Dead Scary: The Ghost who refused to leave Read online

  ***

  Eddie appeared a few times throughout the day, so I was pretty sure he was spying on us. He made another complaint about Caesar, who was bringing in sticks and leaves and making a mess on the clean floor. I laughed and praised Caesar for sharing his treasures. He was in paradise with a big backyard to explore.

  After seeing my attitude, Eddie again disappeared in a huff.

  When I was kicking a soccer ball against the outside of the house, he appeared on the roof, pointing his finger at me. 'Adam,' he said, 'actually, I have six rules. No kicking balls against the house.'

  Once again, he disappeared when I kicked the ball harder.

  At dinner, I knew for sure Eddie was a spy.

  Emily, who knew 1001 ways of getting attention, stuck out her chin and announced, 'I can't eat lamb chops without ketchup.'

  'It's in the pantry,' said Mom, who'd just sat down.

  'I can't go in there. The ghost lives in there,' Emily said, as though everyone had a ghost living with them.

  I coughed so hard peas flew out of my mouth. Two peas landed on the table in front of me.

  Dad ignored the flying peas and said, in his serious voice, 'Emily, there's no such thing as ghosts.'

  I swallowed my mouthful and hid the two peas under my plate.

  Emily narrowed her eyes. 'Not even friendly ghosts like on TV?'

  Mom shook her head. 'The friendly ghost is only for fun. The person who made him up has a good imagination.'

  Emily thought about that, before she said, 'There are scary noises in the pantry. There must be a ghost.'

  Eddie suddenly appeared behind Emily. 'Adam, it isn't me she hears. There is a bird's nest in the gutter on the roof above the pantry. Emily hears a bird walking on the roof.'

  Turning to Emily, I said, 'I heard a strange noise too. It took me a while to work out it was a bird on the roof. I bet there's a nest in the gutter.'

  She ignored my logical explanation and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, 'Do you believe in ghosts?'

  I shrugged.

  Mom glared at me, so I smiled at Emily and said, 'Personally, I've never met a scary ghost. Do you want me to get the ketchup?'

  That must've been a good answer, because Mom gave me a quick smile and Eddie rolled his eyes and disappeared. We'd only just moved in and he already seemed to be fond of Emily. Everyone in the world adored Emily; it was as if her Fairy Godmother had cast a spell to make the whole world love her.

  3

  Isabel sent me a text the next morning telling me she was in the park. I got Caesar's lead from a box in the laundry.

  Mom, who was in the kitchen rearranging stuff, saw the lead and said, 'Good idea, Caesar needs to burn off some energy. Can you ask Emily if she wants to go too?'

  'Yep.'

  I stuck my head into Emily's room. She was sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by her dolls. 'Do you want to take Caesar for a walk and pick up his poo? Or do you want to make sure all your dolls are safe and happy in their new room?'

  She stuck her tongue out at me before she said, 'When I have my own dog, I'll take him to the park.'

  'Back soon.'

  Caesar was in the backyard playing with a pinecone that he didn't want to leave. I bribed him with liver treats to get him to come with me.

  Our new house was only a few minutes from the park. Isabel was on a swing, swinging as if she were Emily's age and not a fourteen-year-old ghost.

  Caesar barked at her even though Isabel must've been the greatest dog-loving ghost on the planet. I took off his lead and threw a stick for him to fetch.

  'Hey.' I leant against the frame of the swings. Isabel was wearing her Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz costume and had her long brown hair in two plaits, like she had when she played the part of Dorothy.

  She shook her head. 'Of all the houses, your parents bought Edward Lawrence's house.'

  'Isabel, it's our house now.'

  She raised her eyebrows. 'To you, it's your house. To Edward, it's his house.'

  'Yeah, he's already told me that. He wants us to move out, because he can't live with someone who can see him. And in the meantime, he has got all these Rules he reckons we should obey.' I kicked the dirt. For months I'd been counting the days until we moved into our dream house. And now it wasn't a dream home.

  Isabel began to laugh, but then covered her mouth as if it were no laughing matter. 'So you'll find another house?'

  'What? Of course not!' I threw the stick for Caesar again. 'I've told you my parents would take me straight to a doctor for nut cases if I told them the resident Earthbound Spirit didn't want to share his house with me.'

  She didn't laugh. Her lips were pressed together and she just stared at the ground.

