Cross Trail Middle School Chapter 9
The day went pretty well, all things considered. Amelia was working with him and James could tell she was desperate to stay busy. He spotted her a few times standing quietly off to the side and texting, but it wasn’t his business unless she wanted it to be. But he’d found plenty of ways to get her out of headquarters and doing things. So by the time her shift was supposed to end at eight that night, she looked exhausted.
“How are you?” James asked.
Amelia shrugged, slouched on his office couch, her black hair hanging in her face. “I just keep replaying everything in my head and wondering if I could have done it better.”
“I don’t-”
“Not just last night,” she continued, “but in general. Did I ditch her too often? And was I, like, selfish when we were together?”
“Selfish doing what?”
His phone rang just as she was gathering her thoughts. It was Penny.
“Hang on,” he said to Amelia. “I just need to grab this real quick.”
He answered. “Hey, Pen. What’s up?”
“Uncle James?”
She sounded scared and James was up and moving before he realized what was happening. “Yeah, honey, what’s wrong?”
“I know I told you we weren’t actually going after ghosts, but we did and I think it’s mad.”
There was a crash behind her and she screamed. So did a couple other kids in the background. “Alright,” James said, his hands shaking as he scooped up his wallet from his desktop. “Where are you?”
Amelia opened her eyes and looked at him. “We’re at the middle school,” Penny said, her voice wavering.
“The one your show was at?”
“Yeah.”
He wanted to demand to know what she was doing at the school at eight at night, but there’d be time for that once she was safe. “I need to go,” he said to Amelia. “I’m so sorry, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She waved him off without him even needing to explain. “I’ve got everything here,” she said.
James hurried out through the living room, waving off Graham, who looked concerned too. “Alright, honey, I’m on my way,” he said as he went into the storage closet for the backup banishing kit. “What did you guys do?”
“Not much, it-
Another crash. “Can you get out of the building?”
“It’s between us and the door,” Penny said through tears. “We’ve been trying to get out and it keeps trying to get us.”
“Where are you?”
“Backstage.”
“I’m calling your mom right now, okay? She’ll know who to call there.”
“No!” Penny shrieked. “You can’t tell her!”
James stopped. “Pen,” he said. “Where are you, exactly?”
“We’re in a closet backstage,” she said.
“Are you safe in there?”
“I think so.”
Madelyn came out of the pink bedroom as James was slinging the kit over his shoulder. “Want backup?” she asked.
“Please,” he said before thinking.
He was about to backtrack, but she was already moving. Madelyn followed him out the door and toward the van without asking for any explanation either. “What did you guys do to the ghost?” he asked Penny as they got to the van.
Penny hesitated. “Pen, I need to know so I know how to get rid of it.”
“We used a summoning.”
“A what?!”
She started crying and James tried to pull himself back. “It’s okay,” he said. “We’re on our way, it’ll take about ten minutes. I’m going to call your mom to let her know.”
“No, you said I could talk to you in private!”
“Pen, that was for, like, girl problems and you know that.”
She continued protesting, but then there was another crash against the door on her end and James realized he really didn’t want to get off the line with her. He handed the phone to Madelyn. “Find Celia’s number in there,” he said. “Don’t disconnect with Penny. Then call her on your phone.”
He started down the street as Madelyn dialled, then put James’s phone into the dashboard holder. “We’ll be there in ten minutes,” James promised again. “If you’re safe where you are, stay there.”
“Hi, is this Celia?” Madelyn asked politely.
Penny shrieked and James felt the tiniest bit guilty, but most of him was focused on getting to the school before things got worse there.
“It’s okay,” Madelyn said to Celia after explaining what was going on. “It’s okay, no, don’t bring the other girls. James and I will be there in a few minutes, we can at least get them out if we can’t quell the haunting. We have it under control, I’ll call you when we’re all out.”
She hung up. “She’s going to stay by the phone, there’s no need to bring a baby out there.”
Penny being in danger was bad enough, but now James had a mental image of a ghost going after baby Jenny too, as she tried to run away on her stubby little legs. He didn’t need to add unnecessary stress into this situation, so he shoved it aside and kept driving.
