Ghost Trackers (33 page)

“You’re full of shit!” Trevor snapped. “We managed to resist the Darkness, and you could’ve, too, if you’d really wanted to. But you wanted to be strong, wanted to have power like no one else had ever known.”

Greg said nothing, but an instant later, the lantern’s light winked out. Amber opened her eyes a crack and saw him illuminated in the beam of Drew’s flashlight. His burned lips formed a half-smile. “Don’t think it’s over,” he said. “The Darkness is loose now, like a genie that’s escaped its lamp, and it’s ready for you.”

Amber wasn’t certain what he was talking about, but then she noticed the basement walls rippling, as if they were made of some soft spongy substance. The ceiling did the same thing, as did the concrete floor beneath their feet. She started to lose her balance, so she reached out toward Drew and Trevor. The three of them grabbed hold of one another and huddled close to keep from being knocked off their feet.

“The Darkness was, for all its age, inexperienced the last time you encountered it,” Greg said. “It reached out for you like a toddler stretching out its hands to try to grasp hold of a toy it wanted, and you were able to run away from it. But it’s learned a lot since then.”

Pseudopods emerged from every surface in the basement. Thick tentacles formed of wood, plaster, and concrete extended toward them, wrapped
around their legs, caught hold of their arms, encircled their chests, coiled around their necks. The tentacles pulled them away from one another until they were no longer touching. Amber tried to reach out toward Drew and reestablish physical contact, but she was bound tight in the tentacles’ hold and could barely breathe, let alone move. She thought she heard a soft whispering just beneath the threshold of hearing. A voice speaking words that she couldn’t make out but could sense the meaning of. It promised her strength, promised her power, promised to show her sights beyond anything she’d ever imagined. All she had to do in order to accept its gifts was submit and let it in.

She fought to resist the voice, but its promises were so tempting. She’d lived the life of an invalid for so many years, gotten by only with the help of copious amounts of meds. The Darkness promised her that if she let it in, she’d never feel weak or scared again. Tempting . . .
so
tempting . . .

The tentacles had reached around Greg, leaving him untouched. “I’m not going to lie to you. The change is going to be unpleasant, but it’ll go more easily if you don’t resist. But either way, in the end, you’ll belong to the Darkness just as I do. I’m so excited! I can’t wait to share the things I’ve learned with you.” He turned to Drew. “And don’t worry. I’ll be happy to share Amber, too.” His smile became a leer. “After all, we’re going to be one big, happy family.”

The tentacles had left their mouths uncovered, and Drew shouted, “Don’t do this! You might feel like you don’t have a choice, but you do!”

Greg sighed. “Really? I thought you said I wasn’t human anymore, that I was just a fossil. If that’s true, how can I have a choice? Make up your mind.”

“I was wrong,” Drew said. “You still have some humanity left inside you. Maybe just a spark or a distant echo, but it’s there.”

The whispering grew louder, threatening to crowd out Amber’s thoughts. She felt herself growing weaker, becoming almost drowsy, but she forced herself to ignore the voice’s urgings and focus on Greg. “He’s right. If you weren’t still human, at least a little, you’d never have gotten lonely, never have sought us out and brought us back here to join you.”

“And if you’re still human, you
do
have a choice,” Trevor insisted, “whether you want to believe it or not. That means Sean and Jerry died not because some big, bad bogeyman made you do it but because they pissed you off back in high school, and fifteen years later, you decided to get back at them. End of story.”

The voice inside Amber’s head had grown so loud by this point that she had trouble hearing Trevor speak.

Greg still smiled, but he looked uncertain now.

“Do you really like what you’ve become?” she
asked, barely able to hear her own voice. “Is that what you want for us? For me? If you truly care about us, you won’t let this happen!”

The last of Greg’s smile fell away. “I . . . I don’t know.”

“We could’ve been better friends to you,” Drew said. “
Should’ve
been. But we were just kids. We all were. You can’t condemn us because of that.”

