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“No rumors of magical water or something?” Oliver asked.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Cody said, frowning at him.
“I’m asking questions to try and understand why she’s brought them to this spot,” Oliver said. “It’s got to have some significance. If we can figure out why they’re here in this particular spot, we can work out a way to get them back, not just physically but mentally as well.”
“No magical water I’m aware of,” Katherine said.
“All right, enough talking about it,” Cody said. “Let’s go try to wake them up.”
Oliver stood alongside Cody and, after a moment’s hesitation, led the way out from the woods to the clearing. He heard Cody following, but when he looked back, he saw Katherine had remained behind, watching from the shelter of the bushes.
“Think she’ll take off?” Oliver asked.
Cody sighed. “Probably. Once she sees what happens here. It’s up to us now, Ollie.”
“Great.”
Oliver was on high alert, looking all around the clearing for any sign of the ghost. He hadn’t actually seen anything yet that could be considered ghostly or spooky. Katherine had been behind the screams, ransacking, and the face outside the window, so he wasn’t really sure what to look for. A white sheet with eye holes? Taking slow, careful steps, he approached Dave and stood in front of him. At the sight of Dave’s slack expression, tears flooded Oliver’s eyes. Gone was the keen intelligence and his handsome and seemingly omnipresent half-smirk. His eyes were glassy, staring at a point past Oliver, with the corners of his mouth turned down.
“Jesus,” Cody whispered from where he stood in front of Demetrius. “He looks like a fucking zombie.”
“Yeah,” Oliver said. When he heard the emotional quaver in his voice, he cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah. Dave looks that way, too.”
“Hey, Demmy,” Cody said in a quiet and loving voice. “Hey, baby. You in there? Can you hear me?”
“Dave? Honey, it’s Oliver. Are you able to hear me?” Oliver touched Dave’s hand, then jerked back at the cold feel of his skin. “He’s freezing cold.” He looked at Cody. “Is Demetrius cold too?”
Cody grabbed one of Demetrius’s hands then quickly released it and wiped his palm against his jeans. “Yeah. It’s like he’s made out of ice.”
“Look out!”
Katherine’s warning came a few seconds too late. A blur of white zipped between them, followed by a blast of frigid air that knocked Oliver off his feet. He sat up and saw Cody on the ground as well, and they looked at each other in confusion.
“What the fuck was that?” Cody said.
“It’s her!” Katherine shouted, still hiding behind the bushes. “It’s the Vixen.”
Oliver looked behind him and went very still. A woman stood at the edge of the trees on the other side of the clearing. Her brunette hair was long and thick, tall on top and held out of her face by a wide maroon band. The color of the hairband matched her tight sweater, and a green plaid skirt hugged the curves of her hips. As Oliver stared, the woman seemed to flicker, as if she was an image projected onto thin air.
Okay, so no white sheet with eye holes.
“Rebecca, we’re not here for you. We’re here for our partners.”
Cody’s strong and steady voice snapped Oliver out of his shock. He saw Cody on his feet, crossing the clearing toward the ghost, hands extended. What the hell was he doing?
“Just let us take them out of here, and we’ll go. We’ll leave here and never bother you again.”
The ghost watched his slow approach, flickering every so often. Oliver had a bad feeling about the situation and got to his feet. He’d had one of the pokers in his hand but dropped it when he’d been knocked down. Where had that gone?
As he looked around the muddy ground for the poker, Oliver caught movement from the corner of his eye and snapped his head up. Demetrius had started walking, moving up fast behind Cody but still with that slack and distant expression.
“Cody, behind you!” Oliver shouted.
Cody spun quickly around and dropped to a half-crouch. When he saw Demetrius, he rose and his face lit up. There was so much joy and love in Cody’s expression, it made Oliver’s heart ache at what he was certain was about to happen.
“Demmy!” Cody reached a hand toward Demetrius.
Demetrius knocked Cody’s hand aside and took a swing at him. Cody barely dodged the punch and took a few steps back, hands up as if in surrender.
