Haunter 1: The Shadow of the Haunter

24. One More Push

Seconds ticktocked away while all of us waited for Brandon's final word. He met my eyes, narrowing his, and his face hardened in a calculating expression for a long moment. Until he set his jaw, breathed deep and finally rolled his eyes with a curt nod.

"Okay, okay," he grumbled.

"Then get a shower and a bite and go to sleep," said Amy. "We'll be back at four."

Trisha and I had already put everything away, and headed to the front door after Amy in complete silence.

Back to the Manor, Amy sent us both upstairs for a shower and stayed in the kitchen, instructing Susan about what we needed for lunch. I don't know if it was because of our face-off the week before or because Amy was almost her age and gave orders like a five-star general, but Susan did as she said without any questions.

I was startled when I heard Amy knock on my bathroom door to check on me. She seemed worried after seeing the state I was in when we'd finished the cleansing a while earlier.

"Mind telling me what you felt?"

I got out of the shower while I told her how different it'd been on my end compared with the first time. She helped me wrap myself in my cozy robe and followed me back to the bedroom.

"No need to eat if you're not hungry, Fran," she said. "But you should try to sleep at least a couple of hours."

I searched my closet for clean clothes, going over the cleansing in my head.

"Did I do anything wrong?" I asked.

"You did great, way better than I'd ever expected. But that sucker took up more energy than you were able to channel and you ended up depleted. That's why you need to be restored before trying again. Sleep will help, and drinking as much fresh water as you can."

Trisha stuck her head into my room, her hair dump and dropping on her shoulders. "Am I missing the coven's briefing?" she asked, smiling.

"No, you and I are gonna have lunch and let Fran be," Amy said, turning to smile back at her.

"You okay, Fran?"

"Sure, just tired."

They left and I got dressed, feeling my mind oddly numb and blank. I blamed it on that energy exhaustion Amy had talked about and turned to my bed. Nope. I didn't exactly think it, but rather felt it. I did want to sleep, but not there. I knew exactly where I would get the best rest. So I fetched my sleeping bag, grabbed my phone and went back downstairs.

Amy and Trisha were serving their lunch and paused when they saw me walk into the kitchen.

"Are you gonna spoon with Dr. Octopus?" Trisha asked mockingly.

"So funny," I replied, heading to the basement.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Amy with one of her motherly frowns.

"I wanna spend a while with Kujo, just to check on him, and I gotta sleep. So I'm gonna take my nap in the basement."

"Are you fucking crazy?" Trisha whispered, just in case Ann was around.

"Wake me up in two hours," I replied, starting down the stairs.

Joseph and Kujo seemed just as surprised when they saw me cross the basement and open my sleeping bag right in front of the corner.

"Damn, it's cold down here," I grunted, getting into the bag.

"Keep warm," said Kujo.

"Oh, that'd be much appreciated." I covered myself up to my head, resting on my side with an arm bent under my head. A moment later, it was like I had one of those electric blankets covering the sleeping bag. "Oh, my, thanks! But don't waste your energy on this, okay?"