Legend of Witchtrot Road Read online

  “Yes,” Cal and I said in unison.

  Simon let out a long sigh and rubbed his hands over his face, fingers lingering over his scar.

  “It was a meth lab,” Simon said. “I thought I recognized the scent. That’s why I ran ahead…to be sure.” Simon knew what a meth lab smel ed like? No real surprise there. He ran with some shady characters after Meredith died and seemed to keep in touch with many of them.

  “Meth?” I asked. “Doesn’t that stuff make you, like, a zombie or something?”

  I

  remember

  watching

  a

  documentary

  about

  methamphetamine abuse. It was scarier than any late night horror movie. Users ended up with permanent schizophrenia and Parkinson’s symptoms. They also lost al their teeth. Ewww.

  “Yes,” Simon said. “It can make you like a zombie…or worse, usual y the latter.”

  Simon looked worried and haunted. His hands were twitching whenever he let go of the steering wheel. He would look down and see them shaking, then reach back up to slide his hands over the leather covering.

  “I can’t believe there’s a meth lab here in Maine,” Cal said.

  Simon may have looked haunted, but Cal looked defeated. Cal’s shoulders slumped forward as he shook his head. We were a great team against wayward werewolves and lost spirits, but what could we do against evil drug dealers?

  There was no mistake that these people were evil.

  They were bringing drugs into our town, probably into our school, and hurting anyone who came too close to their operation. These people had used the legend of Witchtrot Road to scare away passersby, but they had gone too far.

  Way too far.

  “They threw the toads at Dylan’s motorcycle and Emma’s car, didn’t they?” I asked.

  “Were there toads at the scene of Dylan’s accident?” Cal asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “The kids at school thought it was more evidence of the legendary curse.”

  “These people need to be stopped,” Simon growled.

  “I can’t believe anyone would go so far to protect their secret,” Cal said. “They kil ed Dylan, and almost kil ed Emma and Yuki, to keep people away from their drug lab.”

  “That lab is worth a lot of money and these people are ruthless,” Simon said. “They’l go to any lengths to continue producing drugs. That’s why knowing their secret is so dangerous.”

  “Did you real y mean what you said about trying to avoid being shot and blown up?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Simon said. “It wouldn’t be unusual for these people to be armed and meth labs have been known to blow up. The people who run the labs are not always the most intel igent.”

  Great, idiots with guns.

  Cal squeezed my hand and I knew he was worried.

  We had just been running around in a forest that hid armed drug dealers and a potential y combustible, possibly explosive drug lab. We were lucky to be alive.

  “We need a plan,” Cal said, sitting up straight.

  “Someone needs to stop these people.”

  My skin crawled like spiders were dancing beneath the surface and the truck fil ed with the smel of lamp oil, charcoal, and burning leaves. Son of a dung beetle. There were five or six shadowy, gray shapes moving steadily toward us.

  I real y needed to get working on that Wakefield area ghost map. This smal churchyard burial ground must be fil ed with angry spirits. Something I would have known if I had a map to navigate away from tragic hot spots and the graves of those who had died a violent death.

  “Um, guys, I’m al for the plan idea, but can we get out of here?” I said, lips trembling. “We have company, ghostly company, and they don’t look like the warm and fuzzy type.” The Grays freaked me out. Seeing them gather in numbers, when it wasn’t even Samhain, was not a good sign.

  “Hold on,” Simon said.

  Cal held my hand as Simon hit the gas. Gravel rained behind us as we hit the pavement and sped away from the church and its creepy residents.

  “Thanks,” I said, swal owing air.

  “I’m worried,” Cal said, brow furrowing. “Hasn’t there been a lot of spectral activity since your accident?”

  “You mean, since my powers expanded or whatever?” I asked, shrugging. “Yeah, I guess so, but I’ve also been hanging out in areas where there are typical y more ghosts.

  I usual y avoid hospitals and church graveyards because of al the spirits there. It might just be a coincidence.”

  “Or your new, stronger powers may be drawing them to you,” Cal said. “I know you want to give Nera’s amulet back to the Salem witches, but maybe we should wait and see.”

