Spirit Hunters #2 Read online

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to all the monsters that keep us

  up all night, too afraid to go to the bathroom.

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1. Missing Ghosts

  2. In Trouble Again

  3. Where’s Rose?

  4. Grandma Lee’s House

  5. Good-Bye, Old Friend

  6. Missing Rose

  7. At Grandma’s House

  8. Murder in Paradise

  9. Leo’s Problem

  10. A Surprise New Friend

  11. The Little Ghost

  12. Montgomery Bennington’s Island

  13. Nightmares and More Nightmares

  14. The Trees of Gorgon Grove

  15. The Island of Monsters

  16. The Razu

  17. A Monster Comes Calling

  18. Mrs. Nakamura’s Charms and Amulets Shop

  19. Surprise Guest

  20. Halloween

  21. Kelly to the Rescue

  22. All’s Well That Ends Well

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Back Ad

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  MISSING GHOSTS

  Tuesday, October 3

  Our Lady of Mercy’s cemetery was the last place most people would want to be after dark, but tonight Harper Raine wove her way through the headstones, seeking out the dead. In her hands, she carried a plastic container filled with the black spiritual residue of a vanquished evil spirit. It was why she was there so late on a school night.

  Except she couldn’t just dump it anywhere. The residents took issue with where you dumped evil residue.

  Harper looked up at the darkening sky and cursed. One of the things she hated the most about autumn was how quickly the sun set. They were only in the first week of October, and it was already dusk by six thirty p.m.

  Normally Our Lady of Mercy was not a scary graveyard. It was a really pretty place, with well-tended old graves. No new ones. Most of the headstones were over fifty years old. But the spreading darkness cast everything into shadows that seemed to hide dangers around each corner. Even more disturbing was the atmosphere. For the first time, Harper felt uneasy.

  Suddenly, a figure with bright-red hair popped up in front of her.

  “Where is everyone?” her oldest friend, Rose, asked. “I just went down to visit Mrs. Taylor under the willow tree, and she’s not there.”

  Slightly alarmed, Harper headed toward the willow tree, the last of the sun’s setting rays gleaming through its delicate leaves as dusk ended and night fell.

  “Are you sure she isn’t anywhere?” Harper asked. She walked in a big circle around the tree. Mrs. Taylor always knew the best places for Harper to drop off spiritual residue. Stopping at a large headstone, Harper knelt on the ground and pressed her hand on top of the grave. She sensed nothing. Harper was disturbed. Mrs. Taylor was her favorite at the cemetery. She was very motherly and had been a loving presence for many of the young ghosts. Harper couldn’t imagine Our Lady of Mercy without Mrs. Taylor and her perpetual knitting.

  Darkness closed in on them in one fell swoop. Harper immediately regretted her decision to come to the graveyard. “We’re going to have to leave soon or I’ll be in big trouble.”

  A sudden noise from behind caused her to jump.

  “Harper! I’m so glad you’re here! I need to talk to you!” The ghostly form of a young teenage boy appeared before her eyes. He was dark haired and wore a leather jacket over his ratty jeans.

  “Hi, Roderick,” Harper said, in relief. “Do you know where everyone is? We can’t find Mrs. Taylor.”

  Roderick was quiet; he seemed distracted and not himself. “That’s the strangest thing,” he said. “I think I’m the only one around.”

  At his words, Rose began to flicker. “That’s impossible! There are thirty spirits in this place, and they are bound to their bodies. They can’t all leave the cemetery!”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” Roderick snapped, his bluish aura glowing bright with his emotions. “The other day they were here with me, and now they’re gone. Everyone!”

  The ghost boy faded again, looking unsure of himself for the first time since Harper had met him earlier in the summer. “I don’t get it. Why’d they leave me behind?”

  Disturbed, Harper shared an uneasy glance with Rose.

  “Can you tell us what’s happened?” Harper said.

