Chapter 23

The bright ray of the flashlight shines on my face and causes my eyes to flinch.

"Over here! I found one of them!" The man yells, calling the others.

I gulp and raise up my hand "Wait. Please, listen to me first" I say as I notice others start to gather pointing their guns at me. The man holding the flashlight to my face chuckles and steps forward.

"You made quite a mess, you know. Just tell us where the kids are and we'll make sure your death is quick." He says. It's when he stops at the bottom of the stairs that I realise, it's him.

The driver, Jason. He hasn't recognised me yet.

"I won't tell you where they are. Kill me if you want, it won't make a difference. I'm not alone here after all so know this, the moment I die, one of them will call the police. We have your faces memorised and in pictures on our phones." I say to him confidently. Of course, it's all a lie. I need to make use of the fact that they think there are more people here.

"Two men are making their way around the building," Mitch says as he appears next to me, pointing to the left.

"How do I know you're not lying?" Jason says with one hand in his pocket, looking sceptical.

I glance at my right shoulder, pretending to be wearing a wireless earpiece.

"Two of your men are going around the building. Call them back here along with any others." I demand. This will make it look like we're in contact and keeping an eye on them.

Jason thinks for a second and then turns back and nods to his men, signalling them to call the guys back.

"Say, I feel like I've seen you somewhere," he says, thoughtfully.

"Where are the kids?" I whisper.

"They just left the building and are making their way onto the other one." I hear Alex's voice from a distance. I can't see him though.

Jason suddenly snaps his fingers as his dark eyes widen with realization.

"You're that girl! I knew that face seemed familiar. The one from when I was in high school. Man, how time flies." He laughs to himself.

"A girl? Do you mean the guy walking around as Kim was a girl all along? Damn, I'm having regrets" says a man from the group who I recognise as Ben. The others laugh along with him as I glare at them.

"That's the one who scared you? You must have been quite pathetic as a kid." One of them mocks.

"So you're looking for some kind of negotiation? Let's hear it. And make it quick, some of us aren't that patient." He grins at me.

"Let the kids go and we won't expose you. We'll forget this ever happened." I insist.

"They're in the kitchen." I hear Alex again.

Jason sighs disappointingly "I was hoping you'd have something surprising under your sleeve but it's the typical 'let us go and we won't tell'. Tsk, that's pretty weak." He says and takes out the gun from his pocket, pointing it at me as he takes a step forward. The others behind him also take a step.

"Listen, you know me. You know I won't break a promise. I didn't do it before and I won't do it again! Let the kids go!" I raise my voice against them. The nervousness inside me growing as I look at the sly expressions on their faces.

"They're out of the building now" Mitch informs me.

"We have more than one way to make you talk, you murderer." He says as he continues to climb up the stairs with his gun pointed at me.

Suddenly the ghost man with the hat, Oslo, comes from behind me and charges at Jason. He snatches his gun away from him, much to his surprise and points it at him, prompting him to back up.

"Wait...what? What's going on!?" He yelks in confusion at the gun floating high in the air away from his reach. The other men also look at the scene in confusion. One of them even shoots at Oslo but to no avail.

"NOW!" I yell and stretch out my towards the enemies.

All of them including Alex, floats towards them from all directions, snatching their weapons and pointing those at them.

"What the hell is this!?" One yells as he backs up towards the group.

"Witchcraft! She's using some kind of Witchcraft!" Ben yells, panicking.

The ghosts take their guns from them, throwing some on top of the building. They point the muzzles at the cowering men, driving them into a circle formation as they float around them. The twins float in the air, both holding two pistols at them with an expressionless face. Gemma, nervously, points the guns at their faces while Alex, looking exhausted, stands on the ground as he holds the men at gunpoint. Edith reappears after tossing an extra weapon far away from them and joins the others. Oslo holds two rifles at them, waiting intently for any one of them to try an escape. Mitch and Nathan shoot at the ground near them to back them up.

"It was him..." Valerie says as she stands beside me looking at the chaos in front of us. I look at her with sadness. She glares at who I think is Jason as she clenches her fists.

"Jason? What did he do?" I ask her curiously.

"He's my brother. After our parents died...he wasted all the money. At the end when there was nothing left, he sold me off...to those monsters and even joined them." She says as she trembles with rage and despair. The dark aura slowly starts to swirl around her as tears, in the form of black ooze, flow down her face.

I take one last look at her and then start to go down the stairs, away from her.

This is it. The moment she's been waiting for all this time. Her revenge. To finally find peace. To finally be reunited with her parents. Deep in my heart, I wish her the best.

As I walk past the men, trying to get away, only to be scared back with a bullet shot at the ground, I look towards Jason. Cowering just as he was that day we met.

"A brother like you doesn't deserve to live!" I yell out to him and walk away from them as he looks at me confusingly.

I keep moving forward with the metal rod, despite the pain, eager to get away from the evil behind me. The kids must have gone pretty far by now. Glancing back, I see a large amount of black smoke swirling around Valerie, reaching about half the size of the building, much to everyone's horror. The smoke then moves away from her and starts to swirl around the men as they scream for help. The smoke envelopes them like a cage with hints of electricity in it. If anyone tries to get out, they'll receive an electric shock.

Valerie floats in the air near them, with her hair flowing around her as if in water. Black tears on her face as she glares at them. Releasing all that pent up anger. The other ghosts, let go of the weapons, regaining their strength for when Valerie gets weak.

Suddenly, I hear police sirens from a distance. Finally, they're here. The kids will get to them and bring them here. It'll all be over soon.

I continue to walk, trying to make my way to where I parked my car, which is a bit far from here but I must reach it before the cops come to the scene. This time, I'm sure, Jason will reveal my crime to them. Wait...Valerie will kill him, of course. So the others will reveal my crime. Now that I'm all alone, hearing the police sirens from one direction and the screams of agony from the other, I feel...empty and dreadful. The hardest part has yet to come and I don't think I will be able to endure it. Just thinking about it makes my chest feel tight and my eyes tear up.

My foot starts to throb with pain so much that I feel a need to rest up. I sit down beside an old abandoned car and take a few breaths while looking up at the night sky. I shiver as a cold breeze passes by me, reminding me of the cold lonely world I used to live in. Numb to everything warm and happy. I gently stroke my swollen foot as I stare at the stars with a sad expression. This is it. It's all over. Our adventure has come to an end.

Tears flow down my eyes as I think about Alex. He'll be gone and my life will go back to how it used to be. That is if I don't end up in jail. I hope I don't see him again. I won't be able to handle it. The pain is too much. I need to get out of here quickly.

Getting up, I continue on my way. With each step I take, a memory of him flashes before my eyes. How we first met, how he annoyed me, how we made a deal, the people we met on the way, the things we faced. All of it, causes my heart to ache.

The locals who were woken up by the police sirens, stare at me curiously as I walk on the street limping. Some can even be seen going towards the noise, wondering what's going on. Apparently, no one cares much about a person with splashes of blood on their clothes and an injured foot.

I spot my car next to a closed post office and go towards it. As soon as I touch the handle, a voice calls for me from a nearby alleyway. I look at the ground and sigh heavily as I close my eyes.

"Lisa..."

I turn to face him. He stands there smiling sadly as his fingertips slowly turn into glowing golden dust that flows away in the air.

I frown at him as my eyes tear up again.

"You're not making it any easier for me, you know."