جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Would these things really keep me safe?Then the clock struck midnight.The old wall clock in my room chimed along with it.My heart started pounding so hard it felt like it was in my throat. I tightened my grip on the paper charms and barely dared to breathe.Creak.“Who’s there?”I spun around.My bedroom door had slowly swung open.Holding my breath, I looked into the hallway.No one was there.That was weird.I walked over and closed the door again. When nothing else happened, I started wondering if I should just go to bed.Then I heard a woman crying.The sound was coming from my bed.I froze.The crying was low and miserable, and suddenly the whole room felt cold and wrong.I forced myself to walk over and pulled back the covers to see what was underneath.Before I could make sense of anything, sharp cracks and bangs started going off around the room.The woman’s crying grew louder and more piercing.It sounded like the entire room had come alive with something

The blind old man immediately tensed.“Did that man give you anything?”“Yeah. He gave me a yew-wood comb.”The old man slapped his thigh.“You got played! He was trying to get you killed!”My stomach dropped.“What?”“That comb is made of yew. Wood like that has been associated with graveyards and the dead for centuries. It can attract things you don’t want anywhere near you. If I hadn’t given you those protective charms tonight, you’d probably be dead already.”“What?!”I nearly freaked out.No wonder that comb had suddenly stood up on its own and come after me.Then the old man frowned.“Why are you crying? You’re a grown man. Pull yourself together.”I stared at him.“I’m not crying.”We both went still.Then who was?A chill ran down my spine.The woman’s sobbing was getting louder.And closer.I stood frozen, every muscle in my body tense.Had the yew-wood comb attracted something else?The blind old man was much calmer than I was.He pulled out a pouch of

The assistant’s sarcastic tone was really starting to get on my nerves.“Seriously? You still haven’t figured it out?”The blind old man cut him off before he could say anything else.“Enough. All I can tell you is that the woman you saw on the bus definitely isn’t the ghost we’re looking for.”That caught me off guard.“Then what are we supposed to do?”The old man stared straight ahead.“We find the real ghost before she makes her move, and we take her out first.”Take out a ghost?Was he kidding?I wasn’t some exorcist in a horror movie. How the hell was I supposed to fight a ghost?But the old man looked completely serious.I couldn’t help asking, “Why don’t we just leave? If we can’t fight her, we can at least get out of town. I doubt she’d follow us forever.”His assistant scoffed.“Listen to him. What kind of plan is that?”The blind old man sighed.“Kid, do you really think leaving town will solve everything? She’s already set her sights on you. Maybe you can ru

The moment I heard that, I couldn’t brush it off anymore.Sophie had always been brilliant. She had gotten into Hartwell University with near-perfect grades, and by her junior year, she had already secured a spot in graduate school.She was easily one of the brightest students to ever come out of Willow Creek, maybe even the entire county.I could still remember how happy she had been when she got into Hartwell.So how could the university suddenly claim there was no record of her at all?Still, there was one thing that had always seemed strange.Sophie hadn’t come home once since leaving for college.Her parents were gone, but Uncle Tim was still here. He was practically the only family she had left in Willow Creek, and he had always treated her like his own.No matter how busy school got, wouldn’t she have called once in a while?Or at least sent a message?But she never did.She never called Uncle Tim or reached out to him at all. Even when he tried contacting her first,

The blind old man told me the ghost hadn’t done anything to Emily yet.“Let me finish helping with your uncle’s funeral,” he said. “After that, I’ll deal with her.”The two of us sat beneath the canopy while he continued working on one of his paper figures.A little while later, Mr. Carter came over.“Tim never married or had children of his own,” he said. “He always treated Sophie like a daughter. Since she’s back, I think she should help handle the funeral.”The people around us immediately started murmuring.Even I was caught off guard.When Uncle Tim died, my aunt had specifically said I should be the one to see him off. And even though I hadn’t been around much the past few nights, Dad had been there the whole time.No matter how I looked at it, it felt strange for Sophie to suddenly be put in charge.Mom immediately protested.“This is our family’s funeral. Why should Sophie be the one handling it?”Mr. Carter didn’t respond to her.Sophie gave a small nod.“I’ll mak