Mary didn’t wait to see how Noah and Tamara would react to her statement. Instead she burst into action, body humming with adrenaline. She ran in the direction in which she saw the brief ghostly image of a boy disappear into the master bedroom, going straight through the closed door. She had just placed a sweaty palm upon the knob’s cold surface when Tamara’s voice, loud and demanding, stopped her short.
“Stop!”
Mary whipped around to face her friend. “But I just saw—“
“I’m getting crazy readings back in the hallway,” Tamara interjected. Her voice was strained, pitch raised in an effort to compete against the incessant wailing emanating from her EMF meter. A blinking red light flashed its bloody color every time the beep sounded off; the sound bounced between the empty confines of the house like a series of ghostly screams. “Quick, let’s go check it out.”
Mary blinked. She hadn’t caught a trace of the sounds in her frantic haze; the pounding of her heart in her ears obliterated any other noise that attempted to make its way through.
She thought about arguing Tamara’s suggestion. Her burning desire to enter that room was practically unbearable now. But then the single red little eye of Tamara’s blinking device floated away from sight, its glow slowly becoming eaten up by darkness as Tamara went further into the house, towards the hallway they had previously been standing in. Mary wished Tamara had passed out the night vision goggles before all of this had started.
Noah stood somewhat positioned between the two girls, in the center of the house’s living room. His head twisted back and forth, alternating between the opposite directions Tamara and Mary were situated before permanently fixating on Mary. His brown eyes gleamed like shiny copper pennies beneath the light of his flashlight.
“Mary,” Noah began, “come on. We’ll get to that room in a minute. I don’t want to leave Tamara or you alone; we should stick together.”
Mary knew he was right, and for split second she found herself hating him for being so irritatingly responsible. But then, just like that, that brief moment of deep distaste flitted away, leaving Mary feeling apologetic. She didn’t want to be such a pain in the butt, but that room was making her act up, augmenting her stubbornness to an all-time high. She had been so close to opening that door. So close.
It took every ounce of Mary’s willpower to turn away from the master bedroom door and trudge over to Tamara. Her legs protested with every step she took to add distance between herself and the door, as if she were wading against the rough waves of the beach: the way they slammed into her legs relentlessly, making her knees quiver with the threat of sending her tumbling backwards. She threw one last wistful glance at the door before quickening her pace.
When she and Noah rounded the corner of the hall, they saw Tamara standing there, attention focused on the crying device in her hand. She was muttering to herself in that nonsensical way she always did when she was trying to figure something out that was mentally challenging, drawing upon the plethora of knowledge crammed into that brain of hers.
But she wasn’t alone. Noah and Mary screeched to an abrupt halt the moment they registered the tall man looming over her from behind, a wicked, spine-chilling grin laid out over his ghostly mouth.
†††
1 hour earlier…
As it turned out, Mary didn’t have to spend much time waiting in a nicely decorated spare room for Tamara. She passed the brief time with Noah and Avery, reminiscing with her best friend over past experiences, like when Tamara dropped her expensive calculator into the toilet by accident and cried about it for three days straight, or when Noah fell off a kiddie chair and broke his leg in the sixth grade, or when Mary got locked in the local library after falling asleep while reading. She was in a hidden corner that nobody had bothered to check, and they had closed the building for the night.
Noah was laughing. “I remember you getting to school the morning after and being like, ‘I just had the best night’s sleep of my life’.”
Mary smiled. “It was. The beanbag I was laying on was so comfortable and I had on a cozy sweater—“
The sound of a door being swung open interrupted Mary’s speech. She glanced up in its direction and shot up from where she sat on an upholstered armchair, completely unprepared for what she would witness.
In the dimly let room (Mary had clicked on an antique lamp when she first went inside), she was able to pick out someone’s back, obviously female judging by the long waves of auburn that cascaded down and stopped midway down its length. The girl was slowly stepping backwards, seemingly unconsciously; her attention was entirely focused on the taller, broader figure ushering her in. The sound of lips pulling apart and labored breaths and clothes rumpling filled the silence of the room as Mary stood there dumbly, frozen in shock.
Mason and Tamara were kissing. And not just kissing—this was a full-on make-out session, the kind that led to a lot more than just hungry lip-locking.
“Avery, close your eyes,” Noah said. Mary wondered if she should do the same.
