Chapter 51

KATHERINE.

The three of us made our way to the UTV and Hunter and Keith sat in the seats while I sat in the back. “You can leave when you find her page,” Keith said as he started the UTV while I began to flip through the book, going to the section that had violent ghosts. The book was ‘huge’ and by the time we got to the spot where the ghost had grabbed Lenore, I still hadn’t found her page.

“Don’t you have Find My Friends?” I asked Hunter who was currently tapping away on his phone.

“No.”

I let out a harsh breath and returned my attention to the book just as the vehicle went over a particularly rough bump that sent me tumbling to the side and I hit my head against the railing. Hard. My vision flashed white as I blurted out an “Ow!” and Hunter immediately turned to face me with a worried expression.

“Are you okay?” he asked and I nodded, giving him a small smile as I rubbed the side of my head. It was clear that he wasn’t just worried because I had hit my head, he was also worried about his friends and I hoped they were alright.

“Don’t fall out,” Keith said and I gave him a small frown.

“FYI, students should ‘not’ be doing this.” And by this, I meant the ghost thing, not the driving. He had said my friends could be in danger because of a violent ghost and seeing as there were times when the ghosts left their primary haunting places and took students, shouldn’t the school have done something about it?

“Tell that to Bryman. Have you found her page yet? I can’t keep driving with no destination.”

I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head before facing the book once more and my brows shot up when I saw the picture on the page that was now open thanks to the vehicle’s jostling. “That’s her!” I grabbed the book and shoved it in front of Keith’s face.

“Dude, I can’t see the road.”

“Sorry.” I quickly moved the book to Hunter and he collected it from me before I began to read it over his shoulders. According to the page, her name was Sarah Everhart and she had been a teacher in Blackwood over fifty years ago. She had committed suicide in Bram House which was her primary haunting place, the object her spirit was attached to hadn’t been found yet and she had been a tame spirit until twenty years ago.

“Wait, tame spirits can become violent.”

“If they’re not put to rest,” Hunter answered and a small frown crept onto my face because I kinda understood that. Being dead and trapped in the realm of the living for over fifty years had to be annoying as hell. “It’s Everhart,” Hunter said to Keith and he hmmed before swerving right, making me lurch to the side. Thankfully, I managed to steady myself before my head could hit the railing again.

“So Bram House or Renfield Hall?”

“Renfield Hall.”

My brows tugged together at Hunter’s response. “Her primary haunting place is Bram House. Why would we go to Renfield Hall?”

“Dude, did you listen to Theo during the meeting?” Keith replied and I pressed my lips together because I had listened, but I had become lost in thought due to what Theo had been talking about a couple of times. “Please, read your booklet.”

“Yes, sir.” When I glanced at Hunter, he had a teasing smile on his face and my cheeks warmed.

“You didn’t read your booklet?” he asked and I blew out a breath.

“That’s not important right now.”

He let out a laugh. “...If a ghost takes someone when they leave their primary haunting place, they don’t necessarily take them back there. They could take them to somewhere they have an attachment to and Everhart is attached to Renfield Hall. Some of the spirits are. It’s kind of like a hotspot for them.”

“You mean cold spot,” I replied with a small smile on my face because Theo had said when a ghost is present, the temperature drops.

A huge smile broke on Hunter’s face at that while Keith said, “Jesus, please don’t speak again.”

“Hater.”

“Stop.”

“Okay.” I mimed zipping my lips shut and made myself comfortable in the back, watching the once salmon and purple sky transform into a vast expanse of jet-black that engulfed the forest. Then something came to mind and I glanced at the two boys in front. “If Renfield Hall is a hotspot for ghosts and that’s where Everhart took them. What if there are other violent ghosts there too?”

“Shit,” Keith muttered and I couldn’t see the expression on Hunter’s face but I saw his shoulders tense.

“Malevolent ones too,” I added and Keith glanced at Hunter who was now on his phone again.

“Has Theo responded?”

“No. He’s not answering my calls either.”

“Call Oliver and Jackson.”

“Uh, Jackson can’t come.”

“Call Oliver and Poppy then.”

I set my mouth in a hard line at the second name and Hunter glanced at me over his shoulder before saying, “I’ll call Oliver and Diana.” He proceeded to do that and after the call ended, I realized there was no way those two people would get there at the same time we would. Sure, they could use super speed but Renfield Hall was incredibly far from campus so by the time they get there, they’ll be too hungry and tired. Also, they’d need to go to the clubhouse first to get more defenses.

“If there are multiple violent ghosts there, can you guys handle it?”

“Nope. We only brought one absorber,” Keith replied without hesitation and I swallowed. “Hunt, what’s in the backpack?” he added and Hunter listed the things in it. I didn’t know much about ghost activities but it didn’t sound like what he had would be enough if there were multiple violent ghosts in the hall.

The fact that this was really happening – that we were going to save our friends from ghosts and would probably fight some – made laughter threaten to bubble out of me and I snapped my mouth shut. ‘This is insane.’

“There’s a bag of salt back here,” I said, kicking the white bag next to me in the back. Theo had said salt was one of the most effective defenses against ghosts and it could be used to trap or repel them.

“It’s mostly useless right now. No violent ghost would stay still and let us trap them with it.”

“Ah.”

A little while later, the UTV came to a stop and I glanced to my left to see that we had gotten to Renfield Hall. The last time I’d been here was during the day and it had looked scary, but at night… it looked even more haunting.. It was then I remembered that Keith had said I could go when I’d found the ghost’s page but it had slipped my mind when I did. ‘Crap.’

Hunter and Keith got out of the vehicle without a word and walked to the back of it before they began to get ready to go into the building. After they opened a compartment in the side of the vehicle and grabbed what looked like a fire poker, I spoke.

“Can I come with you?”