Page 28 of Chasing Ghosts
The voice is so faint and drifts off at the end, but when I look over at Cori, it seems like she can still hear whatever is in front of us.
“He used the book to make sure his soul was trapped here so he could still collect his thirteen wives.” She runs back in and grabs the leather-bound book. “I knew it felt awful when I held it. I just didn’t realize how awful.”
“Who…who was that?” Theo asks everyone, but we all know who is going to answer.
“I think…I think it’s Christina Thompson.”
“Wait…you mean the girl whose boyfriend drowned her near the dock?”
Cori nods for him.
“And you can…you can see her?”
She looks at me and Roxie before slowly nodding her head.
“What are we waiting on? Let’s go save the day.” And that is why I chose Theo, because when it comes right down to it, he is one more chill person.
We slowly make our way to the middle of the island and try to be as silent as we possibly can. It’s easy to do when overhead thunder starts to rumble. Lightning forks across the darkening sky as the clouds block out the sun.
When we make it to the waterfall, we see Drake standing over Ripley, who has blood caked on one side of her head.
“What’s he doing?” Theo asks the question we’re all wondering.
“I think…I think Drake’s been…possessed. I think that’s what happened to Christina’s boyfriend. Jebidiah Anders…took control of him somehow and made him kill her. I think he’s going to do the same thing to Drake and Ripley.
Drake drags Ripley into the water about knee-deep and starts muttering something that reminds me of Latin.
Right beside me, Cori speaks up, “I think he’s speaking Latin.”
And then right before our eyes, he starts choking her and trying to hold her under the water.
“No!” I shout it, but it is echoed by the three others standing beside me. So much for the element of surprise. “Drake! Stop! Stop hurting her! This isn’t you!”
I doubt he’s going to listen to reason, but it’s worth a try. When he turns to look back at us, his face breaks into a smile that chills my blood. It’s something I will see in nightmares for a long time to come. His eyes seem hollow and dark as he pushes Ripley’s head under the water, and we all watch as she fights for her life.
“We have to do something!” When I look beside me, I realize Cori is gone. My eyes snap around and find her creeping in the water, getting closer and closer to Drake/Jebidiah. Roxie spots her too.
“I think she’s already doing it.” She whispers beside me.
“Fuck.”
I watch as she stands right behind Drake as he’s drowning Ripley, and my heart feels like it’s suddenly outside my body, walking around with the woman who is way too close to danger for my liking.
And all I can do is watch.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cori
My heart is pounding so hard I can barely take in enough air, but somehow I find the ability to call out to the real monster here.
“Jebidiah!”
He turns to find me, and I see the evil inside the man. I see what is really there. Not the producer or the man. I see the darkness, the black shadow that would never show his face to me when he was a ghost.
“She’s not the one you want.”
I see the indecision in his eyes, in his movements, as he finally lets Ripley up and turns to me completely.
