Rima let out a guttural, horrified growl, twisting back into a human. “No!”
Rima tried to pull Cody away, but it was too late. The fox tumbled over onto her side, whining.
Norma didn’t stop to finish the job. She raced for Leah.
“Cody, no!” Rima desperately pushed her own energy into the fox, trying to stop her disintegrating.
Watching this, Felix was so distracted that he lost control of Vini, who broke free of the hypnotism and ran after Norma. All three Tricksters converged on Leah and Claudia.
Felix tried to hypnotize them enough to give Leah a chance to escape. He visualized a huge chasm appearing in the roof, and threw the vision towards the Tricksters to make them see it too. They stopped at the edge, staring down into the canyon that had opened up.
Norma took a step back, then narrowed her gaze at Felix. “It’s not real. Get him.”
Rufus and Vini ran at Felix. Before he could turn and flee, his blood suddenly ran cold with fear. They were doing something to his emotions, amplifying his terror until it was bigger and stronger, incapacitating.
Felix’s knees gave in, his eyes rolling back in his head. He could feel himself frothing at the mouth as waves of fear swelled through him. Rufus and Vini grabbed him by the elbows, dragging him to Norma.
She touched his temple, sending a searing burn through his brain. She shuffled through his memories, scrolling past snapshots of Oscar and Rima; computing lectures; battling Harriet.
This must be their team torture that Leah had talked about. She had said that Fabian was very good at playing with people’s brains.
Norma came to a stop on a memory of Kasper from earlier that day – their kiss and immediate break-up. Felix rewatched the blank look on Kasper’s face, as he explained his lack of fear. It still hurt Felix to see Kasper like that.
Norma replayed the memory, but this time it was slightly different. This time, it showed Kasper turning to grin at Leah and Rima after Felix stormed away down the tunnels. “Well, that got rid of him!” this version of Kasper said. “Good story, guys.”
The three of them sniggered, and Rima rolled her eyes derisively. “Can you believe he actually fell for that? As if you’ve lost your fear!”
Kasper snorted. “At least he won’t follow me around like a sad puppy all the time now.”
“Do you think we can get him to leave the rest of us alone, too?” Leah asked, and the three of them laughed and laughed and laughed.
Felix couldn’t look away. The new memory replaced the real thing, until he wasn’t sure what had happened and what Norma had added.
Felix’s fear was still cresting over him, getting stronger and stronger as Rufus and Vini pushed the emotion into him through their hold on his elbows. The altered memory sent him over the edge. He screamed and blacked out.
HARRIET
Harriet stood in the eye of the battle, frozen with indecision. She wanted to support Rima and the others, but her scared heart was telling her to flee while Norma was distracted. She could find somewhere small and safe to hide, and never come out again.
But she couldn’t leave Rima and the others to be destroyed, not after everything else she’d done to them. They’d done nothing to deserve all this.
Felix went limp in the Tricksters’ arms, red froth tumbling from his lips. He hit the ground with a thud, and the canyon disappeared into mist. The Tricksters turned to chase down Leah again.
Harriet knew that Norma was going to do to Leah what she’d done to Harriet and her parents. How could she let that happen again? She had to protect Leah and her daughter. They were the only family that Harriet had left.
Without even knowing what she was going to do, Harriet’s body jolted into action. Energy started bubbling inside her chest, then surged out of her sternum, rolling towards Norma in a great wave.
It was like all the powers she’d stolen from other ghosts, but so much stronger that it made those little talents feel like card tricks. It must be her true power manifesting at last. Not a stolen one. Hers – the one she was meant to have all along.
Harriet’s power flooded over Leah and Claudia, curling around the girls in a glowing white dome. It solidified, just as Norma reached them. When she ran at the energy bubble, she bounced away.
Growling, Norma tried to tear open the bubble, as Leah cowered against the far side. Rufus punched at it, but it was immovable.
Harriet had made a shield. Her power was a shield? This must be why it had never manifested before. Until now, she’d never cared enough about anyone to feel the urge to protect them.
She’d felt the same bubbling feeling in her chest before, when Kasper had nearly tripped on the stairs as he was talking about their Halloween date. Sunbathing on the fire escape, something had started to form inside her, too. She had pushed it away every time, not trusting the feeling, which had been formed from affection and love.
It must have been inside her all this time, just waiting for the moment Harriet decided to protect her new friends. Her power had woken up to defend them.
Harriet grinned. She had been right. She really was a good person, somewhere deep inside. She hadn’t even believed it herself until this moment. Now she could start trying to prove it.
“Wait!” Norma said sharply. “Just stop for a moment.”
Rufus and Vini stopped clawing at the shield. Norma rearranged her hair and stepped forward, peering through the shield at Leah and Claudia.
Something inside Harriet told her that if she manipulated a little bit of the energy, she could…
The shield went see-through.
Leah stood inside, posture straight and calm, holding Claudia in her arms. She touched the shield in wonder.
Harriet gave her a reassuring nod, and Leah’s expression cleared.
Leah focused all her attention on Norma. “Husband. How are you?”
Norma sighed. “I was hoping to surprise you with the good news.”
Norma seemed to be ignoring her missing eye, which was weeping blood veins down her cheek. The socket flexed and moved as she spoke, revealing the white flesh and blue veins inside.
“I wouldn’t describe it as good news. I would rather you were burning in the depths of hell than back here.” Leah grinned a sharp-toothed smile.
“We’re skipping the trivialities, are we? Very well. That barrier of yours isn’t going to last for ever, and when it falls, I am going to kill you and our daughter. Your time is coming to an end.”
Leah met Harriet’s eye again. Harriet nodded once, trying to convey to her that the shield was strong, and that it wouldn’t break. She thought that she could keep it running forever if she wanted to. It wasn’t like those stolen powers, weak because they hadn’t been designed for her. This was made to fit her. It took barely any of her energy to keep it going.
“You can’t kill me,” Leah said. “Not in any way that matters. You’ve proven that. I will come back again even if you destroy me now.”
“I can make sure I never have to see your face ever again,” Norma spat out. “Or that child’s.”
Norma looked at Claudia in pure hatred. Harriet remembered how her gran had taken the baby away from Leah. It was one of the first things that she’d done when she’d become a ghost. Harriet had thought that Norma had been using the baby as a distraction. But even then, Norma had been planning to kill Claudia. She’d just needed to get her brothers out of the basement first.