“Because we were friends, and I didn’t tell you?” Alex said as if he weren’t sure why he was apologizing. “I feel like I wasn’t supposed to have a crush on your sister.”
“Honestly, I’m fine with you about it,” Harper said, smiling at him to prove it. “It’s just strange to me that I didn’t realize you did.”
“So that’s why I’m kinda being such a freak about all of this,” he said with a sad smile. “I finally get to be with Gemma, and then she’s … gone.”
“That would make me crazy, too.” She twirled the bottle of water in her hands, staring down at it as she asked him the next question. “So … are you in love with Gemma?”
“I…” He ran a hand through his brown hair and hesitated to answer.
Marcy pulled up in front of the house, honking the horn on her Gremlin loudly as she parked. She got out of the car, carrying a book bag with Captain Planet on it as she walked up to the house.
“You cats and kittens ready to contact some spirits?” Marcy asked, but before anyone could answer, she noticed Alex’s pocketknife. “Is that a batarang? Are you planning to batarang the spirit of your dead best friend?”
“No.” He flipped out the blade to show her. “It’s a knife.”
“Oh, so you’re gonna stab a ghost,” Marcy said. “That’s so much better.”
“I didn’t know what to bring. I thought we might need something to defend ourselves,” Alex said.
“Well, we don’t,” Marcy said. “Now come on. Let’s do this thing.” Marcy turned and started walking away.
“Where are you going?” Alex asked, jumping up.
“Yeah, where is this thing taking place?” Harper asked as she followed Marcy and Alex away from their houses.
“Luke’s body was found in the wooded area by the bay, right?” Marcy asked. “That’s where we’re going. His connection to the earth will be the strongest there. That’ll make him easier to contact.”
The trees where Harper and Alex had found the bodies weren’t far from where they lived. Neither of them had been back there since they’d shown the police where to go. It wasn’t someplace where Harper ever wanted to go again, so she slowed her steps when Marcy told them that was where they were headed.
“Are you coming, Harper?” Alex asked, glancing back over his shoulder at her. He hadn’t slowed down even slightly. Harper knew that finding the bodies had really freaked him out, too, but apparently he was braver than she’d thought.
“Uh … yeah.” She sighed and caught up to them.
Fortunately, when they got to the small cypress forest that ran along Anthemusa Bay, they didn’t go into it. Marcy stopped abruptly before going in and declared that it gave her bad energy, and that apparently would interfere with contacting the spirits.
“We’ll set it up here.” Marcy motioned to a grassy patch just outside the trees. “Sit down in a circle.”
“Shouldn’t it be nighttime or something?” Alex asked, but he still did as he was told. He sat with his legs crossed underneath him, and Harper and Marcy sat on either side of him so they formed a small circle.
“Shouldn’t what be nighttime?” Marcy asked. She set her book bag on her lap and began rummaging through it.
“It just feels weird to be doing a séance or whatever outside in the bright sunlight,” Alex said.
“Yeah, I feel like we should be in a spooky room with candles and incense,” Harper agreed.
“That’s because you guys are idiots,” Marcy told them.
“This coming from the girl who carries voodoo stuff in a Captain Planet backpack,” Harper muttered.
Marcy glared at her. “Nobody messes with Captain Planet. He keeps looters, plunderers, and evil spirits at bay. And I don’t practice voodoo. That’s not my thing.”
“What is your thing?” Harper asked.
“This.” Marcy pulled out a handful of black stones, a faded book, and a thick white candle.
“I thought you said people who brought candles were idiots,” Alex pointed out.
“No, I said you were idiots.”
Marcy put the candle in the center of their circle, then carefully laid out the smooth black stones around it. When Alex reached out to touch one, Marcy slapped his hand. Then she set the backpack aside and opened the book on her lap.
“Now what?” Harper asked when Marcy appeared to be finished laying out everything.
“I’m going to read from this book,” Marcy explained. “The incantation is in Latin. I don’t know why. I guess the dead all speak a dead language. It’s important that you don’t interrupt me and you don’t speak. Just sit quietly until I’m finished.”
After Harper and Alex both nodded in understanding, Marcy flipped open the book and began reading from it. Harper had no idea what most of the words meant, but every now and then she’d catch one like “necro” and “terra.”
As soon as Marcy finished, the candle lit up. A bluish flame burned from the wick, and even though the candle was white, the wax that dripped down the sides was black.
“How’d you do that?” Harper asked.