Haunted

Chapter Sixteen

I straighten as I see something moving towards us out of the woods, a blur of something white in the moonlight. Ian notices my movement, and his eyes follow, his entire body tensing. All the demons stiffen, going on defense once more.

Jason!?

What the hell?

"Another ghost," the woman hisses, and I see all of them start to raise their wands.

"No!" I gasp, and I push myself off the ground, weaving back and forth. I hurry around them, trying to keep things from spinning, nearly falling over my own two feet. "Not him!"

"Amelia!" Jason's voice carries across the open space, and in seconds he's suddenly beside me. He looks worried, his headphones down around his neck, the cord disappearing into his pants pocket where I know his CD player is. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"You can't be here!" I gasp, tilting my head, but Jason only sends a disinterested look at the demons.

"I'm fine. They won't bother me."

"Like hell we won't!" the woman snaps, raising her wand threateningly. "Any ghosts lingering on this earth needs to go!"

"Those shorts need to go," Jason retorts, his tone biting. "Don't tell me that just because I'm dead I don't belong here, demon. I came to help."

"Help?" I look at him in bewilderment. "How can you possibly help?"

"Uh, I'm like, dead, for starters."

"That thing in there will consume you," Ian draws our attention to him. "You might be a spirit, but it is much stronger. You'll only add to its strength if you fail. You will disappear."

Disappear?

"What does that mean?" I ask, raising a hand to press against my aching skull.

"Spirits consumed by entities disappear from this earth. They don't move on, they're consumed, they become part of the energy of the other one. They basically cease to exist." Ian explains, and I think there's a sad look in his eye. 

"That's horrible." I hesitate, turning to look at Jason. There's a breeze, and yet his big curls don't move, his clothes don't shift. I want to reach forward, touch him, something. Why did he come all the way out here looking for me? How did he even know I was here?

I flinch as I suddenly hear a loud, crunching noise. I look at the school building, seeing a bright light suddenly explode from inside. I raise my arms instinctively as the windows explode, dropping down and covering my head with an eek as the force from the light makes my clothes ripple, seeing the demons do the same.

I hear Gavin hiss in pain, but then the ground begins to shake so hard I fall to one side, Jason kneeling down beside me in the grass.

"What the hell?" the woman gasps, doing her best to retain her footing in those ridiculous shoes.

"It's Kole, he's fighting the revenant!" Ian gasps, grabbing onto Gavin's shoulder. "We've got to get in there and help!"

"I can help," Jason interjects, his hands hovering over me, as if he wants to help me to my feet but he can't. "I can distract here. I've been here for twenty years, I can catch it's attention, it knows me."

"But you'll get yourself killed ---." I start, knowing how ridiculous it sounds. Still, ceasing to exist is much more permanent than death, I've realized. 

Jason shakes his head, looking a little amused. "I've been dead twenty years, Amelia. I doubt that thing is quick enough to grab me, and if it is --- well, thanks for letting me watch the rest of Jurassic Park. And letting me play all that music I know made you cringe. And for Mean Girls."