flanked by cliffs as well. No way out, except for the dark, narrow cave.
She stood up, turned to the cave. But decided to stop and check the canyon. There had to be a reason why Taylor had led her here. On the right side, the cliff wasn't a sharp drop. There was a slope with makeshift steps cut into the rock. It connected with a flat, wide land fifty feet below. She carefully took the steps down to the bottom.
The table land was wider than it seemed, stretching across and surrounding the side of the hill.
A sound on her left caught her attention. She turned to catch a coyote staring at her.
From what she knew, coyotes were wild animals, but much friendlier than wolves. Hopefully, this one wouldn't change its diet to human flesh.
She crouched down to be at eye level with it. "Hey," she whispered to it. "Hi..."
It stared back with... green eyes. Green eyes... Shifter.
Jess sucked in a sharp breath. It seemed the coyote understood that she'd come to the realisation of what it was. It took off in the opposite direction.
"Hey! Come back!" It didn't stop. Oh brother. She'd have to run again.
Her legs carried her as fast as she could. The animal increased the distance between them. She went faster, well, as much as she could go. Doudall was right—she needed to exercise more. Her breathing was already laboured, coming out in short pants. The strain of chasing after Taylor's ghost pulled on her leg muscles. Pain shot up the back of calves to her thighs.
"Come... back.... I won't... hurt... you."
She was starting to slow down out of tiredness. And she didn't see a stone jutting out of the ground. Her toes hit it. She fell flat on her face. Her head hit another rock a few feet away.
What the hell?
Her head throbbed badly. She heard her blood pounding in her ears. She shifted to tilt her face in the direction of the running coyote. Just like her grandmother's ghost, it was gone.
Never trust anyone.
Instantly, darkness claimed her.