Exile: Ghost Academy (YA paranormal adventure, book 4)

  Exile: Ghost Academy (YA paranormal adventure, book 4)

  K.E. O'Connor

  Published by K.E. O'Connor, 2016.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  EXILE: GHOST ACADEMY (YA PARANORMAL ADVENTURE, BOOK 4)

  First edition. April 10, 2016.

  Copyright © 2016 K.E. O'Connor.

  Written by K.E. O'Connor.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 1

  The knife stung as it edged into Lauren’s stomach. She tried to pull away, twisting to one side, her grasp clamped tightly on her attacker’s wrist.

  Lauren couldn’t believe this was happening, but the sickening pain in her stomach told her otherwise. The light from the porch lamp flickered for a second and a gust of wind blew Lauren’s red hair into her eyes.

  “Mum.” The word came out on a strangled whisper of air. “Don’t do this.”

  Lauren’s mum, Rebecca, glared back at her daughter, her lips pressed together tightly.

  Lauren’s gaze shifted to the closed front door, and she clung to the hope that her younger sister, May, wouldn’t come out and see what was happening. It would destroy her.

  She looked back into her mum’s eyes and saw nothing but frenzied hatred reflected back.

  Fear and confusion coursed through Lauren’s veins. They’d occasionally had their fights, usually over her staying out too late, but her mum was kind and loving. She didn’t even kill spiders, preferring to scoop them into a glass and carry them out into the yard.

  Lauren’s hands struggled to maintain a grip on Rebecca’s wrist as she forced the blade deep into her stomach.

  This had to be a mistake. Lauren’s mind refused to acknowledge what was happening. Her mum was her protector and her best friend, she wouldn’t hurt her.

  The tears in Lauren’s eyes blurred the image of her mum, and for a few seconds, she didn’t recognise the woman standing in front of her. She blinked again, and Rebecca snapped back into focus.

  She gasped as she felt something tear inside of her. Lauren slumped forward, grabbing hold of her mum’s shoulders to try to keep upright.

  Rebecca gave a final twist of the blade and then pulled away, shoving Lauren hard onto her back and out of her reach.

  Lauren hit the porch, her head thudding backwards and bouncing off the ceramic plant pot by the front door. Her hands instinctively covered the wound in her stomach, her fingers sticky with her own blood.

  Painful gasps shot out of her mouth as Lauren’s eyes lost focus. She stared around frantically, the dark of the night surrounding her. No one came to help. Random pinpricks of colour flashed through Lauren’s vision, like multi-coloured shooting stars.

  She knew she should try to call for help, but what if her sister came and found her like this? Lauren’s fingers feebly struggled to pull her mobile from her pocket, but they were so slick with blood that she couldn’t catch hold of the phone, and pulling at something so close to her wound made Lauren retch.

  The effort of moving also made the pain in her stomach worse. Lauren stopped struggling and lay back. Her gaze shifted to her mum who stood over her, the knife still in her hands.

  “Why?” Lauren asked her.

  Rebecca looked down at Lauren, her expression blank.

  “What did I do that was so wrong?” Lauren coughed and almost cried out as pain ripped through her.

  Rebecca simply shook her head, turned and walked back into the house.

  From where Lauren lay she heard the faint sound of the kitchen tap running and guessed that her mum was trying to wash the blood off her hands.

  A few moments later, Rebecca returned outside, clutching a carrier bag in one hand as she climbed into their ancient family sedan and drove away. She didn’t even glance over at Lauren to see if she was still alive.

  Lauren’s first thought was her sister, who was still inside the house alone. She hoped she had remained asleep. A horrifying thought struck Lauren. What if her mum had also harmed May? She quickly dismissed that idea. Her mum hadn’t had time to get to May, and had gone straight into the kitchen and then left. May was safe.

  She looked back out at the night sky. Where was the tunnel of bright light she was supposed to see? Lauren had read about this online. When you were about to die you should see your path to the afterlife. Lauren wasn’t certain there was even an afterlife to go to, but she definitely didn’t see any pointers now, just glare from the nearby street light.

  Her vision slowly dimmed and Lauren still saw nothing. Even the pinpricks of stars in the night sky faded before her. Was this really it? Was this the end of her short life? Lauren let out a final shuddering gasp and let go.

  “Lauren.” Charlie held onto Lauren’s shoulders and shook her gently. “Wake up, you were shouting.”

  Lauren blinked her eyes open. “I was asleep?”

  “Well, it looked like you were, even though I know we don’t sleep.” Charlie’s dark eyes showed concern as he studied her. “I didn’t want to disturb you, you looked really peaceful until you started yelling. It’s just that I think we’ve got company.”

  Lauren paused, trying to break through the confusion in her mind. It had felt like she was dreaming but how was that possible? Ever since she had died and become a student at the Ghost Academy she no longer needed sleep.

  “Are you okay?” Charlie released his grip on Lauren’s shoulders and then glanced around the dark room.

