Laure Donavan 2 - Ghouls Night Out (26 page)

The woman answered after the first
ring. “Yeah,” she said breathlessly.

Had I dialed the wrong number? “Is
this Dixie?”

“
Yes.”

“
This is Larue Donavan from
Book Nook.”

“
I guess you heard about
Karyn,” she said around a sigh.

“
I did. I went to visit
her. She didn't look good.”

“
It’s just awful. We're all
having a hard time dealing with it. I sense an edge to your voice,
is something wrong with you? If it’s the coven leader stuff, please
don’t worry about that now. We’ll find someone else,” she
said.

“
Of course the coven leader
thing is on my mind, but that’s not all. I have other
problems.”

Seth, Mae, and Anthony paced in front
of me, listening to my side of the conversation.

“
Does it have to do with
Brianna's cousin?” she asked.

“
How'd you know?” My
anxiety increased at the mere mention of Cooper.

“
We've been watching him. A
few things have happened that made us suspicious.”

“
So, I guess Becky told you
about him?”

“
Well, no, she didn’t
mention him.”

“
That’s odd. Becky told me
she’d spoken with the coven members.” Why would Becky lie to me?
“Anyway, back to the point, surely, Mr. Garret knew the coven would
keep a close eye on him. Why would he come to town and try funny
business?”

“
Why don’t you tell me
exactly what has happened,” Dixie said.

“
It's my friend Mindy. She
connected with Cooper right away, and it didn't take long until she
wasn’t herself. She's shut me out and, quite frankly, said a lot of
nasty things that I know just aren't her true feelings. I
confronted Cooper about it but, of course, he denies it. Becky
mentioned that performing witchcraft can attract demonic spirits
and that maybe I’d brought one back to Mindy. Something tells me
it’s Cooper though.”

“
I’m not sure where to
start to figure this out. I’m not going to lie, Larue, since
Karyn’s been gone, we’ve been lost. Her guidance was invaluable to
us. Things have been a mess without her.”

“
And yet, she wanted me to
be the leader?”

“
Don’t underestimate
yourself. If Karyn had faith in you, then I believe you’d be
wonderful for the job.”

“
I do trust Karyn but, with
her in the hospital, me being the leader isn’t even an
option.”

“
I have faith that she’ll
get better.” Her voice trailed off.

“
So can you help me? I
suspect Cooper's placed a spell on Mindy. My fear is that he’s
going after Callahan Weiss now.”

“
I'm afraid without Karyn's
help, I don't know what to do, but I can give it a try. I can't
guarantee that it’ll work.”

“
It's an emergency, you
know. I don't know what he'll try next. I have to try anything. Can
we meet to cast a spell?”

“
I'll call everyone and see
if they can meet tonight. If not, I'll call you back, but plan on
meeting us in the same spot in the woods around midnight. Remember,
without Karyn's guidance, it’ll be hard. You'll have to focus and
use all of your energy.”

Could I focus anymore than I had last
time? I wasn’t sure I was cut out for witchcraft. I needed to stick
with talking to ghosts.

“
I do my best, and thank
you, Dixie. I'll see you tonight.”

The weight on my shoulders felt
heavier than ever. Use all of my energy, she said. That wouldn't be
easy. All my energy was going toward the ghosts—there was only so
much energy I had to spare.

“
Guys, you have to back off
tonight. I need my energy to help Mindy. It's
important.”

They nodded, but somehow I didn't
think they could help but drain my energy, not as long as they hung
around. They didn't realize how much get-up-and-go they took from
me. What I really wanted was for them to cross over, but until I
got to the bottom of why they were hanging around in the first
place, I didn't think that would happen. So it looked as if I was
stuck with these outlandish characters for heaven knew how much
longer. I needed to train them to do my work for me while they were
around. Maybe then they would get sick of working and move
on.

Tonight, I’d meet the coven in the
woods just outside of town. A scary place, but I prayed I wouldn't
be as spooked this time. It wouldn’t be the same without
Karyn.

A greasy burger and fries was the only
comfort I’d find tonight. I missed burrito and margarita night with
Mindy. Would we ever get that again? On my way out of town, I
grabbed some comfort food and headed home. You could have heard a
pin drop on the inside of my car as we traveled down the back roads
toward my house. Could the ghosts feel my anxiety? It had to have
an effect on them.

In spite of the extra cheese on my
fries, most of the food remained untouched.

“
What I wouldn’t do to eat
those,” Mae said as she looked longingly at the food. “You
shouldn’t waste it.”

“
I don’t have much of an
appetite.” I yawned and stood from my comfy spot on the sofa. “I’m
off to bed.”

With a few hours to spare before the
big meeting, I decided to nap. As was my usual ritual of late, I
placed the chair under the knob of the front door, then collapsed
onto my cozy bed. Not taking any chances, I set the alarm. I didn't
want to be late for the activities. Eleven p.m. would give me
plenty of time to sleep, then get ready for the big event. Luckily,
it was only a five-minute drive.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

In spite of what waited for me, I
slept surprisingly easy. I tossed and turned a little, worrying
about the outcome, but eventually dozed off. At eleven, I reached
over and turned off the alarm.

“
I wouldn't have let you
oversleep,” Anthony said.

I forced my eyelids open. Anthony
stood in front of the bed. His form was clear, as if he were living
and breathing. His chest and arm muscles bulged beneath his T-Shirt
and his white smile gleamed.

“
What am I going to do with
you?” I mumbled.

His smile faded and he lowered his
gaze. “I don't know.”

He turned, walked across the room,
then sat in the chair by the fireplace. I shuffled over to the
chair. I wanted to reach out and wrap my arms around him, but that
was impossible. All I could do was offer words. I’d spent so much
time with my problems that I’d ignored Anthony, Mae, and
Seth.

