The Sixth Ghost: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 6)

  Copyright © 2020 Tamara Geraeds

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

  Editing by Ambition Editing LLC

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

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  PREVIOUSLY, IN CARDS OF DEATH

  Another soul saved, but the fight isn’t over yet. A couple of days have passed, but it feels more like weeks. Here’s a quick recap of the latest events.

  Me and my friends have been doing everything we can to prevent the Devil from escaping from Hell to rule over Earth, using the Cards of Death and our powers to save souls. We’ve only lost one soul so far. I’m grateful for the help we got, not only from Quinn, one of my friends who turned out to be an angel, but also from Mom’s best friend and fairy godmother Mona and from Mrs. Delaney, the old lady everyone in Blackford knows because of her daily trips to the baker’s and her kindness to others. She has the power to separate molecules, which can be very helpful sometimes.

  Still, bad luck has followed us around. We had to kill our “friends” Simon and Paul, who were working for Lucifer.

  On our way to Purgatory recently, Vicky and I got into trouble. Some ancient white ents saved us, and their leader gave Vicky a bottle with some sort of liquid. He tried to tell us what it was for, but he died before he could.

  The Beach of Mu led us to Purgatory, where we found the wolf demons that disappeared because of my spell. They ended up in the wrong place, which disturbed the balance of the universe. Trevor, their leader, was also there. He kidnapped my mom and gave her a love potion. I made that potion, which makes it extra strong.

  When Trevor showed up with my mother in Purgatory, we tried to free her from him. But everything went sideways, and she fell into the pit to Hell. The Beach of Mu dove after her and so did Trevor. He must really love her.

  With pain in my heart, I had to leave Mom in Trevor’s care. And then things got worse. We lost Jeep on our way back home. The portal out of Purgatory led us to the silver mine in Blackford. Jeep got stuck in the portal and was taken to an unknown world.

  Later, we got a visit from one of Satan’s messengers. He told us he’s got Mom and Jeep, but we don’t believe him. Or we don’t want to. I’m not sure which it is yet.

  In our search for the fifth soul, a fairy, we also lost D’Maeo. I was convinced that he was doing much better since he got the parts of his soul back that were stolen by the black void that killed him. But it turned out part of the dark creature had clung to him. It took him over and blocked our way out of Heaven, where we delivered the fairy. Now, I can only hope we will be able to reach home safely, and without hurting D’Maeo.

  Vicky still has two curses to deal with, and we found out one of them was put on her by Gisella’s aunt, Kasinda. Or rather, it was put on my father. It affected the one he loved, my mother, and jumped over to me when Dad died, which means Vicky now suffers from it. Kasinda wants the Book of a Thousand Deaths to bring her daughter back from the dead. Of course, we would never give it to her, even if we knew where it was, but at least now we have a chance to lift one curse soon. The second curse on Vicky has something to do with someone touching her grave. Every time that happens, she is pulled into a memory but also closer to the Shadow World. I’m afraid I’ll lose her if she gets pulled much further.

  Taylar has been weakening because of his unfinished business, so we needed to take action. We stored the memory of his brother’s death in a magical watch to take it to the police as proof. We’re planning on visiting Shelton Banks’ house in hopes of finding more evidence that he sent the pixie that killed Taylar’s brother.

  CHAPTER 1

  Is this bravery? I ask myself, staring at the black smoke that has half morphed into D’Maeo. Or is it just common sense that all I can think of is ‘I can’t let this thing get into Heaven’?

  “What do we do?” Vicky whispers. “We can’t attack D’Maeo.”

  Of course we can, but I don’t want to.

  I remember the words of the ferryman of the Underworld, Charon. He said all my friends are a part of my battle against the Devil. We can’t afford to lose anyone. But we fought this black void before, and it almost beat us. That was still with the help of D’Maeo and Jeep. If running away from it was our best option then, where does that leave us now?

  “Dante?” Vicky sounds a bit desperate as she pulls at my shirt.

  When I blink to clear my head and my view, I see the smoke growing rapidly. D’Maeo’s face is contorted as it stretches higher and higher. The smoke gets thicker and looms over us.

  “Our best option is to capture it,” I say. “Lock it somewhere until we figure out how to separate it from D’Maeo and kill it.”

  “With a spell?” Charlie asks, without looking up from the gel wall he’s building.

  I conjure a ball of lightning in each hand when the smoke hisses. “Yes, but not just any spell. We need to enhance it.” I glance sideways at Gisella. “With dark magic.”

  “What?” She ducks as the void swoops down, the mouth of the monstrous face opening wide.

  The rest of us dive sideways. Balls of grease and lightning hit the dark form, but all the smoke does is part.