  The ghost whirled around and drifted away. “I remember it was a few nights ago. Phoebe was upset because she thought the twins were hiding from her. But we looked everywhere, and we didn’t sees no signs of them. Then the next night, we noticed that Mary Lou and Mr. Garvey were gone.”

  “Mr. Garvey?” Harper asked.

  “Yeah, you know—the old guy with the cane who always yells?”

  Harper nodded.

  “Then some more folks just up and vanished, and then the old lady under the willow tree who’s always knitting nothing, Mrs. Taylor. Phoebe was real broken up about that. You know she was like a grandma to her.”

  Harper smiled at the “knitting nothing” comment. It was true that Mrs. Taylor’s knitting never amounted to anything. After all, she was a ghost. But she had told Harper once that just the motions of knitting were so soothing that she could not stop.

  Roderick looked upset. “It’s not funny, Harper.”

  “Oh no, I wasn’t laughing about the situation, I was just thinking about . . . never mind. Go on.”

  “Every night Phoebe and I would come out and sees more of them is missing, until tonight Phoebe’s gone, too,” he said. He hung in the air, turning in a slow circle as if still looking for his missing friends. “I’m the only one left.”

  This upset Harper. She remembered the first time she met all the cemetery ghosts earlier this summer. Her family had just moved to Washington, D.C., from New York City, right into a haunted house. When the evil ghost had possessed her brother, Michael, Harper had been desperate for help. She’d come to this cemetery to seek a spiritual adviser. And it was the ghosts who’d helped her. For that, she would always be grateful to them.

  “Do you remember anything strange? Did somebody come through? Did you feel anything weird?” Harper asked.

  He shook his head slowly. “I didn’t feel nothing. First they was here, and then they wasn’t. If they was all going somewhere, then why didn’t they take me with them?” Roderick looked sad and confused.

  “I doubt they’d leave you, Rod,” Rose said. “Something’s happening here. We’ll have to look into it, right, Harper?”

  Harper was already walking past the willow tree toward the graves at the back of the cemetery. Rose and Roderick floated after her.

  “You said the twins were first?” Harper asked. She pulled out a small flashlight and shone it on the headstones, searching through the names.

  “Yeah, they’re over in the corner,” Roderick said as he flew ahead to show her the way. He alighted on an elaborate headstone covered in sculpted roses. It was one of the farthest graves from the church, fenced in by ornate wrought iron gates that bordered the public park.

  Harper knelt at their grave, trying to feel for spiritual emanations but coming up empty.

  Turning slowly to survey the cemetery, Harper noticed the pattern of disappearances. “First the twins, Mr. Garvey, and Mary Lou.” She followed the headstones back, noticing that Roderick was the closest to the church. He’d always complained about the fact that he was the only one stuck all alone and away from the others. None of the graves around him were haunted. “Roderick, whatever you do, don’t wander far from your grave tonight!”

  “But if my f
riends are in trouble, shouldn’t I be trying to help them?” he asked.

  Harper shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with. You need to be careful. I’ll come back as soon as I have some answers.” She looked anxiously at the dark sky and started heading for the front gate. Her mother hated it when she rode her bike in the dark.

  “Hey, guys, do you have to leave so soon?” Roderick asked in a plaintive voice.

  “I’ve got to go home or my parents are going to ground me,” Harper said.

  Rose materialized suddenly in front of her. “But what about Roderick? We can’t leave him alone!”

  Harper skidded to a halt, not wanting to walk through her friend. “We can come back tomorrow after school, but I have to go now or I won’t be able to do anything,” Harper said. She sidestepped around her friend and out the gates into the church driveway, where she’d left her bike. Looking back, she saw Roderick drooping despondently by the entranceway. “Rod, promise me you’ll stay put, and don’t go after anything new or strange, okay?” The dark-haired ghost nodded.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Harper said. She strapped on her helmet and started down the road. Rose half floated, half sat curled up in the basket, facing her.

  “You’re forgetting something,” Rose said, pointing to the plastic container Harper had put back into the bottom of her basket.