“
There’s more for you on
the other side, you know? I know there are things you wish you'd
done while on this earth, but it's too late.” I lowered my tone to
just above a whisper. This was always the hardest part. “There's
nothing you can do to change the outcome now. Heck, I bet you can
play music all day long in heaven.”

He chuckled. “You think
so?”

I nodded. “I think you'll be there
with all the great artists of the Fifties. Heck, you can see Elvis.
How great will that be?”

“
I'll think about it.
Okay?” He looked away.

“
All right.” I nodded. “I'm
getting dressed now, so scram. And I mean really scram. You’d
better not hide.” I warned with a point of my finger.

“
Do you need my help?” He
wiggled his eyebrows.

“
Um, no.”

He laughed and disappeared. Now I
never knew for sure that they weren’t hanging around. I grabbed a
thick sweater from the closet, then pulled on my favorite pair of
jeans. Grabbing my coat, I headed out the door.

The wind howled and I pulled my coat
closer. The cool fall air of day had turned to cold. My car
puttered along as I traveled down the long driveway. Turning onto
the road, my steering wheel almost pointed in the direction of the
meeting on its own, as if not letting me back out. After navigating
the back roads, I pulled down the dirt path that led to the
secluded spot.

Other cars lined the road just like
last time. Only this time, Karyn was missing, and I didn't know how
we would do this without her. But I was thankful that these people
were willing to give it a try. Apparently, they wanted to stop
Cooper from performing black magic as much as I did.

Dixie stood beside her truck when I
pulled up. She was younger than I’d expected. We were about the
same age. Her auburn-colored hair came down on her neck in big
waves. She was dressed for the occasion with jeans and a thick
black jacket.

When I climbed out from behind the
wheel, she said, “Are you ready? The others are waiting. You look a
little sick.”

I nodded.

“
Don’t worry, we'll tell
you what to do.” She patted me on the back.

“
I'll follow your lead,” I
said.

The last time I was out there, I
hadn't known what to think of the situation and the people. At
least now, I felt as though I could rely on them. If Karyn said
they were okay, then I knew I could trust her word.

Dixie walked in front, and I trailed
along behind her down the narrow path. I couldn't believe that in
such a short time I was back where all this magic had started…this
time without Karyn. I prayed she would be well soon. What kind of
black magic were we dealing with, anyway? Did Cooper possess powers
stronger than Brianna? He had to if he had two people under his
spell.

Leaves floated to the ground around
us, crunching under my feet as we moved along. The wind whistled
between the branches. The moon was out, but half as full as it had
been the first time I’d tried magic. The moon had to be full for
the spell to work back then. Would that be the case this time, too?
Would it not work? I had no choice but to give it a try.

The night air was crisp so I pulled my
coat closer, but it did little to fend off the chill. I held the
flashlight in front of me. My hand shook, making the light bounce
up and down. Uneasiness crept over me, as if it trailed behind me,
waiting to pounce. I glanced over my shoulder. The gang followed
along. Never mind that I’d told them to stay behind.

“
What are you doing here?”
I whispered.

They didn’t answer. Now they decided
to be quiet? Of all times. There was nothing I could do about them
at that moment. Telling them to get lost wasn’t an option. I'd have
to focus and try my best with them around. I prayed they didn’t
steal any of my energy.

We neared the spot where the magic
would be performed. The sound of the other coven members grew
louder, as they chatted while waiting for us. My flashlight
flickered.

“
The batteries must be
low,” Dixie whispered.

Thank goodness, Dixie had a powerful
one to help lead the way. My ghost friends must have drained my
batteries. As I took a few more steps, my flashlight went out.
Damn.

“
Don't worry about it. My
light is extra duty. It could light up a football game.”

I placed my useless light in my coat
pocket. The others stood in a circle, waiting for me, the guest of
honor. Another coven member held a bag. More than likely it was
filled with the contents for me to perform the spell. The woman
began removing them when she saw me approach. Candles, a small
bowl, and a few other things that were too small for me to make
out. I stood back from the circle, not quite making it all the way
to where they stood. I’d wait until they told me what to do. I'd
only done this once, so I didn't want to assume I knew what I was
doing. And Karyn thought I could lead the coven? If they needed a
book, I could get it. If they wanted to get rid of a ghost, I could
do it. Well, most of the time, I could, but magic? No
way.

As I stood there waiting, a glimpse of
something moved out of the corner of my eye. A shadow darted behind
a tree. The shadow was back? My breath caught in my throat for a
second, but I tried to remain calm. Maybe it was someone in our
group. I looked around the circle. It was full except for where I
was supposed to be standing. Dixie turned and motioned for me to
join the circle, and then turned back to focus on the
others.

As I moved one foot forward, arms
reached from behind me. One hand covered my mouth. I lost my
footing, stumbling to the ground. Someone was dragging me away from
the group, and no one even noticed. No one heard my struggle; my
scream silenced by the hand over my mouth. I thrashed about, trying
to free myself from the tight grasp. The person was too
strong.

Hot breath blew on my neck. I
attempted another scream, but no noise could escape the tight grasp
of the hand. My legs scraped along the cold wet ground. Crunching
from what sounded like boots pounded the ground as we moved away
from the coven. A strangely familiar earthy scent hit my nostrils,
but not from the soil; it came from my kidnapper. The size of the
hand let me know my assailant was a male. But who? The person who
broke into my house and the store? The person who had been
following me? It had to be. Was it Cooper Garret? A fog entered my
brain, keeping me from thinking clearly. Possibly from lack of
oxygen. My face and neck throbbed under the pressure.