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“This is bad,” Lucas said. “We needed Chloe to stabilize the spell. We don’t know how long we’ll be in here.”
“I—I have snacks,” Grant stammered, conjuring granola bars and a water bottle from his stash.
“Thanks, Grant,” Lucas said tensely. “But that’s unhelpful with the spell.”
“I just meant, if we’re stuck in here…” Grant’s features fell.
“We’ll figure something out,” I promised, though my tone gave away my panic. “My grandpa got in and out of this stairwell safely. The doorway could reappear at any moment.”
“If we’re lucky,” Grant emphasized. “People have died down here.”
“Lucas has portal powers,” Miles said frantically. “We can just portal out.”
Lucas frowned. “Not unless you plan on dying. I haven’t mastered my powers yet. People will get hurt.”
Talia stepped forward. “Everybody calm down. We’ll find a way out. There’s enough of us here, maybe we can still stabilize the spell.”
I shook my head. “Not without all five Casts. We need Chloe, or something powerful enough to replace her. Two Seers aren’t enough to replace a Mentalist in a group spell.”
Silence fell over the stairwell for a moment as the horror sunk in. Finally, Talia spoke. “What about… a hundred Seers or more? An Oaken Wand can produce that kind of magic.”
“Yes,” Lucas agreed, sounding relieved. My racing heart calmed. There was a chance of getting out of here.
“The Seer Wand should be powerful enough to perform the spell accurately,” I said. “At least enough to get us out.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Miles muttered. He was crouched on the ground, his back against the wall where the doorway should be.
Grant knelt beside him, trying to calm him down. “Talk to me, bro.”
Miles shook. “I’ve never seen a ghost like that before. He was… grotesque. His features were hollow, haunting. The sound of his voice was… horrifying. He wanted us to leave.”
“Do you think he’s protecting the Wand?” I wondered.
“Probably,” Lucas said. “He obviously wanted to scare us for a reason.”
“This was different,” Miles explained. “It was like I could feel his fear, like he transferred some of it to me.”
“Perhaps he was an Empath before he died,” Talia theorized.
“Maybe we can talk to him,” I suggested. “We can reassure him we’re here to use the Wand for good. Maybe he can help us.”
“Hey, ghost,” Talia said kindly. “Hi, um, we’re trying to protect the Wand, too. If you could not attack us, that’d be great.”
Miles curled his arms around his knees and shivered.
“Do you see him?” Grant asked.
Miles squeezed his eyes shut tightly. “He says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then why’d he try to scare us?” Lucas asked. “Miles, can you bring him out so we can talk?”
“I can try.” Miles lifted his head and stared at something I couldn’t see. “Will you talk with them?”
Miles appeared to be listening to the ghost’s response. After a few moments, he got to his feet. He reached his hand out, and a ghost materialized in front of us.
My blood ran cold at the sight of the man. He was young, around our age, but he didn’t quite look human. His eyes were sunken in, and his pale, sickly skin stretched tightly across his cheekbones. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. When Miles said he could feel the man’s fear, he wasn’t lying. Terror ignited in my chest just looking at him.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” the ghost growled, his voice echoing in an ethereal way that shook me to the core.
