AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not safe,” said the voice. “Wants you.”
All three of them looked over at me and I shrugged. “Bring it.”
“Sky!” Pax admonished. “No, no, no. You can’t say things like that. Provocation can only be done by the faithful—preferably a priest.” He pointed at himself with annoyance and then looked around nervously.
“What?” I asked. “This thing is really pissing me off now. I’m fucking tired of it messing with my head.”
Lark hurried over to me and took my free hand. “I know, Sky.” She gestured to Aaron and Pax. “We all do. But there are rules. And we follow them for a reason. Youknowthese rules. Dev and I taught them to you when you first joined the team. If you can’t follow those rules tonight, I’m not sure we can have you here.”
That just pissed me off more, but I took stock of how I was feeling and realized it wasn’t entirely like me. I was abnormally angry. And at those I knew were only trying to help me. Maybe Birdie was right. Perhaps this was a bad idea. Maybe I should just be alone for a while.
That thought hit me, too. Being alone was exactly thewrongidea. It was precisely what Dev had told usnotto do.
“Ugh, Christ. What’s that smell?” Aaron said and raised a hand to his nose.
It hit me as well then. Something like spoiled meat.
“We’re not alone,” Birdie said and looked around, her breath making the air cloud. It had dropped several degrees in an instant.
Paxton crossed himself and moved closer to me, reaching for my Handycam where I had it just hanging by my side.What the fuck?That was also completely unlike me because I knew that we were supposed to keep rolling at all times, no matter what happened. I shook my head and handed it over.
“Something’s going on, guys. I . . . I don’t feel right.”
Birdie just nodded and shared a look with Pax that I couldn’t quite translate.
“Maybe we should get her out of here,” Pax said and pointed the Handycam at Birdie.
The Wonder Box bleeped and blarted again, and a sinister voice came through this time.
“Too late.”
CHAPTER22
~Paxton~
Just as I registered what the voice on the Wonder Box had said, Sky flew through the air, looking as if she were jerked by a string through her abdomen. She didn’t stop until she slammed into the wall to my left, still at least two feet off the floor, and stuck to the drywall like a bug on flypaper.
Schuyler’s terrified screams ripped open something in me, and I barely registered Aaron and Birdie yelling and rushing to help her.
I couldn’t move. I was frozen with shock.
Suddenly, she seemed to go limp, and everything snapped back into place and restarted. I dropped the camera and rushed forward, moving to help Sky. Elbowing my way through Lark and Aaron, I had almost reached her when she slid up the wall andintoit, her limp body disappearing into the opening near the ceiling.
“NOOOOO!” I screamed, looking around for a ladder to get up there. Thankfully, Roch and the crew had left more equipment when they came to widen the wall opening.
I barely heard Birdie yelling a spell, and Aaron on the walkie, radioing the other team for help as I pulled the ladder over to the opening and crawled up and in. I tugged my cell out of my pocket and clicked on the flashlight app. The LED light didn’t reach far enough, but at least I could see.
“Padre!” someone yelled from down below, but I was too focused on looking around for Sky to really let it register. She had to be up here, and I had to find her. I panned the area again and thought I saw something in the far-left corner. I moved in that direction, only to stop short when a figure appeared right in front of me. At first, I thought it must be one of the mannequins that Sky had mentioned during our first trip to Lamour, but then it spoke.
“You must help her,” said the woman. When I moved my cellphone light closer, I saw that some light made its way through her. She was a ghost—the same one we had seen with Lance on the video.
“Seiko?” I asked.
She nodded and pointed, and I followed the line of her finger. There, on the dirt-strewn floor was my scapular. My stomach plummeted, and an ice-water rush of adrenaline-laced fear froze my veins. I bent and picked it up, noticing that the clasp was broken. I put it in my pocket and turned back to Seiko.
“Help—” She pointed, but before she could finish the sentence, another figure appeared. This one tall and thin in a robe. The same one we’d seen on the video. Lance. He sneered at me and then jerked Seiko back against him, both of them disappearing almost instantly.
I shone my light in the direction she had started to point when I heard noises behind me. I turned, ready to defend myself, when Dev and Larken came up behind me.
