Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls Part 27

We were fed, geared up, and well protected with plenty of magnets by quarter to six. Alex brought along a padded belt filled with magnetized metal b.a.l.l.s. "Where can I get one of those?" I asked when she told me about it.

She smiled. "I know a guy. I'll have him make you one and ship it to you."

"That's way better than carrying around a bunch of metal spikes," I said.

"The drawback for you is that as long as you're wearing a belt like this, no ghost will come near you."

"Ah, yeah," I said, remembering that my primary job was ghostbusting, not phantom chasing.

As for me, I wore a whole belt filled with capped grenades, and just four spikes taped to my upper back and chest. I hoped that would be enough exposed magnetic energy to keep the phantom at least ten yards away from me at all times. He was a powerful spook, however, and the grenades were there in case I was underestimating him.

The point was to make myself a more appealing target than Alex. Heath, however, still wasn't into the idea. "I think you need more," he said as he helped to tape me up.

"Four is plenty," I a.s.sured him.

"Five is better."

"If I need a fifth, I can uncap a grenade."

"It could overpower you before you get to it. How about wearing Gilley's sweatshirt?"

I shook my head. "Too many magnets. He could go for Alex if he thought I was too hard to get to."

"I really hate that you're using yourself as bait, M. J."

I leaned in and gave him a light kiss. "I know," I whispered. "But it's the only way to get Gopher back."

"It'd be safer to figure out who took Gopher in the first place."

I stepped back and eyed him curiously. "You know, Heath, I think you might be on to something. While Alex and I are at the castle, have Gilley work on that, okay?"

Heath put both his hands on the side of my face and kissed me long and sweet. "Do me one favor," he said when I was good and dizzy.

"Wha ... what's that?"

"Be careful, and come back in one piece."

I grinned. "I'll do my level best."

Alex and I arrived at the manhole cover leading to the underground tunnel at six on the dot. I was furious and frustrated by one minute past. "Who would throw a lock on this thing?" I yelled as I stomped around the outside, inspecting the bolts holding a latch and newly attached padlock barring our entrance. would throw a lock on this thing?" I yelled as I stomped around the outside, inspecting the bolts holding a latch and newly attached padlock barring our entrance.

Alex squatted next to me. "It looks like some official from the town did it," she said, shining her flashlight over the seal.

"But why?" I demanded. "Why would they lock us out?"

Alex stood and surveyed the area, her eyes roving to the nearby houses with windows all facing the ocean. "It's likely that someone saw you come out of the tunnel and reported it to the authorities. My guess is that it was then talked about up the chain of command, and once the town council got wind of the entrance you and Heath discovered and where it led, they probably didn't want the liability of a bunch of tourists trekking through a four-hundred-year-old tunnel under the causeway, so they made sure to seal it off."

"b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!" I growled. "That was our safe way in!"

Alex sighed and pivoted to the causeway, where the tide was still covering the stones. "We'll have to wait for the tide to recede," she said.

I folded my arms and grimaced. "Low tide's well after nine, so we won't be able to get across until close to nine thirty."

Alex sank low and sat down on the patchy gra.s.s nearby. "Then we wait."

While we waited for the tide to lower, Alex and I had a chance to talk a bit more. "So, are you and Heath an item?" she asked.

I felt heat sear my cheeks. "Um ...," I said. "I guess. I mean, there's a definite attraction, but I just got out of a relationship and I'm not sure diving right into another one is the way to go."

"He obviously cares about you."

I smiled. "Yeah," I said softly. "I know."

"And he's totally hot," she added with a laugh and a nudge.

"Honey, you don't know the half of it."

"So dive in, M. J."

I was growing a little uncomfortable, and I decided to turn the conversation back on her. "What about you?" I asked. "Are you attached?"

Alex's good humor seemed to seep right out of her, and her eyes moved back to the sea. She took her time answering me. "You know, I don't know that I'm ready. Jordan really was the love of my life, and I've mourned him so much these past few years, but I haven't gotten to that place yet where I can let go of my feelings for him and allow someone else in."