  A cold uneasy feeling went through me once again.

  Finally, she looked straight into my eyes. 'Adam, listen to me. No jokes. This is serious.'

  I held my breath.

  'Edward Lawrence might've died when he was fourteen, but now he is important in the Earthbound Spirit world. He's Sir John's nephew, for a start.'

  Sir John's nephew! What were the chances of us moving into Sir John's nephew's old house? Sir John, who was President of the Council of Earthbound Spirits and pretty important in the Earthbound Spirit world, was Isabel's guardian.

  I said, 'So just because he's Sir John's nephew, you think we should move out?'

  After Isabel died in an accident at the theatre when she fell down a staircase, she got into a bit of trouble. Thinking about Isabel being a rebel made me laugh. She'd always been Miss Perfect at school. She was smart and pretty, and she sang. Her voice was better than most of the pop singers on the radio. As well, she could dance and act. Of course she got lots of attention, so when she died she missed the attention.

  About a week after she died, she decided creating hysteria at school was a good way to get attention. Our school's main building is a two-storey mansion. Sir John built the mansion when he was alive and had always lived there. Isabel 'borrowed' a book on Ancient Egypt from the library, worked out how to write some hieroglyphics, then in the middle of the night she visited the school with a tin of green paint and copied the Ancient Egyptian handwriting way up high on the grey mansion wall.

  The next morning, she watched with excitement as the school principal, every member of staff and every student inspected her artwork. The students convinced themselves aliens had visited and tried to communicate in the wrong language, while the staff convinced themselves a former student must've been responsible. A former student who had a fascination with Ancient Egypt and who had access to a very high ladder. The school janitor got a very tall ladder and cleaned off Isabel's artwork.

  That night, Isabel carefully painted the same hieroglyphics in the same place on the mansion wall, the only difference being that she used orange paint. The students became more excited when the orange hieroglyphics were discovered. The wall was cleaned again, but once again Isabel went to work in the middle of the night. This time with purple paint. The students worked themselves into such a frenzied state, they expected a spaceship to land on the school oval at any moment. Isabel, of course, thought she was as clever as.

  The school installed security cameras, but that night the cameras' lenses were painted over before they captured any evidence. Cameras cannot capture images of ghosts anyway, so the tape could only have shown a paintbrush moving by itself.

  But Isabel, who'd thought her prank was the greatest prank ever, finally got caught. Sir John, who hadn't been too happy about someone painting on the wall of his home, had hid and waited for the mystery artist to strike. Like the staff, he'd assumed the artist was a former student. He was pretty shocked when he caught Isabel.

  In the end, being caught by Sir John was lucky for her. He told her the way the Earthbound Spirit world worked, he introduced her to other Earthbound Spirit actors and singers and he always looked out for her.

  'Now,' Isabel said, 'Edward holds an official position with the
Council ... something to do with good relations between Earthbound Spirits ... he helps other Earthbound Spirits and so he's highly regarded in our world.'

  I frowned. 'What's your point?'

  'Because Edward helps other Earthbound Spirits, he is a Very Important Earthbound Spirit and the Council of Earthbound Spirits will make sure that he stays in his house and your family leaves.'

  'What?'

  She jumped off the swing and stood in front of me. 'You have to find another house. You have no choice!'

  Every single hair on the back of my neck prickled. 'Don't be crazy.'

  'Adam, I'm warning you. Your family could get hurt if you don't leave.'

  'Far out, are you trying to scare me? Eddie can't be too bad, he reckons he won't take our energy.' Caesar, who had been lying at my feet chewing the stick, growled at a bird that dared get too close.

  'Yeah, he's nice. He won't take your energy, but he'll still get rid of your family.'

  'How?' I asked, even though I knew there were many ways for ghosts to get rid of people. Except in most cases, the people couldn't see them.

  She sat back down, rested her head against the chain of the swing and said more to herself than to me, 'I really shouldn't get involved. But I think you must be the reason Edward is meeting Sir John this afternoon in his office.'

  'Could you spy on them for me?'

  'I don't want to help you kick Edward out of his own home.'

  I bit my lip. I really needed Isabel's help. She'd been a ghost for less than a year, but now her loyalty lay with Sir John. There was only one favor I could offer her to make sure she'd be on my side. 'Okay, I'll help find a home for Toto when The Wizard of Oz finishes.'

