than her parents were willing to do. So she hired on with city hall to get her feet wet in the ghost hunting business. At first, Betterton citizens were baffled and a little angered by this young recruit. But soon found out that she was paid peanuts compared to her parents. Which was all the city could afford on the project.
“Where are we setting up?” Sam surveyed the parking lot.
“Just over there.” Reggie nodded to the corner that connected to the woods.
Sam looked at the cold patch of dirt. “Great.”
Reggie grabbed the equipment and headed towards the corner. Sam grabbed the food and followed along.
The day was bright. And it looked like the two would have a little longer before dusk started to settle in. Sam set herself up a spot on the ground and watched. Reggie began to take out some steel rods from the bag. She dug through the bag and brought out a hammer as well. She took in a sharp breath and focused on what she had to do.
Every ghost hunter out in the world has their own methods. Reggie grew up on symbols and ceremonies that her mother practiced to help the spirits move on. But she also listened well to her uncle in New Englan who taught her about battling demons and space gods. He left her a treasure trove of information before he disappeared several years ago.
Reggie hammered in her fourth rod and made sure that it was in alignment with the other three. The steel rods were set a few feet away from the parking lot. She walked from the edge of the forest and across the parking lot with four more rods in her arms. She dropped the hammer down along with three of the rods. She took the steel rod in her hands and rubbed it against the bricks and then let go. The rod stood motionless and perpendicular to the ground. She went down the row lining up the rods on the wall with the rods in the ground. Then sticking the remaining three rods to the side of the wall.
“Did you need any help?” Sam shouted from her spot near the woods.
“No...” Reggie let it out slowly. Sam had never volunteered to help before. She usually drove, got her food, and watched the rest of the time. “Why?” Reggie quickly added.
“Oh, you know. No reason. Just wanted to see it I could help.”
“Right...”Reggie knelt down and rummaged through her bag, again.
“You know. I could start learning some of this stuff. It might be useful to have an assistant.” Sam strolled over to Reggie.
“Samantha, you have ever been interested in any of this.”
“Oh yeah? Why do you think I come along all the time?”
“The free food.”
“Yes. Now. But before I drove you around we had to bike here. Remember?” Sam lifted her sunglasses up. Her green eyes looked sharp at Reggie.
“Well, now that you bring it up... Why would you come? I barely had the motivation to bike here. And I was getting paid.”
“See. I totally had to be interested then.”
Reggie pulled a coiled rope from the bag and walked it over to a spike on the wall. She rubbed the end of the rope and it stuck to the rod. “But you complained every time I ever handed you a bag to carry.”
“I know that. But now I think I’m ready to learn. Before now, I was intimidated or something.” Sam watched Reggie walk back and forth between the steel rods with the rope that seemed impossibly long the more of it she used.
Reggie stopped in the middle of the parking lot. “Sam.” The word had a weight to it. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know.” Sam’s shoulders slumped forward. “I was just sitting here thinking about all the crap after school’s over.”
“Samantha. You don’t have anything to worry about yet. I’m the one that has to decide in like the next month.” Reggie looped the rope over itself several times to create an intricate pattern across the parking lot. She walked the rest of the rope to the corner Sam had set up camp in.
“I know. But I‘ve thinking about it since summer and watching you do all this is the only thing I’ve ever stuck with for more than three weeks.” Sam sat back down in her nest of candy wrappers.
“Yeah. But you’re not really into this stuff.”
“I know. It seems cool, but good god. If Gomez actually knew all you did was set up traps and wait. He’d freak out.”
“Yeah. I know. You kinda gotta be a ghost nerd to do it.” Reggie grabbed a candy bar and a swig of tea. “I blame my parents on my lameness.”
“Yeah, you’re pretty lame.”
“Thanks, friend.” Reggie smiled. “If you really want to learn this stuff I can teach you.”
“Really?” Sam thought about it. “Nah. I don’t think I can. My eyelids get heavy just thinking about it.”
“Are you sure? Cause you’re already like my assistant now. Just pretty useless and lazy.”
“I am pretty useless and lazy, huh?”
