‘Mum! Mum!’ I said, banging on the front door. My back twitched with pain as anxiety coursed through me. We were trapped with god only knew what in Josh’s house.
‘Edie! Are you OK?’ called Mum through the door.
‘What happened? Why won’t the front door open?’ Josh and I pulled at the handle, but even though it’d been open just seconds before and the key wasn’t even in the lock, it might as well have been super glued shut.
‘Josh, what happened with your sister?’ called Ben through the door.
‘She started acting all weird when my parents told her to do her homework. Then it escalated. She’s trapped them in their bedroom!’
‘Trapped? What do you mean trapped?’ I said.
Josh continued yanking on the front door, his face contorting as he strained more and more to open it, but it made no difference. ‘She’s locked the door somehow! Like this! Their bedroom doesn’t even have a lock on it!’
‘Talking about me, are we?’ said a voice.
I turned around to see Abigail standing at the top of the stairs. It wasn’t her voice that she spoke in. It was as if she was speaking through one of those microphones that distorted your voice. She didn’t walk down the stairs, either. She glided.
I grabbed Josh’s arm and tugged him into the living room, forcing down the shooting pains in my back. I didn’t have time for back pain when there was a psychopathic god knew what in my friend’s body. Josh and I shut the door and shoved the sofa towards it, blocking the door before she could reach it.
Mum banged on the front window. I tried to open it, but that was sealed, too. We were officially trapped.
‘You have to do the exorcism,’ said Mum through the glass.
‘I’ve never done one on my own before! What if it goes wrong?’ I said.
Ben stood next to her, his eyes darting around as the cogs whirred in his analytical brain. ‘There’s no other choice.’
Great. Just great. Was this because I’d wanted to help Mum more? Was this the universe’s way of laughing in my face?
‘Are there any herbs in the kitchen?’ said Ben.
‘Loads. Mum’s a chef,’ said Josh. ‘What do we need?’
‘Lavender, oregano, dill, and parsley. Mix a tablespoon of each and brew it in 200ml of boiling water,’ said Ben.
‘Then what?’ said Josh, his eyes flitting between the window and the living room door.
If she was possessed, would she be able to move through physical objects? The sofa began to move. No, apparently. But she could move things she couldn’t see!
‘Get her to swallow it! Then say the spell!’ said Ben.
I grabbed Josh’s hand again and we ran into the kitchen and slammed that door shut. We didn’t have time to hear any further instructions.
We shoved the dining room table in front of the door, hoping it would buy us some time.
‘Do you know the spell?’ said Josh as we raided his mum’s cupboards. Maggie’s house was tidy but her herb cupboards weren’t. There was no system to it – or one only she knew – which made it even harder for Josh and I to find what we needed.
We frantically opened cupboards and drawers, listening out for signs of not-Abigail trying to get into the kitchen. What was she waiting for?
Blood pounded in my ears. I couldn’t hear what Josh was saying, or if not-Abigail was on the other side of the door.
How close was she? How much damage had she done? Were Maggie and Harry OK? Was Abigail? I didn’t just want to exorcise that ghost or whatever it was, I wanted to destroy it for hurting her. But you couldn’t kill a ghost, only kick their arse.
‘No,’ I said.
‘Then what are we supposed to do!’ he cried as someone banged on the kitchen door.
‘Let me in, duckies. You know it’s inevitable,’ said the creepy Abigail voice.
‘Oh my god,’ I said.
We found the herbs we needed and slammed them onto the counter. I spooned the herbs into the mug as the kettle boiled, desperately hoping I was using the right amounts in my rushed job. Josh joined me, measuring lavender into the mug as my phone went off.
He carried on measuring the herbs as I checked it. It was a text from Mum with the incantation I needed. I repeated it over and over, trying to memorise it. It’d be hard to look at my phone and hold Abigail down, even with Josh’s help. Ghosts tended to put up a fight when being exorcised. Something about not wanting to be dead. More dead. Dead-er. You know what I mean.
‘Done!’ said Josh, banging the mixture together a couple more times for good measure before pouring it into the boiling water.
