Home, Sweet Haunt (6 page)

“Yes,” Caitlin agreed.

Nora laced up Caitlin's boots. They fit.

“We should start on the tenth floor, then,” Aleah said. “In the apartment above 9G. Maybe the ghostly noises are coming through the ceiling.”

“Uh, Aleah?” Nora knew who lived in 10G. “Hate to be a downer, but Mrs. Daugherty lives in 10G. She's alive. And lives alone. The noises can't possibly be coming from her apartment.”

As far as Nora knew, Mrs. Daugherty never talked on the phone. She didn't have kids. No one came to visit. Nora's parents had often said that Mrs. Daugherty was a good neighbor because she never played her TV or radio loudly. Mrs. Daugherty was very quiet.

“We need to snoop around to be sure,” Aleah said. She opened the notebook to a blank page and announced, “We're going on a ghost hunt.”

“Do your parents let you leave your room like that?” Nora asked Caitlin as they went out into the hallway.

“Caitlin's room is the scariest thing you're going to see this Halloween,” LL remarked. “It's totally frightening!”

Caitlin laughed. “They gave up a long time ago.” She shrugged. “When we moved in to this new apartment, I tried to keep it clean, but that lasted about a week. I'm barely ever home. Between gymnastics and school and homework, I don't have time to clean it. They told me they'd rather I get good grades than spend my time folding and straightening.”

Aleah said, “After I heard about Caitlin's deal, I tried the same argument with my parents. Instead of giving
me a pass, they sent me to my room with a dust cloth and a broom.”

LL shook her head. “My mom would kill me if I didn't use my drawers or closet.”

“Mine too,” Nora agreed. Plus, she'd learned the hard way about leaving her stuff lying around in the living room.

The elevator dinged and the four girls got inside. Aleah pressed the button for the tenth floor. The girls chatted about their favorite candies while the elevator moved slowly upward.

As they passed the ninth floor, a rattling sound echoed through the elevator shaft. It didn't sound like a normal elevator sound, more like chains hitting iron.

“What was that?” Aleah looked at Caitlin. “Did you hear that noise?”

“Rats,” LL said assuredly, with a
told you so
expression.

“No way,” Caitlin said. The noise sounded again. It went
creak-creak-chug-chug-clank-clank
, pause. Then it started again in the same pattern. “That is no rat.”

“Yes it is,” LL said, though Nora could see she was not as certain as when she'd first identified the sound.

“It's a ghost,” Caitlin said in a whisper.

“Or ghosts,” Aleah corrected.

LL sighed and shook her head. The sounds had stopped. “R-A-T-S,” she said, pointing at the page in Aleah's hand. “Write that down.”

Aleah rolled her eyes. “Don't ruin the fun, LL. The ghosts know when there are doubters. They won't show themselves because of your negative energy.”

“Negative energy? Don't get me started,” LL huffed as the elevator came to a stop.

LL and Aleah ended their argument when Caitlin asked, “Do you want to trick-or-treat at your apartment, Nora?” She glanced up and down the hallway at the different numbers on the doors. “Which one is yours?”

Nora didn't say which and she definitely didn't want to knock on her apartment door. It was still such a disaster inside. Plus she wanted a night away from her family. She simply told them the truth. “My parents never buy candy. My mom's a health freak.” She explained that in the past, her mother insisted they hand out something with fewer calories and more nutrition, like carrots. Her dad was the one who let them eat junk on Halloween, but only on that night. The next day whatever Nora brought home (that she didn't hide in her
jacket pockets) would be rationed one piece at a time.

In fact, Nora should probably bring a few pieces of whatever she got tonight to Lucas. That would be nice. And she did owe him.

“No offense, but we don't want carrots,” Aleah said.

“I don't want them either,” Nora replied, sticking out her tongue and gagging. “Although my mom insists they fit the night because they
are
orange.”

“Let's start at Mrs. Daugherty's apartment,” Caitlin suggested. “If she doesn't answer, we'll know that she died years ago and no one noticed. We can say hi to her ghost.”

LL snorted.

“Hmmm.” Nora considered that it might be possible. Mrs. Daugherty could have died. Nora hadn't seen the old lady and her pink bathrobe since that night she was interviewed by the TV reporter outside Nora's bedroom window.

They gathered around the doorbell at 10G.

“Who wants to ring?” Caitlin asked. “It's good luck to do the first ring on Halloween.”

“You're making that up,” LL said. “No such thing as luck. Not good or bad—”

“I'll do it,” Nora cut in. To convince her parents to let this be her first outing, not her last, Nora was going to need some good luck.

She rang the bell.

“Who is it?” the old lady asked from inside the apartment.

“Trick or treat,” the girls sang out together.

“Oh.” Mrs. Daugherty pretended to be surprised to find them all at the door. She opened slowly and peeked through the crack before swinging the door all the way open.

“Let's see here. What do we have this year?” Mrs. Daugherty was wearing a floral dress with the same pink slippers she'd worn on the night of the fire. She glanced around at the four girls. “A zombie.” Leaning forward, Mrs. Daugherty put a silver-wrapped piece of chocolate in Caitlin's bag.

“A witch.” She gave licorice to LL.

“A mummy.”

Aleah got a gumball.

“And”—she looked at Nora's mask—“what are you dressed as, young lady?”

Nora thought it was obvious. “A vampire, Mrs. Daugherty,” she replied politely. In a Transylvanian
accent, Nora added, “I've come to drink your blood.”

