‘We have a problem,’ said Ben the next morning. He walked in without greeting, a sombre expression on his face. Fadil was behind him, looking equally defeated.
‘More problems?’ I asked, hugging my coffee to me as if it would make me feel better. It didn’t, but at least it was warm.
Edie looked up from the sofa, where she was eating her toast. Tilly ran over to them, demanding attention. Fadil picked her up and cuddled her, but it seemed more like it was because he wanted comfort than because he wanted to play. She cottoned on quickly, settling into his arms.
‘Goodfellow killed a witch,’ said Ben. He glanced out of the window, as if checking for something or someone, but there was no one there. It was a usual grey, dreary December day.
‘What?’ Edie and I chorused.
Ben nodded. ‘We were due to go on an investigation last night. I didn’t go just in case, but the other witch on our crew never said she wasn’t coming, she just didn’t turn up. One of the guys went to visit her house this morning and found it empty. Her body was at the end of her street, as if she’d been caught walking to the investigation and he’d found her.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, walking over to Ben and hugging him. He rested his head on my shoulder. I didn’t know much about his ghost-hunting crew, but they seemed to go out together fairly regularly.
‘Oh my god,’ said Edie. ‘Do you think that’s what happened?’
‘Everything fits.’
‘Do you know what her power was?’ I asked.
‘Super hearing. I suspected she was a vampire but could never prove it and didn’t want to ask. It’s kind of a personal question. But if Goodfellow’s whistling has something to do with his murders, perhaps it has some sort of impact on his victims. It would’ve made her particularly sensitive to it, too,’ said Ben.
Still clutching Tilly, Fadil sat on the sofa, shaking his head. ‘Now what do we do?’
‘We need to speed up our timeline,’ said Ben. ‘If he hasn’t figured out he needs a vessel yet, he will have now. The mind can trick us into many things, but it can’t give us super hearing without supernatural intervention.’
‘Well isn’t that just great?’ said Fadil, rolling his eyes. He sneezed into his elbow, causing Tilly to glare at him. ‘Sorry.’ As if satisfied, Tilly curled back up in his lap.
‘She hates it when you sneeze or cough,’ Edie informed him. ‘Don’t know why.’
‘Shame we can’t infect Dr Not-So-Goodfellow with my germs,’ he joked.
‘It would be one way to incapacitate him more easily,’ Ben agreed.
I clenched and unclenched my fists. ‘Looks like we’re going to have to bring our plan forwards.’
*
Summoning a psychopathic ghost with a doctorate in butchery felt like a disastrously bad idea, but if we didn’t do something, more people were going to get hurt, and I’d never get any sleep again. Not to mention Edie would never be free from Tessa’s torment if we didn’t stop her murderer.
We were going to summon Goodfellow to Mrs Brightman’s unwarded, unoccupied house. It would keep him away from our houses if anything went wrong.
Of course, if he wanted to find us he probably would. But mentally it made us feel better to summon him away from our homes.
Edie and Fadil drew a salt circle in the centre of the worn living room carpet, while Ben and I moved the furniture out of the way so that he couldn’t use any of it against us. We’d tried to convince Fadil not to get involved, but he insisted that there was safety in numbers and he wasn’t backing out. He was leeching Edie’s powers, now, so in theory, if she needed a boost, we hoped he could provide it. He might also have a little bit of Dominic’s spell-casting powers, too. We’d tried to get him to cast a couple of spells before, but nothing had really happened. Would trying it under all the stress make a difference? We were about to find out.
‘Ready?’ said Ben as the four of us arranged ourselves in a square around the salt circle.
‘Not in the slightest,’ I said.
‘We’re as prepared as we’ll ever be,’ said Edie.
‘Doesn’t mean we’re ready,’ mumbled Fadil.
‘We are. We’ve got this,’ said Ben. I wished I shared his confidence, but I didn’t. Assuming he meant it and wasn’t just saying that to give us some confidence, that was.
My hands shaking, I reached out and held one of his. It reassured me, which gave me the confidence and calm I needed.
Even though I’d faced off against a poltergeist fairly recently, I was still terrified of them. They were crazy, unhinged, unpredictable. One had killed Javi because we’d been cocky and underestimated him, which was part of why we were taking so many precautions. That didn’t make me any less afraid of him, though. The ghost who’d killed Javi had been bothering one family. This ghost was terrorising a whole town and was capable of dissecting people. He was a whole new level of unhinged.
‘We call upon Randolph Goodfellow, to commune with us tonight, grant us your presence, come join us in the light,’ the four of us chorused.
We’d adapted the spell to specifically attract Goodfellow and nobody else, since sometimes other ghosts intercepted the signal.
