“You shouldn’t be here.” I turn and see Dr. Hanover standing in the hall, wringing his hands. “How are you here?”
“I’m a witch,” I tell him and the boy in the workout clothes flickers into view behind him. I can sense others, at least a dozen. Some have been here for a long time, and others…others only recently. “Those workers didn’t quit without telling anyone, did they?” I ask.
“No,” the boy in the workout clothes says. “They’re in the basement, but they can’t leave.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“None of us can leave. We can’t leave as long as they’re here, and as long as they’re here, others will die.”
“Who are they?” I ask and hear a scream echo around me.
“The monsters,” the little girl says. “Sometimes they look like me.”
“They look like anyone they’ve devoured,” Dr. Hanover explains, and something clicks in my mind. The smell of death. Gray hands pulling Stephanie into darkness. And the reason why the spirits are stuck.
They were killed—and consumed—by ghouls.
Chapter
Five
“How do you kill a ghoul?” Staggering, I get to my feet.
“A ghoul?” Ethan echoes, rushing forward and steadying me. The moment his hands land on my arms, warmth spreads through me and I feel centered again. “Are you sure?”
“Feasts on flesh, can wear the face of anyone they’ve consumed.”
“That’s why the little girl saw her father. He wasn’t killed by a mugger.”
“The ghouls have been in the basement for a long time. I think they were getting weak once the building was boarded up and they couldn’t leave, but then…”
“Then they ate the construction crew.”
“Yeah.”
“Change of plans,” Ethan tells everyone, letting his hands fall from my arms. “We’re not dealing with angry spirits anymore, but a ghoul. Ghouls are strong, quick, and can appear human. They can be fatally wounded like humans as well, but don’t die as quickly. Arm yourselves and stay on the defense.”
He pulls his gun from the holster on his waist and I get the enchanted dagger from the duffle bag. Ben and Zach have knives on their ankles and Mike has a gun as well, which makes me nervous. I know Ethan is a good shot and could shoot a gun before he could ride a bike, but accidental shootings do happen.
We hurry down into the basement, with several spirits leading the way. No one else can see them, but their desperation is palpable. This isn’t the first time ghosts were bound to some sort of demonic entity. And, like before, I’m going to set them free.
“Shit,” Ethan mumbles when we get into the basement. The space is large, smells like mildew, and is filled with random boxes of storage, making it hard to navigate.
“The elevator shaft,” I say, feeling a pull to go toward it, which makes sense. It was what the spirits were trying to keep us away from. Ethan leads the way, and my heart beats faster and faster the closer we get.
“Oh God, what’s that smell?” Ben asks, covering his nose with his hand.
“We’re about to find those missing workers,” Ethan warns him and then motions for him to be quiet and to point our flashlights down. It’s freezing in the basement, but the cold doesn’t register as adrenaline pumps through me.
We all stand still for a moment, and then we hear scuffling coming from behind a closed door. Ethan looks at me and nods, holding up his gun as he moves in front of the door. He knocks it down with one kick and rushes right in, holding up his flashlight under his gun. I go in right behind him and—oh shit.
Instead of one ghoul, there are three.
Stephanie is on a table, arms spread out with a metal bowl underneath no doubt intending to collect the blood they drain out of her body. She’s fighting against the ghoul who’s pinning her down, who is taking on the form of one of the construction workers. The other two are wearing faces I don’t recognize, but their skin is dry and wrinkled from not consuming blood and flesh in a while.
No sooner than the ghouls look up, Ethan fires his gun, hitting the one pinning down Stephanie in the head three times. It staggers back and then slumps down. Heat and magic gather around my fingers. The two other ghouls charge at us, and Ethan shoots another, but it doesn’t go down as easily.
I raise my arm, the blade of my dagger glowing red-hot, and spin as I slash the dagger through the air. The motion is familiar to me, maybe partly because Ethan and I spar for training, but also because I swear I’ve done this before.
With the dagger in my hands.
“Ignis,” I whisper and shove the dagger into the ghoul’s chest. It hisses and madly claws at me, trying to knock the dagger out of his chest, but my magic is stronger. I twist the blade and fire erupts from inside its chest, burning it from the inside out.
“Get her out of here!” Ethan shouts as he kicks the ghoul in front of him back. Ben and Zack scramble past me, helping Stephanie to her feet. Her face is scraped up and her nose is bleeding, but she’s able to limp out of there.
I pull my hand back and watch the smoldering ghoul fall to the floor. Another gunshot rings out next to me, temporarily deafening me. Wincing from the sound, I turn and see Ethan swipe his hand through the air, slashing the ghoul’s throat. Thick blood oozes out, and the ghoul falls to its knees. Ethan brings his hand down once more, sending his knife deep into the ghoul’s skull. The thing goes limp and collapses to the ground, unmoving.
“Everyone okay?” he asks, looking around.
“I think so,” I pant and lower the dagger to my side.
“Is that all of them?” one of the younger boys asks.
“Yeah,” I say, able to sense the spirits’ ability to detach from this place. Not all will move on. Some have been dead too long to be able to, but the intelligent ghosts are more than ready to get out of here. Letting my mental shields drop, just to be sure, I close my eyes and don’t get hit with the sense of dread anymore either. Though I feel something else, almost as if something is watching me.
“Ugh, fuck,” Ethan grumbles, going behind the table. “I found their nest.”
I look past the table, not really wanting to go around for a closer look. There’s a pile of blankets, balled-up bloody clothes, and bones in a corner against the wall. It smells like death in here—literally—and I’m guessing the rotting, half-chewed hand on the floor belongs to one of the construction workers.
“This was beyond your training,” Ethan starts, shining the light around the room. “But it goes to show you never know what to expect when you’re called out for a job. Something seemingly simple can take a turn—fast.”
“Are you okay?” I ask Stephanie as Ethan finishes looking around the large room, making sure we did get all the ghouls.
“I’ll be sore in the morning.” She pushes her hair back. “You guys got here fast. One ghoul isn’t a problem, but three…fuck.” As someone who’s used to being in danger, she’s rattled but not as much as one would think. Still, coming close to death like that will leave anyone shaken. “How did you know to come down here?”