10

The kid was standing on the stoop, looking into the house. He was staring right at us through the tall windows that are on both sides of the front door.

Polly cried out at the sight of the boy.

Squire looked too frightened to ever move again.

Marcus and Taylor came running out of Squire’s bedroom to see what the matter was. They came up behind us just into for all of us to see something that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

They dead kid stepped through the glass.

He came through as if the window hadn’t been there at all. Like he was some kind of vapor that could come and go as he pleased. He was not only dead. He could walk through windows and walls, as well.

“Now do you believe us?” I asked Squire.

He didn’t respond, except to say, “We have to get to the library. We have to talk to Carrie.”

All of us stood paralyzed with fear.

The ghost kid took another step toward the staircase and, like that, he disappeared before our very eyes.

We stood frozen and silent for a second before Polly asked, “Where’d he go?”

That was when I noticed I could see her breath. The temperature had turned cold throughout the house. All of us were suddenly cold and shivering.

I hesitated for a moment, and then ran down the stairs quickly.

“What are you doing, Cameron?” Polly asked. Her lips were now blue and quivering.

“He’s gone,” I said, looking around the parlor.

The rest of the gang came down the stairs, as well. All of us were still in a panic.

There was a moment of silence between us, just before the floor began to creak beneath are feet.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

The floor began rumbling beneath us.

The wood boards creaked and rattled. There was a second when I thought the floor might cave in and we might fall into the basement�"but that didn’t happen.

“What did you guys do?” Squire asked his eyes wide with fear.

Polly answered, “We went to get a gemstone off this kid’s headstone�"the way Nick wanted us to.”

“And a ghost followed us home,” I added.

The floor stopped making noise. It was dead silent.

Now the creaking and rumbling moved upward into the ceiling.

We could hear the sound of the kid’s mangled voice behind the noise.

The lights began to flicker all around us, and the noise began to sound like a demon crying out in agony.

“I’m out of here,” Taylor said, heading for the door.

“But we need you,” Polly said.

“I wasn’t even there,” Taylor replied. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. You guys vandalized the kid’s grave�"not me.”

He reached for the doorknob, and he was out the door.

The rest of us ran out after him, but he was gone in a flash. He was on his bike and he was headed home faster than he had ever been.

The rest of us mounted our bikes, as well. “Let’s find you sister�"and find Nick!” I said, as we headed off down the street.

We arrived at the library, jumped off our bikes and ran in to find Squire’s sister.

The place looked completely empty.

Carrie came from the back when she heard the sound of the entrance bell. she looked curiously at all of us for a moment, as we all stood there in front of the desk, trying to catch our breath.

“Hi, guys,” she greeted in a peppy voice. “What brings you in today?”

Squire replied, “You remember that Nick kid we talked about?”

“Of course,” she chirped. “What about him?”

“We need to find him,” Squire told her. “And we need to find him now.”

“I haven’t seen him in a few days,” she told us.

“We need to know where he lives,” Polly said. “It’s really, really important.”

“I’m not supposed to give out people’s information like that,” Carrie said. “You know that, Steven.”

“This is very important,” he assured his sister. “If we don’t find him as soon as possible, something horrible could happen.”

“Like what?” Carrie inquired.

“I can’t really explain it,” Squire replied. “But trust me�"it’s going to be bad.”

“I can’t�"” she started, but was interrupted by the phone ringing in the back office. “I’ll be back,” she said, turning and running to the back.

Squire stood hesitantly for a second before he jumped behind her desk and started to go through the computer. The rest of us were on edge while he searched for Nick’s home address.

“We’re going to get caught,” Polly said, hearing Squire’s sister on the phone in the distance. “Hurry, Squire.”

“I’m hurrying as fast as I can,” he responded. “I’ve only seen her do this a couple of times.”

Polly stood nervously with her back to Squire, watching for his sister to return. She may not have liked being a sneaky girl; but now she was just as eager to find Nick as the rest of us were.

“Nick Vander,” he said. “Found him. He’s address is 23 Maple street.”

That was when I noticed I could see Squire’s breath. The library was suddenly cold as ice. It was happening again, the same way it happened when we were at Squire’s house.

He’s here, I thought. The dead kid was in the library with us.