They got to Cross Trail Middle School and James drove around back, trying to remember where the auditorium entrance had been. Once he found it, he parked and pulled out the banishing kit.
“Honey, we’re here, okay?” James said. “We’ll be in there in a minute.”
“Okay,” Penny said. Her voice still shook, but at least the background was quiet.
He reluctantly hung up with Penny, then called Amelia.
“I have no comms, I’m sorry,” he said. “We’re heading into the school now.”
“Got it,” she said, her voice so comfortingly professional that at least some of his worries were eased. “Just keep your phone on.”
He slid it in his pocket without hanging up. “First priority is the kids, obviously,” he said to Madelyn. “I want you to get them out the closest exit while I take care of whatever they conjured.”
“You don’t think it’s a ghost?” Madelyn asked.
“It fucking better be a ghost,” James replied. “Though they’re in so much trouble already, a demon would be a picnic compared to what Celia’s going to do.”
They got their helmets on and James tried to subtly check how Madelyn was moving, though it was too late for that. She picked up her backpack, which had her folding cane sticking out, and he tried not to let his relief show.
“Get the kids out first,” he said. “I’ll take the rest.”
“I’ll come back in once they’re out,” Madelyn said.
“No,” James said. “I’m literally just going to hold it off. If it’s not something I can cleanse in two minutes, then it’s not something I want you and I dealing with alone. I’ll need to know what summoning ritual they used, what we think arrived, and if there are specialized instructions to get rid of it. I’m literally slapping a bandaid on and running. So I mean it. When you’re out of the school, stay out.”
To his relief, she didn’t argue as they approached the side door, which, to James’s irritation, the kids had propped open with a rock. “Oh,” Madelyn said, glancing at her phone. “Celia said that she called the director. He’ll stay clear, but if there are any security alerts, he’ll manage it.”
The last thing James needed was to end up on a list for breaking into a middle school. “Great, thanks,” he said as the door closed behind them with a loud creak.
It was dark in the hallway, even with the windows letting in the last of the evening’s light. School had just started a few weeks ago, so there were still desks pushed against the walls with chairs neatly stacked on top of them. Apparently whatever entity was throwing things around backstage minutes ago had not gotten out here yet.
James and Madelyn hurried down the hall, James well aware that even though the teacher had said he’d handle any alarm issues, the cops might not be open to explanations involving ghosts. He didn’t even know if the club advisor knew or believed what had happened or if it was just a matter of getting the kids out of the school quickly and quietly. But either way, he wanted to be out of this school as soon as humanly possible.
James grabbed the handle of the auditorium door and pulled it open, hurrying down the aisle as Madelyn stayed close behind. It was too silent in here, the air still around them, but the energy crackling through it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
And then a music stand was flying toward him, the top of it carefully angled as though to spear through his chest. Pulling Madelyn aside with him, James successfully dodged it, then was not able to successfully dodge the small instrument case that caught him in the side of the head. Its impact was lessened by the helmet, but still enough to sting.
The aisles sloped downward, ending just in front of a large stage, which held an old upright piano and a small mess that was clearly the remains of whatever ritual Penny and her friends had decided they needed to do in here. As they reached it, James listened carefully, but didn’t hear any sounds from backstage.
“You go,” James said to Madelyn as he pulled out his container of salt. “Get the kids and get out.”
Madelyn’s leg buckled just a little as she went up the stage steps, but she caught herself before James gave in to the temptation to hurry after her. She dodged the old piano as it slid across the stage toward her, crashing into the concrete wall with an expensive-sounding crash.
James forced himself not to follow her backstage, instead pulling out a small vial of holy water to go with the salt. Based on the lack of mess throughout the rest of the auditorium, the spirit was seemingly on the stage, so James hurried, drawing a solid but messy line of salt as he looped down in front, up the stairs, and along the back curtain. He noted with displeasure the half-melted candles knocked over in the center of the stage, along with the chalk symbols. Knowing he risked another concussion via band class, he snapped a quick picture on his phone, then kept moving.