But she couldn’t. It was impossible for her to look away from Mason and Tamara’s passionate embrace; she continued to stare at the two of them with wide eyes, her curiosity winning out over her disgust. She found herself paying special attention to Mason: he seemed to be enjoying the kissing just as much as Tamara was (she let out a few moans of satisfaction), but he also appeared to be multitasking, keeping Tamara preoccupied his lips while reaching a hand back behind him and shutting the door, twisting the lock. Then he slid his free hand—the arm that wasn’t wrapped around Tamara’s waist— over to the wall, and felt for the light switch.
“God. I’m mentally scarred for life,” Noah muttered to Mary. He hesitated. “Err, or rather death.”
Mason clicked the switch on and the room brightened. Mary suddenly felt very naked and exposed, but she stood her ground, awaiting Tamara’s reaction.
“What’s going on?” she asked Mason. He had pulled away from her and was now leaning against the door, breathing heavily. There was amusement in his eyes. He nudged his chin in Mary’s direction.
“Someone here wants to talk to you.”
Tamara whipped around, dark eyes landing on Mary; they widened before shrinking into a narrowing glare. Her lips were swollen, her lipstick smeared across her mouth, her red hair tangled. A tube top hugged her curves, slipping down so that it exposed a good amount of cleavage. This was not the techy girl with the glasses, smart smile and neat appearance that Mary had known. This was a trashy train wreck.
Still, despite everything, the sight of one article gave Mary hope that she hadn’t completely lost her best friend: lying on Tamara’s exposed chest, snuggled between her large breasts, was a familiar wooden cross.
“I heard you were at Mason’s but I didn’t believe it,” she told Mary. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you,” Mary said. She was still struggling to overcome her initial surprise over seeing Tamara expertly make out with Mason. She knew Tamara had let go of her prudish ways, but it was one thing to hear about it and another to actually witness it. “You wouldn’t hear me out at school, I don’t have your number, and you’ve blocked me on every social media site out there. Teaming up with Mason was my only option. Although if it’s worth anything, I didn’t know this was the plan he had in mind.”
Mary shot a pointed glance at Mason, who winked at her.
“Elaborate right until the end,” Noah sighed.
Tamara swung back around to face Mason. “This was all your idea? You used me,” she accused. “And to help her of all people.”
“Sorry, gorgeous,” Mason said breathlessly. There was a hint of red lipstick on his lips, and stains trailing down his neck. He looked buzzed with alcohol, or maybe he was drunk off Tamara’s kisses. “We can continue what we were doing after you’re done talking to Mary here.”
“You can forget continuing anything,” Tamara huffed. “I’d rather hook up with a pillow.”
Mary couldn’t help it; she let out a strangled giggle.
“That’d actually be pretty hot,” Mason said. There was a loopy smile dancing on his lips. “May I watch?”
But Tamara’s attention was now focused back on Mary, the sound of Mary’s muffled laugh snapping her back to focus.
“Well,” she told her, lifting her arms, “here I am. And although Mason thinks he can keep me locked in here by guarding the door, what he feels to realize is that one kick to the nuts will make me a free woman.” Behind her, Mason lifted his brows. He was used to Tamara being submissive and stupid, like the rest of the girls in Bailey’s group. It was all an act. The old Tamara was shining through. “Still, I’d rather not resort to violence. So just tell me what you need to tell me so that we can go back to our separate lives.”
Mary wasted no time in feeling hurt by her bluntness. “Noah’s here,” she blurted. “His ghost, I mean. After he died, he—he never found peace. He’s been following me around for a year now.”
Tamara’s face remained perfectly still, save for her eyelid which kept twitching. Mary recognized it as a sign that indicated her anger. Unlike Noah, who bottled everything up until he couldn’t anymore and exploded, or Mary, who didn’t have much of a temper at all, Tamara had a short fuse and was easily frustrated.
“And just how,” Tamara began slowly, “do you know all of this?”
Mary took a deep breath. “Because I can see him.”
Tamara chuckled humorlessly. “Yes, Mary, you can see him. It’s called a hallucination, a common symptom of your schizophrenia.” Yet even as she said those words, there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes, a wistful note in her voice. “Have you been taking your medications?”
