Dystopia: YA Paranormal Adventure Romance (24 page)

I pull the
Athame from my pocket and clutch it by my side, poised like a cowboy before a duel. Stepping over scattered wood debris, I feel the crunch of broken glass under my boots.

"Zara," I call out, somewhere between a whisper and a shout. "Are you in here?"

The door to side of the altar opens and Zara emerges, flashlight in hand.

"Sasha, what's wrong. Did you find anything?"

Before I can answer, a cloud of green mist starts to form in the doorway behind her. Beyond the green mist, lurking in the darkness, the white form of Elizabeth Grey appears menacingly. My voice fails me and all I can manage is to point pathetically at the danger looming over Zara's shoulder.

The ghost of the Countess wraps its arms around Zara, its skeletal fingers spread spider-like across her chest. She breaks free and turns on her heels but before she can react the cloud of green gas consumes her. The flashlight falls from her hand and she drops to her knees, coughing and spluttering as she clutches her throat.

"Zara!" I call out in a panic.

The ghost of Elizabeth Grey floats through Zara, like steam from an iron, and drifts into the nave. It's coming directly at me, its jaw hanging as though in laughter. I look straight through the ghostly shape to Zara as she wafts away the green smoke.

"I'm OK," she says in a choked voice, waving a hand.

She thrusts a finger down her throat to make herself vomit and looks far from OK to me. I lift my shaking arm and point the
Athame straight at the ghost as it closes the distance between us. A red orb appears in my peripheral vision, hovering in the rafters. I know what I need to do: focus my energy on the ghost and guide it into the red orb. This is my chance to perform a Banishment and to repay Zara and Aaron for everything they've done for me.

The
Athame trembles in my hand and I do my best to clear my mind and concentrate. The ghost is so close that I can see the small cracks in its cheekbones and the gaps between its missing teeth. It comes to a halt three feet before me, throwing its arms out wide and opening its jaw further, like a shark closing in on its prey. I urge the Athame to work like it did against The Hangman Ghost, but nothing happens. Through the transparent shape of the image of Elizabeth Grey, I can still see Zara on all-fours, retching. I'm the only one who can Banish it, yet I seem powerless to act.

The poisonous green mist starts to form in the ghost's mouth and seeps from its empty eye sockets like a deadly incense burner. I flick my wrist in an attempt to awaken its power, willing the
Athame to work. As the murky green cloud creeps ever closer, I hear a movement behind me. The door to the chapel flies open and Aaron stumbles in, dragging himself forward on one leg.

"Get down Sasha!" he orders, and I react instantly.

I drop onto my side, avoiding the green mist that threatens to engulf me. Stunned into passivity, I watch as Aaron thrusts out an arm and clenches his fist into a ball, like he's crushing a soul in the palm of his hand.

"
Take this you poisoned halitosis bitch!"

The ghost lets out a howling scream as Aaron locks it in an invisible grip,
then guides it toward the red orb. The glowing red sphere starts to spin intensely, like the eye of a hurricane. With an agonising howl, the ghostly shape is sucked into its core like water swirling down a drain. In the space of three short seconds both the ghost and the orb disappear, and the chapel is once again shrouded in silence.

Aaron slumps against the doorframe in a mixture of exhaustion and relief. I pick myself up, run to Zara's side and help her to her feet. With an arm slung around her back in support, we shuffle out of the chapel with Aaron limping behind. Once outside and breathing fresh air, Zara recovers enough to speak.

"What happened back there, Sasha?"

S
he looks at me for an explanation, her face pale and weak.

I look down to the
Athame in my hand.

"Nothing," I reply. "Nothing happened."

Nothing except one thing: I failed.

The
next book in the series,
Hysteria
, out October 2014. . .