  “Yeah, it did feel like I was having a dream, more like a nightmare actually.” Lauren closed her eyes as the images flashed before her again. She pulled in a shuddering gasp of air. “Did you say we’ve got company in the house?”

  “I think so, there were some noises downstairs a few moments ago.” Charlie looked around swiftly again. “Pretty sure it was footsteps. Mice definitely don’t make that much noise.”

  “Someone broke into the house?” asked Lauren. “There’s nothing here worth stealing.”

  Charlie held out his hands and pulled Lauren to her feet. “I don’t get the sense that it’s a living person.”

  Lauren shook her head one more time to dispel the images that continued to flash through her mind. “Do you really think we’d be unlucky enough to pick a haunted house to stay in?”

  Charlie gave a brief grin. “There is a certain irony to that, but at least we’d know what we’re dealing with if it is another ghost that’s decided to visit.”

  “Let’s go take a look,” said Lauren.

  They walked together to the door and passed straight through into a wide open landing, then crept to the top of the stairs.

  Pausing at the top, Lauren peered into the gloom below. The sound of a creaking door made her pull back towards Charlie.

  Lauren glanced at him. “Something is definitely down there.”

  Charlie gestured to the stairs and they walked down together slowly. He craned his neck over the banisters. “No sign of anybody.”

  “Maybe people are using this building as a squat.” Lauren looked around. “It’s dry and remote, a safe place to stay if you don’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “But we checked before we moved in. There was no sign of people living
here,” said Charlie.

  They reached the bottom of the stairs and turned right into the hallway. The click of a door shutting at the end of the corridor made them both pause.

  Lauren gestured to the wall. “Let’s go through and see if there is somebody creeping about.”

  Charlie nodded, and they silently crept to the wall and pushed their heads through it, into the main dining room of the house. The room was almost empty apart from a crockery display cabinet on one wall and two wooden chairs that sat almost in the middle of the room.

  Lauren squinted through the gloom, night just beginning to fade, a faint dawn glow coming through the window. She pushed her way through the wall and stood looking around as she waited for Charlie to join her.

  “I sense something.” Charlie’s voice was barely a whisper as he also pushed through and stood by her side.

  Lauren nodded. She could feel the hairs on her arms standing up. “It almost seems as if something is watching us.” She moved forward and inched around the walls, feeling her way in the darkness. Charlie followed her.

  A breath of cold air passed across Lauren’s cheek and she froze. “Did you feel that?”

  “No,” replied Charlie. “What was it?”

  Lauren hesitated. She was still feeling unsettled by her strange memories and wasn’t certain she hadn’t just imagined feeling something. “I’m not sure, a change in the air temperature?”

  “Let’s keep looking,” said Charlie.

  One of the chairs in the centre of the room toppled over and cracked against the wooden floor.

  Lauren and Charlie both whipped their heads around at the noise.

  “It is another ghost,” said Charlie. “It has to be.”

  “Must be.” Lauren approached the chair and righted it. “But why are they here? And why are they hiding from us?”

  “Maybe they’re just like us, searching for a home.” Charlie looked around the room. “You can reveal yourself to us, we aren’t here to cause any problems for you.”

  The air stilled and a low, menacing male chuckle echoed around them.

  “Sounds like he doesn’t want to reveal himself.” Lauren hurried back to Charlie.

  The laugh came again, this time louder.

  “You think he wants to do us harm?” Charlie linked his fingers with Lauren’s and pulled her closer to him.

  “If he doesn’t have the energy to show himself to us he’s definitely not that much of a threat.” Lauren continued to peer through the gloom.

  “I could destroy you,” a voice whispered around them. “You are in my home.”

  Lauren and Charlie exchanged a glance.

  “We didn’t know somebody else lived here,” said Charlie. “We can leave if it’s a problem for you.”

  “We aren’t causing any trouble,” said Lauren. “And there’s plenty of room for all of us. We can just keep out of your way if we’ve invaded any of your space.”

  The voice laughed again. “This is my home.”

  “We can find somewhere else.” Charlie turned to Lauren. “I’d be annoyed too if people broke into my house and decided to set up residence. We’re just like squatters really.”

  Lauren jumped back as a trail of icy fingers swept up her arm. She grabbed at the air in front of her but couldn’t make contact with the other ghost.

  “Whoever it is, they seem to want to play with us.” Lauren frowned as she scanned the room.

  Charlie let out a yelp of surprise as he was shoved violently backwards and hit the floor.

  “You don’t have to do this,” yelled Lauren. She hurried over to Charlie as he got back on his feet. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine, but maybe we should just go.” Charlie looked around. “I don’t want to have to fight someone over a house. We’ve got plenty of other options.”

  “This guy is being an idiot.” Anger traced through Lauren’s words. “We didn’t do anything wrong. He could have just asked us to leave if it’s such a big deal.”

  The sound of something breaking in another room made them both jump.

  “Seems like it’s a poltergeist,” said Charlie.

  “I don’t really care what he is, or how he behaves, just as long his he doesn’t mess with us anymore,” replied Lauren.

  The air around them crackled and Charlie yelped again as he was yanked from his feet and shoved through the door away from Lauren.