  “I guess it’s just one more reason to help as many good spirits as possible,” I said.

  I stil wanted to return the amulet to its rightful owners.

  The faster I could do that, the better. My recent nightmare about the witches coming to kil al of my friends was an added motivator. I could stil feel their warm blood on my hands. The message of the dream was clear. If I didn’t return the amulet to the Salem witches, there would be repercussions and it would be my fault.

  “Cal mentioned your plan to build an army of friendly spirits,” Simon said. “I approve.”

  Wow, Simon agreed with me twice in one day. The apocalypse truly was coming.

  “So what are we waiting for?” I asked. “Let’s go find a way to help Dylan’s ghost.”

  “Where to?” Simon asked.

  My phone beeped with an incoming text message from Emma. She was awake and, according to her text, bored out of her mind.

  “To Emma’s house,” I said, grinning.

  Simon sighed, but a little smile touched his lips.

  “You do realize she’s going to bring charges of animal cruelty against that lot for tossing toads at moving vehicles,” Simon said, shaking his head.

  “You know her wel ,” I said.

  The smel of lavender and honey fil ed the air and wrapped around me like a sweetly scented blanket.

  “Yes, I guess I do,” Simon said.

  Chapter 15

  With Simon at the wheel of Cal’s truck, we made it to Emma’s house in less than ten minutes. Her mom’s van and dad’s car were gone, so it was probably safe to assume that Emma was home alone. No wonder she was so bored.

  I knocked and walked in, leaving the door open behind me. Simon hesitated, but Cal had been here a mil ion times before and fol owed me inside.

  “Emma?” I cal ed out.

  “In here!” Emma yel ed from her bedroom.

  “I have Simon and Cal with me,” I said. “Is it okay to come in?”

  “Okay,” Emma said. “Can you bring a pitcher of water with you? There’s also iced green tea in the fridge if anyone wants something to drink.”

  “Cool, thanks,” I said. “Be right there.”

  “Wow,” Simon said, looking at the menagerie of animals as we passed through the living room into the kitchen. “I knew she rescued animals, but that is an impressive amount of pets.”

  I guess one thing Simon wasn’t likely to make fun of was Emma’s pets. He was part wolf after al . In fact, now that I was looking, it was obvious that the cats in the room could sense Cal and Simon’s wolf spirits. They were al giving the guys a wide berth. Wel , al except for Chairman Meow who was staring down Simon and blocking his way into the kitchen. Chairman Meow was a huge Maine Coon cat easily weighing twenty pounds.

  Curious, I watched to see what Simon would do.

  Simon glared at Chairman Meow, flashing a bit of his wolf spirit, but Meow didn’t budge. He was blocking the entrance to the kitchen and I wasn’t sure if Chairman Meow was protecting Emma or his food supply. Judging by his size, he was probably protecting the kitchen fil ed with food.

  “Cool cat,” Simon said, relaxing. He let his wolf spirit slide away and smiled.

  “It’s okay, Meow,” I said, walking into the kitchen. I gave Simon a pointed look
over my shoulder. “We’re not here to eat your food.”

  “I don’t eat kitty kibble,” Simon muttered. “Especial y not the vegan kibble they probably serve up in this place.” Simon shuddered dramatical y and gave Chairman Meow a sympathetic look. “Poor cat.”

  “I heard that,” Emma said from her room.

  I snickered and went to help Cal. Cal fil ed a pitcher with water and I grabbed four glasses from the cupboard.

  No tree-kil ing paper cups in this house.

  We carried everything into Emma’s bedroom where she sat propped amidst a sea of pil ows. Emma’s long, blond hair spread out across the pil ows and blankets, adding to the il usion that she was floating on water. Eyes closed, she looked like a beautiful, pale mermaid resting on the sea.

  “If you’re too tired, we can come back later,” I said quietly. She hadn’t fallen asleep, had she?

  “It’s just the dizziness,” Emma said, holding herself very stil . “It wil pass in a moment. Did you bring water?”

  “Do you have pil s you need to take?” Simon asked.