  “I’m sorry,” I tell Gisella, “but I can’t think of another way to beat this thing. We tried it before, remember? We barely escaped. It’s too powerful.”

  “What do you think it wants?” Vicky asks as the mist spirals up, forming something that resembles a tornado.

  I aim some more lightning at it but get no more than a slight shiver as a response. “I’m not sure. We’d have to find out what it is first.”

  Taylar points at my waist. “Maybe John’s notebook can give us some answers.”

  With a loud hiss, the smoke dives down again, half of D’Maeo’
s nose and mouth still visible but in the wrong places. It hits my shoulder, and I grab at it as heat stings my skin. It leaves a hole in my shirt.

  Vicky shoots me a concerned look, which I dismiss with a wave of my hand. “I’ll be okay.” I tilt my head to observe the shape in the sky above us. “It’s as if the black void is holding back. It was a lot stronger before, wasn’t it?”

  Maël pauses her time bending mumbling. “That could be D’Maeo’s doing. He is fighting it from the inside.”

  “Can you freeze it?” I ask her.

  Her hand wraps tighter around her staff. “No, I can only slow it down. It is still too strong.”

  “Okay, slow it down as much as you can.” I whip out Dad’s notebook and open it to a random page.

  Show me how to trap this entity, I think as hard as I can. To my relief, the pages start flipping instantly. Three-quarters of the book have already filled up. I can’t wait to find out what will appear on the remaining blank pages. Secretly, I’m hoping for a spell to lock the Devil in Hell, but I don’t think we’ll get that lucky.

  The pages come to a rest. Before reading the text on the page, I look up to make sure the smoke isn’t about to attack again. It’s moving left and right, as if it’s waiting for something. No wait, it’s something else. It’s struggling. Maël is right, it’s fighting to stay in control. While it wriggles and stretches, more of the mouth becomes visible. It opens wide and lets out a scream.

  I ball my fists. “That was him. D’Maeo.”

  I bend over the notebook, gritting my teeth. Come on, give me something useful.

  My eyes scan the lines, then the letters one by one. I blink. “I know what it is.”

  Taylar moves a bit closer. “What what is?”

  “That black void.” I look up at it and then back at the notebook.

  Taylar nudges me. “Well, what is it?”

  “It’s a chaos residue. Listen to this: A chaos residue comes to life in a place of complete disorder, pain and confusion. Once it escapes its place of origin, it goes in search of locations where it can wreak havoc. Whenever it succeeds, it grows in size and strength. After its hundredth kill, it will change into a chaos demon, which means it can take on solid shape. Once it does, it will be twice as hard to kill.”

  “Oh great,” Charlie sighs. “So, if we don’t kill it now, we never will?”

  Vicky frowns. “I don’t get it. If this thing is out to create chaos, why did it go after D’Maeo? I mean, it killed him, but obviously that wasn’t enough.”

  I feel my own eyebrows moving up too. “Maybe D’Maeo is the only one who can beat it?”

  Vicky shakes her head. “No, that doesn’t make sense. If he was, how come the dark void took over? It shouldn’t have been able to do that then, should it?”

  Maël stops her mumbling again for a second. “Remember what I told you about molecules and balance, Dante?”

  I tilt my head. “Eh… sure.” Molecules and balance? It hits me. “Of course! When we disturbed the balance of the universe, the molecules inside each one of us could be pulled in any direction.” My shoulders sag. “D’Maeo was already struggling with this thing. The imbalance inside him must have given it the opportunity to take over.”

  A smile creeps upon my lips. “So what we need… is someone who can pull the molecules back to where they belong.”

  Vicky’s face lights up. “Mrs. Delaney!”

  “Exactly.”

  “But how will we get the void to her?”

  “And without endangering her life in the process, you know,” Charlie adds.

  “Give me a sec.” I bend over the notebook again. My eyes fly over the rest of the page. “Okay, here’s what I think. D’Maeo was the one who brought this thing here to us. If we return to Darkwood Manor now, while they’re busy fighting each other, the black void, a.k.a. chaos residue, shouldn’t be too hard to lure. All we have to do is create the perfect circumstances for chaos once we get there. D’Maeo will give it the last push in the right direction.”

  “And then what?” Gisella asks skeptically. “Why would we be able to defeat it then?”

  “Because one of us is fighting it from the inside. Once we’re back on Earth, Mona can get Mrs. Delaney, who will try to separate D’Maeo’s molecules from the chaos residue’s. Meanwhile, I’ll cast a spell to trap it, in case we can’t kill it.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” Taylar raises his arm as the dark smoke attacks again. It slams down hard on his shield, forcing him onto his knees. I follow it with my eyes as it moves up and prepares to charge again. I picture it freezing over and getting stuck halfway down, completely surrounded by ice.

