Shadowland tm-1 Read online

Page 8


  I looked over my shoulder. Dopey was playing Coolboarders – with his dad, the only person in the house who let him win — my mom was working on her computer, Sleepy was out subbing for some pizza deliverer who'd called in sick, and Doc was sitting at the dining room table working on a science project that wasn't due until April.

  "Uh," I said. "Look. I can't really talk right now."

  "I realize that," Father Dom said. "And don't worry – I had one of the novices ask for you. Your mother thinks it's just some new little friend you've made at school. But the thing of it is, Susannah, we've got to do something, and I think it had better be tonight – "

  "Look," I said. "Don't worry about it. I've got it under control."

  Father Dom sounded surprised. "You do? You do? How? How have you got it under control?"

  "Never mind. But I've done this before. Everything will be fine. I promise."

  "Yes, well, it's all very well to promise everything will be fine, but I've seen you at work, Susannah, and I can't say I've been very impressed with your technique. We've got the archbishop visiting in a month, and I can't very well – "

  The call waiting went off. I said, "Oh, hang on a sec. I've got another call." I hit the hook and went, "Ackerman-Simon residence."

  "Suze?" A boy's voice, unrecognizable to me.

  "Yes...."

  "Oh, hi. It's Bryce. So. What's going on?"

  I looked at my mother. She was scowling into the story she was working on. "Um," I said. "Nothing much. Can you hold on a second, Bryce? I've got someone on the other line."

  "Sure," Bryce said.

  I switched back to Father Dominic. "Uh, hi," I said, careful not to say his name. "I gotta go. My mother has a very important caller on the other line. A senator. State senator." I was probably going to go to hell for it – if there was such a place – but I couldn't very well tell Father Dominic the truth: that I was dating the ghost's ex-boyfriend.

  "Oh, of course," Father Dominic said. "I – well, if you have a plan."

  "I do. Don't worry. Nothing will ruin the archbishop's visit. I promise. Bye." I hung up and got back to Bryce. "Uh, hi. Sorry about that. What's up?"

  "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about you. What do you want to do on Saturday? I mean, do you want to go to dinner, or to a movie, or both, maybe?"

  The other line went off. I said, "Bryce, I'm really sorry, it's a zoo here, could you hang on a minute? Thanks. Hello?"

  A girl's voice I'd never heard before said, "Oh, hi, is this Suze?"

  "Speaking," I said.

  "Oh, hi, Suzie. It's Kelly. Kelly Prescott, from your homeroom? Listen, I just wanted to let you know — what you did today for Bryce – that was so righteous. I mean, I have never in my life seen anything so brave. They should totally put you on the news, or something. Anyway, I'm having a little get-together at my place this Saturday – nothing much, just a pool party, my folks'll be out of town, and our pool's heated, of course – so I thought, if you wanted, maybe you could stop by."

  I stood there, holding the phone, totally stunned. Kelly Prescott, the richest, most beautiful girl in the entire sophomore class was inviting me to a pool party on the same night I was going out on a date with the sexiest boy in school. Who happened to be on the other line.

  "Yeah, sure, Kelly," I said. "I'd love to. Does Brad know where it is?"

  "Brad?" Kelly said. Then, "Oh, Brad. That's right, he's your half brother or something, right? Oh, yeah, bring him. Listen – "

  "I'd love to chat, Kelly, but I got somebody on the other line. Can I talk to you about it tomorrow in school?"

  "Oh, totally. Bye."

  I clicked back to Bryce, asked him to hold on another second, put my hand over the mouth piece and yelled, "Brad, pool party at Kelly Prescott's this Saturday. Be there or be square."

  Dopey dropped his joy stick. "No way!" he yelled, joyfully. "No freakin' way!"

  "Hey!" Andy rapped him on the head. "Watch the language."

  I got back on with Bryce. "Dinner would be great," I said. "Anything but health food."

  Bryce went, "Great! Yeah, I hate health food, too. There's nothing like a really good piece of meat, you know, with some fries on the side, and some gravy – "

  "Uh, yeah, right, Bryce. Listen, that's my call waiting again, I'm really sorry, but I have to go, okay? I'll talk to you tomorrow in school."

  "Oh. Okay." Bryce sounded taken aback. I guess I was the first girl who'd ever answered her call waiting when he was on the line. "Bye, Suze. And, uh, thanks again."

  "No problem. Anytime." I hit the receiver. "Hello?"

  "Suze! It's Cee Cee!"

  In the background, I heard Adam yell, "And me, too!"

  "Hey, girlfriend," Cee Cee said, "we're heading down to the Clutch. Want us to pick you up? Adam just got his license."