“Ha-ha,” the old lady chuckled. “So you know my name?” Mrs. Daugherty took a closer look at Nora. “Who is behind that mask? Is it Susie from 4B?”

“Nope.” Nora shook her head at the old lady's little game.

“Or Paulina from 6E?”

Nora shook her head again.

Mrs. Daugherty sized her up. “Let me see. You look to be about eleven years old?”

“Twelve.” Nora corrected, giving her a hint.

“I don't know.” Mrs. Daugherty rubbed her forehead. “Who could it be under the vampire mask?” She shook her head and said, “I give up.”

Nora laughed. “Mrs. Daugherty, it's me! Nora Wilson!” She raised the mask so Mrs. Daugherty could see her face.

“AHH!” Mrs. Daugherty screamed. “Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!” She was stuck like a broken record, repeating the same shrieking sound over and over.

“Are you all right?” Nora was concerned. She reached out to touch Mrs. Daugherty's hand. It looked like the woman might be having a stroke. Or a heart attack. Or a seizure.

“No!” Mrs. Daugherty pulled back so fast she stumbled backward into her apartment. “Go away. Leave me alone.” She began muttering. “Stay away. Don't come again. Be gone.” The door slammed.

Caitlin looked at Nora with wide eyes. “That was weird! Let's get out of here.”

The girls grabbed their candy bags and rushed to the elevator.

Mrs. Daugherty's door was closed, but her insane ramblings followed them through the hallway.

LL stabbed the button with her finger, trying to get the elevator to come faster.

Mrs. Daugherty cracked open her door and peeked out into the hall, rubbing her eyes. “It can't be,” she mumbled. “Impossible.” She blinked a few times, and then began to scream again.

The elevator wasn't coming fast enough. The girls decided to take the stairs.

With Caitlin in the lead they ran, leaping two steps at a time until they reached the ninth-floor landing. Only then did they stop to catch their breath and talk about what happened.

“I don't get it,” Nora said. She had goose bumps
down her spine. “Mrs. Daugherty has always been so nice to me.”

“That was crazy,” Aleah agreed.

“Totally bizarre.” Caitlin leaned back against the wall.

“She's bonkers!” LL had no doubt. “That woman needs to see a shrink.” She added, “Don't eat her candy. I bet it's poisoned.”

They all dumped the one piece out of their bags. Except Nora. Mrs. Daugherty never gave her any candy.

“Well, one thing's for sure,” Aleah said, making a note on her paper. “The old woman in 10G is definitely alive.”

They opened the stairway door and headed on to the ninth floor. Caitlin led the way and Nora brought up the rear. She was out of breath from running down the stairs . . . and from the fright that Mrs. Daugherty had given them.

“The Hall of Haunts,” Aleah said. She had her pen ready to take notes about anything they saw or heard. “How do we get a ghost to show itself?”

“We should just get to the trick-or-treating,” LL said. “Look how bad the ghost hunt turned out for us upstairs.”

Nora grimaced. “I had no idea I lived next to such a weirdo. She always seemed so nice.”

“Ahhh. Ahhh. Ahhh.” Caitlin imitated Mrs. Daugherty's shrieks.

“Very funny, Caity.” Aleah laughed. “Now, about conjuring these ghosts.”

“I know how to do it,” Nora said. She remembered a movie she'd watched with her ex-friends. “We need a Ouija board.”

“I had one of those once,” LL said, surprising everyone. “It's a game board covered with letters. You touch this pointer thing lightly and the ghost is supposed to move the arrow to spell words.”

“Did you ever use it?” Aleah asked, her pen poised to take notes.

LL nodded. “A few times, but nothing ever made sense. I thought the ghost was a terrible speller. Then my mom came in and showed me how I was actually moving the pointer myself. Turned out I was the terrible speller.”

“Nora, Caity, either of you have a Ouija board?” Aleah asked.

Neither of them did.

“Next idea?” Aleah asked, crossing off the Ouija board from her list.

“I heard that you can conjure ghosts by simply leaving your shoes on the floor. If you want them to stay, line up the shoes neatly, but if you point the toes in
different directions, they'll get confused and won't ever come back to that same room,” Caitlin said.

“Any ghosts in your bedroom must be super confused,” LL said.

“Now you know my secret,” Caitlin joked. “That's why there are
no
ghosts in my room.”

“That's absurd.” Nora laughed. “Any ghost who needs to borrow shoes would probably come to your room first. All that stuff all over the place . . . it's the perfect haunt for the fashionable deceased.”

“Glamorous ghosts,” Caitlin said with a smile. “They are welcome in my room anytime.” She called an invitation into the hallway. “After trick-or-treating, we will be downstairs in 2H. Come visit us.”

“I got it! I saw another movie,” Nora said, then corrected herself. “Actually, I've seen every ghost movie ever. I think we should try a séance.”

“Good idea,” Caitlin said as a group of little boys dressed as ninjas knocked on a door nearby and ran off with their bags full of chocolates. She waited until the kids moved down the hallway, then suggested they do the séance around a dark and quiet corner.

“We need to hold hands,” Caitlin said. They were
standing in front of an apartment door, but the hall light had burned out. It was hard to see down the dim corridor.

At first LL refused to join the circle. Aleah convinced her by saying, “This is a scientific experiment to see if it's possible to call ghosts.”

“Okay, as long as it's science,” LL said, taking hands with Nora on one side and Caitlin on the other.