Daydreams And Nightshade (DaN #1)

Chapter 29: More doors

Luna stared at the words Lucius had scribbled down in the notebook, trying to let it sink in while also considering other ways out of their situation.

So logically it seemed neither the ghost boy nor the ghost father could move on because they both depended on the other disappearing, but what if that wasn't even the case? Perhaps the boy could move on in some other way and so release the father from limbo as well.

Luna held her hands up and looked at her father with a 'what do we do then?' face. He scrunched up his nose and scribbled something more in the notebook.

We should try to get out of here, I suppose... We can't really do anything. Not now at least.

Luna and Alexei looked at each other, sighing in both disappointment and relief. There was still the matter of how Noah would react to it though, and Luna waved him closer. She showed the conversation to him and his face paled. He shook his head. They'd come that far, even Luna could admit it would've been nice to be able to help the ghost boy, but she wasn't interested in putting her –or anyone else in this room's- life on the line for something that might just be impossible. Not even she was that reckless.

Noah shot a pleading look towards Lucius, but the latter only shook his head back. Noah's gaze fell to the floor. He couldn't argue with them. They'd already gone along with his ideas so far, and this was as far as they were willing to go.

Lucius pointed down at the notebook so they'd all pay attention as he wrote.

I don't think we have very good options of escape, but if we use the drum and tread cautiously we can sneak past the ghost.

He gave Noah a hesitant look before continuing.

Noah, you're our best chance to know if he's close as we go. Do you think you could scout the area first? We'll be as close behind you as possible.

It was impossible to see in the gloomy room, but Luna was pretty sure Noah's face went from a paler than usual beige to just white once he read what it said. He looked as if he didn't quite know what to do with himself, but after some time he nodded. He wasn't the type of person who'd risk people's lives for these things either.

Luna replaced the candle for good measure and Alexei rattled the drum before exiting into the dark corridor. Despite his calm demeanor he, much like Noah, was as pale as Luna imagined the ghosts would be as well.

It seemed appropriate for the situation.

They'd almost reached the broken vase when Noah suddenly jumped and grabbed hold of Luna's arm. Luna hastily backed away two steps while Lucius and Alexei looked around, seemingly ready to fight whatever had caused Noah's reaction. In retrospect it would've been pointless to try and fight a ghost anyway, but their instincts must've thought differently.

Noah then surprisingly leaned forward, gesturing a small person to the rest of the group and they relaxed only slightly. So it was the boy's ghost.

Noah turned his head to the left and then over his shoulder, pointing at the door leading to the broom closet with a look that caused Luna to believe he wasn't entirely sure the boy knew what he was doing. Still, chances were the father's ghost was nearby as well and they needed to hide, so Luna walked along with him and opened the door. Alexei and Lucius cautiously followed them into the room as well, once again finding the group in an awfully cramped space.

Luna tried to hold the candle as far away from her hair as possible while also not burning anyone else. Long hair hadn't proven very optimal in a haunted house that night, and Luna weighed the option to cut her hair short once they were out of there. It seemed worth it to deny potential ghost assaults and fire hazardous situations, and if nothing else it could be nice to change hairstyles once in a while.