Chapter eighteen

"Where are you Sara and Julie?" Chris mumbles to himself as he stares at the amulet in his hands. "I have the amulet now I can save you from this place." He whispers, smiling as he clutches the amulet tightly in his right hand.

All he had to do now is figure out where Sara and Julie were at. The only thing was, he had no idea how to find them. Griffin had told him how to find the amulet and how to use it, even showed him how to shadow travel. But the only thing he had left out was the locations of Sara and Julie. Chris closes his eyes and begins floating through the darkness, silently hoping that he finds the girls soon.

"Go to the park Chris all the answers you seek are there," he hears Griffin's voice in his head and smiles.

Finally he has someplace to start searching for Sara and her sister Julie. Soon he would find them and everything would be alright. The girls would be alright. The girls would touch the amulet and then they would be released from the shadow realm. Or that's what he thought anyway. He could feel himself standing on solid ground once again and opens his eyes to find himself standing beside an old swing set.

"Okay so what exactly am I supposed to be looking for here?" He wonders out loud as he looks around.

He doesn't see anything or anyone else around him just the swing set. He starts to give up, heading towards the swings to sit down when he begins to hear the soft thudding of shoes hitting the ground behind him.

"It's not a what, but a who that you are looking for here."

Chris hears a familiar voice and turns around to see Michael walking towards him.

"Michael what in the world are you doing here?" Chris stares at Michael confused as he stops a few feet from him.

"I've been waiting here for you," Michael pauses and reaches a folded piece of paper out towards Chris. "This is for you it will help you find Sara. This map has been cursed to show the locations of anyone in the shadow realm."

Chris becomes slightly suspicious as he looks at Michael. "How did you know I was going to be here and how did you get this?"

"This map was a gift from Arthur Creepsly, my father. He said that I would find you here though the map showed that you were at the high school."

"Why would you be trying to help me Michael?" Chris wonders as he folds the map up.

"Maybe I'm just doing this to help myself."

Chris looks at him even more confused. "How is me finding the girls going to help you?"

Something inside Chris was telling him not to trust Michael as he shoves the map into his back pocket.

"Just find Sara and give her the amulet and everything will be revealed to you."

Before Chris could reply Michael turns around and disappears. Chris is left standing alone feeling more confused then ever. He takes the map back out of his pocket and unfolds it again, looking at it more closely this time.

"Where are you Sara?" He wonders as he looks all over the map. He watches in astonishment as a little dot pops up on the map.

~

"Sara are you okay?"

Lexi stands up, knocking the dirt off her pants and reaches her arm out towards Sara. As Sara takes Lexi's arm she feels a cold gust of wind come from behind her. She stands up quickly, shivering from the cold wind and turning around slightly.

"How did we end up here?" Sara wants to turn and run as she looks towards the cemetery in front of them. "The last thing I remember was running out of the high school and down the street then everything turned dark and it felt like we were floating through the air."

"I don't know Sara but I don't think we ended up here at random."

Lexi shivers as another cold gust of wind passes over them. Sara starts to say something but pauses as she hears footsteps heading towards them.

"We have to hide. Quickly into the cemetery," Sara whispers as she takes Lexi's hand.

They run into the cemetery and duck behind a large tombstone with a stone angel sitting on top of it. She peeks around the tombstone to see Riley and Thomas walking into the cemetery.

"Why do we have to do this?" Riley whines as he looks around the cemetery, a scared expression forming across his face as they walk in between two long rows of tombstones.

"Why are you so scared you're already dead. It's not like you can get hurt or anything now, so come on let's just go find this witch," Thomas tells his brother as he continues walking deeper into the cemetery.

"I don't see why this Griffin guy couldn't do this himself," Riley mumbles, running as he tries to catch up to his brother.

Sara waits until she is sure the two of them are gone before she turns to look back at Lexi.

"What do you suppose that was all about?"

Sara leans against the tombstone, leaning her head back and resting against the cool marble, thankful that the two brothers were not there for them.

