***
As soon as Mom and Dad disappeared out the front door, I got a bad feeling. We had company. Whatever happens, don't panic! I said to myself about ten times. I couldn't see anything, but I felt the vibration inside the house change. And Eddie disappeared before the news finished. He'd never done that.
Emily, who came out of her bedroom wearing her complete fairy costume with tiara and wand, said to me, 'The air's funny.'
'Smell's okay to me,' I said.
Telling myself over and over, All ghosts are just energy of a low vibration, even if they're called Warrior Spirits, didn't make me feel better. Fear rose inside me.
The fear wasn't for me; it was for Emily. Now she was lining up her dolls on the sofa, because they were fairies like her and they had to save the Fairy Kingdom from the Evil Elves.
I said to her as though I didn't care one way or the other, 'It'd be fun to ride over to see Mrs. Greenaway. I miss her, don't you?' Mrs. Greenaway was our old neighbor who adored Emily and spoilt her with candy.
'Too dark,' Em replied.
'I'd ride Dad's bike, so you could sit in your special seat.'
She shook her head.
After a minute, I said, 'We should meet our new neighbor - I think she's a nice lady like Mrs. Greenaway.'
Em stared at me like I'd lost my mind. 'NO!' she shouted.
She thought every stranger who was nice to her might be a wicked witch in disguise, because of some dumb fairy tale. I screamed inside, then I realized I needed a Plan B. Start a fire and force her to leave? No, I couldn't do that to Mom and Dad; I'd make that Plan C.
First, I needed to make sure Emily was occupied. I put on a Wiggles DVD and brought out blankets and pillows so she could make a proper cubby for her fairy dolls.
Then I got out a few flashlights from the laundry and some candles from the kitchen and kept them hidden, so Emily wouldn't ask why we needed them. As I went round the house closing curtains and pulling down blinds, I noticed movement in a painting in the formal dining room that we'd never used. I risked a second glance. In the painting there were three kids playing on the beach, and I was certain there was a spirit hiding in there. I shivered and went into the study. Nothing there.
Mom and Dad had a heap of framed family photos in their bedroom and without taking a good look, I knew spirits were lurking inside the photos. How do they do that, I wondered. I had goose bumps all over me.
As I crept down the hallway, I felt an icy breeze on my back. It's begun, I realized.
Emily screamed out, 'The TV's gone fuzzy!'
I grabbed the remote and hit the off button. 'We'll call the TV man to fix it tomorrow,' I said, making my voice as normal as I could. 'Let's play Hide and Seek.'
She stuck her thumb in her mouth to help her decide if that was a good idea. 'You hide first.'
I didn't want to hide first, but since Emily usually peeked that might work out okay. I grabbed a flashlight I'd hidden in the pantry and handed it to her. 'This is for when you hide. Now close your eyes and count to twenty.'
She stood in the middle of the family room, covered her eyes and began to count.
I raced to my bedroom, grabbed the bottle of space-clearing essence, went into Emily's room and sprinkled it all over the room. That might be like trying to outsmart a professional guard dog with sushi, but it was worth a try.
Before Emily had counted to twenty, every light in the house flickered on and off.
'Did you do that?' she called out to me.
'Do what?' I yelled back. 'No cheating, keep counting.'
Back in my bedroom, I brought up my email inbox on my computer and said a quick prayer for Grandpa George to reply NOW!
The air in the house suddenly turned icy. I grabbed a sweater out of my drawer and pulled it over my head.
I couldn't take the risk of hiding. Emily had to hide now, just in case the Warrior Spirits could make themselves visible to her. Trying not to think about what I was about to do, I took a sweater from her wardrobe and raced out to the family room.
I took Emily's hands away from her eyes, put the sweater on her and knelt beside her. 'Em, I don't want to scare you,' I whispered, 'but there could be a stranger in the house. I'm going to hide you and then call Mom and Dad.'
Her eyes widened and she held onto my arm real tight.
'Come on, into your room.'
I picked her up and grabbed her favorite doll, Lucy, from the sofa. Em was a lot heavier than the last time I'd picked her up. Her whole body shook against mine. I put her down next to the big cane toy box at the end of her bed and opened the lid. 'Let's take out some toys - all the ones that make a noise and some of the big things - so you have plenty of room. You've got the flashlight. Try to keep it turned off, so no one knows you're in here. Okay?' I wondered if she noticed my voice shake.
She nodded and I handed her Lucy to cuddle. Then I lifted her into the toy box and silently closed the lid. She hadn't screamed, cried or had a meltdown - unbelievable. I whispered, 'Sing Lucy's favorite song. Not aloud, though, just inside your head.'