“Yes, I’ve taken my medications,” Mary replied sharply, defensively. How many times have people asked her that? “I’ve been taking them religiously every day, three times a day, even though they don’t work at all because I’m not crazy—“ She broke off, stopping herself short from getting carried away. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Just—please. We need your help. Cullis Port is in trouble. You’re in danger; I’m in danger,—“
“You’re delusional—“ Tamara started with another hesitant chuckle.
“—even Noah’s in danger and he’s already dead. Mason’s sis—“
“She’s telling the truth, Tamara,” Mason piped up, cutting her off. He gave Mary a warning look and shook his head fractionally. So. He wanted to keep Avery a secret.
Tamara looked at Mason over her shoulder and shook her head. “You can’t actually believe her.”
“I’ve seen things,” he replied ambiguously. His gaze was locked on Mary’s, and just as always, she couldn’t look away. It was rather infuriating, how much influence he had over her. “Heard things. Felt things. I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble of getting you in here if I didn’t believe Mary was telling the truth.”
“So making out with me was trouble, now was it?”
“No, I rather enjoyed that part.” Mason smiled that knee-weakening smile of his, the one that made girls throw themselves at him in an instant. “You know I always have fun with you, Tammy.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Noah managed out.
“You and me both,” Mary muttered beneath her breath.
Tamara caught the sound. “What was that, Mary?”
“I was talking to Noah.”
Tamara was silent for a few moments, studying Mary with unreadable eyes. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest. Then Avery slipped away from Noah and walked up to stand before her, peering up at her curiously. A jolt ran through Tamara, causing her to stiffen and shiver. She must’ve felt the cold chill ghosts carried around with them. She was just as familiar with the sensation as Mary was.
Perhaps that was why she said, “Prove it.”
Mary opened her mouth, then closed it. How was she supposed to prove something like this? Tamara’s ghost equipment was at her house; they couldn’t waste any time going there, especially not this late at night, when ghosts—and demons— typically came out to play. Perhaps she could get Noah to make something float—but that would only confirm the presence of a ghost; it wouldn't identify it as Noah. She looked to him for help.
“Tell her about that day at the docks,” he said. Mary knitted her eyebrows, puzzled. “She’ll know what I’m talking about. Tell her it was raining, and she was crying, and I had my yellow rubber ducky raincoat on. The one that you two always made fun of me for.”
“Um,” Mary began, throwing confused looks over at Noah, “he wants me to tell you about the day at the docks? It was raining, and you were crying, and he was wearing that ridiculous toddler’s raincoat…”
Tamara’s eyes widened. Her face, smudged with makeup, was a mix of shock and—hope?
“Is that all he said?”
“Yeah,” Mary replied. “Why? Is there more..?” She turned back to Noah expectantly. His lips were pursed in an open display of hesitation. He parted them to speak but Tamara beat him to it.
“No, that’s all,” she said tonelessly, and something about the way she said those words led Mary to think that that wasn’t all. “Why did he have to bring that memory up?” Her voice was a pained whisper.
Noah shrugged. “It was the only secret I could remember that Mary didn’t know about.”
Mary echoed Noah’s words for Tamara to catch.
She shut her eyes and allowed her expression to crumple in pain. “I won’t believe it until I test it out with my equipment. I tried that, remember? Nothing came up.”
“I know. But that leads me to my next thing. The reason why I can see Noah in the first place, and the reason why we’re all in danger, is because I accidentally opened up a gate to Hell. Your equipment wouldn’t work because I was being haunted by demons the entire time. Noah told me so.”
Tamara appeared skeptical. “But demons can be picked up by EMF meters and even infrareds—“
“Not these demons. They’re smart and powerful enough to hide their presence—theirs and Noah’s. And now they’re killing people left and right. They killed Mrs. Schwartz. And Isaac. They want to kill me, too, yet I’m not sure why they haven’t yet.” Mary’s voice took on a pleading tone; she drilled her gaze into Tamara’s imploringly. “Tam, please. I need you to believe me. Noah and I… we can’t do this without you.”
Tamara was silent.
“I… I messed up,” Mary said quietly, lowering her gaze to the floor in shame. “I need to fix the mistake I’ve made.”