‘Do you have something smaller to put it into? A baggie? A vial?’ I said.
‘Does this look like a magic shop to you?’
Dammit. I tapped my foot against the floor.
The table we’d moved against the kitchen door started to slide away from it. Frazzle. Were we out of time? What was not-Abigail about to do to us? Was this it?
We needed something smaller so that we could pour it down her throat quickly. What? What could we use?
‘Do you still have her sippy cups?’
‘Yes!’ Josh reached up to a top cupboard and pulled a Dora the Explorer sippy cup down. He finished pouring the mixture into it as the dining table reached the edge of the door, and the door flung open.
I jumped in front of Josh. He tried to step in front of me, but I blocked him. ‘There’s nothing you can do right now.’
‘How cute. You’re trying to protect him,’ said not-Abigail. ‘And how ironic, when it’s you that I want anyway.’
Me? What did it want with me?
I didn’t get the chance to get answers.
Not-Abigail flung her arm out, but nothing happened. Not-Abigail’s eyes widened, clearly having expected something to happen. But I didn’t move. Josh did. He hit the ground, the sippy cup landing beside him. If he hadn’t screwed the lid on so tight, the mixture would’ve gone everywhere.
I ran over, checking him for a pulse while keeping an eye on not-Abigail.
‘He’s fine, just knocked out. This is between you and me, duckie.’
‘You know, I used to like being called duck. You’re giving it a very sinister undertone.’
She laughed. ‘Good.’
I grabbed the sippy cup and held it to me.
‘What are you going to do? Set Dora the Explorer on me?’ she said, laughing.
I needed to think, and fast. Could I start the incantation before using the potion? Would that weaken her enough for me to could pour it down her throat?
Out of options, I started chanting. ‘Save this soul from the monster inside, send it back to the other side.’
Not-Abigail laughed. Nothing happened. But I kept going, inching closer and still holding the cup. She didn’t try to stop me. Until I reached into my pocket for Tilly’s iron lead.
‘No!’ she screamed, waving her arms out. Whatever she’d tried to do, it hadn’t worked. Her eyes went wide. I formed a loop with the iron lead and lassoed it around her. She writhed around, screaming and protesting and mumbling things in a language I didn’t recognise. But I felt her body grow limp with it around her. She tried to fight it off, but it wasn’t working.
The kitchen door flew open.
Mum and Ben ran in.
‘Grab her!’ I shouted.
Ben took Not-Abigail from me, pulling the iron taught in his – surprisingly large – hands, which I appreciated, since my back was screaming from her writhing. I couldn’t have held her for much longer.
Mum held her mouth open. Not-Abigail wriggled, but she was no match for the three of us, especially with her powers diminished from the iron.
I poured the potion down her throat, all three of us repeating the incantation over and over.
‘Save this soul from the monster inside, send it back to the other side. Save this soul from the monster inside, send it back to the other side. Save this soul from the monster inside, send it back to the other side.’
After what felt like forever, but could’ve been minutes, could’ve been seconds, she convulsed, looking like she was about to vomit. The cup empty, Mum let go. Ben lowered Abigail to the floor. She wretched and twisted and moved in directions that weren’t normal. I clung to Mum, who was standing in front of Ben. Josh stirred from the other side of the kitchen. I kind of hoped he wouldn’t wake up until Abigail was safe. This wasn’t the kind of thing he should see. It wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted to see.
Not-Abigail’s back arched. She screamed an ear-shattering scream. Then collapsed.
The three of us ran over.
‘Do you feel that?’ said Ben.
‘The air,’ I said. ‘It’s different.’
He nodded.
‘The spirit’s gone.’
‘That wasn’t a spirit,’ said Ben.
‘What do you mean?’ said Mum.
‘That was a demon.’
‘What? What was a demon? Is Abigail OK? What happened?’ Josh rubbed the back of his head. There was no blood on his hands when he pulled them away. Phew.
‘Abigail!’ screamed Maggie, running through the door with Harry.
‘What the hell happened in here?’ said Harry, looking around at the ransacked kitchen.
Abigail opened her eyes and looked up at Mum. ‘Is he gone?’