I let that sit with me for a bit before I asked, "What did Jordan mean in the letter when he said that he was sick of hiding his love for you from the world?"

Alex smiled, but it was filled with melancholy. "I'm a psychic dowser, M. J. And Jordan had had a string of somewhat infamous missteps in his youth. Part of his mission to Dunlow was to prove that he had grown up a little. He really wanted to win back the approval of his father, who could be very harsh on him. So, Jordan had been working to clean up his act for over a year when we met. But his reputation followed him, and in the beginning of our relationship, he wanted to keep the two of us private because if the press got wind that Jordan Kincaid was going around with a woman who claimed to be psychic ... well ..."

Alex's voice trailed off and I thought I really understood what she was getting at. It seemed that intuitives like us always faced the uphill battle of legitimacy, and the press never cut us any slack. It was as if the media as a whole was afraid to portray us as normal people with a natural extrasensory ability-lest its own members be criticized by the public-so reporters and media personnel worked very hard to always present us in the worst, most skeptical light possible. The double standard drove me crazy.

From that perspective, I could see how Jordan would really want to keep his relationship with Alex on the down-low.

And yet, he'd proposed to her, which meant that he was getting ready to bring it all out into the open, and I had to give him credit for that.

Finally, the tide receded enough for us to begin the trek across the causeway. There was still a bit of water on the stones as we went along, but we were both anxious to get to the castle and get on with it.

When we arrived at Dunlow, I squinted at the top of the rock, which was bathed in silver light by the low moon. I couldn't see the phantom, but I could sense it, and that sent a shiver up my spine.

At the base of the stairs I went first, and kept my senses on high alert. After fifteen minutes of climbing, we were close to the top when we heard it. The moment it came to my ears, I closed my eyes and thought, Oh, no! Oh, no!

"Alex!" cried a voice, faint and distant. "Alex, help me!"

Behind me I heard a gasp.

I took a breath and turned around to face my new friend just as the voice cried out again.

Alex's face was a mixture of emotions, from hope to horror to abject pain. "No!" "No!" she cried at last. she cried at last.

I stepped down quickly and held her by the arms. "It's not real!" I told her firmly. "Alex, it's just an echo!"

"Help me!" Jordan's ghost begged. "Allllex!" "Allllex!"

Alex pushed away from me and began racing up the stairs, crying out for Jordan as she went. I went tearing after her because I knew what she'd find at the top. "Wait!" I yelled. "Alex, stop stop!"

But she wasn't listening. She was too intent on getting to Jordan and she was just out of my reach. She was ten stairs from the top when I made a desperate last bid attempt to catch her. I lunged forward, gripping her by the ankles and pulling her down onto the stair with a hard thud.

"Uh!" she cried, smacking the stone.

"s.h.i.t!" I swore as I fell too. I hit the stairs on my side and it knocked the wind right out of me. For a minute, all I could do was clutch my rib cage and gasp for air that stubbornly refused to enter my lungs. The edge of my vision danced with stars and began to close in, and in the back of my mind I prayed that I wouldn't black out.

"Breathe!" said someone right next to me. "M. J., just breathe."

I looked up to see a bright light blurring my vision further, but I was able to take one small breath.

"That's it," the voice coaxed.

It sounded so familiar, that voice telling me to breathe when I couldn't. Where had I heard it before?

"Alex! Help me!"

I looked up the stairs in the direction of the voice. Alex's crumpled form lay across the stairs.

"Pay no attention to Jordan," the voice said. "You'll see to him later. For now you need to take another breath."

I inhaled and a little more air crept into my lungs. I closed my eyes and exhaled, then took another breath, this time deeper, and before long I was breathing somewhat normally.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that Samuel Whitefeather was crouched next to me. "Thanks," I wheezed when I felt I could talk.

