chips were in the network’s favor. Essentially, for the next eight to ten weeks they totally controlled almost every move we made.
“The last reality-TV star to dis them will never be solvent. Never.”
“But she’ll kill me!” Gilley wailed.
Gopher gave Gil a look like he understood fully. But I wasn’t buying it. “Maybe not,” Heath said into the heavy silence that followed.
All eyes swiveled to Heath, and he, in turn, leveled his gaze at me. “We’re ghostbusters, M. J. Shutting down these evil poltergeists is what we do . And I think that this job is exactly what we’re about. If this witch’s ghost has risen again, then it really should be up to us to send her to hell—permanently.”
“You mean you want to take her on?” I asked incredulously. It’d been all I could do to muster the courage to simply investigate the caverns. I hadn’t planned on any actual ghostbusting, especially with someone so powerful as the ghost of the Witch of Queen’s Close.
But Heath was nodding his head as if his mind was made up. “I think we have to bust her. If the legend is true, then six more lives could be at stake. We can’t just sit back and gather footage of spooky stuff while people are dying.”
I thought on that for a minute while Gilley continued to grip the door handle to his room like he was holding on for dear life. “What are you thinking?” I asked him.
“I don’t want to be poor,” he said honestly. “But I don’t want to be dead either.”
I smiled, and made up my mind then and there. “Okay, people, new plan: We’re going after Rigella’s ghost. But our first priority is to make sure that Gilley is safe at all times. I don’t want him anywhere near the caverns, and I want him protected by extra magnets and backup twenty-four/seven.”
“He should wear a meter,” Heath said. “If it starts to spike and one of us isn’t around, he’ll have a heads-up that he needs to call one of us.”
“Oh, he’ll wear a meter all right,” I said. “And he’ll have me playing watchdog at all times except when we’re down in the close.” Turning to Gopher, I said, “Can you please move Gil and me into one room with two beds?”
“Absolutely,” Gopher promised. “Anything else you’ll need to make sure he’s safe?”
I looked at Heath. He shrugged. “I can’t think of anything.”
“As many magnets as we can find,” I said after thinking on it. “I want him so surrounded by disruptive electromagnetic frequency that no ghost within ten miles could possibly get to him.”
“Where am I going to be when you guys are in the close?” Gil wanted to know.
“In the van,” I said. “And I want the entire interior padded with magnets.”
“On it,” Gopher said, making a note in his iPhone.
“How soon before the camera and sound guys get here?” Heath asked.
Gopher glanced up and said, “Their plane gets in tonight around ten. We could start filming by midnight if you want.”
My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t want to go back down to the close, but I also knew that putting it off was going to make my anxiety worse. “Great. Most of our cameras and meters are still in place, right, Gil?”
He nodded. “I checked on them this morning. They’re all still sending data.”
“Good. We’ll consider the baseline complete, and we’ll start this bust tonight. Heath, you and I need to come up with a plan to deal with some of that overpowering plague energy that tackled you in the close last night.”
“Good idea,” he said. “But at least now we know why it was so intense.”
“Why?” Gopher asked.
“The close was where the town sent anyone who was showing symptoms of the plague. I figure those caverns were where hundreds, if not thousands, of people perished from the disease. And all that fear and suffering has left an imprint. If Heath and I are going to take on the witch, we’ll need to be completely present and clear of any residual energy.”
“How are
“The last reality-TV star to dis them will never be solvent. Never.”
“But she’ll kill me!” Gilley wailed.
Gopher gave Gil a look like he understood fully. But I wasn’t buying it. “Maybe not,” Heath said into the heavy silence that followed.
All eyes swiveled to Heath, and he, in turn, leveled his gaze at me. “We’re ghostbusters, M. J. Shutting down these evil poltergeists is what we do . And I think that this job is exactly what we’re about. If this witch’s ghost has risen again, then it really should be up to us to send her to hell—permanently.”
“You mean you want to take her on?” I asked incredulously. It’d been all I could do to muster the courage to simply investigate the caverns. I hadn’t planned on any actual ghostbusting, especially with someone so powerful as the ghost of the Witch of Queen’s Close.
But Heath was nodding his head as if his mind was made up. “I think we have to bust her. If the legend is true, then six more lives could be at stake. We can’t just sit back and gather footage of spooky stuff while people are dying.”
I thought on that for a minute while Gilley continued to grip the door handle to his room like he was holding on for dear life. “What are you thinking?” I asked him.
“I don’t want to be poor,” he said honestly. “But I don’t want to be dead either.”
I smiled, and made up my mind then and there. “Okay, people, new plan: We’re going after Rigella’s ghost. But our first priority is to make sure that Gilley is safe at all times. I don’t want him anywhere near the caverns, and I want him protected by extra magnets and backup twenty-four/seven.”
“He should wear a meter,” Heath said. “If it starts to spike and one of us isn’t around, he’ll have a heads-up that he needs to call one of us.”
“Oh, he’ll wear a meter all right,” I said. “And he’ll have me playing watchdog at all times except when we’re down in the close.” Turning to Gopher, I said, “Can you please move Gil and me into one room with two beds?”
“Absolutely,” Gopher promised. “Anything else you’ll need to make sure he’s safe?”
I looked at Heath. He shrugged. “I can’t think of anything.”
“As many magnets as we can find,” I said after thinking on it. “I want him so surrounded by disruptive electromagnetic frequency that no ghost within ten miles could possibly get to him.”
“Where am I going to be when you guys are in the close?” Gil wanted to know.
“In the van,” I said. “And I want the entire interior padded with magnets.”
“On it,” Gopher said, making a note in his iPhone.
“How soon before the camera and sound guys get here?” Heath asked.
Gopher glanced up and said, “Their plane gets in tonight around ten. We could start filming by midnight if you want.”
My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t want to go back down to the close, but I also knew that putting it off was going to make my anxiety worse. “Great. Most of our cameras and meters are still in place, right, Gil?”
He nodded. “I checked on them this morning. They’re all still sending data.”
“Good. We’ll consider the baseline complete, and we’ll start this bust tonight. Heath, you and I need to come up with a plan to deal with some of that overpowering plague energy that tackled you in the close last night.”
“Good idea,” he said. “But at least now we know why it was so intense.”
“Why?” Gopher asked.
“The close was where the town sent anyone who was showing symptoms of the plague. I figure those caverns were where hundreds, if not thousands, of people perished from the disease. And all that fear and suffering has left an imprint. If Heath and I are going to take on the witch, we’ll need to be completely present and clear of any residual energy.”
“How are
Similar Books
