The Diaries Of Liz Davids: Secrets Uncovered (Book One : Complete)

Chapter 9

"Jess!" I cried, "But you-"

"Yes, I am dead, thanks to you," Jess said calmly. I gasped, not because of what Jess said, but because of how she looked. There were two arrows sticking out from the middle of her stomach, and silver blood was visible from the wounds, her mouth and her nose. She was light blue and glowing slightly.

"Me? But I – I tried to-"

"It does not matter what you tried, Liz!" Jess shouted, slapping me in the face, "I’m dead! Dead! At the age of fourteen! I died before I even had chance to live! And it’s entirely your fault!"

Then she was gone, leaving me in tears, "Jess! Jess!"

I took a few more deep breaths, clutching the place where Jess had slapped me. It burned even more than it would have done if a living person had slapped me. I lay slowly back down and tried going back to sleep.

The next morning I thought it must have been a dream, but my cheek was still burning, and when I looked in the mirror the faint traces of Jess’s hand was still there. She’d been in my room that night, but how could Jess possibly blame me for a death that was out of any of our hands? There was absolutely nothing I could have done. I actually carried Jess all the way to the foot of the hill before being shot. I’d nearly died for Jess.

I got ready for another day (wearing one of my new black outfits). I planned to spend the day by myself, researching spirits and the afterlife. Hopefully Nicholas and Johnny will leave me alone, and Mekisha as well. I didn’t feel like facing any of them. Not even Nicholas.

When I got to the common room it was mostly empty, and I walked straight across it, making my way straight to the library. I wasn’t even hungry.

The remainder of the day I spent in the library, trying to come up with some plan to calm Jess, or imprison her so that we could talk rationally, but the only thing I came up with was an exorcism. I didn’t want Jess gone, I just wanted to talk.

I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t, under any circumstances, perform an exorcism on Jess. No matter what. I wasn’t entirely sure I would be able to keep my promise, as this wasn’t my Jess I was dealing with. The Jess that had visited me the previous night was filled with hatred and a hunger for vengeance, even though there was nothing to be vengeful for.

I spent my entire day in the library, searching even though I knew I wasn’t going to find anything, right up until the librarian shunned me to the Main Hall where a special Christmas Eve dinner had been prepared by the ghosts.

Then it struck me.

I waited until one of the ghosts served a dish in front of me. It was a middle-aged man that had to have lived in the early 1600s.

"Excuse me?" I said politely, though I was eagerly impatient inside.

"Yes?" he said, surprised.

"I apologize if this seems rude, but I need a way of imprisoning or keeping a ghost mobile," I said. I felt stupid the moment I said it.

"Why on earth would you want something like that?"

"Well, see, my best friend died a few days back, and she … well, she kind of blames me for her death," I said as quietly as I could, then I added quickly, "But it’s not true."

The sound of a small chiming filled our ears. Professor Darthorion was tapping his wine glass for attention.

"Meet me by the lake at midnight," the ghost whispered, and was off.

"Why is it always midnight?" I mumbled to myself.

"Hey," a voice said from beside me. I looked up to see Johnny. I forced a smile in greeting and turned to face Professor Darthorion.