'Which one? She's got three favorites.'
'Sing all three. Back in a minute.' I crept out to the hallway.
All I saw was a shimmer in the air, but a force like a hurricane hit me front on. I managed not to cry out as I was thrown back against the wall.
As soon as I'd slammed into the wall, I heard Emily whimper. I leant on the wall and picked myself up. Memories of being pounded by that wave flooded back. I expected to be slammed again, but nothing happened. And the lights were still on - I had to check my emails once more. In my head I said a quick prayer to my Guardian Angel. Grandpa George reckoned we all had them.
The house fell still and silent. And the air no longer felt icy. Were the Warrior Spirits chatting about what to do next?
In my room, I hit a key on the keyboard of my computer and hit refresh.
I couldn't believe my eyes. A message from George O'Reilly.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Dear Adam,
I'm so sorry I'm not with you. I've heard stories about Warrior Spirits, but never met anyone who has seen them.
You need to call on Archangel Michael. He is the Archangel who provides us with protection. You will only need to call him and he will come. He is not limited by time or space as we are. He can answer infinite calls for protection across the world at once. I call him by chanting:
Archangel Michael,
I call upon you now.
Please protect me from these Earthbound Spirits.
Take them away.
Shield me with your light.
Fill me with courage.
Chant over and over, with your hands open to the heavens, until he appears or you see flashes of blue light.
I groaned. That looked way too hard. I bet Grandpa George had practiced for years before he got the hang of doing that. He ended the message with: Have faith and believe it will happen. You'll be surprised how easy it is. Angels are wonderful; you only have to ask for their help.
I hit 'print', because there was no way I could remember that. But just as the printer revved up, the whole house descended into darkness, the printer went dead and my body suddenly felt like it was encased in ice.
Emily screamed at the top of her voice and didn't stop.
I ran into her room. My eyes adjusted enough to see she was standing up in the toy box, her eyes opened wide, and screaming like she'd been possessed. I picked her up and put her face against my shoulder so she couldn't see anything.
'Em, we're going next door,' I said, trying to sound calm.
Her answer was to hang on to me tighter.
I fled to the front door, bumping into a wall as I went. Two Warrior Spirits were right behind me - I could feel them.
The cold was unbearable. It was like our house had been turned into a giant freezer. I found the door handle, but it wouldn't open. It was if it'd been super glued shut. A rush of fear shot from my gut to my throat.
br /> 'Back door,' I said to Em, in case the Warrior Spirits were listening. Then I ducked into the nearest room, put Em down and went to open the window. I unlocked it, but it was shut tight. Three times I heaved, but it wouldn't open.
Em virtually jumped into my arms and we fled once again. As I raced down the hallway with her in my arms, every light in the whole house came on at once. The TV and the radio came on with the volume turned up to maximum. I tried the back door, but, of course, they'd locked it too.
I turned round, so my back was against the glass door. Our house had turned into a cave of ice. Icicles hung from the ceiling, the walls were coated in clear blue ice. But it wasn't the ice that made me freeze; it was the sight of six Warrior Spirits towering above us.
The six floated above the ground in a line across the room. Dressed all in black, with long black hair tied in a knot, they reminded me of samurai warriors. Each one carried two swords. Not that they needed swords; they possessed the power to extinguish other Earthbound Spirits without any help. They were denser than any Earthbound Spirit, I'd seen. And their eyes were emotionless and black.
For a few moments, I forgot to stop Emily from turning and seeing them, because I was totally stunned. Right in my ear, she screamed the house down. I pushed her face back into my shoulder. They could make themselves seen by ordinary people who didn't have the gift of sight. What a super power, I couldn't help thinking.
In unison, the Warrior Spirits pointed their fingers at us and moved closer. Pulsating red currents shot from their fingers straight into my chest, making my whole body shake. Could that energy make my heart stop?
I put Emily on the floor, so she was hiding behind me. She held onto my back, but snuck her head around to look. As soon as she saw them again, she screamed like a wild animal in pain. I pushed her head into the small of my back.
Without taking my eyes off the Warrior Spirits, I shouted, 'Archangel Michael, HELP US!'
Flickers of alarm showed on the faces of the Warrior Spirits and the red currents of energy stopped, but they kept moving toward us as Emily continued to scream in sheer terror.
Archangel Michael didn't appear. I couldn't remember the chant; my memory was blank.
