The Ghost Hunters of Grimestone

In High Spirits

Fancy dress.

Why, in the name of the Grim Reaper’s mother, are they doing this to me? And supernatural as a theme? Really? For Halloween? What imaginations these people have. But while some people may be comfortable to frolic around the Academy’s hall impersonating a Banshee, the rest of us have difficulty stooping to such levels of indignity. I, for one, wouldn’t wish to be caught dead sporting a flimsy, tulle witch’s hat.

And who is to be held responsible for this preposterous enforcement? Why, the Student Committee, of course! Of which my best friend, Lauren Cheriton, is chairman. She denies intentionally setting up the school dance just to irk me. Yeah right. I know she’s just been dying for a way to get back at me for setting her up with Slimy Steve (because, well, I thought that perhaps he wasn’t such a bad chap, you know, underneath his over-productive saliva glands), and fair play to her, she’s done a pretty good job; she knows that the three things I hate most in the world are:

Social events,

Dressing up,

and

Non-existent, make-believe creatures.

It’s the ultimate pay-back, really. And she’s even gone so far as to make arrangements for my brother and I play a couple of live numbers, and she knows that Dan would never forgive me if I was to ever deny him a gig. So, yeah, looks like I ain’t gonna be getting outta this one.

Eesh, forget about getting even – this is calling for an all-out war!

Oh, well. Just so long as I don’t have to dress myself as a vampire, fairy, witch or leprechaun, I might just survive (important notice: while ghosts exist, do not delude yourself by believing that these other abominations live and breathe the same air as we do because it is NOT TRUE! Discussion ended), but what alternatives are there? The idea of dressing up as a resurrected skeleton makes invisible ants run up and down my arms. Hmm, this is going to require some extreme pondering.

I jump when the door to my bedroom bursts open, only to scowl when I see Dan standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Jen!” he greets, uncharacteristically jubilant.

“I thought we already covered this, Dan!” I scolded him as my heart beat began to calm down. “Fist upon wooden door makes knocking sound. Do so before entering. Or better yet, don’t enter at all!”

“Yes,” Dan sneers, “But I know how much you love a good scare.” That’s true, but there is a significant difference between watching a good quality horror movie and having your nineteen-going-on-twelve year old older brother barging into your private quarters unannounced.

I roll my eyes as he arrogantly brushes his thick, dark locks out of his eyes. “That’s nothing compared to the fright you would have got had I been half naked!” I sneer.

Dan’s face contorts in disgust. “All right. You win,” then he brightens up before saying, “I was actually coming to ask you what you were planning on wearing for the gig at the Academy’s autumn dance. I was thinking scary bugs or something – I know how much you resent the usual Halloween creepies.”

For some reason, the idea of masquerading as a vocally talented cockroach doesn’t exactly have me jumping up and down in anticipation.

The clock reads 5:32pm. Slumping down onto my unmade bed (what’s the point in making it? It’ll only get messed up again the second I get into it again), I ask my brother casually, “What are your plans for tonight?”

“Last minute homework – Mr Wilkinson’s making me redo the entire summer history project because he said mine was ‘too rushed’, as if redoing the whole thing in less than a week will make it any less rushed. Why, have you found another location?” He knows me too well. I nod enthusiastically.

“Not only that, but it’s a site that’s never been investigated before. And I’ve been doing my research – seems it’s got a lot of history and even a couple of legends surrounding it!”

Of course, I know Dan’s work is important, but this is a place I’ve been wanting to investigate for weeks and this just seems like the perfect opportunity. Just as long as I go about it the right way…

Not being able to resist the idea of a hunt, Dan finally moves out of the doorframe and fully into the room, closing the door with a click behind him. I jump off my bed and navigate my way through what looks like the aftermath of an apocalypse to the worn, second-hand, leather office chair on the other side of the diddy box-room next to the desk and with one click of a button, I revive the monitor screen and open up the tab I created earlier. I push my glasses further up my nose so I can read the text better.

“What place exactly did you have in mind?” asks Dan, seating himself on the corner of the mattress which I just vacated.

I grin up from the computer screen. “The town library,” I state nonchalantly, watching intently for my brother’s reaction.

As I expected, Dan frowns, his eyebrows in danger of dropping from his face. “You know Lauren doesn’t want to investigate the library. She said it’s too haunted there.”

“Exactly!” My smile is mischievous. “It could quite probably be the most haunted location in Grimestone. I mean, we might actually be in with a chance of getting some proper, actual footage!” When Dan doesn’t respond, I decide to go in for the kill. “Come on! I know how much you’re dying to explore that place!” Dan’s jaw twitches. I know I’m right – Dan’s as much of a ghost lover as I am, and I know he simply can’t wait to come face-to-face with the town’s most infamous and malevolent phantom.

I smile sweetly at my older brother, and he almost, almost gives in.

“What about Lauren?” He asks me before deciding anything, but I still interpret his question as a resounding “YES!”.

I bat my hand at him. “She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself. I think, secretly, she actually does want to explore it. Besides, she’s seen many scary things before, what should make this place any different?” I’m juggling with knives here, but he needs to see my point.

Dan takes a breath as though about to counter my words, but he says nothing. I turn my attention back towards the screen before me and continue to sift through my findings. A page recounting all the history and legends of Grimestone Library illuminates the monitor. I must remember to give Lauren a call later when her phone ban expires, I think to myself as I toggle tabs and begin to rifle through my inbox, knowing there’ll be nothing of interest there; it’s just a routine now, really. As I scroll through various promotions, offers, verifications and “Your payment is three weeks overdue”, I start making a mental list of all the things I need to gather together for tonight’s mission. Lock pick? I think Dan had it the last time, if I remember correctly. Video camera? That’s Lauren’s domain. In fact, her interest in our quest may be heightened by her eagerness to try out the brand new apparatus her parents bought her for her seventeenth birthday last week. I know she’s just itching to try out the new night-vision mode!

Dan emits a resigned sigh after a few moments of silence and asks me, “What do I need to bring?”

I grin once more, elated to hear that he’s eventually come to his senses. Then I shrug. “That thingymabob we use for picking locks – their back entrance is a single keyhole in the door; I guess their security measures weren’t installed to keep out rebellious teens looking for a good scare – um, a torch, a drinking bottle and a first aid kit.” He regards me with a sceptical look. I shrug. “You know,” I say, “Just in case this spirit really is as bad as reports are saying.” I laugh when his face goes a little white. “You not scared are you, Danny?”

That snaps him back. He hates it when I call him that.

“Oh,” I say, closing down the computer. “And put on your Big Boy pants, because there are going to be ghosts.”

I swivel round to look at him, a sinister sneer playing at the corners of my lips. “Lots and lots of ghosts.”