  “Crud!” Harper snatched up the container and sped back into the graveyard. The only reason she’d come all the way to the church was to get rid of the residue. She should have just gone home after vanquishing the evil spirit, but the idea of having spirit gunk in her room all night had creeped her out. She had an irrational fear of what was essentially the remains of a ghost. A ghost that had been troubling a playground full of little kids.

  With a quick apology to Roderick, she dumped the residue in a spot between the graves and the side of the church. Opening her black messenger bag, she pulled out a bottle labeled “Holy Water” and rinsed her container thoroughly before throwing everything back into her bag. She raced to her bike and sped away.

  “You should fill up on holy water before we go,” Rose said.

  “Can’t,” Harper responded. “Don’t have time.”

  Rose looked at her with disapproval. “You are down to one bottle, Harper. That’s not safe. Your grandma always said to stock up. And you wouldn’t be so low if you hadn’t insisted on doing that exorcism alone today. You almost got yourself killed! You’re just lucky that Dayo showed up when she did and distracted that ghost.”

  Harper scrunched up her face in annoyance. Rose was right. If Dayo hadn’t shown up, Harper would’ve been in big trouble. The ghost had been smart and had tricked Harper into breaking her salt circle. Dayo had arrived in time to save Harper from getting her head smashed by a swing. Together they’d been able to defeat the ghost, just like earlier that summer when Dayo helped Harper fight the ghosts that were possessing her brother. The best thing that had happened to Harper since moving to Washington, D.C., was becoming friends with Dayo.

  “I had to do something about it. That nasty ghost pushed Jacob off the swing and broke his arm!” Jacob was her little brother’s friend.

  There was something very unsettling about receiving a glare of disapproval from a ghost, for Rose’s spiritual aura glowed darker with her emotions.

  “You should have waited for your grandmother or taken Dayo with you in the first place,” Rose said.

  Harper sighed. Even though Rose was three years older, she usually didn’t lecture Harper. But Rose was right. Harper shouldn’t have done the exorcism by herself. She should have waited for her grandmother, a shaman and premiere spirit hunter, to come home from her trip. Knowing her friend was right irritated Harper even more.

  Rose had been Harper’s best friend since she was four years old. She’d been craving the chocolate that her mother had left in a candy bowl in front of the foyer mirror. When no one was looking, Harper climbed up onto the table to steal some chocolate. But all thoughts of candy flew out of her head when she found a pretty girl with bright curly red hair and light blue eyes waving hello. They’d been best friends ever since.

  “I’m really worried. What if something happens to Roderick?” Rose asked.

  Harper winced. She’d almost forgotten about the ghost boy. He was so unlike his usual mischievous self. The first time Harper met Roderick, he’d been gently teasing the ghost girl Phoebe and joking about putting a spider down Harper’s back, which was not cool. It was hard to see him so sad and distraught.

  “I’m going to call Grandma as soon as we get home and tell her all about it.” Disappearing ghosts was something even Harper knew was out of her league.

  “But she’s not home until next week! He might be gone tonight.”

  Harper kept pedaling faster, praying that she’d beat her parents home. It was already seven o’clock, and recently they’d been getting home by seven thirty. It would be a close call.

  “Harper, are you listening to me?” Rose asked, rearing up from the basket into Harper’s face.

  “Gah! Don’t do that!” Harper nearly crashed her bicycle but was able to right herself at the last moment. “I heard you! I promise, we’ll go back tomorrow and see what we can do. But Rose, if I get grounded, there’s nothing I can do to help.”

  The ghost girl sat back with a sigh. “I know, you’re right,” she said. “But I have such a bad feeling about this. Don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Harper agreed. “It was weird and creepy. How can thirty ghosts simply vanish all at the same time? But I’m sure Grandma will know what to do. Don’t worry about Roderick—we’ll come back tomorrow.”

  Rose nodded, her red curls billowing all around her. “Yes, she’ll know. She must.”

