The Ghost Files 2 (The Ghost Files - Book 2) by Apryl Baker Page A

tear it off when Eli puts his hand over my arm. “Don’t,” he says. “It works. I know it feels creepy, but you’ll get used to it.” He holds his own arm up and I see a gris-gris on his arm and Caleb sports one, too.
    “You don’t have to believe in them for them to work.” Eli smiles. “That’s the great thing about Voodoo, it works whether you want it to or not.”
    Good God, the boy has dimples! His aqua eyes aren’t staring at me with malice, but humor, and my insides clench and those odd feelings flood my stomach again. What is wrong with me?
    “Didn’t you kill it?” I ask, ignoring the slight hesitation in my voice. At least I didn’t stutter. How embarrassing would that be?
    Eli shakes his head. “No, we just chased it off. Is it the same one you saw before?”
    I nod. “Yeah, only this time it seemed faster.”
    “It would,” Mr. Malone says from the doorway. “It’s the house. Demons feed off the evil in the house and become stronger, faster.”
    “Dan?” The doc finally makes an appearance. About time. “I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”
    “You voodoo lady got these done early,” Dan explains. “You said it was vital she gets it ASAP so I drove straight here from Bourbon Street.” He looks down at me. “Why haven’t you answered any of my emails, texts, or voicemails? Do you have any idea how crazy I’ve been?”
    I frown. “What are you talking about?”
    “Mattie, I know you’re pissed six ways to Sunday with me, but you promised you’d never do that to me again. Not after what happened.”
    “Dan, I don’t have a phone, remember?”
    “Uh, no, Mattie, you do. I overnighted it to Doctor Olivet. He was supposed to give you the phone and your new laptop.”
    “You see, Dan, about that…” Doc looks anywhere but at Dan. “Mattie wasn’t in any condition to answer the phone.”
    It’s Dan’s turn to frown. “What happened?”
    “Mattie has been unconscious for the last three days,” he admits.
    “SHE WHAT?” Dan bellows, making me wince.
    “It was the ghosts,” Caleb tells him. “They were too many and it overwhelmed her. It caused her to pass out into a kind of coma.”
    “And you didn’t think to take her to the hospital?” Dan shouts.
    “Chill, man, we fixed her up,” Eli says. “Besides, she’s fine. Woke up swinging and everything.”
    Dan eyes the busted lip and bloody nose Eli is sporting and gives him the best cop look he has. That look has made me squirm on occasion, but it doesn’t faze Eli. He just stares back, a challenge in his eyes.
    “Before this comes to blows, let’s go inside,” Mr. Malone interrupts before either Dan or Eli can say anything else. “I’d like to ask a couple questions about that demon since it seems to be following you, Mattie. We need to figure out how you picked it up.”
    “What do you mean picked it up?” I ask, startled. Did it like latch onto me the same way ghosts do?
    “There are lots of ways people can find a demon that decides they are a good meal to snack on or even a host to hitch a ride with. We figure out how it found you, we might be able to get rid of it easier.”
    Eli groans. “Man, this was supposed to be a bag and tag, not a demon hunt.”
    “Bag and tag?” I ask.
    “Find the vengeance ghost, which means bag it and then kill it, or tag it,” Caleb explains while giving his brother the stink eye. Caleb was the older of the two, in his early to mid-twenties whereas Eli was about my age give or take a year or so.
    “Come on, Angel Boy,” I say to Officer Dan. “You might learn something.”
    Leaving the boys behind to glare at each other, I follow Mr. Malone inside, hoping that at least I might get some answers.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    We go back into the dining room and I flop down in the first chair I come to. Eli and Caleb flank me on either side before Dan even has a chance to slide in next to me. These boys are serious, I realize.