What Ghost? (Complete)

Chapter Eighteen: Be Careful What You Wish For...

Billy shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled nervously behind Brad as he opened the door to the shed, praying that whatever Becky and John had done worked. He sagged with relief as they stepped inside; everything looked pretty much the same as it had this morning, as far as he could tell anyway. There were a few small puddles still on the ground where Becky had said the water spilled, but hopefully Brad wouldn't notice.

Brad was so excited about the prospect of finding his first ghost he was almost shaking. The guy was oblivious to everything except his need to use the 'sniffer', and of course, Kate's alluring presence. They'd agreed that Kate should keep up the simpering bimbo façade, just to keep Brad a little off balance.

Brad practically bounced over to the 'sniffer', reverently picking up the pack and slinging it over his shoulder. He stood poised for action, his chest puffed out as he strutted towards them. Good God...the guy was a freakazoid! Billy bit back a laugh, waiting for Brad to start pounding his chest to complete the picture.

"So where do you reckon we should start?" Brad directed the question at Kate, but Billy jumped in before she could answer. The last thing they needed was for Brad to turn it on here in the shed and pick up traces of Becky and John's presence from earlier.

"I thought you wanted to start where the freaky stuff happened yesterday? Out at the basketball court wasn't it?" Billy grinned at Brad's startled look when the reply came from someone other than Kate. Yep, the guy had forgotten he was there again.

Kate looked at Brad all wide-eyed. "Yeah Brad, let's go there first and see what happens. So hurry up already...I can't wait for you to show us how it works!"

Brad nodded, his chest puffing out even further, and smiled goofily at Kate. "Ok, let's go then. Ladies first..." He swept his hand out in an attempt to look gallant, and instead managed to look like a complete dork. Billy shook his head and trailed along behind them.

Billy's heart was thumping in dread as they crossed the basketball court. He had no idea what he was going to do if the damn thing worked. But either way, he just wanted this all over and done with sooner rather than later.

Brad flipped the switch on the device as they neared the table. It whined and then started to buzz, and Billy held his breath. They all jumped as a crackling sound started up, and Brad's hand began to shake. His face was white as a sheet, the needle on the meter madly flickering.

"Well buggar me...it works! Who knew eh?" Beads of sweat had broken out on Brad's forehead, a combination of triumph and fear in his eyes. Billy couldn't decide who looked more scared, him or Brad. "And I was right...there has been a ghost has been here. Ha! Cop that non-believers."

Kate and Billy looked at each other in shock, although their shock was for entirely different reasons. Kate's shock came from the idea that ghosts might actually exist, while Billy's was all about the fear of losing Becky.

"So what do we do now?" Kate asked softly.

Brad preened, and then gulped. "We...ummm...follow the trail to the source I suppose." Now he was really looking nervous as hell. "Are we ready?"

Without waiting for an answer, Brad headed towards the boys' dorms, the device hanging at his side continuing to hiss and crackle. Billy held his breath as they entered the door, expecting the trail to lead to the right, towards his room. He was blown away when Brad pointed the rod to the left first, and the crackling went crazy.

"Right...guess we go this way," Brad said. Billy's mind raced through all the possible scenarios. Obviously they were heading towards Eric's room, where John had died. Maybe because John had actually died here his trace was stronger than Becky's? Not that he really cared why, he just wanted to pass out in relief that they weren't headed towards his room!

Billy was gobsmacked when they continued straight past Eric's room, the crackling getting louder and stronger as they moved down the hallway. Something was definitely wrong here...he didn't recall Becky or John saying they'd been down this way before. They reached a door at the end of the corridor. This was all getting way too weird. Surely Becky and John would have noticed another ghost hanging around down here.

Brad tried the handle of the door...frowning when he discovered it was locked. "I've no idea what's even on the other side of this. As far as I can remember, no-one's ever cared enough to ask what was on the other side. Maybe we should ask Ballou about it?"

Billy didn't even care what was on the other side of the door. He was too busy trying to control the urge to let out a loud whoop and race back down the hallway to tell Becky and John they were safe. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a loud thump crashed against the other side of the door. Okay, that was weird. Two more mighty thumps followed the first, and dents were starting to appear in the metal door. The dents protruded outwards, as if something was trying to push its way through the door. What kind of force would it take to make that sort of impact on a metal door?

Billy had grabbed Kate's hand and was slowly backing away from the door. Something was really wrong here, and that was coming from someone who already knew ghosts existed. The random thumps continued, each new dent protruding through the metal a little bit more than the last. Okay, enough was enough. Holding tight to Kate's hand, he turned and dragged her back down the way they'd come, the sound of Brad's footsteps close behind them. They didn't stop running until they were out the door and back on the basketball court, all deathly pale and shaking.

Kate managed a nervous giggle that came out sounding more like a high-pitched squeal. "Ok, so m-maybe I'm not c-cut out for this whole ghost-hunting th-thing after all. That was just way too weird and scary for me. Thanks, but no thanks Brad." She shuddered and looked at Billy. "I'll catch you later..." she said, and headed to the girls' dorms at a very fast walk.

Brad's horrified face gave a whole new meaning to the reference of someone looking like they'd seen a ghost. Billy actually felt sorry for the guy. "So I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that nothing like this has ever happened before?"

Brad shook his head, obviously trying to pull himself together. "No way man...that was too spooky for words. Whatever is behind that door is obviously really angry, and definitely not interested in having visitors. Look, how about we keep this just between us for now, while I decide whether I really wanna follow it up. I need to do some serious thinking before I make any decisions."

Billy nodded solemnly, trying to hide the relief flooding through him that Becky and John were safe, at least for now. "Sure Brad, no worries. I'm more than happy to keep the whole thing on the down low. I'd actually prefer to forget all about it, but somehow I don't think that's gonna be possible." He chuckled and shook his head. "You know what, I doubt anyone'd believe us even if we did tell them. I'll catch you later man, and thanks for the ummm...demonstration."