  He retrieved the pitcher, from where we’d left it on Emma’s desk, and fil ed a glass.

  “No,” Emma said. “I’m not taking their toxic pain medicines. I’l be fine with my herbal remedies.” Simon sat on the edge of the bed and Emma opened her eyes.

  “Ready?” Simon asked.

  Emma nodded and Simon careful y placed the glass of water in her hands. The moment seemed personal, and intimate, and I suddenly felt like an intruder. I picked at my nail polish and tried to think of something to say.

  “Shouldn’t you be resting?” Cal asked. I wondered if he felt as awkward as I did.

  “My parents told me I had to stay in bed, on doctor’s orders,” Emma said, eyes sparkling. “They didn’t say anything about having to sleep.”

  “Are you up for some excitement?” I asked.

  “What kind of excitement?” Emma asked, grinning.

  “We went back to Witchtrot Road,” I said. Emma blanched, but nodded for me to continue. “It wasn’t the ghost of Reverend Burroughs that caused our accident, or Dylan’s death. People were trying to scare us away from something they were hiding in the forest.” Simon was growling low in his throat.

  “Someone threw those toads at your car,” Cal said. “It wasn’t an accident.”

  “Why?” Emma asked, frowning. “What could be so important to keep secret?”

  “A bloody meth lab,” Simon said, fists tightening around a piece of fluffy blanket.

  “A meth lab in Wakefield?” Emma asked. “Do you know how dangerous that stuff is? You didn’t breathe any of the air in the lab, did you?”

  “No,” Cal said. “Simon realized the danger and got us out of there.”

  “Thank you,” Emma said, looking Simon in the eye.

  Simon nodded and reached up to touch his scar.

  “It’s my job to protect my alpha,” Simon said.

  “Wel , you also protected Yuki from danger and she’s not the fastest runner in those clunky boots,” Emma said.

  “Hey!” I said. “They’re not clunky.”

  “She is slow, even for a human,” Simon said, grinning.

  “The point is, you are not sworn to protect her, but did so anyway,” Cal said. He reached out and put a hand on Simon’s shoulder. “Thank you, man. I won’t forget it.”

  “Oh great,” I said, rol ing my eyes. “If I thank the old man now, his head wil be too big to fit through the door.”

  “Looks like you owe me, love,” Simon said, grinning.

  “Ugh,” I said, groaning. “Can’t I just get pledged into the pack or something as an honorary member? Then he’d be sworn to protect me too.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Cal said.

  “Do I ever have bad ones?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Cal said.

  “Sometimes,” Emma said.

  “On occasion,” Simon said.

  “Traitors,” I said, grinning. “So what are we going to do about the meth lab? Should we cal the police?”

  “I was hoping to avoid drawing attention, but that may be our best option,” Cal said.

  “This is one of those occasions where I have to disagree,” Simon said. “We could face retaliation. I think we should make an anonymous tip to the authorities.”

  “Wel , I’m contacting the authorities about animal cruelty charges as soon as my head stops hurting,” Emma said. Her eyes were closed again and she was massaging her temple.

  Emma’s headache reminded me of something.

  Something important.

  “Meth labs use cold medicine when they make the drug, right?” I asked.

  “Yes, but most over-the-counter cold medicines containing the necessary chemicals are heavily regulated,” Simon said. “The average person can only buy a few packages at a time. Not nearly enough to supply a meth lab.”

  “But a doctor or nurse could purchase it in bulk,” I said.

  “It’s possible,” Simon said. “Why?”

  “I think I know who one of the drug dealers is,” I said.

  “And she works in our school.”

  *****

  I had been wondering for awhile why the ghost of Dylan Jacobs was haunting the hal s of Wakefield High. Now I knew. Our school nurse betrayed the Hippocratic Oath of

  “do no harm” and had kil ed Dylan by throwing toads at his motorcycle while he drove down Witchtrot Road. If it had been me, I would have haunted the woman too.

  “The nurse had a cloak hanging in her office like the one I saw someone wearing that night,” I said. I had seen a cloaked figure behind the trees the night of our accident.