  She glared at me. 'A home?'

  'Yes. But I can't promise a home if your friend, Eddie, kicks us out.' Toto, Dorothy's dog in The Wizard of Oz production, was going to be put up for adoption and Isabel wasn't happy that some random person she didn't know would be looking after her dog. She wanted Emily to be Toto's new owner. She knew Emily wanted her own dog and would smother Toto with love and attention.

  She didn't hesitate. 'I'll teleport you to Sir John's office at three this afternoon. Where will we meet?'

  'Oh, can't you just spy on them and tell me what they say?' Teleporting made me feel ill for hours. My insides felt as though they'd been shaken up and put back together the wrong way.

  She shook her head. 'You're coming with me. You've got to see for yourself what you'll be up against.'

  I groaned. 'See you in our garage at three,' I said before she disappeared.

  The place where she'd been standing was empty space. The way ghosts disappeared without saying goodbye was just bad manners.

  Ghosts teleported everywhere. They only had to think about where they wanted to be and a short cut through time and space took them there. Ghosts are pure energy, so teleporting is as easy as. The fact that Isabel can teleport me too even though I weigh more than her is one of those scientific mysteries. One day, we might show some scientists what we can do, so they can work out how it happens and we'll all become famous.

  I sat on the swing and rested my head on the chain. How could I think about something dumb like being famous when a Very Important Earthbound Spirit was plotting to get us out of our dream home?

  4

  Before three o'clock, I grabbed my skateboard and told Dad, who was hanging a picture in the hallway, that I needed a break from organizing my room. The truth was I'd spent ages trying to find my Ghostbuster Box, instead of organizing my room. Nothing else was missing; surely that one box that I desperately needed couldn't have got lost.

  He grunted and seemed more worried about whether the hook he'd banged into the wall was in just the right place.

  Mom wandered past holding books under her arm and sniffing. 'Can you smell lavender? I wonder where it's coming from.' She rubbed her nose.

  'The last owner must've had a thing for lavender,' I said as I headed out the front door. Once the door shut behind me, I snuck down the side of the house to the garage and hid my skateboard.

  Isabel was sitting on top of the ladder waiting. Her hair was in a high ponytail and she was dressed in black jeans and a black shirt, looking like a ninja. How could a ghost manage as many costume changes as Isabel did?

  'I love this house,' she said. 'Especially the window seats.'

  'I'd rather an ordinary house without the Very Important Earthbound Spirit.'

  She floated down behind me. 'Ready?'

  I took a deep breath. 'Yep,' I murmured as I shut my eyes.

  If someone were watching me when I teleported, they might see a shimmer in the air where I'd been standing. Teleporting only took an instant, but like always, I felt my insides would never recover. When I opened my eyes, everything was black until my eyes adjusted to the dark. We were in a cupboard with a coat and a few coat hangers.

  Isabel opened the door a fraction, so I could see into the room. Sir John and his nephew were sitting in armchairs facing each other. I'd heard a lot about Sir John since he'd become Isabel's guardian and I'd even met him twice. He had a full-on beard like a bushranger, but his face was pale and thoughtful. Gold, the color of wisdom, shone from him.

  The first time I'd met Sir John he told me all about the history of the Council of Earthbound Spirits, because he was the first Councilor I'd met. We were at the theatre where Isabel hung out. She was up on stage singing with a bunch of other ghosts and Sir John and me pretended to listen. He said that while Earthbound Spirits had been round for as long as humans, the Council was fairly new. While there had always been members of the Living who could see and communicate with spirits, it was after electricity was invented that problems between Earthbound Spirits and people arose.

  Earthbound spirits, he said, found they could affect the flow of electricity without expending much energy. They could easily make lights flicker and light bulbs blow. A band of rogue spirits grew in number. They became organized and their activities created alarm and anxiety in many members of the Living. The rogue spirits would gather in places where drama took place, such as in hospitals and police stations, and they'd create their own drama, with the lights turning off and on as if a dark force had control of the light. Of course the members of the Living became scared witless.

  Sir John went on to tell me that a group of wise old Earthbound Spirits decided they could no longer tolerate members of the Living becoming so fearful and suspicious. They realized that the Living would eventually listen to those people who could sense and see Earthbound Spirits and then work out how to solve the problem. Survival, as well as empathy for the Living, motivated this group of wise Earthbound Spirits to propose the formation of a Council. Eventually it was established and the Council has since governed the Earthbound Spirit community. And here I was, eavesdropping on the President.

