GAME ON - GoM 2

24

The medics determined that Diane had broken her neck when she tripped and fell on the backdoor steps. The wake was held in her own house, where Newhalem's small community gathered around Trent and his two children. Tom was there, by his side, helping him to handle things. And Alex kept Tom company without a word.

Only at noon Tom accepted to take a break and went back to his house with Alex for a quick lunch. He wanted to go back to Trent's as soon as they were done eating, so Alex stayed to clean around.

When she was done, she called Claire. She didn't know why, just the habit of checking on her. The noises from the other end of the line made her move the phone away from her ear. A woman screamed and cursed on top of her lungs, and Alex could hear things smashed.

"Claire? CLAIRE!"

"Al?" The girl sounded agitated.

"What the hell's going on, kiddo?"

"We've got a problem, Al!"

"Sounds like! Mind to elaborate?"

"You can hear the racket, right?"

"Of course I can hear it!"

"Well, I'm at Alice's house, and we've got a very angry ghost trashing the place around!"

"You alone!?"

"No, no, I'm with Ollie and I'm fine. But the ghost-"

"Did you restrain it?"

"Yeah. I was able to trap her in a circle of salt. But she's so furious that she keeps moving and breaking things all the same."

"She? So it's the ghost of a woman. Any idea why she's there?"

Alex didn't like the awkward pause before Claire's reply. She didn't like it at all.

"Al, the ghost..." Claire paused again. "It's Alice."

"What!?"

Alex felt as if the floor had moved under her feet. She reached around and rested a hand on the back of a chair to keep her balance.

"What d'you mean? Alice's not dead! I saw her a few days ago!"

"I have no idea, Al. She won't talk to me. But she's wearing a night robe covered in blood, and her throat was sliced open."

Alex would've wanted to ask 'what' again, but she couldn't find her voice. Alice! Murdered?

"She keeps screaming the same, Al: 'The son of a bitch killed me.' But I can't get her to tell me anything else."

Alex closed her eyes and breathed deep a couple of times. Then she was able to grunt, "I'm on my way."

"No, Al! No need! I can handle this, trust me."

No use. Alex was already launched up the stairs. At Tom's room, she shouldered her phone to throw her things into her backpack as fast as she could.

"Did you call Markus, Graham, anybody?"

"No. I wanted to calm her down first."

"Good. Don't call anybody. Go home and wait for me. I'll be there in two hours tops."

Alex disconnected, grabbed her backpack and hurried down the stairs. She felt her head still spinning, but she didn't care.

Tom was at Trent's porch with a couple of neighbors when Alex ran out of his house and threw her backpack into the back of the Hilux. She saw him coming and waited for him with the door to the driver seat already open.

"What is it, Alex? You okay?" Tom asked, worried.

"No, I'm not. And I gotta go. I'm sorry."

"What happened? Claire's fine?"

"Yeah, she's fine. But something happened to Alice. Something bad. Claire says she's dealing with her ghost."

"What? Alice? Markus' girlfriend?"

"Yeah. I'm so sorry. I really am. I don't wanna leave you all alone in this awful situation-"

"No, no. You go. Want me to come with you?"

"No way. You stay with Trent."

"Promise you'll call me if you need me."

"Sure. Keep me up."

"You too."

They were so upset, they didn't even think about kissing goodbye. They just nodded at each other and Alex climbed in the Hilux. Tom watched her gear in and rocket away. When she disappeared down the route, he sighed and headed back to Trent's house.