"I don't know," Lexi looks up and sees the expression on Sara's face and sighs. "You want to follow them don't you Sara?"

"Yes now come on stay close to me and stay hid behind the tombstones."

Sara smiles to Lexi before she runs over to the next tombstone. They move quietly, trying to follow Riley and Thomas through the maze of tombstones as quickly and silently as possible. They finally come to a halt in front of a large mausoleum. Lexi and Sara creep along the backs of the nearest tombstones until they can hear the two guys talking.

"Okay Riley lets hurry up and get this over with," Thomas reaches out and pulls on the heavy stone door. It creaks as the large stone door slowly begins to open. "A little help would be nice." He complains, looking over at Riley annoyed.

Riley looks back at Thomas for a moment, his face twisting up with fear and worry before he grabs the door and helps his brother pull it open.

Riley shivers and looks around nervously as they pull the door open. "I still don't fully understand what we are doing here."

"Well since we can't get the original book back we have to visit the witch that created it in the first place and hopefully she will have another copy of it," Thomas explains as he pulls out a flashlight.

"Right well after you then brother."

A cold gust of wind suddenly bursts out from within the mausoleum. Lexi peaks further around the tombstone her and Sara were hiding behind to get a better view of what was going on. She moves her foot a little and feels a twig snap under her foot. She quickly ducks back behind the tombstone, hoping that Thomas and Riley hadn't heard the twig snap. Sara looks at Lexi, momentarily frightened as the flashlight beam shines towards them.

"Did you hear anything?"

"No now come on let's get this over with so we can get out of this place," Riley cries out annoyed, pushing Thomas towards the entrance.

Thomas looks towards the tombstone Sara and Lexi were hiding behind one last time before entering the mausoleum, followed closely by his brother. Sara waits until she is sure it is safe before she grabs Lexi's arm and drags her towards the entrance to the mausoleum.

Lexi sighs as she sees the look on Sara's face. "We aren't seriously going to follow them are we Sara?"

"We have to, to find out what those two are up to Lexi," Sara replies as she takes one last look around the cemetery before walking into the mausoleum.

Lexi hesitates for a moment, wondering what she should do. A strange howl erupts from somewhere to her right. It didn't sound to far away from her. Lexi's mind is quickly made up for her and she runs into the dark mausoleum. She hears a loud crash as the door slams shut behind her with a heavy thud.

"Sara," Lexi whispers as she tries to feel her way around in the dark. She had no idea which way to go though. "Where are you Sara?" She whispers as she tries to feel her way around in the mausoleum. "Owe."

She starts to cry out in pain, quickly covering her mouth with her hands as her leg bumps into something hard.

"Shhh... you have to be quiet Lexi." She hears Sara's voice right beside of her.

She squints her eyes in the darkness but she cannot see Sara. It was to dark, darker then night itself. Lexi shivers as she extends her arm out, trying to find Sara. She can feel her body shaking slightly as she shivers with fear. She can't feel anything in front of her. She begins to give up and try to make her way back towards the door when she feels her hand touch something warm and furry. Her whole body freezes as her heart begins to leap from her chest. For a moment she forgets why she is there as she begins to panic. She can't think very clearly. Its becoming harder for her to breathe.

"Sa..rrra..." She finally manages to whisper, her voice shaky and panicky. She waits but she is only answered by silence.

Did she really just leave me up here all alone in the dark?

She slowly backs up and starts to feel around, trying to find her way back to the door. But being in complete darkness she had no sense of direction. She continues walking straight, unaware that she was still heading deeper and deeper into the mausoleum. The air begins to get colder as she continues forward. After what had seemed like forever she begins to see a faint glow coming from just ahead of her. She hadn't even realized that she had been walking deeper into the mausoleum.

"See I told you the door would be locked down here Thomas. Now what are we going to do?" Lexi hears Riley's voice and freezes.

"How else do you think we are going to get through we are ghosts after all."

Thomas's body shimmers and he becomes transparent. He grins at his brother as he starts to walk towards the door. But his body doesn't go through it. Instead he feels something like an electric shock course through his body and he drops to the ground, his body returning to its solid form again.