The tentacles of wood and concrete that had hold of Amber tightened, as if the Darkness was becoming worried. The voice inside her head became even louder, and now it seemed as if it was screaming at her to listen to it and nothing else.

She spoke again, although she could no longer hear her own voice and wasn’t certain that any words emerged from her mouth. “Separating us so we can’t touch doesn’t matter, Greg. Drew, Trevor, and I were united the first time the Darkness tried to claim us, and our minds and spirits are just as united now. Even more so because of what you’ve put us through this weekend. Thanks to you, we’re stronger than we’ve ever been.”

And it was true. She could feel it, feel Drew and Trevor with her, their minds and spirits one. And together they directed their combined positive energy at the voice shrieking inside them. That was all a cleansing ritual was, after all. Positive energy versus negative, one pushing against the other, fighting to nullify it and cast it out. She felt their energy pushing against the Darkness,
and at first, it seemed as if there was no hope, for the Darkness was so old, so powerful, and it wasn’t just the negative energy that had built up on the site of the Lowry House. It was the combined energy of the dozens, maybe hundreds, of Bad Places that Greg had visited and drained over the years. How could the three of them, no matter how unified their spirits, stand against such power? They were, in the end, only human.

Her vision went blurry around the edges, and she felt her identity slipping away, her thoughts being replaced by those of the voice.

In one last, desperate attempt to resist the Darkness, she reached out to Drew and Trevor in the only way she could now, calling out to them with her mind and her heart.

She found Trevor first, heard his response inside her mind, far softer than the Darkness’s voice but still there, still able to be heard.
Amber? Is that you?

She felt a wave of relief.
Yes! Can you feel Drew? We need to connect to him, too, so the three of us can stand against the Darkness together
.

I’ll try
, Trevor thought.

She felt him add the strength of his willpower to hers, and together they stretched out their minds toward Drew. He didn’t respond at first, and she feared that they weren’t going to be able to reach him, perhaps because deep down, he still didn’t believe in psychic communication. She redoubled
her efforts, concentrating on how she felt about him, and she reached out to him with her love.

She called his name as loudly as she could.
Drew? Drew!

Amber? I . . . feel you. What’s happening? How are you—

No questions
, she thought, with more than a little amusement. Even now, in the midst of all of this, he was still being analytical.
Just trust me
.

She felt a wave of his love wash over her.
Absolutely
.

Trevor broke in then.
So, now that we’re hooked up in a three-way psychic conference call, what do we do?

We perform the cleansing ritual
, she said.
We pool our energy against the Darkness and kick it to the curb
.

She closed her eyes, sensed that Drew and Trevor did the same, and pictured the Darkness as a black wall of solid shadow standing before them. She imagined the three of them stepping forward and placing their hands against the wall’s ebon surface and was surprised to feel a sensation of freezing cold against her palms, as if she were literally touching the wall. She ignored the sensation and imagined the three of them pushing against the wall, leaning forward and really putting their backs into it. The wall didn’t budge at first, so the three friends pushed harder, giving it everything they had. And the wall retreated, not far but enough to
prove that they
could
move it, and the knowledge that it was possible boosted their confidence and fueled their determination, giving them renewed strength.

But no matter how hard they pushed after that, the wall moved no farther, and soon it began advancing again, inch by inch, forcing them backward, and no matter how hard they fought, they were unable to slow its inexorable advance.

It’s not enough!
Trevor said. We’re
not enough! We might’ve been able to counter the Darkness when we were teenagers, but it’s grown so much stronger over the years. Our combined energy isn’t a match for it!

Then we need more
, Drew said.

At first, Amber didn’t know what he meant, but then she remembered that the three of them weren’t alone here.

She reached out to Greg’s mind. As psychically powerful as he’d become, connecting to him was as simple as taking a breath.
Greg, I’m talking to the part of you that’s still human. We need you. Help us—please!