  It took me a minute to tune into the right frequency so I could hear them. After carrying on about some ghost they knew who'd suddenly decided to go into the Light, Eddie told his uncle about the new residents of his home. Emily reminded him of how his own little sister used to play with her dolls. Then he got to the problem. Me.

  'He possesses the most extraordinary gift of sight. He can see and communicate with me as well as you can. His parents have no idea.'

  'Adam Castle?' asked Sir John.

  'You know him?'

  Sir John pulled at his beard. 'Coincidentally, I've met him. He is a friend of Isabel's. So how did Adam react when he discovered you?'

  With a dramatic tilt of his head, Eddie went for it. 'Oh, well, I've never heard such a bossy member of the Living. He interrogated me as if I were a prisoner of war. Then he lectured me about what I could and couldn't do, even after I told him that I'd never extract energy from his family.'

  Sir John couldn't help smiling.

  'How am I meant to float through my own home in peace? They own a smelly dog that's allowed inside and chases me up and down the house. The situation is unbearable.'

&n
bsp; 'Earthbound Spirits have been known to train dogs. You could try that.'

  I swallowed hard. There was no way any ghost was going to train Caesar.

  'The boy even threatened me with his Grandpa George, who apparently is the absolute best at dealing with ghosts.'

  I felt Isabel nudge me. She shook her head to let me know I was an idiot for threatening him.

  Sir John frowned. 'I assume dealing with means he possesses the ability to force you to pass through the Light?'

  'I assume so,' replied Eddie with a nod. 'Surely in your capacity as the President of the Council of Earthbound Spirits you could send Warrior Spirits to evict the family from my home?'

  I held my breath. I'd never heard of Warrior Spirits.

  Sir John's mouth opened and closed before he said, 'In theory that would be difficult because of the Rules laid down by the Council.' He pointed to the wall where three rules had been set out, framed and hung.

  The Rules Governing Earthbound Spirits

  1. Earthbound Spirits shall obtain their energy requirements by extracting small amounts of energy from many sources to ensure that no member of the Living is adversely affected.

  2. Earthbound Spirits shall not partake in any behavior or activity that creates alarm or anxiety in any member of the Living.

  3. Earthbound Spirits shall always respect the person, property and space of those members of the Living who can see or sense their presence.

  I could barely believe my eyes. I'd only known the Council didn't like Earthbound Spirits bothering people; I didn't know there were written rules. The third rule protected me. If he lectured me about the rules of his house, let alone hid my cell, he'd be breaking the Council's rules.

  Putting his hands up to his face as though he were trying to deal with the pain of it all, Eddie said, 'Oh, I'd forgotten about the third rule. I've never had a problem with a member of the Living with the gift of sight.'

  Sir John chuckled. 'We all forget about the third rule.'

  Eddie leant forward and waved his hands about as he spoke. 'Surely because I have a deep attachment to my home, the Council would make an exception. There wouldn't be a problem if the boy couldn't see me. He and his family have no emotional attachment to my home. For them it's only a place to sleep.'

  Again Sir John chuckled. 'The Council's answer to that would be that the family has chosen that particular home from many. They paid a great deal of money for it and that home has become part of their anticipated future.'

  I'd always liked Sir John because he looked after Isabel, but now he was looking out for me too. Isabel nudged me again and smiled.

  Eddie collapsed back into his chair with a sigh.

  'Remember our motto: Exist and Let Exist. We aren't equals with the Living insofar as Earthbound Spirits are aware of the Living, but most members of the Living are unaware of us. We're bound to give the Living preference whenever our interests conflict.'

  I could only see Eddie side on, but the expression on his face and his grey tinge told me he felt defeated.

  Then Sir John leaned toward Eddie and said so softly that I had to strain to catch his words, 'Of course, that would be the official position. What is not so well known is that the Council has conferred on me authority to create an exception to any Rule if, in my opinion, such an exception is in the interests of the Earthbound Spirit community as a whole.'

  An exception? My whole body tensed and next to me, I could sense Isabel bursting with curiosity.

  'Really?' Eddie's grey tinge disappeared.

