Ghost Town by Phoebe Rivers Page B

aroma surrounded me. My nerves tingled, suddenly alive. The air felt electric with promise. Anything seemed possible.
    I brushed my fingers over the clear, smooth crystal ball and peered inside. Nothing. I held a vial of blue liquid to my nose. It smelled faintly of maple.
    Then I spotted the gemstones.
    I edged closer. My eyes danced over the colors and shapes. Lady Azura’s husky laugh drifted in from outside.
    My hand reached like a magnet seeking metal for the pink tourmaline. The gemstone she said kept evil away. The opaque, rosy stone warmed my palm. I squeezed my fingers around it and closed my eyes. My heartbeat slowed. Muscles in my neck relaxed. A feeling of strength spread throughout my limbs.
    The mailman was saying good-bye. My eyes blinked open.
    In a flash, I darted back through the curtain andhurried up the stairs, the pink tourmaline still warm in my hand.
    I sat on my bed and looked at the oval stone for a long time. Protection from evil spirits. I had no right to take it. I knew I should return it. Yet, I couldn’t. Not now.
    This stone will help me, I decided.
    I traced a vein of gray snaking through the pink stone.
    The old man desperately needed help. My help.
    Maybe Lady Azura was right. Maybe it was time to dive in.

CHAPTER 12
    â€œAgain?” Lily wrinkled her nose. “Okay, spill it. Do you have a crush on David?”
    I stopped mid-slurp, nearly choking on my frozen lemonade. “What?” I screeched. “No way!”
    â€œLook, I’m just saying, this is the third day in a row that you’ve made us hang out by the haunted house.” Lily’s bangle bracelets clanged as she waved her hand. “I mean, don’t take this wrong, it’s kind of boring watching people trot in and out. And I know you’re scared of going inside it. So, logic tells me we’re there because of David.” She gave a self-congratulatory grin, as if she’d discovered the answers to the test before the teacher handed it out.
    â€œI’m so not crushing on David,” I insisted as we headed once again down the pier toward Midnight Manor.
    â€œUh-huh, like I’m believing that.” She raised her sunglasses and narrowed her eyes at me.
    â€œI’m not into him. Just friends. Really.” I knew Lily didn’t believe me. But what could I say? Hey, Lily, we’ve been staking out this haunted house waiting for some unknown person, who could be dead or alive, to make some disaster happen so I can try to save people I don’t know. She’d think I was loony.
    An hour later, I was starting to wonder if maybe I was.
    We sat on the bench outside Midnight Manor. Lily flipped through a teen magazine, deciding which Academy Awards dresses would look good on her. I watched the people by the entrance. Two little boys with squirt guns. A tired mom wiping cotton candy from a wriggling toddler’s chubby cheeks. A boy on a skateboard nearly running down a dad holding the hands of sand-crusted twins. The eerie melody boomed, and kids tumbled out the exit door high-fiving and laughing.
    No one the least bit threatening.
    Last night, Dad even came with me. We went through the house together. He was impressed that I got through without screaming. He didn’t know that I’d been through the house many times now. I knew when every ghoulwould jump and every chandelier would fall. But I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.
    I stood and walked over to David. About twenty people waited at the ticket stand. “Hey, how’s it going?”
    â€œThe same as it was going a half hour ago when you last asked.” He ripped a ticket then gave me a wary look. “What’s up with you?”
    â€œNothing.” I tried to look casual. “So . . . see anyone suspicious coming through?”
    â€œSuspicious how?”
    â€œI don’t know. Mean-looking. Like someone plotting something.” I surveyed the line. Normal folks toting beach