The thought-voice that answered her sounded nothing like the cocky, self-assured adult Greg. Instead, it belonged to a confused teenage boy.
Amber? Drew? Trevor? What are you guys doing here? Where
is
here, anyway? I feel funny . . . like I’ve been asleep for a long time, and I just woke up
.

There’s no time to explain
, Trevor said.
A dark
force is trying to take us over, and we need you to help us fight it
.

I’m not sure what you mean, but I feel something here with us. Something bad
. Really
bad. And so very strong. I don’t think I can help you. I’m . . . I’m scared to try
.

This might not make much sense
, Drew said.
But connected the way we are now, I hope you’ll be able to sense the truth of my words. That bad thing you sense got hold of you fifteen years ago, and it changed you. Turned you into a monster and made you do terrible things. And now it wants to do the same to us
.

In her mind’s eye, Amber still saw the three of them pushing against the great dark wall, but now teenage Greg appeared. He stood close by, looking at the wall with a mixture of confusion and fear, but he didn’t step forward to help them.

What can I do?
he asked.

What the hell does it look like?
Trevor said.
Get over here and help us push!

Greg still looked scared, but he came forward and joined them, taking up a position on Amber’s right. He took in a hissing breath when his flesh came in contact with the wall’s cold black surface, but he didn’t remove his hands.

The four of them pushed, fully reunited for the first time. The wall’s advance slowed, then stopped, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t push it back.

We’re still not enough
, Drew said.
The best we can manage is a stalemate
.

So what does that mean?
Amber asked.
That we’re going to be stuck here for the rest of our lives, pushing against this damned wall?

Maybe longer
, Trevor said.
Our physical bodies will die of thirst in a few days, but our spirits could be trapped here, battling the Darkness forever
.

They continued putting all of their psychic strength into pushing back the wall, but it was no use. It couldn’t advance any farther, but they couldn’t force it to retreat. Trevor’s dire assessment of the situation began to seem more likely, and Amber wondered what it would be like to remain trapped like this, fighting to hold back the Darkness for the rest of eternity.

I won’t allow that to happen
, Greg said.
Not to the three of you. And especially not to you, Amber. I don’t remember everything that happened to me, but I remember enough. I know I chose to let the Darkness take me, and on some level, I was aware of what I was doing all those years. I can’t make up for the awful things I’ve done, but I can keep from hurting the three of you. Good-bye, Amber. Take care of her, Drew. And Trevor? See you on the other side someday
.

Amber watched as Greg pulled his hands away from the wall. He looked at her and gave her a last smile before once more facing the wall and stepping toward it. The dark surface parted like water
to accept his body, sealing up behind him as he passed through.

She felt a sudden twist of vertigo, and then she was standing within a pool of light in the middle of a gym floor. Drew still had hold of the flashlight he’d brought into the rec center, and Trevor still held his tire iron. Greg—adult again, scarred and bald—lay on the floor in front of them, unmoving.

“No,” she whispered.

Drew rushed forward to check Greg’s pulse. He started performing CPR, but after several minutes, he checked Greg’s pulse again and shook his head. “He’s gone.”

“Unless this is another illusion,” Trevor said.

“It doesn’t feel like one,” Amber said.

After a moment, Trevor nodded. “You’re right. It doesn’t.”

Drew rejoined them and put an arm around her shoulders.

She encircled his waist with her arms and pressed her body close to his for comfort. “What happened?” she asked. “Is the Darkness gone?”

“I think so,” he said. “I’m not sure how, but it appears Greg sacrificed himself to save us. It looks like he died the same way Sean and Jerry did. His heart gave out.”

“Did the Darkness kill him?” she asked.

“No,” Trevor said. “Remember how he told me he’d see me on the other side someday? He wanted to draw the Darkness away from us, and there was
only one place he could take it where it couldn’t get to us. He used his psychic abilities to will his physical body to die, and since the Darkness was bound to his spirit, when he crossed over to the afterlife, he pulled the Darkness along with him. He not only saved us, but he also made sure the evil he’d collected over the years could never hurt anyone again.”