  "I'm legal!" Adam shouted into the phone.

  "The Clutch?"

  "Yeah, the Coffee Clutch, downtown. You drink coffee, don't you? I mean, aren't you, like, from New York?"

  I had to think about that one. "Uh, yeah. The thing is – I sort of have something I have to do."

  "Oh, come on. What do you have to do? Wash your cape? I mean, I know you're a big hero and all of that, and probably don't have time for us little people, but – "

  "I haven't finished my thousand word essay on the battle of Bladensburg for Mr. Walden," I said. "And I've got a lot of Geometry to do if I'm going to catch up to you geniuses."

  "Oh, gawd," Cee Cee said. "All right. But you have to promise to sit by us at lunch tomorrow. We want to hear all about how you pressed your body up against Bryce's and what it felt like and all that stuff."

  "I don't' Adam declared, sounding horrified.

  "Okay," Cee Cee said. "So I want to hear all about it."

  I assured her I'd spare no detail and hung up. Then I looked down at the phone. To my relief, it did not ring again. I couldn't quite believe it. Never in my life had I been so popular. It was weird.

  I had lied about my homework, of course. The essay was done, and I had worked through two chapters of Geometry – about all I could handle in one night. The truth, of course, was that I had an errand to run, and I had a bit of preparation to do for it.

  You don't need a whole lot of tools to do a mediation. I mean, all that stuff about crosses and holy water, I guess you need those things to kill a vampire – and I can tell you right now that I have never in my life met a vampire, and I've spent a lot of time in graveyards – but for ghosts, well, you sort of have to wing it.

  Sometimes, though, to get the job done right, you have to do a little breaking and entering. For that you need some tools. I highly recommend just using stuff you find on site because then you don't have a lot to carry. But I do have a tool belt with a flashlight and some screwdrivers and pliers and stuff, which I wear over a pair of black leggings. I was fastening this on at around midnight, satisfied that everyone else in the house was asleep – including Sleepy, who was back from his pizza round by then – and had just shrugged into my motorcycle jacket when I got a visit from good old you-know-who.

  "Jeez," I said, when I caught a glimpse of his reflection behind mine in the mirror into which I was primping. I swear, I've been seeing ghosts for years, but it still freaks me out every time one of them materializes in front of me. I spun around, angry not so much that he was there, but because he'd managed to catch me so unaware. "Why are you still hanging around? I thought I told you to get lost."

  Jesse was leaning very casually against one of the posts to my bed. His dark-eyed gaze roved from the top of my hooded head to the toes of my black high-tops. "It's a little late to be going out, don't you think, Susannah?" he asked as conversationally as if we'd been in the middle of a discussion about, oh, I don't know, the second Fugitive Slave Act, which I believe had been enacted at or around the time he'd died.

  "Uh," I said, pulling the hood back. "Look, no offense, Jesse, but this is my room. How about you try getting out of it? And my busi
ness, too, please?"

  Jesse didn't move. "Your mother won't like your going out so late at night."

  "My mother." I glared at him. Up at him, I should say. He was really disconcertingly tall for someone who was dead. "What would you know about my mother?"

  "I like your mother very much," Jesse said calmly. "She is a good woman. You are very lucky to have a mother who loves you so very much. It would upset her, I think, to see you putting yourself in the path of danger."

  The path of danger. Right! "Yeah, well, news flash, Jesse. I've been sneaking out at night for a long time, and my mom's never said boo about it before. She knows I can take care of myself."

  Okay, a lie, but hey, how was he to know?

  "Can you?" Jesse lifted a black eyebrow dubiously. I couldn't help noticing that there was a raised scar sliced through the middle of that eyebrow, like someone had taken a swipe at Jesse's face once with a knife. I sort of understood the feeling. Especially when he let out a chuckle, and said, "I don't think so, querida. Not in this case."

  I held up both my hands. "Okay. Number one, don't call me stuff in Spanish. Number two, you don't even know where I'm going, so I suggest you just get off my back."

  "But I do know where you're going, Susannah. You are going down to the school to talk to the girl who is trying to kill that boy, that boy you seem ... fond of. But I'm telling you, querida, she is too much for you to handle alone. If you must go, you ought to have the priest with you."

  I stared at him. I had a feeling my eyes were probably bugging out, but I really couldn't believe it. "What?" I sputtered. "How could you know all that? Are you ... are you stalking me?"

  He must have realized from my expression that he'd said the wrong thing, since he straightened up and said, "I don't know what that word means, stalking. All I know is that you are walking into harm's way."