  “Nice job!” Vicky calls out when the images in my head become reality.

  “Thanks.” I smile, but I’m not completely reassured. “D’Maeo!” I call out. “I hope you can hear me. We’ve got a plan. Keep the black void busy while we return to Darkwood Manor. Then follow us.”

  I’m hoping for another scream in reply, but the smoke is still frozen, unable to move.

  Before I beckon the others, I shout out one more message. “We’ll get you back, I promise.”

  Then I take Vicky’s hand and start running down the path that leads out of Heaven and back to Earth.

  CHAPTER 2

  We’ve been running for less than a minute when Charlie hollers, “Wait!”

  The others bump into me when I come to a sudden halt. Preparing to freeze the chaos residue again, I turn. But what I see is not what I was expecting.

  I lower my arms. The clouds are gone. Instead, I’m looking at dozens of pine trees.

  There’s movement on my right. It’s Charlie, back in his disguise of an Asian man. He wipes a dark lock from his face as the wind catches it.

  “We can stop running,” he says with a wide grin. “We’re back home, you know.”

  He points at something to my left. When I whirl around, my heart leaps. Seeing Darkwood Manor again hits me harder than I would’ve thought possible. We’re back. We’re finally back. I close my eyes and inhale deeply. I never appreciated the smells of Earth this much before. I never realized it’s not just what we see and hear that makes this home. It’s every little thing. The smell of the trees and the air, the feeling of the sun on your face. It’s all different here, familiar. Or at least, most of it. I’m sure there’s lots of magical stuff here on Earth I’ve never encountered. But still, this is where I belong, this is home, and it feels great to be back.

  I turn to grab Vicky’s hand and see that everyone is back in disguise again. We make our way to the back of the mansion. At the backdoor, I hesitate. The feeling of elation crumbles when I remember we’re three people short. Mom won’t greet me with a hug and a concerned look, Mona won’t be able to hug and kiss D’Maeo and there’s no Jeep to make sarcastic comments about it.

  Valery/Vicky takes the lead and pulls me along. “Come on, babe. We’ll have D’Maeo back soon, and after that, we’re getting the others back too.” Her blonde curls bob up and down with every step she takes. I sort of like it, but I still prefer her own straight black hair with the blonde tips.

  As soon as we enter the kitchen, sparks appear near the stove.

  “You’re back!” Mona shrieks, even before she’s fully visible. She pulls me and Valery into a big hug but let’s go just as suddenly. “Your disguises are wearing off! That’s faster than I thought. What happened?”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, looking around. “We still look like Valery, Ted, Chung, Grace, Mabel and Dean.” I point at everyone as I mention their names. Then my gaze falls upon my feet, and I see what she means. “Ah… My shoes are changing back. Soon the rest will follow, right?”

  “We took the fairy to Heaven,” Valery explains. “I think that broke the spell temporarily.”

  Mona nods. “Yes, when you arrive in Heaven, your true form shows.”

  Valery takes the Cards of Death from her endless pocket, and when she
holds them up, they crumble to dust.

  Mona’s smile lights up the kitchen. “You succeeded! I knew you would!”

  I clear my throat and shuffle my feet. “Thanks, Mona.”

  Finally, she looks up. Her gaze locks onto every face, and slowly her smile falters. “Wait… where’s D’Maeo?”

  I put my arm around her shoulders and lead her to her chair. “Sit down for a sec.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “There’s not much time, so I’ll give you the short version.” I take a deep breath and look her in the eyes. “D’Maeo has been taken over by the dark void.” I grab her hand when it flies to her mouth in horror. “But he’s fighting it, Mona, and we’ve got a plan. A plan for which we need Mrs. Delaney.”

  She blinks away a tear. “To separate him from the darkness?”

  “Exactly. Can you go get her for us?”

  She gives me a confused look. “Now?”

  “Yes, we’re not sure, but the black void─”

  “Which is actually a chaos residue,” Valery interrupts, half her face now back to normal, which looks creepy.

  I avert my gaze. “Right. It might come to us even if we don’t lure it. It blocked our way out of Heaven. D’Maeo kept it busy so we could escape. Now it’s time we return the favor.”

  Mona stands up and wipes the tears from her cheeks with one swift, determined move. “I’m ready. Tell me what to do.”

  Suddenly, all of the fear, sorrow and despair I’ve been bottling up inside shoot up to my throat. The words I want to say get stuck before they reach my lips. I look at her, amazed at her strength and resilience. Her best friend fell into Hell and now the love of her life has been taken over by something evil. All she does is shed one tear before turning straight back into battle mode.

  Without thinking, I throw my arms around her and pull her close. There are no sparks this time, which probably means she’s more concerned than she’s leading on.