Don't Open That Door - GoM 1

Echoes - 10

The Hilux squealed to a sharp stop outside Kat's house, and Alex and Claire jumped out of it to run to the front door. It was locked. Nobody answered their knocking, and they heard noises of smashed things inside, along with Kat's screams. Alex signaled Claire to step back and kicked the doorknob with all her strength. Good thing about small towns: nobody bothered to have one of those thick, missile-proof doors people needed in big cities. The door broke with Alex's kick and slammed open.

The Corbans stormed in and froze. Kat was curled up in a corner of the living room, crying out loud, while Father Jason shielded her with his own body. A dark cloud in human shape floated between them and Felicity. It had to be Charlotte Seagan's ghost. The little girl stood in the middle of the room, eyes white, hands grasping the music box against her chest. Save the heavy furniture, every object in the room swirled around her in the air, for the ghost to throw at Kat and Father Jason.

Claire took a hand to her throat with a muffled cry, choking on the violent hatred the ghost radiated. Lucky her, Alex didn't feel any of it. She sprinted straight to Felicity and forced her little hands open to drop the music box. She lifted the child in her arms as she kicked the music box away.

"Throw it out, Claire!" she shouted, overcoming the turmoil.

Claire managed to do as Alex said and shut the broken door, resting her back against it to keep it closed. Felicity passed out in Alex's arms.

Alex left the little girl in Father Jason's care and hurried out. On her way to the Hilux, she picked up the music box from the grass and kept running, the ghost howling and swirling around her. Before the other three in the house could catch their breath, the Hilux rocketed away.

Claire did her best to get a grip on herself and help Kat and Father Jason. Kat held Felicity tight, screaming her name and crying her heart out. The priest accepted Claire's hand to stand up.

"Thank God you came, child. Where's Alex? Where did she go?"

Bad Romance sounded from Claire's pocket as to answer his question. She picked up and heard the loud music at the other end.

"Al! You okay? Where are you going?" Claire had to raise her voice for Alex to hear her.

Alex shouldered her phone to keep both hands on the wheel, pumping up Alice Cooper's song to cover the ghost's horrid shrilling against her window.

"Call Pete and tell him I'm coming and call me back!"

She disconnected and stepped on the gas. She didn't want to scare to death the whole town, driving around with the ghost wrapped around the Hilux cab from the music box in its back, so she headed west and south, past the last houses and around the Cooper farm. Claire took a few endless minutes to call back.

"Pete's waiting for you."

Alex swerved, reversed and drove back into town as she spoke.

"Listen carefully, Claire! Make a circle of salt to protect Felicity and get a poker or any kind of iron bar, like I did back in Montana. This crazy bitch got so attached to the child, she may try to possess her. So be ready to defend her. I'll call you when I'm done."

Pete waved from the Hilux, still wearing his pajamas, and scampered into his workshop when he saw the swirling, shrilling gray fog floating around the truck, with something like a head and two arms slamming the cab.

Alex got out of the Hilux, grabbed the music box from the back and strode into the workshop, ignoring the ghost that followed her.

"Turn the lights on and leave!" she commanded.

She was surprised to find the table smoking slightly inside a circle of salt on the floor, but there was no time to ask about it. She put the music box on it and hurried back out. The ghost tried to follow her, but the salt restrained it.

Pete stuck his back to the wall, eyes like grapefruits on the shrieking ghost. To his relief, Alex was back in a minute. She carried a big old book and walked past the table without even glancing at the rabid thing that kept trying to attack her.

"Kitchen?" she asked.

Pete signaled her to follow and walked backwards, unable to look away from the ghost. He'd hardly opened a side door into his house when Alex brushed past him. He found her in his kitchen, the book open on the counter while she registered the cupboards. Pete didn't hide his curiosity, watching her grab ordinary ingredients and mix them in a mug. A moment later, she rushed back to the workshop.

Still ignoring the ghost's attempts to hurt her, Alex opened her hand palm down on the mug and muttered a few words, before placing it under the table.

"Shit!" she snarled, patting her pockets. "Pete! Matches!"

The carpenter showed up only enough to throw a box of matches at her from a safe distance. Alex caught it, grabbed a handful of sawdust from the floor and added it to the mix in the mug. It made the herbs catch instant fire when she dropped a burning match into it.

As soon as smoke fumed out of the mug, Alex stepped back and produced her phone, ready to dial Claire.

The ghost grew larger, covering the table up to the salt circle. Until the smoke touched it. Then, its shrilling became a loud squeal, painful to hear, and it started to shrink. The smoke wrapped all around it, pushing it back into the music box. All of a sudden, a single flame blazed up from the mug and a thick silence fell upon the workshop.

Claire picked up right away.

"Be ready," was all Alex said.

The girl handed her phone over to Father Jason. Kat was kneeling inside a circle of salt, with Felicity still out in her arms. Claire stood before them and grasped an iron poker with both hands, her eyes scanning the room.

A heartbeat later, a strong freezing wind blew into the house, pushing the chair that blocked the front door, which slammed open again. Claire overcame her own terror and wielded the poker. The wind condensed in a gray fog and she swung the poker at it. A thin layer of frost covered the iron in touch with the fog, but the ghost floated away from it for a moment, before moving to try to reach Felicity. Claire rejected it again, and again, and again.

Kat broke down in tears behind Claire, and Father Jason stepped into the circle to hold her while the girl kept the ghost away. All of a sudden, it moved up and floated above them. Claire set her jaw, tired but ready to keep fighting, expecting the ghost would pound on them. However, terror receded in her chest, and the frog grew thinner. It floated higher to stick to the ceiling and dissolved with a long hiss.

At Pete's workshop, Alex read the girl's text with a weary smile.

"It's over."

The carpenter came out the side door, shooting suspicious looks at the table and the music box. On the floor under the table, the mix in the mug had burned out, leaving behind only a slight smell of rosemary.

"Why did you made the circle of salt, Pete?" Alex asked, curious.

The man felt bold enough to flash a mug smirk. "You're not the only one that learned some tricks from Bootter. When ghosts come in the way—"

Alex completed the rhyme, smiling. "Salt can keep them at bay."

"Exactly. I found the table hissing and cracking when Claire called me, and considering we already knew something was off about it, I thought a little salt wouldn't do any harm."

"Oh, well, now I know whom I should call for backup next time."

"Forget it. I don't want any more funky fireworks."

"Your loss." Alex shrugged, chuckling, and turned to leave.

"Right there, Corban. You ain't leaving these cursed junks under my roof."

"You're right." She went back to the table and grabbed the music box. "Felicity's gonna want her toy back."

"What? And what about the table?"

"I still need it for Saturday, but if you wanna get rid of it, you can have it sanded and varnished sooner."

Pete snorted as Alex walked away, still chuckling.