  “She also said that she didn’t have any cold medicine for students because a shipment of it had been lost or misplaced, but there were crates of the stuff in the storage room where I was held by the J-team.”

  It was Cal’s turn to growl. He was stil understandably upset about my kidnapping.

  “That woman must be stopped,” Cal said. “As the school nurse she’s responsible for student health and safety and yet she steals medicine to turn it into a street drug.”

  “And she is a cold-blooded toad murderer,” Emma said.

  “Whether she intended his death, or just to scare him away, she also murdered Dylan Jacobs,” Simon said. “She nearly kil ed you both as wel .”

  “Then it’s settled,” I said. “We’re going to the police.

  These people need to be stopped.”

  “Aren’t you worried about retaliation?” Simon asked. “Or of drawing attention to our own secrets?”

  “I refuse to be ruled by fear,” I said. “If I let bul ies scare me into silence, then they win. I’m sick of bul ying and I’m not going to stand by and watch people continue to get hurt. Are you with me?”

  “Heck yes,” Emma said, lifting her hand to bump knuckles.

  “Yes,” Cal said. “Some risks are worth taking.”

  “Yes,” Simon said, sighing. “Someone needs to make sure you al stay out of trouble.”

  I could feel myself grinning from ear to ear. My stomach was fil ed with vampire bats, sure, but for the first time in days I felt like I was doing the right thing. We would tel the police about the meth lab near Witchtrot Road, and our suspicion that the school nurse was involved, and let the authorities take care of the drug dealers. One group of bad guys down, one more to go.

  Chapter 16

  Our parents were slow to understand our determination to go the police, but they final y relented. We cal ed them as soon as we made our decision to speak out, and to say they were a little freaked out would be a major understatement. Emma’s parents are the quiet type, don’t ask me where she gets her outspoken personality from, and my mom and dad already have the freak daughter who no one understands. When we proposed going, as a group, to the local police, I swear they had a col ective heart attack.

  I think it was Simon’s insistence that these people were responsible for our accident, and Em
ma’s head injury, that final y convinced them that we needed to go to the police.

  Simon had used his connections to get Emma’s car repaired, which had put him in her parents’ good graces.

  Cal backing up our claims had also helped to convince my parents, especial y my mom.

  We met our parents in the police station parking lot and, after a few uncomfortable moments, al went inside to report what we knew about the drug lab and accidents on Witchtrot Road.

  The authorities reacted with surprising speed. The school nurse had used a false identity that didn’t match the fingerprints she’d given at the beginning of the semester.

  When police looked through her office, which was on school property, they found the cloak we’d mentioned and receipts for the purchase of toads from a Portland pet store. That was al they needed to obtain a warrant for her apartment and an abandoned shack on Witchtrot Road.

  The shack, not so abandoned after al , contained the meth lab and was littered with cold medicine packaging that matched the missing school supplies. The lab was shut down and the bad guys were arrested. Easy Peasy.

  I was so glad that we had gone to the cops and told the truth. You know that saying, “the truth wil set you free?” Wel , it’s total y true. I felt like the weight of al the secrets about Witchtrot Road had sprouted wings and flown away.

  It was bad enough being weighed down with the everyday secrets of my smel -o-riffic psychic talents and, oh yeah, the fact that I’m dating a werewolf. A girl can only be burdened with so many secrets before she runs screaming to the loony bin. Seriously, it’s a scientific fact.

  The police were also looking into the circumstances of Dylan Jacob’s death. We told the authorities that our own accident had been the result of toads hitting our car with force. If flying toads could cause a car to go off the road, then they definitely could have caused Dylan’s motorcycle accident. With the toad evidence linking our former school nurse to both accidents, it was possible that she would be brought up on additional charges for Dylan’s death. She was going to prison for a very long time. Dylan would receive closure and I would be cleared of casting any black magic curses.

  Hopeful y proof of my innocence would convince the footbal team that I wasn’t a witch—and didn’t need to be forced into raising the dead. I’d like to make it through graduation without being kidnapped and tossed into a supply closet, again. Was that too much to ask?