  "You've been following me," I said, stabbing a finger at him accusingly. "Haven't you? God, Jesse, I already have an older brother, thank you very much. I don't need you going around spying – "

  "Oh, yes," Jesse said, very sarcastically. "This brother cares for you very much. Almost as much as he cares about his sleep."

  "Hey!" I said, coming, against all odds, to Sleepy's defense. "He works nights, okay? He's saving up for a Camaro!"

  Jesse made what I'm quite sure was a rude gesture – back in 1850. "You," he said, "aren't going anywhere."

  "Oh, yeah?" I turned heel and stormed toward the door. "Try and stop me, cadaver breath."

  He did a good job. My hand was on the doorknob when the deadbolt slid into place. I hadn't even realized before that there was a deadbolt on my door – it must have been an ancient one. The handle to it was gone, and God only knew, the key must have long since been lost.

  I stood there for half a minute, staring down at my hand in wonder as it pulled futilely on the knob. Then I took a deep cleansing breath, the way my mom's therapist had suggested. She hadn't meant I should do this when dealing with a stalker ghost. She just meant to do it in general, whenever I was feeling stressed.

  But it helped. It helped a lot.

  "Okay," I said, turning around. "Jesse. This is way uncool."

  Jesse looked pretty uncomfortable. I could tell as soon as I looked at him that he wasn't very happy with what he'd done. Whatever had gotten him killed in his previous life, it wasn't because he was innately cruel, or enjoyed hurting people. He was a good guy. Or at least, he was trying to be.

  "I can't," he said in front of Susannah. "Susannah. Don't go. This woman – this girl, Heather. She isn't like other spirits you might have known in the past. She's filled with hate. She'll kill you if she can."

  I smiled at him encouragingly. "Then it's up to me to get rid of her, right? Come on. Unlock the door now."

  He hesitated. For a second, I thought he was going to do it. But he didn't, in the end. He just stood there, looking uncomfortable... but firm.

  "Suit yourself," I said, and walked around him, straight across the room to the bay window. I put a foot onto the seat Andy had made, and easily lifted the screen in the middle window. I had one leg over the sill when I felt his hand go around my wrist.

  I turned to look at him. I couldn't see his face since the light from my bedside lamp was behind him, but I could hear his voice well enough and the soft pleading in it.

  "Susannah," he said.

  And that was all. Just my name.

  I didn't say anything. I couldn't, sort of. I mean, I could – it wasn't like there was a lump in my throat, or anything. I just ... I don't know.

  Instead, I looked down at his hand, which was really big and kind of brown, even against the black leather of my jacket. He had a heck of a grip for a dead guy. Even for a live guy. He saw my gaze drop, and looked where I was looking, and saw his hand holding tight around my wrist.

  He let go of me as if my skin had suddenly started to blister, or something. I finished climbing out the window. When I had successfully maneuvered my way across the porch roof and down to the ground, I turned to look up at my bedroom window.

  But he was gone of course.

  CHAPTER 10

  It was a cool, clear night. The moon was full. Standing in my front yard, I could see it hanging over the sea like a light bulb – not a hundred watter, like the sun, but maybe one of those twenty-five dealies you put in those swivel-neck desk lamps. The Pacific, looking smooth as glass from this distance, was black, except for a narrow band of reflected light from the moon, which was white as paper.

  I could see in the moonlight the red dome of the Mission's church. But just because I could see the Mission, didn't mean the Mission was nearby. It was a good two miles away. In my pocket were the keys to the Rambler, which I'd snitched a half hour earlier. The metal was warm from the heat of my body. The Rambler, which was turquoise in daylight, looked grey as it sat in the shadow of the driveway.

  Hey, I know I don't have a license. But if Dopey can do it ...

  Okay. So I chickened out. Look, isn't it better I chose not to drive? I mean, not knowing how and all. Not that I don't know how. Of course I know how to drive. I just haven't had a whole lot of practice, having lived all my life in the public transportation capital of the world....

  Oh, never mind. I turned around, and started heading for the garage. There had to be a bike around somewhere. Three boys, right? There had to be at least one bike.

  I found one. It was a boy's bike, of course, with that stupid bar, and a really hard, really skinny seat. But it seemed to work all right. At least the tires weren't flat.

  Then I thought, Okay, girl dressed in black, riding a bike on the streets after midnight, what do I need?

  I didn't think I was going to find any reflective tape, but I thought maybe a bike helmet might do the trick. There was one hanging on a peg on the side of the garage. I put down the hood of my sweatshirt, and fastened the thing on. Oh, yeah. Stylish and safety conscious, that's me.