“Only when if comes to ghosting. But when it comes to food you are really, really good. You killed this candy.”
“I know that was supposed to be a compliment, Regina. But I’m going to ignore it outright.”
“Probably for the best.” Reggie took out her watch from her pocket. It was six pm and the sun was completely down now. They still had a few more hours until the paranormal activity spiked. Reggie leaned back on her elbows and relaxed. “Do you know what my mom said to me the other day? ‘You know you’re just fixing the symptoms and not the disease.’”
“What does that mean?” Sam looked up at the sky.
“She thinks there’s something bigger going on. Not just ghosts. All this bad karma and spirits are here because of one...I don’t know thing.”
“Really? Is that possible?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. They say no one’s been to the town square in a very long time. And lived to tell about it. It could be...” Reggie stopped then shifted. “But that’s not the point. I’m just pissed she said it. She has to add one little comment every once in a while. Just when I’m feeling good about it and making some headway. Bam! She says something like that.” Reggie rubbed the charm in her pocket.
“Well, at least you mom takes an interest. I think I’d have to burn the whole house down before mine noticed.” Sam knew Reggie had heard it before. Just as Sam had heard Reggie’s grief before. They sat there for a moment nodding in agreement with each other.
Reggie felt something moving against her leg. It started slow but quickly sped up. She sat up straight and looked down at her leg. The remaining rope was uncoiling and rubbing against her leg at lightning speed.
“What the crap?” Reggie snatched her gloves out of the bag and quickly grabbed the rope.
“What?” Sam bolted up. She looked at the parking lot. It was filled with an eerie blue haze. She could see faces coming in and out of focus. They morphed and twisted as they swirled around. They rushed forward and pushed against the rope boundary.
“What’s going on?” Reggie pulled hard on the rope and started to bring in the slack. “They shouldn’t be here yet. It’s past Halloween. The witching hour has reset now. This is way too early.”
“What are they doing? I’ve never seen it like this.” Sam stood up and watched the spirits stirring. Goosebumps crawled up her skin from her toes to her fingertips as she listened to the ghostly wails. She snapped out of it. Shook her head. And looked down at her struggling friend. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Yeah.” Reggie pulled another few inches her way. “In the bag. There’s a brick with Korean writing on it. Grab it.”
Sam look through the bag and found the brick quickly. There was a strip of paper wrapped around the brick with symbols running along it. She held it out to Reggie. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Reggie reached out for it and the rope pulled forward almost yanking her arm out of her socket. She grabbed the rope with both hands again. “Okay. That’s not going to work.”
Sam moved forward a little bit wondering what she should do with the brick.
“Hold on. Just stand right there. I’ve got an idea.” Reggie wrapped the rope around her w
rists and leaned back as far as she could. She held that position and raised her left leg high in the air. She wished that she practiced yoga or something at that moment. Her foot hooked onto the rope. She lowered her boot as she rolled with the rope still in her hands. She finished with her hands and feet all in a straight row atop the rope.
“Alright.” Reggie nodded to Sam. Her face was red and sweat was running down the sides of her face. She strained as the words came out. “Set the brick right on the rope. Yeah. Right there. Yep. Thanks.”
Sam jumped back quickly and watched Reggie remove her hand from the tangled rope. And balance herself as she placed her palm on the brick. She slowly lifted her hand away then rolled off the rope. It pulled taut and strained under the brick but held its place.
“Holy crap!” Reggie laid on her back panting. She wiped the sweat from her face with her sleeve. “That was unexpected.”
“What’s going on?” Sam helped Reggie up.
Reggie looked at the ghosts spinning in her trap. There seemed to be dozens of them. The report she got said there were maybe six of them. “I don’t know. This is a lot bigger than I expected.” Reggie knelt down and looked through the bag again. She picked up some bells and held them in her hand. “Let’s take care of this.”
Reggie started tying the bells to the rope using intricate knots on each one. The five bells were spherical and shined in the night air. Each bell was bigger than the last. She finished quickly and looked at her work. It was ready to go.
“Look.” Sam pointed to the rope. It