Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Aili
I woke up smiling.
For once, there were no screams in my dreams. No banshee whispers tugging me awake. Just the morning sun spilling across my duvet and the memory of last night—our strange little group helping a lost spirit find peace and a family get their home back.
I stretched, feeling something I hadn’t in weeks: proud. I’d made real friends. Lisa, Sam, Nick, Brandon… they weren’t just the weird kids I got stuck with; we’d actually done something good.
My phone buzzed against the nightstand. Dad’s name flashed on the screen.
> Dad: “Hey, Aili-bean. Grandma’s doing better. They’re letting her out tomorrow. We’ll be back by evening.”
“Finally,” I breathed. “You’re missing all the fun.”
> Dad (laughing): “Fun, huh? Be good while I’m gone. No parties.”
“As if,” I said, rolling my eyes, though he couldn’t see it.
Hanging up, I felt a little lighter. At least one thing in my life was getting back to normal.
\---
By the time I got to Sherfield High, the morning sky was overcast but not gloomy. Students were spilling into the hallway, the usual chatter about homework and cafeteria food.
Nick leaned casually against my locker, arms crossed, his curly brown hair slightly damp from the mist outside. He looked like he had walked out of a teen drama poster.
“Morning, sunshine,” he greeted with that crooked grin of his.
“Morning,” I said, pretending I didn’t notice the way my stomach flipped.
He handed me a coffee—how he knew my order was beyond me. “You looked like you could use it.”
“Nick Stevens being sweet?” I teased. “Is the world ending?”
He chuckled. “Just being civil. Don’t get used to it.”
Lisa arrived next, adjusting her oversized glasses, followed by Sam bouncing with her usual energy. Brandon trailed behind them, earbuds around his neck, his blue eyes sweeping the hallway as if expecting trouble.
“Group meeting at lunch?” Lisa asked as we all walked to class together. “We still have to talk about the whole ‘basement ghost’ thing.”
“Lunch it is,” I said.
\---
Classes passed surprisingly peacefully—no banshee episodes, no flickering lights, no screaming in my head.
At lunch we gathered at our usual corner table near the windows.
“So,” Sam began, stabbing her fries with unnecessary aggression, “we’ve got banshee girl, warlock boy, spirit-medium genius, and… me. Whatever I am. Hydra, snake-thing. Still sounds like a bad comic-book lineup.”
“You forgot brooding mystery guy,” I said, nodding toward Brandon.
He gave me a look but didn’t protest.
Lisa flipped open her grim book. “The more I read about Sherfield’s history, the weirder it gets. This town’s been attracting supernatural activity for centuries. I wonder if there are still more people like us hiding out.”
“Explains why weird stuff keeps happening,” Nick said. “Guess we’re not the only freaks.”
“It’s… kind of comforting,” I admitted. “At least we’re not alone.”
Brandon leaned forward, elbows on the table. “It also means we don’t know who we can trust. If there are others, some might not be as friendly as the spirit in your basement.”
That dampened the mood a little, but he wasn’t wrong.
\---
After school, the clouds thickened into a darker gray. By late afternoon, a drizzle started, fine mist curling over the streets. I was halfway through my homework at home when my phone pinged.
> Sam: “Guys, anyone else seeing weird green lights in the forest? Thought it was car headlights but… no road there.”
> Nick: “Where?”
> Sam: “North woods. Behind the old mill. They’re just floating.”
> Brandon: “Don’t go near them. We’re coming.”
My stomach clenched. So much for a quiet evening. I grabbed my jacket and flashlight.
\---
We met near the trailhead at the edge of the North Woods. The trees loomed like a wall of black silhouettes, mist curling between the trunks.
“Okay,” I whispered, hugging my jacket closer. “Somebody tell me this is just swamp gas.”
Nick shook his head. “Swamp gas doesn’t float in perfect spheres.”
Sure enough, between the trees faint green lights pulsed—small orbs gliding slowly deeper into the forest. They weren’t headlights or lanterns; they hovered at shoulder-height, flickering like fireflies that had grown too bright.