10
From nowhere, Eddie appeared between us and them. 'STOP!' he cried out.
'Out of the way!' demanded one of the Warrior Spirits.
'No, enough!' shouted Eddie. 'You'll have to extinguish me first.'
Inside my head, I cried out with my whole heart, 'HELP US, Archangel Michael!'
In the same instant, the room filled with blue flashes. At first, I thought the Warrior Spirits must have made the flashes, but then I remembered. The Warrior Spirits, who were almost on top of Eddie, stopped. Before I even laid eyes on Archangel Michael, the six Warrior Spirits - one by one - disintegrated into puffs of black smoke.
I couldn't take my eyes off where they'd been. Then I noticed Archangel Michael ... so tall, holding a sword, angel wings behind him and golden light surrounding him. He was magnificent.
'Everything is going to be okay now,' I said to Emily, whose screams had reduced to sobs. The temperature in the house returned to normal within a flash and, miraculously, all the ice disappeared without a trace.
Then I noticed Archangel Michael focused on Eddie, whose energy was flowing out of his chest. Eddie was being extinguished. Now he'd collapsed and black spots marked his aura.
'No, no!' I cried out. 'I didn't want to extinguish him!'
Michael stopped and his soft voice replied, 'You summoned me to protect you from the spirits.'
I felt like a murderer. 'I only meant the Warrior Spirits. Eddie isn't really bad. In the end he tried to protect us.'
'Sorry, Adam,' said Michael. 'Emily has been traumatized. Her Guardian Angel will appear as soon as I leave and she will envelope Emily within a vibration of pure love and joy. When Emily wakes, she won't remember this incident.' He pointed to Eddie. 'I'll leave you to say goodbye.' Then he was gone.
Then a beautiful Angel appeared in the exact place where Michael had stood. Her hair was long and golden and her eyes were a piercing blue. Her wings were small compared with Michael's and she had a peaceful, soft aura that I'd never seen before. She smiled at me, then scooped Emily into her arms and took her into her room.
I knelt over Eddie's spirit as his energy shrank. Caesar appeared from nowhere and began to lick Eddie's face. I felt helpless; I wanted to save him. What could I do? He didn't deserve to be extinguished.
Then I noticed something strange. Eddie's being stopped disappearing and his aura gradually changed to blue. Was he coming back to life?
Eddie gradually woke. His face screwed up as he realized Caesar was licking him. He lifted his head off the ground. 'Revolting!' he exclaimed.
'You're alive.'
He turned to face me. 'Not quite alive, Adam. Loyal Caesar seems to have given me his energy. It's hard to believe he'd save me after all I've said about him.'
'You'll have to be nice to him now.'
He smiled. 'Yes, all of a sudden his smell doesn't seem so bad.'
'You tried to help us in the end,' I said.
'I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I called on the Warrior Spirits because I could. A shocking abuse of power on my part.'
I helped him up and sat him down in his favorite armchair. 'I need to see how Emily is doing.'
He held his forehead in his hand. 'Poor Emily. How could I be such a barbarian?'
In Emily's room, her Guardian Angel sat next to Emily, who was in her bed sound asleep. She said, 'Emily won't remember anything after the time she played fairies with her dolls. She'll need more sleep over the next few days, but that's all. My name is Ashling. Call my name if Emily needs me.'
Thank you,' was all I managed to say before she also disappeared. For a minute I watched Emily. She seemed to be having a good dream. The corners of her mouth were slightly curled, as though she was enjoying herself.
I took a quick tour of the house and somehow every single thing was in its place. I crashed on the sofa facing Eddie. 'How are you feeling?'
'I'll be fine. How's Emily?'
'She's sleeping peacefully. Her Guardian Angel says she won't remember a thing.'
'Thank goodness for that.' He fixed his gaze on me. 'Adam, what I did was unforgivable. I'll move out until you and your family no longer live here.'
I laughed. 'You should stay here. Isabel is right. We have to work things out. Really, it can't be that hard.'
'Are you sure? I do love Woodlands. So many memories. All the times with my own sister, Emily.'
I stood. 'Let's see how we go. Right now I'm too exhausted to think about it.'
Being an old-fashioned, polite ghost, he stood too. 'That's good of you, Adam. I don't deserve it.'
'Right now, I have to send a message to my grandfather, 'cause he'll be worried sick.' I groaned. 'And then I better do my homework ... or else.'
'The least I can do is help you with that story. Once I was good at writing stories.'
'Deal. You can write it if you want.' All I really wanted to do was sleep, but not doing my homework again wasn't an option.