"Allllex!"

I cringed as the sound reverberated off the rocks.

"He's in a great deal of pain," said Sam.

"I can't believe he showed up tonight of all nights." I looked up to see Alex still lying in a crumpled heap on the stairs. "OhmiG.o.d!" I gasped, and clawed my way up to her, only to find a big b.u.mp on her forehead and her eyes closed.

Very gently I moved the hair out of her face and checked to make sure she was breathing and had a pulse. To my immense relief she was very much alive. "Alex?" I said as I eased her over onto her back. "Alex, honey? Can you hear me?"

She didn't respond.

"The girl needs to get somewhere safe," Sam advised. "The phantom is coming, and he will be able to creep into her dreams even at this distance."

I stared at the top of the steps, and sure enough the hair on my arms began to stand up on end. "I don't know if I can move her!" I said.

"You can," Samuel a.s.sured me. "Bring her down just a ways to the door. It's only ten steps and you're there."

I looked behind me and Samuel faded away into nothing, but beyond him I could see the step that was a bit longer than the others, and I knew that marked the entrance to the tunnel leading to the crypts.

Next to me Alex shivered and jerked, and I knew the phantom was very close. Praying that I wouldn't hurt her further, I wrapped her arms around my neck and half shimmied, half pulled her onto my back piggyback-style.

She was tall, but thin, and didn't weigh a lot more than me. Still, I had a h.e.l.l of a time getting her down those ten steps.

Behind me I heard a growl and a hiss, but I refused to turn around. I could feel the phantom radiating its evil energy, and my thoughts started to fill with scary images. But then Samuel appeared again by my side. "Steel your mind, M. J. Call upon your courage. The phantom cannot break a courageous mind."

I thought about what Samuel said as I moved the remaining few steps to the crypt tunnel. Easing Alex to the ground as gently as I could, I took a moment to steady my breathing, then opened the door and lifted her under the arms to pull her inside.

After moving her, I fished around in my messenger bag for an extra flashlight and anything I might be able to use for a pillow. I came up with the flashlight, but no pillow. With little else to offer I yanked off my own sweatshirt, ripping off the tape that held the spikes and tossing them aside. I then wadded the shirt into a ball to place under her head before inspecting the b.u.mp on her head.

"Ouch," I muttered, seeing the egg-sized lump forming just above her left eye.

Alex moaned and her eyelids fluttered.

"Can you hear me?" I whispered. Alex's arm jerked reflexively. "Hey, Alex," I said. "Honey, can you hear me?"

She moaned again, but this time she also spoke. "Yeah. I can hear you."

I felt a wave of relief flood through me. "I'm so so sorry about tripping you." sorry about tripping you."

Alex's hand went to her head and she winced. "Why'd you do that, anyway?"

"I had to stop you," I told her. "You were headed for dangerous territory and I just had to stop you from running after Jordan."

Alex opened her eyes and I saw the pain registered there. I didn't think it was caused solely by her injury.

"Again, I'm really, really sorry," I said, feeling terrible and not just for tripping her.

"We need to help him, M. J."

I nodded. "It's on my list," I promised. "I won't leave Ireland until I get Jordan across to the other side."

Alex seemed somewhat satisfied and she tried to sit up. "Whoa," she said, putting both hands to her head and lying back down.

"Does it hurt?"

"Yes. And I'm superdizzy."

"I think you might have a concussion."

She inhaled deeply and kept her eyes closed. "That's not good."

I looked anxiously out the door, where a little light from the moon was seeping in. I had no idea how I was going to get her down those stairs and across the causeway. "I should go for help."

Alex's hand reached out and took hold of my arm, her grip like a vise. "Do not not leave me on this rock with that leave me on this rock with that thing thing!"

I pulled her hand off my arm and held it tight. "Listen," I said, trying not to sound panicked. "I have to get you some help, and there's no way I can carry you down the rest of the stairs by myself."