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Silence. Then from the speaker of Raven’s phone music begins to play. It’s the song “The Reaper.”
“Are they trying to warn us about something? Or is the app broken?” I ask. “Wolf, is that you?” I say into her phone.
Death. Danger. Flames. The words appear on the screen, rotating every few seconds. A silence falls between us.
"Is that a warning for us?” Raven whispers.
“Maybe he is just telling us about his demise. The tour guide told us about that earlier. Fire would be a bad way to die,” Jayce comments before asking, “Are you guys ready to get out of here? Maybe next time we go play with ghosts, we come better equipped? Sneaking around is fun, but these words are starting to freak me out.”
“Rav, see if you can turn off that music. That will be a dead giveaway that we are here.” She gives me a frantic look as she tries but nothing stops it.
“I can't because there is no app open for it to be playing. I’ll try and shut it off. That should stop it,” she says as she powers the phone down.
But it still continues to play.
We might be in over our heads now…
Raven
My heart races as I try everything short of slamming my phone into the tiled floors to make the music stop. If it wasn’t my life line at times, I would smash it to pieces.
“Wolf, please,” I beg as I look at Eli and Jayce like they might have answers. Neither of which give me a good suggestion on what to do. Jayce runs to the window and curses as he suddenly drops down low.
“Security is rounding this way,” he announces. At the same time, our spirit box clicks back to life for one last word.
“Warning.”
“It’s a warning for us?” I ask, finally making sense of the conversation. At that, my music shuts off, the silence is deafening as it spreads between us. Dread fills in the empty spaces, icy and overwhelming as I put together all of the words he set out before this. A loud creak has us turning to see a back door opening up by itself down the hall, the field behind the building coming into view.
“That’s our escape,” Eli hisses, taking my hand and pulling me with him. My other hand snakes out and latches onto Jayce to pull him with us. It might be crazy to follow the warnings and assistance of a ghost, but at this point, we won’t turn down the help.
When we get out into the night, we walk to the edge of the building and peek around, trying to see where security is now. There’s no sign of them which means they must have detoured for another building. Luck must be on our side.
“Get to the car,” Jayce urges frantically. He’s the good boy of the group and this breaking and entering stuff isn’t exactly his style. Not that it really is mine, either. I feel a bit bad for pushing him so far out of his element, but another side of me is glad. He got to witness activity firsthand and no longer can doubt what I’ve always believed in.
We race across the now dewy grass, slipping and sliding our way to the parking lot. Our car isn’t the only one there. And somehow, no one spots us as we slip inside. Eli turns the key and the car makes a sad clicking sound.
“Wolf,” I plead. “You have to let us go.” Now my fear level is spiking along with the dread of his warning. What is he trying to save us from? Are we heading for certain death now? A shiver runs down my spine at the idea.
“I’ll drive carefully,” Eli promises. “I want to keep them safe, too.”
He tries again after a few beats of silence and the car turns over, the engine roaring to life. There has never been a better sound and I let out a sigh of relief. Eli keeps his word, backing out slowly and driving carefully. His knuckles are white as he holds onto the steering wheel.
“Are we still stopping? Because I’m no longer hungry,” Jayce mutters from the back, his voice wavering slightly. The poor guy is scared for his life now. I turn around and offer him a smile, though I know it’s strained.
“We can just head back to my place,” I offer. That has him relaxing, just a little. “If anything we can order after some sleep.”
“I’m going to have a complex now, every time I drive,” Eli groans. “This is torture. There’s no one even on the road.”
“Maybe he was just messing with us?” I offer but it doesn’t hold much conviction. Apparently, Wolf followed us, because the radio immediately turns on to white noise, the sound so loud I crush my hands over my ears in protest.
“Fuck,” Eli curses, swerving a little as he tries to turn it off but, of course, nothing happens.
“I’m sorry, okay!” I screech out, covering my ears against the audio assault. “We get it. You’re not messing with us.”
The radio shuts off again, but the damage is done. We’re so on edge that the air is now thick with it. No words are spoken as he winds down the back roads toward my house. My eyes gaze through the field surrounding us, afraid of deer or anything that might pop out of nowhere and cause an accident.
“There’s your place,” Eli says, like we’ve found sanctuary. My small, two-bedroom rental is like a beacon in the rising sunlight and we let out a collective sigh of relief. Just as we pass the intersection, a flash of lights has me screaming out, a big pickup truck barreling toward us at full speed. My scream is cut off as Eli tries to lurch forward, the truck still managing to hit our back end, sending us into a tailspin toward the thick oak tree on the corner. Our screams are joined by the radio flipping to life, The Reaper blasting as we make contact with the tree, the crunching of metal followed by excruciating pain. Then darkness pulls me from the scene and into sweet nothingness.