  And then I was off, rolling down the driveway – okay, gravel is not the easiest stuff to ride a bike on, especially going downhill. And the whole way turned out to be downhill since the house, looking out over the bay, was perched on the side of this mountainy kind of thing. Going downhill was certainly better than going uphill – there was no way I was ever going to be able to ride back up this thing; I had a pretty good idea I'd be doing some pushing on my way home – but going downhill was pretty harrowing. I mean, the hill was so steep, the way so twisty, and the night air so cold, that I rode with my heart in my throat practically the whole time, tears streaming down the sides of my cheeks because of the wind. And those potholes –

  God! Did that stupid seat hurt when I hit a pothole.

  But the hill wasn't the worst of it. When I got down the hill I hit an intersection. This was much scarier than the hill because even though it was after midnight, there were cars there. One of them honked at me. But it wasn't my fault. I was going so fast, because of the hill and all, that if I'd stopped I'd probably have gone ri
ght over the handlebars. So I kept on going, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a pickup, and then, I don't know how, I was pulling into the school parking lot.

  The Mission looked a lot different at night than it did during the day. For one thing, during the day the parking lot was always full, packed with cars belonging to teachers, students, and tourists visiting the church. The lot was empty now, not a single car, and so quiet that you could hear, way off in the distance, the sound of waves hitting Carmel Beach.

  The other thing was that, for tourist reasons, I guess, they had set up these spotlights to shine on certain parts of the building, like the dome – it was all lit up – and the front of the church, with its huge arched entranceway. The back of the building, where I pulled up, was pretty dark. Which suited me fine actually. I hid the bike behind a dumpster, leaving the helmet dangling from one of the handles, and went up to a window. The Mission was built like a bizillion years ago, back when they didn't have air conditioning or central heating, so to keep cool in summer and warm in winter, people built their houses really thick. That meant that all the windows in the Mission were set back about a foot into the adobe, with another foot sticking out into the room behind them.

  I climbed up onto one of these built-in window seats, looking around first to make sure no one saw me. But there wasn't anybody around except a couple of raccoons who were rooting around the dumpster for some of the lunch leftovers. Then I cupped my hands over my face, to cut out the light of the moon, and peered inside.

  It was Mr. Walden's classroom. With the moonlight flooding into it, I could see his handwriting on the chalkboard, and the big poster of Bob Dylan, his favorite poet, on the wall.

  It only took me a second to punch out the glass in one of the old-fashioned iron panes, reach in, and unlatch the window. The hard part about breaking a window isn't the breaking part, or even the reaching in part. It's getting your hand out again that always causes cuts. I had on my best ghost-busting gloves, thick black ones with rubbery stuff on the knuckles, but I've had my sleeve get caught before, and gotten my arm all scratched up.

 

