Free Ghost Camera by Darcy Coates Page B

into a cacophony of noise.
    “She will never be alone again.”
    “She is ours.”
    “Give her to us.”
    “We want her.”
    “Cool her flesh. Break her bones.”
    “Give her to us!”
    Richard pressed his finger to his lips, urging Jenine to stay silent. Bree hooked one trembling arm around Jenine’s shoulders and pulled her closer. The lights around them flickered and the bulb directly above the machine burst in a shower of hissing sparks. Jenine shrieked, and as if she’d flicked a switch, the machine was silent again.
    They froze, barely breathing, as they waited to see if the machine was still working.
    “Give her to me,” the woman hissed, and Jenine jumped. The voice was no longer anxious, but hungry. “Give her to me, and I will take such good care of her. Such good care. Like one of my own babies. See how much I loved them? My neighbours didn’t understand my love. They didn’t understand at all. But you will, darling, and I will free you, too.”
    Richard was trembling, but he kept his voice composed. “She isn’t yours to take. She belongs here, among the living.”
    The ghost’s shriek ripped out of the machine, swallowing the room in the wailing noise. Jenine clamped her hands over her ears and squinted as two more lights blew out in a burst of sparks.
    In the flickering, struggling light cast by the remaining bulbs, she saw a tall, gaunt woman standing behind Richard. Her hair framed a wild halo about her head. Outstretched arms ended in long, cruel nails, and she had blood smeared up to her elbows.
    Her eyes locked onto Jenine and she crowed in a voice that became deeper and fiercer, “Come, my darling. I will take such good care of you. They didn’t understand, but you will, my darling. I will make you understand.”
    Jenine shrieked and kicked away from the table. She landed on her back and scrambled away from the nails of the wild-eyed woman. Her back hit something and she looked up to see the statue of the woman with the snake biting her neck. The snake was alive, twitching and pulsing as it tightened its grip and dug its fangs deeper. Blood, bright and hot, dribbled out of the wound and dripped onto Jenine’s shoulder. She shied away and covered her head, frightened to look, afraid to close her eyes, feeling as if her heart might give out at any second.
    “Jen!” Bree shook her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
    Jenine opened her eyes. She could still hear the ghosts, but the woman was gone. She looked into Bree’s eyes and saw the confusion and fear swimming there. Bree hadn’t seen the ghost. Bree hadn’t seen the statue move. Is it all in my head?
    “Up,” Richard said briskly, looking pale as he gripped Jenine’s arm and pulled her to her feet.
    Bree wrapped her arms around Jenine’s shoulders. “What’s happening to her?”
    “She can see them,” Richard said, his mouth a thin line, his eyes huge with fear. “I hadn’t expected her to be this far along, or I would never have agreed to—”
    The voices became louder in Jenine’s head, drowning out Richard and Bree and making her ears buzz.
    “Find her. Find her.”
    “Strip her flesh. Shut out her light.”
    The bulbs fizzled again, and in the flickering shadows, the ghosts became visible. Six nondescript shapes appeared near the far wall, then two vanished, only to be replaced by another dozen on the next light flicker. The woman was no longer looking at Jenine, but was turning about the room, staring blindly, searching for her.
    Richard turned to face the room while Bree huddled against Jenine. He raised his voice above the roar of the rain and the screaming voices. “Leave her be!” he yelled, arms outstretched. “She is not yours. She does not belong with you! You can take the camera, but you cannot have her!”
    The clearest ghost, the woman, turned in response to Richard’s voice and opened her mouth to hiss at him. The lower jaw distended far past where it should have, and blood pooled over her tongue and