“I’ve got them!” Madelyn yelled, ushering the three terrified children out from behind the curtain and down the stairs. James turned to look at them just as a trombone case hit him in the chest, knocking him backward off the stage.
He landed painfully on his wrist and swore, the sound carried away by the laughter now rippling through the stage. One of the kids screamed, but the spirit didn’t seem to follow them. There was no way James would be able to get rid of whatever this was on his own so as soon as he saw the kids and Madelyn go through the door, he followed, slamming it shut behind them as they all hurried out into the muggy evening air.
“Keep going,” James barked, trying to ignore his throbbing wrist as he motioned for everyone to move away from the door, over the pavement, and toward the van.
“Is anyone injured?” he asked as he opened the side door and ushered them in.
“No,” Penny said, her voice small.
“Great. Everyone in the van, we need to leave.”
“Uncle James-” Penny started, but he shook his head.
“We’ll talk later,” he said. “You and you-” He pointed at the other two. “What are your names?”
“Sir, we-” the boy started, but James shook his head again.
“Names,” he snapped.
“Cody.”
“Lacey.”
“Do your parents know you’re here?”
“They think we’re at Penny’s house,” Lacey said.
James turned to Penny, who shrank back. Then he sighed and shook his head. “We’re heading back there.”
Penny opened her mouth but Madelyn shook her head and she just slumped back in her seat. James dropped his phone in the center console.
“Hey, Amelia?” he said as he went to turn the key in the ignition, then swore as a bolt of pain went through his wrist.
“What is it?” Madelyn asked.
“My wrist,” he said, shaking it out and just adding to the pain. “I landed weird on it.”
“Make a fist.”
James did. “Open and close it.”
He did again. “Good, it isn’t broken,” Madelyn said. “Can you take your glove off? You don’t have to,” she added quickly when apparently the bolt of unexpected panic was visible on his face.
James slid his glove off his hand anyway and he and Madelyn looked at it in the dim car light. One wrist was definitely puffier than the other. “Great,” he muttered. “It’s probably sprained.”
“Want me to drive?”
“Do you feel up to it?”
“Yeah. Hey, Amelia, we’re good, he just hurt his wrist. Heading over to his cousin’s now.”
“Got it,” Amelia said from James’s phone.
Madelyn didn’t seem offended by James questioning her. She just got out the passenger side as James got out the driver’s side. Then they were on the silent road away from the school, the kids just as quiet in the backseat.
“I’ll wrap it when we get back to headquarters,” James said, his hand tucked in his lap, as covered as possible without the kids noticing. “But we have to cleanse that thing tomorrow.”
“Will that cause any issues with the Foundation?”
Dammit, this wasn’t a regular case. He was in pissed-off uncle mode, not professional, and he had to get professional. “I’ll call McGovern,” he said. “A monster in a school might be enough to get it on the agenda.”
“Jarvis Street School begs to differ,” Madelyn said with a wry smile.
“We’ll be at the house in five minutes,” James said. “I’ll see if he’s around now.”
McGovern picked up his call immediately. “Captain,” he greeted, and it sounded like there was a lot of activity behind him.
“Sir,” James greeted back. “Do you have a minute?”
“Hang on.”
McGovern said something to someone, clearly muffling the speaker. Then there was the sound of shuffling. “Sorry,” he said. “We’re at my daughter’s baseball game.”
Right, he had a kid Penny’s age, didn’t he? “We had an unscheduled situation come up,” James said.
“Tell me about it.”
James laid out the details, only once asking for clarification from Penny, who answered in a tiny voice, head bowed. Once he was done, McGovern immediately said, “Add it to your schedule. When I’m in the office tomorrow morning, I’ll approve it.”
“Thank you,” James said. “I really appreciate this.”
“It’s the whole point of what we do.”
There was a moment of silence, like maybe McGovern thought he’d gone too far. “It is,” James agreed.
They hung up just as Celia’s house came into view. James turned around, ignoring the flash of pain in his wrist as he shifted. “Listen up,” he said to the three kids in the middle seat. “That was a stupid move tonight and you could have easily been killed. You understand that, right?”
All three kids nodded, avoiding meeting his eye.