His figure flickered into view, like an image on a zoetrope. When he stopped, I was surprised at how clear he was. If it hadn’t been for the faint glow around him, he would’ve looked human. Worse, that glow was fainter on him than it was on most other ghosts. Even without other people’s powers, he was still insanely strong. Gulp.
He looked just how his previous victims had described him – imposing, formal, slightly bloody. His posture was tall and stiff; he carried himself proudly. His expression was one of curiosity, as if he wasn’t sure how he’d arrived in our salt circle but was intrigued to see how things played out. I just hoped they played out in our favour.
We started the spell I’d only used a handful of times before. It was designed to obliterate any ghost in the vicinity. It was the nuclear option, but it’d never failed me before.
‘Save this house from the ghost inside, remove this spirit from where they preside, give them no right to the Other Side.’
We repeated the spell, over and over, but it didn’t seem to do anything. He flickered a little, but it was hard to know if that was from the spell or just because he was a ghost. Why wasn’t the spell working? What were we missing? Was he too powerful, even for four of us? Surely not?
Please not.
Over the top of our chanting, he began to whistle. It wasn’t the melodies I’d become familiar with during my sleepless nights; this one was different. It felt more like a summoning.
Fiddlesticks.
A bird cawed. A moment later, a raven flew into the living room, landing on the salt circle. Branwen. Using her wing, she wiped a gap into the salt circle. How could she do that? That was not normal. And we were about to be in big trouble.
Goodfellow wiped his hands together. Stepping out of the circle, he laughed. ‘That all you got?’
He flung his arms wide.
The four of us flew backwards. I crashed into the sofa. Edie hit the floor. Ben headbutted the armchair. Fadil smacked into the wall.
While we were all conscious, everyone seemed too weak – or maybe unable – to move. I rubbed the top of my shoulder where it’d hit the sofa.
Goodfellow whistled again. This time, it was a tune I knew all too well. It was the one he used right before he murdered his victims. Gulp.
The sound set my nerves on edge, filling me with an internal buzzing.
But it also washed over me, like it was trying to do something but couldn’t.
I glanced around at the others. Their bodies were stiff, as if they were frozen into position. Was that what his whistling did? Was it a way to immobilise them?
Why wasn’t it working on me? Was I immune somehow?
Goodfellow walked over to Fadil, kneeling in front of him.
Fadil’s lips drew into a tight line. His face was the only part of him that seemed able to move.
‘There’s something unusual about you, but I can’t work out what. I like it, though.’ Goodfellow reached out, as if to stroke Fadil’s cheek. Fadil’s face tensed further. Goodfellow never touched him, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t, or because he never intended to. Either way, it seemed to have the desired effect on Fadil. ‘You’re a curious specimen. I’d love to get to know you more. Perhaps one day.’ He smirked, then stood up.
Fadil’s body was so tense I thought he was going to start vibrating. Even though Goodfellow was now circling around the room, as if choosing who to pick on next, Fadil still looked terrified. It felt like we all held our breath as he floated around the faded maroon carpet, taking his time, enjoying the sights, tormenting us.
Branwen flew in circles above, watching everything unfold, waiting for the next orders from her master.
Goodfellow jerked, shoving his face into mine. I jumped. Annoyingly. He smirked. Because of course he did. ‘You can still move. Well, isn’t that interesting?’ He glanced around at the others, who were still immobile but able to move their faces. ‘Branwen didn’t tell me about that, but, I suppose she can’t know everything. She is only just a raven.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I asked.
He glanced up at Branwen, who was still circling above us. ‘Branwen monitors people for me. Notices characteristics that may be useful.’
As if things couldn’t get any creepier, his bird had been spying on us. Wasn’t that just brilliant?
Before I could ask a follow-up question, Goodfellow continued: ’There’s something about you, but I’m not sure what.’ He leaned back, as if taking me in. I shuddered. ‘You must be the matriarch.’ He nodded. ‘Yes, that’s right. You’re not the smartest, but people come to you anyway. Was this plan yours?’ He tutted. ‘You really should’ve known better. Isn’t it your job to protect everyone? Haven’t your failures hurt enough people already?’
How did he know that? Had he been watching me? Listening to my conversations? A bird couldn’t handle all of that surely?
I curled my hands into fists, not wanting to fall for his bait but feeling every word. He was right. It had been my plan. I’d failed. And now I had no idea what he was planning, but it was like we were all too incapacitated to stop him.
‘That was some spell you cast,’ said Goodfellow, crouching down in front of Ben. Ben looked like he wanted to do something, like use his forcefield, but he was too restrained by invisible forces. How long would Goodfellow’s hypnotism, magic, whatever it was, last? And why didn’t it affect me? ‘You must be quite the witch. And you have the added bonus of forcefields. Wonderful power. So many useful things you can do with them. The things I did back in the day. That I’ll do again.’ He smirked.