  IN TROUBLE AGAIN

  Tuesday, October 3—Evening

  Unfortunately, by the time Harper pulled into her driveway, she could see both cars already parked, and her heart sank. She opened the garage door and left her bicycle and helmet on the ground before running inside.

  She walked into the dining room to find her family eating without her.

  “Wash up and sit down,” her mother said with a stern glance.

  Her father gave her a disappointed stare, while her older sister, Kelly, didn’t even bother to look up from her plate. Only Michael seemed happy to see her, waving his chopsticks enthusiastically in the air. She gave him a little wave and ran to the bathroom to wash up. Rose appeared next to her.

  “They look real mad,” she said.

  Harper sighed. “What else is new,” she said.

  “I’ll wait for you upstairs,” Rose said. “Good luck!”

  Harper was envious of her friend’s ability to hide from her parents. She dragged her feet as she went to sit down in her seat next to Michael. Her father passed her a paper plate, and she began to help herself to the Chinese food still in takeout containers set on the table. Hunger pangs hit hard as she filled her plate with beef chow fun noodles, salt-and-pepper squid, fried tofu in gravy, and steamed dumplings. She immediately started shoving big bites into her mouth.

  “Harper, your manners, please,” her mother said, cutting off Kelly’s endless prattle about her day at school and her friends and her lack of a boyfriend. “Before we talk about where you were, we need to discuss logistics for our trip this month.”

  Kelly squealed with delight. “I can’t believe we’re going to the Caribbean for Halloween! All my friends are so jealous! I’ll be the only one with a tan!”

  “Tanning is bad for you,” Harper said. “It’ll give you skin cancer.”

  Kelly shrugged. “That’s what sunscreen is for.”

  “I don’t wanna go!” Michael pouted. He’d asked for an Iron Man costume for Halloween. “I wanna go trick-or-treating with my friends.”

  “If we stay with Grandma, then I could take him trick-or-treating,” Harper offered up quickly.

  Her mother gave Harper the look, and Harper sank down into her seat. She h
ated that look. It was her mother’s warning that said she was about to go too far. And yet, even knowing she was in danger, Harper couldn’t help herself.

  “Grandma would love to have us . . .”

  Yuna Raine put her chopsticks down carefully and folded her hands together over her plate.

  “Harper, how many times must we have this conversation? Our entire family is going on this vacation, whether you like it or not. I don’t want to have this discussion again. Are we clear?”

  Harper gave a sullen nod and shoved an entire dumpling into her mouth as her parents began to discuss the logistics for the trip. They were all going to miss a few days of school, which was usually a big no-no in the Raine family. Except that this vacation was set up at the insistence of her uncle Justin and aunt Caroline Richmond. Aunt Caroline was her father’s younger sister and a hotel manager for the Bennington Hotel chain. She’d been sent to oversee the grand reopening of the Grande Bennington Hotel Resort and Beach Club at Razu Island, and her uncle Justin was made head pastry chef at the same location. The grand reopening was set for the end of October and would culminate with a huge party on Halloween night. Kelly had been planning her costume for weeks, ever since first hearing about the trip. But Harper was dreading the ordeal. Her grandmother had already warned her that Rose would not be able to make the long trip. Although the ghost girl could travel with Harper in a compact mirror, she could not be away from her original medium, the decorative mirror that hung in the foyer, for too long. Harper had recently been reunited with Rose. She didn’t want to be apart from her, not even if it was for a nice vacation.

  Michael nudged her arm. “Where’s Rose?” he whispered.

  Harper pointed at the ceiling, which satisfied Michael.

  “I saw a ghost cat today,” he whispered. “It looked sad and lost.”

  “Probably happened recently, then,” Harper explained. “Did it bother you?”

  He stuffed more food into his mouth before shaking his head. “It runned away.”

  “You mean ran away,” Harper said.

  “That’s what I said, it runned away,” Michael insisted.