“That’s… actually kind of beautiful,” Sam said, her tone caught between awe and nerves.
“Beautiful things in Sherfield tend to eat you,” Lisa muttered.
Brandon’s gaze stayed fixed on the lights. “Stay close. If they’re leading us somewhere, we need to be careful.”
“Great,” I mumbled. “Chasing mysterious floating lights in a creepy forest at night. What could possibly go wrong?”
\---
The further we went, the quieter the forest became. Even the drizzle stopped, leaving behind the smell of wet earth and pine needles. The lights bobbed ahead of us like they were guiding us.
I felt my banshee senses stir, a soft pressure in my chest, but no screaming visions—just an uneasy pull, like the air itself was humming.
“Does anyone else hear… singing?” I asked softly.
The others paused. Lisa frowned. “No. Just the wind.”
I didn’t push it. Sometimes the things I heard weren’t for anyone else.
We reached a small clearing at last, the earth sloping down to an old stone well in the center. The lights circled the well slowly, casting eerie reflections on the mossy stones.
“Creepy fairy-tale vibes,” Sam said. “I feel like we’re about to wake a witch.”
Lisa stepped closer, studying the well. “There’s protective runes carved here, but they’re old. Really old. Someone didn’t want this well opened.”
Brandon crouched beside it, brushing wet leaves away. “The wood cover looks rotten. Whatever’s under there hasn’t seen daylight in years.”
Aili-rule number one: Never open ancient sealed things in horror towns.
“Maybe we should leave it alone,” I said.
Nick grinned, shining his flashlight into the cracks. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
Lisa swatted his arm. “This isn’t a joke. I’m getting bad energy from this.”
I stepped closer despite myself. The humming in my chest grew stronger as I peered over the edge. I couldn’t see the bottom, just darkness that felt too deep for a simple well.
And then—
A whisper, faint but urgent, rose up from below: “Please… don’t open it…”
We all froze.
“Did you guys hear that?” Sam whispered.
Brandon’s jaw tightened. “Yeah. It sounded… human.”
“Or not,” Lisa added, gripping her grimmoir tighter.
The whisper came again, slightly louder: “Don’t… let it out…”
My breath hitched. The air around the well seemed to drop a few degrees. The lights pulsed faster, almost frantically, like they were trying to warn us.
Nick slowly stood. “Okay. That’s new.”
Before anyone could respond, the rotten wood on top of the well creaked.
We all stepped back.
Then, with a wet cracking sound, one of the boards snapped in half—and a pale, mud-streaked hand shot out, clawing at the rim.
Sam screamed. I felt my banshee power flare, the urge to wail rising like a scream caught in my throat.
The hand groped blindly, fingers long and thin, nails broken. Another board splintered under the force from below.
“Back!” Brandon ordered, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the edge.
Lisa’s voice shook. “That’s not supposed to happen—someone or something is trapped down there!”
Nick’s usual smirk was gone. “We need to seal it back up—now.”
I couldn’t move, my eyes locked on the hand that kept scrabbling against the stone, reaching for something—maybe us.
The lights swirled faster and brighter, their glow frantic, until one by one they zipped down into the darkness of the well as if trying to push whatever it was back down.
The air was filled with an eerie moan, half wind, half voice.
Brandon tugged me again. “Aili, we have to go. Now.”
I finally tore my gaze away, heart hammering as we all stumbled back into the shadows of the trees.
\---
We didn’t stop running until we were halfway down the trail. My chest still buzzed with banshee energy, my ears ringing as if I’d nearly screamed.
Sam bent over, breathing hard. “What the hell was that thing?”
“I don’t know,” Lisa said, pale under the moonlight. “But whatever those lights were… they weren’t trying to hurt us. I think they were keeping it inside the well.”
I shivered, hugging myself against the cold. “Next time, let’s just have a normal movie night, okay?”
Nick gave a shaky laugh. “Agreed.”
Brandon’s eyes lingered on me, serious. “We’re not coming back here without a plan.”
As we headed back toward town, I couldn’t help glancing over my shoulder. The green lights had vanished, but I swore I could still feel something watching us from the clearing.