Finally, he stopped in front of Edie. ‘A necromancer. A rare creature indeed.’ His lips curled into something between a snarl and a smile. ‘Wouldn’t you be fun to play with?’
‘Leave her alone!’ I said, falling for his bait. Fiddlesticks. That was the last thing I needed to do, but I couldn’t stop myself. I wasn’t going to let him hurt my daughter.
Goodfellow didn’t come over to me, but he did turn to face me, smirking again. ‘Feeling overprotective now, are we? Little late for that, don’t you think?’
I ground my teeth together. Even though I wanted to say something witty or defensive, I didn’t. It was like my mind was devoid of any sort of come back. Was that him, or was it me?
Goodfellow returned to Edie: ‘I sense your rage, necromancer. It’s powerful. You can do a lot with it. I can do a lot with it.’ He nodded, his expression appearing as if he was half in the moment and half in thought. ‘Don’t lose it, necromancer. It could be your most powerful weapon.’ He grinned, standing up.
The blood was pounding in my ears so loudly I could barely hear anything. If my heart beat any faster I was going to start hyperventilating. What did this guy want with us? Why was he tormenting us? Couldn’t he just get whatever he had planned over with?
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, addressing all of us this time. ‘I’m not ready for you yet. But when I am, oh, we’ll do great things together.’
With one last cackle, he and his raven vanished.
*
Everyone in the room relaxed.
‘I can move again!’ said Edie. ‘What the hell was that?’
‘Some sort of hypnotism, I think,’ said Ben.
‘But ghosts can’t whistle,’ said Fadil. ‘They have no lungs! Technically they have no lips! They can’t breathe air!’
‘They’re not meant to be able to touch people, either. This guy is defying all the rules. Because why break one when you can break them all?’ I said, not sure if I was joking or being serious. In our current situation it was hard to tell.
‘It’s weird,’ said Edie, stretching her arms out behind her and cricking her neck. ‘He didn’t feel all that magically powerful. His life essence was more just…overpowering, if that makes sense? Almost like what I got from Dominic but without the side of necromancy and illness.’
‘That’s interesting,’ I said. My hands were still shaking and the blood pounding in my ears. Was it over? Was he really gone? I really hoped so. But also…we’d failed. Who knew what he was going to do next? ‘Is everyone OK? That’s the most important thing.’
We crawled over to each other, huddling together.
‘Sore but fine,’ said Fadil.
‘Still in one piece,’ said Ben.
‘Me too,’ said Edie. ‘Mum?’
‘Yeah, I’m all right. Physically, anyway.’
We slowly pulled apart, but stayed close to each other.
‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t fast enough to put my forcefield up and stop him,’ said Ben. He lowered his head, blinking back tears.
‘It’s not your fault. He caught all of us off guard,’ I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. He flashed me a weak smile in response. He was clearly beating himself up for not acting fast enough, which I didn’t really blame him for as I would’ve done the same thing. But it wasn’t his fault. It was my fault because it’d been my plan. Trying to exorcise him in a house with no extra protection had backfired colossally.
‘Are you all right? I mean, technically he’s a poltergeist. And he’s powerful.’ Ben put his hand on my leg.
I held my hands up to show how much I was shaking.
Edie reached out and grabbed them. ‘Ignore what he said, Mum. None of it’s true.’
‘He was just trying to get inside our heads to weaken us,’ I said, giving Edie’s hands a squeeze. His words had got to a part of me, though. I felt like a failure for so many reasons, that encounter with Goodfellow being one of them. ‘I still hate poltergeists but I’ll be fine.’ If I said it, I’d believe it, right? At the very least it’d stop the others from worrying about me.
Edie nodded. ‘I thought he was going to kill us.’
‘So did I,’ said Fadil with a shudder.
‘He needs us,’ said Ben. ‘And now he knows it, too.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked.
‘It looks like he’s known about us for longer than we thought, thanks to his raven spying on us. I knew they were smart creatures, but I didn’t think they were capable of that.’ Ben removed his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt.
Edie tensed beside me.
‘What?’ I said, noticing the subtle movement most other people wouldn’t have.
‘I think I’ve seen Branwen around a few times lately.’
Fadil huffed. ‘Why didn’t you say anything?’
Edie waved her arms in the air. ‘She’s a bird! I thought she was harmless!’
‘It would appear she can certainly do something to help him, I’m just not sure what,’ said Ben.
‘Marvellous. As if we don’t have enough to worry about already,’ said Fadil.
Edie patted his leg.
‘We need to be careful. Now that he knows who – and what – we are, we’re all at risk. And it seems like he wants to torture us before taking advantage of what we can do.’ Ben put his glasses back on, a solemn expression on his face.
Edie gulped. ‘Meaning what?’
‘I’m not sure I want to find out,’ said Fadil.