"What happened Thomas I thought we could pass through anything?" Riley looks down at his brother stunned as Thomas reaches a hand out towards him.

"I should've seen that coming there's a boundary spell in place to keep ghosts from getting through the door so easily."

Thomas grabs his brothers arm pulling him back up onto his feet.

"So how are we getting in now?"

"Isn't it obvious we need a mortal to open the door for us," Thomas tugs his brother away from the door angrily. "We need to find Chris or Michael, either one of them should be able to open the door for us."

Lexi presses herself up against the far wall, hid by darkness as the two brothers start to walk past her and back through the mausoleum towards the entrance. Lexi closes her eyes and stays perfectly still as they walk past her and back through the mausoleum towards the entrance. Lexi waits until she is pretty sure they are back at the entrance before she walks towards the locked door.

"Where are you Sara?" She wonders as she reaches out towards the door.

She hesitates for a moment, her hand just inches above the door handle. As soon as her fingertips brush the top of the doorknob the door shudders and swings open. She jumps back startled and stares hesitantly at the open doorway, unsure of what she should do. She wished she knew where Sara went to. If only she was still there with her.

"Come in Lexi, I've been expecting you," a soft voice whispers from within the darkness of the room.

Lexi doesn't feel afraid as she begins to enter the room. Though she had heard the voice before and wasn't afraid she still walks into the room very cautiously.

"I've heard your voice before," Lexi looks around as she tries to find the woman whose voice she heard. "Where are you?" She whispers quietly as she looks around the small room.

The only light in the room came from the low hanging torches in the back of the room.

"This way Lexi quickly now. We don't want to let anyone else in do we," the woman's voice says, still hid somewhere in the back of the room.

Lexi walks towards the sound of her voice always alert, constantly looking all around her. Soon she reaches the back of the room and stops, looking in front of her puzzled. She could have sworn that the woman she had heard speaking would have been standing right in front of her.

"Where are you?" Lexi calls out as she stares blankly at the wall in front of her.

"Step through the wall Lexi," she hears the woman's voice telling her. Lexi looks at the wall and shakes her head.

"I can't step through a wall I'm not a ghost," she thinks out loud as she reaches her hand out cautiously towards the wall.

She expects to feel the hard grainy wooden texture of the boards but she doesn't feel anything there. Her hand just passes through the wall as if there is nothing there. Slowly, being very cautious she walks forward and steps through the wall, stepping into a large circular room.

"Welcome Lexi please come and have a seat. I have much to tell you."

Lexi looks over to find an elderly woman sitting just to her right. She gestures for Lexi to sit down across from her. Lexi starts to feel a little afraid as she walks towards the old woman. She sits down across from the woman hesitantly, patiently waiting on her to continue. But the old woman doesn't say anything else to her.

Lexi looks at the old woman nervously. "Why am I here?"

The woman just smiles as she reaches down beside her and takes a book out of a leather bag, laying it down on the table in front of Lexi.

"You are here because you need this. Keep it safe and protect it with your life Lexi," The old woman tells her.

Lexi just looks at her strangely. "How did you get this book I thought it was still in the mortal world?"

Lexi becomes confused as she looks down at the book.

"The book you are talking about is still in the mortal world. This book is the original copy," the woman smiles as Lexi picks up the book. "Now Lexi there is more going on then you or anyone else knows. Are you ready to listen to what all I have to say?" Lexi opens the book and starts flipping through the pages.

"Yes," Lexi simply replies as she continues to stare down at the strange symbols on the pages.

She turns her head as she begins to yawn, suddenly feeling really tired.

"Go lay down on my bed and get some rest Lexi. When you wake back up I will tell you everything about the book and why Griffin wants it so bad."

The woman smiles slightly as she holds the curtain behind her open. Lexi smiles back at her as she walks into the small bedroom. As soon as she lays down on the bed she falls asleep instantly. Images of what happened at the high school begin to fill her head as she begins to dream about what happened when she found out her step dad was Sara's father.