Page 69 of Phobia

“He’s here!” I shouted. “Larkin, he’s here!” It had the intended effect. Tim glanced away for a split second, probably trying to see what I was talking about. Larkin lunged for him.

I fumbled for the slip of paper from Dr. Corbin, yanking it out of my pocket and trying to read it with my phone’s flashlight. The incantation was long and in Latin, so I stumbled over the words even though I already recited it the night before. It didn’t help that I lost my place every time I glanced at Tim and Larkin, cringing as they traded blows and wrestled over the gun.

Before I could finish the arcane paragraph, the wind ripped the paper out of my hand. The wind—or a ghost.

I snatched at the air, but the paper fluttered away as a cold pressure enveloped me from behind, squeezing the air out of my lungs.

“Miss me, Jamie?” the monster’s voice hissed in my ear. “I told you I was going to kill you, you little bitch. And then I’m going to kill your fucking boyfriend, unless Tim gets to him first.”

I was dimly aware of the silvery light surrounding me, crushing me, as I dropped to my knees, fighting to take a breath, however small.

“Jamie!” Larkin yelled. A sickening punch slammed into his jaw, sending him sprawling onto his back.

This was it. This was how we would die. On Halloween, in Sunderland, at the hands of the monster who tried nine years ago. At least Larkin and I were together. That was the only silver lining as my vision faded at the edges.

Larkin wasn’t down for long. He scrambled to his feet as I wheezed helplessly a few feet away from him, immobilized by an invisible, icy force and the unseen hands crushing my windpipe.

Tim took aim at Larkin and squeezed the trigger. Larkin screamed, collapsing. But somewhere in the background, someone else screamed too. I was sure of it. It was a woman’s voice, a shrieking mix of fear and ferocity and anger.

In the next instant, a bright light shot across the dark field, straight toward me. Blinding what was left of my view, the light engulfed me. As quickly as it started, it was over. The silver light and cold pressure evaporated into nothingness.

No longer held in the clutches of the spectral grasp, I crashed to the ground next to Larkin, coughing and gasping for air. Larkin stretched his hand toward me, his breathing labored. I managed to graze his fingers with mine as Tim took another step closer.

“Fucking fags. This is what you all deserve,” Tim growled, aiming at Larkin again. Time slowed as he pulled the trigger.

The gun clicked.

He squeezed again.

Another useless click.

“What the fuck?!” Tim angled the gun just enough to inspect the slide and the end of the barrel. Without warning, it fired over his shoulder. He yelped and jumped. The gun fell from his hand and bounced away.

Larkin threw himself forward and grabbed it from the dirt. He didn’t even hesitate, pulling the trigger again and again and again. All of the bullets found their mark, knocking Tim backward until he fell, laying motionless on the ground.

“Are you ok?” Pushing myself onto my hands and knees, I crawled over to Larkin and reached for his shoulder, yanking my hand back at the last second with a gasp. A bloom of darkness was spreading over his left shoulder, wet and glistening in the moonlight. “Oh my God! You were shot!”

“I’ll live,” Larkin replied with a grimace.

I yanked my jacket off and wadded it up, pressing it against the entry wound while feeling around the backside for any torn fabric to see if there was an exit. There was, which was only minimally comforting. I peeled my hoodie off too and balled it up on the ground.

“Do you still seehimanywhere?” Larkin asked, groaning and hissing through his teeth when I pushed him onto his back to keep pressure on the exit wound too.

I surveyed the dark landscape, already shaking my head in answer to his question. I almost said “No” until I spied a ball of silver light hovering near the trees.

“Jame?” Larkin prompted warily, trying to follow my line of sight. “What is it?”

“Your grandma is here,” I said quietly, beyond shocked to see her ghost. I’d been so relieved when she passed and I hadn’t encountered her anywhere, either at the house or the funeral. It meant she’d moved on, and maybe she did. Maybe she was only back because of Halloween. Wasn’t that what Dr. Corbin said? The Celts reunited with their relatives?

“What? Where?” Larkin hurled himself into a sitting position, searching the darkness.

Shoving him back down, I adjusted my grip on the wad of bloody cloth. “Stop moving! You could have a shattered bone in there.”

“Jamie?” It was Larkin’s grandma, drifting closer at a slow, cautious speed. “You can see me, can’t you?”

I nodded but kept my focus on slowing the blood pouring out of Larkin’s left shoulder.

“You could see Larkin’s father, too.” It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway. “He’s gone. Larkin’s mother came and took him beyond the veil, where he can’t find his way back. He won’t hurt you anymore. You, or Larkin.”