“Some mistakes can’t be fixed,” Tamara replied, a raw form of pain in her whispery voice. Then it turned hard and cold. “But it’s not like you would know that. This has to be the first time you’ve messed up ever. I never thought I’d see the day when Mary Durward did something wrong--aside from that night that changed everything.” The bitterness in her words stung. She sighed. “But at the same time… I don’t know if I can believe you, Mary. About any of this. I mean, after all that’s happened…”
“Tamara.” Mary took a step towards her and gestured to herself. “Look at me. And I mean really look at me. You’re smart, especially when it comes to reading people. Do I look like I’m lying to you? Do I look crazy?”
Mary allowed Tamara to observe her thoroughly, taking in her black flats, skinny jeans, floral-printed blouse and trench coat. Her gaze lingered on the cross on Mary’s neck, identical to her own. Her eyes roamed her face.
“No,” she sighed in defeat. “You look like Mary.” Tamara suddenly appeared very sad and tired; her painted face was worn, her clothes sagging. She glanced up at Mary, tears swimming in her eyes. “Is he really here? Noah?”
“Yes, I’m here,” Noah said softly. “I miss you, Tam.”
“Yes,” Mary replied. “He says he misses you.”
That did it. With nothing but a nod, Tamara cleared her throat and managed out an, “Excuse me,” before rushing across the room, through a bathroom door on the other side that Mary hadn’t noticed before. She locked it, barring anyone from entering except for a worried-looking Avery, who dissolved through the its wooden surface and followed her inside.
Mary found Mason’s gorgeous eyes from across the room and held them; his gaze was a bit unfocused, his pupils dilated. Then the sound of muffled sobs came over to them from the bathroom, and Mary broke their connection to fix her gaze on the door with concern.
“Well,” Mason said after a few beats of silence, “I think this is my cue to leave. I have a party to attend to.”
A shriek made everyone freeze in their places. It was coming from inside the bathroom, its grating pitch reminiscent of Tamara’s voice.
Noah disappeared, presumably to check on Tamara. Mary ran to the door and pounded on it.
“Tamara? What’s wrong?”
Tamara fumbled with the doorknob before the door finally unlocked and swung open. Mary was met with a pair of wide eyes and a pale face, both glistening with fresh tears.
“I just saw a man,” she said frantically. She hiccupped. “In the bathroom mirror, behind me. He was only there for a second and then—“
“Mary!” Noah called out from further inside the bathroom. Tamara was still talking to her, but Mary tuned her voice out, reducing it to an excited hum so that she could peer over her and focus on Noah. He sounded fearful. “Mary, it’s a demon—“
The moment the word left his mouth Mary saw it. Similar to when she saw a demon taking Mrs. Schwartz away, it zipped by Mary so quickly she could only make out a black shadowy blur of a figure, zooming past her at lightning speed with someone trailing quickly behind.
Mary’s heart nearly stopped. “Avery!”
“Avery?” she heard Mason and Tamara echo at the same time. In a flash Mason was at Mary’s side. “What happened?” he demanded.
“A demon has Avery,” Mary rushed out as she followed the demon out the door, into the hallway. Noah was on its tail, trying futilely to attack or reach for Avery. It was too fast. Avery struggled to yank herself away from the demon’s hold on her arm to no avail. Mary’s torso dug into the railing of the stairs; she peered down, assessing the one-story drop she would have to make if she didn’t take the spiral staircase. Meanwhile the demon floated straight ahead, into the air and out the other side of the house. It was now on the streets while Mary was still upstairs, rooted in her spot.
She didn’t realize Mason was talking to her until she felt an urgent tugging at her sleeve.
“Mary. Mary.”
Mary turned to him, matching the fear in her eyes with his own. “Noah went after it, but we need to follow them.”
Unlike last time with Mrs. Schwartz, Mason did not question Mary’s words. Instead he nodded and grabbed her hand, pulling her downstairs so fast she nearly tripped a few times. Once they reached the first floor, he tightened his hold on her and led her through the house, weaving through the rowdy crowd. Mary fought against the stifling feeling of bodies touching her and the heat and the blaring music. When they finally stepped outside, she wanted to stop and take a few gulps of fresh air but Mason kept her moving forwards, towards a set of garages built on the side of the house.
Soon they were on the streets, passing through the row of cypress trees lining the mansion’s entrance. The demon and Avery were nowhere in sight.
