Page 45 of Into the Dark

The candle flame flickered.

Chris’s voice was almost a whisper, as if afraid the ghost would change her mind if she heard him. “She’s going for the box.”

A mist formed before Oscar’s eyes, so faint he doubted anyone not attuned to ghostly energies would have been able to see it. It thickened around the flame, which shrank closer and closer to the wick?—

“She’s in!” Nigel shouted.

Adrienne slammed the lid shut.

The EMF reader instantly fell silent. The sense of anger beating against Oscar’s skin vanished as well. Slowly the air began to warm again, and the atmosphere of the room felt somehow lighter.

“Did it work?” Zeek asked.

Oscar nodded. “It worked.”

Nigel ran over, dropped to his knees, and hugged him. “That was terrifying. Are you all right?”

Oscar leaned into the embrace for a moment, before gently pulling away. “I’m fine.”

Adrienne took out another candle, this one black, and lit it. Holding it at an angle, she carefully dripped the wax onto the edges of the box’s lid to seal it shut.

Zeek bounded to his feet. “Fuck yeah! We did it.” He held up a hand to Chris, who reluctantly high-fived him. “I can’t wait to see the footage. The fans are going to go crazy!”

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

“So she’s trappedin this cube,” Ms. Montague said, turning the Devil’s Toy Box over in her hands.

They’d returned to find her waiting for them in the command center, dressed in a gray suit with lavender blouse, not a hair out of place despite the late hour. She might have been on her way to a high-powered board meeting.

In contrast, Dr. Lawson looked like she was ready for a camping trip, in her flannel shirt, jeans, and well-worn boots. “For now, at least,” she said.

Ms. Montague arched one shaped brow. “What do you mean by that, Ruthie?”

“We can’t leave her in there forever. It wouldn’t be ethical.”

Ordinarily, Nigel would agree. But after watching the nurse’s outline looming over Oscar on the SLS, he wasn’t feeling very charitable. “We also can’t let her go back in the asylum. She’s too dangerous.”

“Let me worry about that.” Ms. Montague passed the box to Ethan.

Dr. Lawson’s eyes narrowed. “Patricia…”

“I was against your teams working together,” Montague said, turning to them as though Dr. Lawson hadn’t even spoken.“Although I’m not entirely pleased you proceeded without permission, the results have been very satisfactory, so I’m inclined to let the matter go.”

Nigel felt Oscar stiffen slightly beside him, but neither of them spoke. Best to let the matter drop rather than risk antagonizing her.

“So what next?” Zeek asked. “It’s only midnight—are we going back in?”

“I think we should,” Oscar said, glancing at the rest of them for confirmation. “With the nurse out of the way, hopefully we can re-establish contact with the spirits she was trying to keep quiet.”

“And find out what she didn’t want us to know,” Adrienne said darkly.

“Maybe we can reach the doctor, the one you saw in the mirror before it broke.” Zeek grabbed his camera. “Let’s do it.”

The two of them left, and Chris and Oscar began gathering their equipment once again. Nigel took a fresh tissue and blew his nose; his head and chest both felt packed with cotton. Still, he wasn’t running a fever, and judging by the trip to the library, it would pass as soon as he was away from whatever he was so allergic to.

“I have a question, Ms. Montague,” he said, folding the tissue and tossing it in the wastebasket by Tina’s desk.

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