    Bridal Boot Camp Read onlineBridal Boot CampParty Princess Read onlineParty PrincessPrincess in Waiting Read onlinePrincess in WaitingBeing Nikki Read onlineBeing NikkiAbandon Read onlineAbandonPrincess on the Brink Read onlinePrincess on the BrinkDarkest Hour Read onlineDarkest HourReunion Read onlineReunionPrincess in Pink Read onlinePrincess in PinkSweet Sixteen Princess Read onlineSweet Sixteen PrincessThe Princess Diaries Read onlineThe Princess DiariesAirhead Read onlineAirheadPrincess in the Spotlight Read onlinePrincess in the SpotlightNo Judgments Read onlineNo JudgmentsAll-American Girl Read onlineAll-American GirlPrincess in Love Read onlinePrincess in LoveForever Princess Read onlineForever PrincessHaunted Read onlineHauntedShadowland Read onlineShadowlandTwilight Read onlineTwilightPrincess Mia Read onlinePrincess MiaProposal Read onlineProposalRemembrance Read onlineRemembranceRansom My Heart Read onlineRansom My HeartUnderworld Read onlineUnderworldShadowland tm-1 Read onlineShadowland tm-1Size 14 Is Not Fat Either Read onlineSize 14 Is Not Fat EitherDarkest Hour tm-4 Read onlineDarkest Hour tm-4Airhead a-1 Read onlineAirhead a-1Royal Crush Read onlineRoyal CrushThe Princess Present (princess diaries) Read onlineThe Princess Present (princess diaries)Royal Crown Read onlineRoyal CrownRoyal Wedding: A Princess Diaries Novel (The Princess Diaries Book 11) Read onlineRoyal Wedding: A Princess Diaries Novel (The Princess Diaries Book 11)Princess Diaries, Vol. X: Forever Princess Read onlinePrincess Diaries, Vol. X: Forever PrincessRoyal Wedding Disaster Read onlineRoyal Wedding DisasterAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out Read onlineAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake OutSize 12 Is Not Fat hwm-1 Read onlineSize 12 Is Not Fat hwm-1Princess on the Brink pd-8 Read onlinePrincess on the Brink pd-8The New Girl Read onlineThe New GirlAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day Read onlineAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving DayCode Name Cassandra Read onlineCode Name CassandraMia Goes Fourth pd-4 Read onlineMia Goes Fourth pd-4Sanctuary 1-4 Read onlineSanctuary 1-4Missing You 1-5 Read onlineMissing You 1-5The Mediator 6: Twilight Read onlineThe Mediator 6: TwilightAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Best Friends and Drama Queens Read onlineAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Best Friends and Drama QueensThe Boy Next Door Read onlineThe Boy Next DoorEvery Boy's Got One Read onlineEvery Boy's Got OnePrincess Mia pd-9 Read onlinePrincess Mia pd-9Haunted tm-5 Read onlineHaunted tm-5Overbite Read onlineOverbitePrincess Lessons Read onlinePrincess LessonsShe Went All the Way Read onlineShe Went All the WayGive Me Five pd-5 Read onlineGive Me Five pd-5Twilight tm-6 Read onlineTwilight tm-6Jinx Read onlineJinxRunaway (Airhead #3) Read onlineRunaway (Airhead #3)Queen of Babble Gets Hitched qob-3 Read onlineQueen of Babble Gets Hitched qob-3Forever Princess pd-10 Read onlineForever Princess pd-10Queen of Babble Read onlineQueen of BabbleBoy Meets Girl b-3 Read onlineBoy Meets Girl b-3Pants on Fire Read onlinePants on FireBig Boned ху-3 Read onlineBig Boned ху-3Princess' Diaries pd-1 Read onlinePrincess' Diaries pd-1Size 14 Is Not Fat Either hwm-2 Read onlineSize 14 Is Not Fat Either hwm-2Awaken a-3 Read onlineAwaken a-3Queen Of Babble: In The Big City qob-2 Read onlineQueen Of Babble: In The Big City qob-2Nicola and the Viscount Read onlineNicola and the ViscountAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage Fright Read onlineAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage FrightSize 12 and Ready to Rock Read onlineSize 12 and Ready to RockPerfect Princess Read onlinePerfect PrincessThe Bride Wore Size 12 Read onlineThe Bride Wore Size 121-800-Where-R-You: Missing You Read online1-800-Where-R-You: Missing YouHow to Be Popular Read onlineHow to Be PopularQueen of Babble Bundle with Bonus Material Read onlineQueen of Babble Bundle with Bonus MaterialAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Blast from the Past Read onlineAllie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Blast from the PastPrincess in the Spotlight pd-2 Read onlinePrincess in the Spotlight pd-2Ready or Not Read onlineReady or NotThe Princess Diaries I Read onlineThe Princess Diaries IParty Princess pd-7 Read onlineParty Princess pd-7Third Time Lucky pd-3 Read onlineThird Time Lucky pd-3Stage Fright Read onlineStage FrightFrom the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess Read onlineFrom the Notebooks of a Middle School PrincessNotebooks of a Middle-School Princess Bridesmaid-in-Training Read onlineNotebooks of a Middle-School Princess Bridesmaid-in-TrainingBoy Meets Girl Read onlineBoy Meets GirlMissing You Read onlineMissing YouThe Twilight Read onlineThe TwilightSize 12 Is Not Fat Read onlineSize 12 Is Not FatCode Name Cassandra 1-2 Read onlineCode Name Cassandra 1-2Valentine Princess Read onlineValentine PrincessProject Princess Read onlineProject PrincessReunion tm-3 Read onlineReunion tm-3Remembrance: A Mediator Novel Read onlineRemembrance: A Mediator NovelWhen Lightning Strikes 1-1 Read onlineWhen Lightning Strikes 1-1Safe House 1-3 Read onlineSafe House 1-3Teen Idol Read onlineTeen IdolQueen of Babble Gets Hitched Read onlineQueen of Babble Gets HitchedGlitter Girls and the Great Fake Out Read onlineGlitter Girls and the Great Fake OutMoving Day Read onlineMoving DayInsatiable Read onlineInsatiableAll American Girl Read onlineAll American GirlThe Boy Is Back + Every Boy's Got One Bundle Read onlineThe Boy Is Back + Every Boy's Got One BundleBig Boned Read onlineBig BonedAwaken Read onlineAwakenPrincess in Training pd-6 Read onlinePrincess in Training pd-6