  Sir John pulled at his beard again, as if that helped him to think. 'Since you, in your capacity as Director of Earthbound Spirit Relations, provide an invaluable service to the Earthbound Spirit community, the Council must act to protect you from a member of the Living who could force you into the Light.'

  He sat back looking very pleased with himself, as the hope I'd felt a few minutes ago drained away.

  'So are you able to authorize a number of Warrior Spirits to expel the threat?'

  Expel the threat! That meant scaring us out of our home.

  'Yes. I'll speak with the Director in charge of the Warrior Spirits and get back to you.'

  Eddie did an Earthbound Spirit version of a sigh. 'Thank you so much. I've been anxious ever since that family moved in.' He stood. 'Uncle John, I don't know what I'd do without you.'

  Sir John replied, 'It's my pleasure to be able to help.' Then he held the door open for Eddie, which was a ghost-being-polite thing because ghosts usually glide through doors. And they glide through doors out of habit; I'd never seen a ghost glide through a wall. Ghosts often left a room before teleporting away, which was another ghost-being-polite thing.

  After Sir John closed the door, he turned so I could see his face. He was frowning as though he wasn't happy about the situation at all. And as he sunk into his chair, it really hit me ... Warrior Spirits throwing us out of our own home. Who were these Warrior Spirits? What was I up against?

  5

  Isabel didn't even ask me if I was ready. The next moment we were back in the garage. I held on to the ladder to get my balance and waited for my insides to stop swirling. I couldn't believe Sir John was going to help Eddie kick us out of our home.

  'What exactly are Warrior Spirits?'

  'They're like police who deal with Earthbound Spirits who seriously break the Rules. I've never heard of them being used to threaten members of the Living.'

  'They sound scary,' I said, trying not to sound like a total wimp.

  Isabel sat on the top step of the ladder. 'If you're an Earthbound Spirit who has broken the Rules three times, then they're terrifying. They take you to the stone courtyard in the Council Chambers, surround you and extinguish you. The spirit is destroyed and the remaining energy scatters.'

  'So they are scary.'

  Isabel frowned. 'They can be. But, honestly, I've never heard of them interfering with the Living. Although if they're ordered to get you out of your house, I suppose that's what they'll do.'

  'How do you think they'll do that?'

  She shrugged. 'You should get Emily to stay with a relative.'

  The thought of anything scaring Emily made my blood boil. 'No, because my parents don't believe in Earthbound Spirits, remember? I can hardly say, Mom and Dad, could you please buy another house, because the resident Earthbound Spirit doesn't like Caesar or me. Why is Sir John helping Eddie break the Council's Rules? Because they're family?'

  Isabel sat deep in thought, then said, 'I told you; Edward holds an important position with the Council. He looks after Earthbound Spirits who get trapped in time or who should really go into the Light. He's especially good with kids. Not many Earthbound Spirits could do that job like he does.'

  'Trapped in time?'

  She floated to the ground. 'Adam, I doubt your grandfather knows everything about Earthbound Spirits. We're not all lost souls who should've gone into the Light. Free will is a basic right. Mr Lawrence does a lot of good work and the Earthbound Spirit community needs him. That's why Sir John is helping him, not because they're related. I'm going to show you what I mean tonight ... I'll get you at midnight.'

  I went to argue, but she said, 'Be ready,' and then disappeared.

  What a nightmare! I gasped for breath, then paced up and down the garage in between the boxes and tried to think. Grandpa George had always been clear. He'd told me so many times, Adam, ghosts are merely energy of a low vibration. You must never let them give you the impression that they're a match for you. They're easy to get rid of. Their greatest weapon is to play on your fear. They can't hurt you; they can only scare you if you let them.

  Had Grandpa George been telling me the whole story? Why had he never mentioned The Council of Earthbound Spirits, the Rules Governing Earthbound Spirits or the Warrior Spirits? Did he think I was too young to understand that stuff or didn't he know himself?

  Then even worse thoughts filled my mind. Could I totally trust Isabel? Wouldn't she be loyal to Sir John ov
er me? I rubbed my temples. Too much thinking had given me a headache.

  I was on my own. I needed a plan. A good one. Even though I'd never got rid of a ghost by myself, I had to believe Grandpa George when he said they were easy to get rid of. I had to kick this Edward Lawrence out of our house and protect the house from Warrior Spirits coming in. To do that, I had to find the Ghostbuster Box.