  Lauren ran straight through the door and dashed after Charlie, watching him grappling with something around his throat. She threw herself at Charlie and grabbed hold of him, passing through something cold and sticky feeling as she wrapped her arms around Charlie’s body.

  They both fell to the floor, and Charlie lay there for a moment as Lauren pulled herself off him and sat up, alert for any signs of a new attack.

  “What was that?” Charlie rubbed his throat. “It felt like it was trying to strangle me, not that it would have made much difference to my current situation. But why do that?”

  “Seems our intruder definitely wants us to leave,” said Lauren.

  The front door of the house slammed open, sending a cloud of ancient plaster into the air as the handle hit the wall. A figure in a dark coloured windcheater ran through the hallway straight towards them, his hands outstretched and his mouth pulled back in a grimace.

  He hurled himself over the top of Lauren and Charlie as they ducked, but he didn’t seem interested in attacking them. Instead, the stranger grabbed repeatedly at the air in front of him, punching, ducking and blocking rapidly.

  Lauren pulled Charlie to his feet and they backed swiftly away along the corridor, closer to the main door.

  “What’s he doing?” whispered Lauren, staring at the man fighting with something invisible.

  “No idea, but let’s get a safe distance away, just in case he decides we’re going to be his next targets,” said Charlie.

  They pushed through the wall into the dining room, peering out at the stranger as he fought with the invisible entity.

  “Do you think he’s a ghost hunter?” asked Lauren.

  Charlie shrugged. “Could be, but I don’t see any equipment.”

  The stranger slashed through the air with his hands, grunting with the effort of fighting whatever he saw. A flash of red light shot up into the air, and the entity in front of him appeared to break down. It whirled around him in a haze of red light before blinking out of sight.

  The man let out an exhausted sounding sigh and brushed down the front of his jacket. After a few seconds, he turned around and looked at Lauren and Charlie. “It is safe to come out now if you want to. The entity is gone.”

  Charlie looked over at Lauren. “Do you think he means us?”

  “I’m not going anywhere near him,” said Lauren. “Did you see what he did? Pretty sure that was another ghost and I don’t want that to happen to me or you.”

  “I promise you it is safe.” The stranger took a few steps closer to the dining room and both Lauren and Charlie hurriedly backed up.

  “We should just leave,” whispered Charlie.

  The door to the dining room opened and the stranger stepped through. “No, don’t leave on my account. I will go, but rest assured no harm will come to you if you do decide to speak with me.” He waited for a moment, hand on the door knob.

  Lauren shook her head sharply at Charlie and placed a finger to her lips.

  “Fair enough, I can understand why you are both concerned. I will leave you in peace.” The man turned and left the dining room.

  Lauren hurried to the wall and passed through, Charlie on her heels. They watched as the stranger walked along the corridor and back towards the front door.

  He glanced back over his shoulder and raised his hand as he seemed to spot them both. “Farewell friends.” He shut the door behind him.

  Lauren and Charlie walked farther along the corridor and listened to the sound of the man’s footsteps receding.

  “Should we check if there’s any sign of that other ghost
?” said Lauren. “I don’t want another surprise attack like that.”

  “I don’t sense anyone still in the house. There’s nothing else here,” said Charlie. “We’re on our own again.”

  “What just happened?” Lauren edged closer to the front door. “Did that guy just help us? And how did he know we were here?”

  “No idea, but it was interesting,” said Charlie. “That guy fought a ghost and it looked like he won.”

  “It was freaky,” replied Lauren. “Maybe he was some sort of renegade ghost hunter?” She placed her hand on the front door, tempted to pull it open and follow the stranger out.

  Charlie scratched his hands through his dark hair, messing it up. “It was weird. It felt almost as if he was another ghost. But he seemed so human, so solid. When he ran at us I really thought I was going to touch a human.”

  “A ghost hunting a ghost?” asked Lauren. “That is strange.”

  “Maybe we should play it safe and check the rest of the house like you suggested, just to make sure nothing is still lurking anywhere,” said Charlie. “I didn’t know we had company earlier until the ghost made a noise. I can usually detect another entity, but it’s not always spot on.”

  Lauren nodded. “I’ll take upstairs if you like, you can check the rest of the rooms on this level.”

  “Meet you back here in ten minutes,” said Charlie.

  Lauren hurried up the stairs, poking her head into each room. Most of them were bare of furniture, dust being the only common theme in all of them. She didn’t find anything unusual in the rooms and ran back down the stairs just as Charlie reappeared at the bottom.

  “Nothing up there,” she said. “Nothing I could see anyway, and no spooky feelings either.”

  “Same down here, they have definitely gone. Didn’t sense anything out of place.”

  Lauren stood on the last step of the stairs, a restless feeling running through her.

  “Are you okay?” asked Charlie.

  “I’m fine,” said Lauren. “I should be asking you that. You were the one who got strangled.”

  “I meant from earlier, when you seemed, you know, asleep. It almost freaked me out as much as seeing what that guy just did.”