“Make a left at Archer road,” a familiar voice instructed. Mary turned around; it was Noah. His pale, transparent countenance was grave; his chocolate brown eyes were equal parts concerned and frightened. “If Mason drives fast enough, he’ll still be able to catch up.”
“Make a left at Archer road,” Mary told Mason. “Noah couldn’t get them; he’s here but he knows where they are. Step on it.”
Mason grunted and accelerated his sporty car, the engine’s roar echoing off into the silence of the night.
“Why would a demon want Avery?” Mary wondered aloud. Her heart was pounding; her mouth was dry as if her tongue were made of sandpaper. “I thought they were only targeting the living. It doesn’t make any sense—“
“I see them!” Noah interjected, pointing forwards. Mary followed his gaze. Sure enough the black misty figure was dragging Avery along, hovering just above the empty, paved road. The look of terror in the little girl’s eyes made Mary’s heart clench.
“We aren’t going to the cemetery,” Mason realized after Mary told him to make a right into an unknown street. “This is the road that leads to the outskirts of town. There’s nothing but barren land and roads here.”
“I don’t understand,” Mary said. “The demon should be taking her to the gate. Where else would it take her?”
“We’re about to find out,” he replied, then slammed the gas pedal so that the car was on full speed. Mary was pushed back against the leather seat in response to the force. The street was narrow and empty, with masses of trees framing either side. The only light came from the bright floodlights of the car, which bathed the cracked road in bright white light and illuminated far enough to see a bit further down ahead—
Mary gasped. Far off into the shadowy distance, she could make out a woman standing in the middle of the road— and Mary and Mason were heading straight towards her. Mary cried out and Mason slammed on the brakes, but the car wasn’t slowing down. It continued barreling forwards at lightning speed, closing the distance between it and the unmoving woman.
“What the hell?” Mason cursed as he tried the brakes again and again, his foot stomping on the pedal in vain. “Shit. The car’s out of control!”
Mary’s heart dropped to her stomach. “Try the wheel!”
He tried to swerve out of the way, but the wheel was locked in place, as if it were jammed.
“It’s not working either!”
“The demon did this!” Mary cried. “It took control of your car and now—“
“Mary,” Mason interjected sharply. He was still struggling to turn the wheel. “Less talking, more doing!”
Mary reached over and helped him, putting all her force into turning the wheel until her arm muscles burned and her fingers ached with strain. Noah was helping, too, staring intensely at the wheel to try and get it to bend to his will and move. She cast a glance out the windshield; the woman was only a few yards away.
Mary poked her head out the window; her hair flew wildly in a mass of billowing brown locks behind her. “Hey!” she called out to the lady, flailing her arms. “Get out of the way!”
The woman didn’t even blink.
“What the heck is wrong with her?” Noah demanded.
“She must be possessed.” Mary reached over to try and help Mason with the wheel again. Sweat trickled down her back and her pulse throbbed in her throat. The car was zooming closer and closer by the second. They weren’t going to make it. They were going to crash into this woman, and she was going to die a violent death, and the demon was going to get away with Avery. Mary was just about to give up when something of a miracle happened: the wheel gave way beneath her sweaty palms, sending the car swerving violently to the right just before its front made contact with the woman.
The next part happened so quickly she could hardly recall it afterwards.
The car was still out of Mason’s control, considering the high speeds he was going. Mary screamed and braced herself as it careened into the dense forest on the side of the street. The terrible screeching of tires attacked her ears. Her breath got caught in her throat. The floodlights illuminated a giant tree trunk, and Mary squeezed her eyes tightly, gripping the sides of her seat, preparing for impact.
You don’t really think about dying until death is staring at you right in the face.
It was the last thought Mary had before everything went black.
___________________________________________________________
A/N- Again, the writing's pretty bad; sorry - hopefully next chapter will be better. Anyway, what do you think about that cliffhanger? Is Mary going to be okay? And Mason? OH, and what about Tamara's reaction to finding out about Noah? I'm gonna go out and say that next chapter will be a shocker. Heh
This is a pretty important turning point in the rising action - after the next chapter the story's going to fall into a sort of rhythm that will lead to the eventual climax. Please let me know what you think of the story so far with your votes and comments!
Lastly, I'd like to thank you guys for all your support - this story is ranking in the What's Hot List which is pretty cool :) That's actually why I'm updating this so early; as my gift to you <3 c: Next update will be this weekend so until then!