Page 29 of Chasing Ghosts
“Is she?”
Drake’s pupils are so blown that it looks like his whole eyes are black orbs in his head. He takes a step closer to me, and I take a step towards him, coming closer to one another…Then I raise my hand and bring the rock I’ve been hiding behind my back up against the head of the man, not the monster inside.
“And you're not getting me!”
Drake drops like a…well, a rock. Theo and Tray run forward to grab Drake so he doesn’t drown, and Roxie is there to help Ripley. I’m caught up in strong arms and held tight.
But it’s far from over. I turn to run back to the bank only to hear Roxie scream out. I look back to find the black fog entering Theo.
“Shit. I don’t think he’s going to let you hit him with another rock, sweetheart. You got anything else?”
“I need to get back to my bag.”
He nods and helps me even as Theo turns to Roxie and Ripley and starts to advance on them. Once I have my hands around what I need, I straighten and call out to him again.
“Jebidiah!” He turns to look at me again. “Miss something?”
He realizes what I’m holding in my hand and pulls away from Theo, who slumps forward but seems otherwise alright. The mist hovers over the water and advances towards me slowly. I step away from the water - the source of a lot of his power since he killed so many here.
“You want this?” I take another step back. “Come and get it!”
The dark shadow starts to swoop, but I pull out a lighter and light the bottom of the pages on fire. A harsh scream emanates throughout the island, and the cloud of black begins to shimmer and dance in front of me. When Roxie screams, we all turn to see women beginning to rise from the water, wet and glowing, eleven in all.
The creature rushes for me, only to pull up short when the twelfth woman -Christina- steps in front of me.
“Holy shit! Are you guys seeing this?” Ripley’s voice is harsh and thick from being strangled and nearly drowned.
Mac answers her, “I think it’s safe to say we are all seeing it.”
“Wha…what are they doing to him?” Roxie’s voice doesn’t come out above a whisper.
This time, I answer, “I think they’re getting their revenge.”
We see the women grab the black shadow and start dragging him into the water as screams fill the air until there’s nothing left of the darkness, and the water turns back to just normal water. A heaviness that was over the island seems like it has been lifted, and when I look down at the book, I find it fully engulfed by fire as fragments of the pages blow into the air and scatter into nothing but ashes.
There’s a finality that feels…like justice. Arms wrap around me as we stand over the book and watch it burn to nothing.
“Cori, look!” Roxie calls my name, and when I look up, it’s to find Christina standing in front of us.
“Thank you! Some part of Eli must have realized what was happening. He took me to the ocean instead of this waterfall, and in the end, it gave me the freedom to go all over the island. He gave me the ability to help stop him. That’s why Jebidiah never had full control over me like he did the other eleven.” There’s a sad smile on her face. “And now, we’re all free! Thank you, Cori. Thank you for listening.”
She floats up and away, and the smile on her face this time is full of happiness and relief. For the first time, I realize I can see the sky and sunshine.
“The storm’s lifted.”
“I’m going back to the house to see if the Captain will come and get us off this fucking island today.” Roxie starts heading back to the house.
Tray doesn't hesitate, “I’ll go with you.”
A look passes between her and Tray as we stay with the injured and shocked victims of this island. The thought has me pulling up short and realizing I’ve not put myself with them. I don’t consider myself a victim. Despite all that I’ve seen and dealt with, it doesn’t feel like I’m that fragile, lost girl that first stepped off the boat here.
And for once in my life, I don’t see this thing I can do, this power I’ve been given, as a curse. How bad can it be when it just set twelve souls free and stopped a monster? Doesn’t seem like a curse to me at all now.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mac
Italked the Captain into making a special trip out to pick us up. He also made sure there was help on the boat for the people who were injured. I stayed close to Cori, but I also had to make sure everyone was alright and that our story was believable. Thankfully, Drake didn’t remember anything. The last thing he remembered was the night before.
