VANISHED (#1 in the VANISHED series) #NaNoWriMo2019 ✔

f o u r t e e n ✔

Despite the stares and mockeries from earlier, Stella became the chief attraction of the Old City Jail. The girl who heard spirits, they said. People jumped on her, asked questions about the prisoners, inquired if she saw anything. Some even begged her to read their palms, to predict their futures, to peer into their auras.

She pushed through the bulky crowd that had formed around her. "I'm not that kind of medium, folks!"

The tour guide eventually had to evacuate her and Arielle—and he wasn't pleasant about it, either. "This is not some spotlight you can steal, Miss," he said, snarling as he led them out a back door to escape the sudden onrush of visitors. "I appreciate how you... woke the spirits—though I told you not to—but I'd rather you not take over my visits and curse the halls of this place more than they already are. We'll reimburse your tickets."

Arielle snorted. "No need." She grabbed Stella's arm and tugged her from the grim structure. "We got everything we needed here. If not more. You can keep your money."

Scared as she'd been lately, worried about herself and her emotions and their worsening trip... this cheered Arielle up.

Stella, the medium—not a circus freak, but a full-blown, spirit-seeing, voice-hearing medium.

Driving towards the hotel, they laughed, released their tension, turned the music up and sang so loud their ears hurt. And they didn't care how bad they sounded—it felt good.

A few blocks from the inn, Stella took a sharp—and unexpected—left turn.

"Hey!" Arielle sat up straight in the passenger seat and pointed to the right. "The hotel was that way."

"Yes, I remember." Stella rolled her shoulders and slowed the car's pace as they cruised down a well-lit but deserted street. "I want to make a pit-stop."

"Where are we going?" Arielle peered left and right. "Do you know your way around Charleston, Stel?" If she'd been in the car with anyone else, Arielle would have freaked out; but Stella had hunches. Stella sensed things. Maybe she was steering them towards... activity.

A chill stirred Arielle's senses, causing her to grit her teeth.

Do we need more activity today?

"I don't, but I remember seeing this earlier, when we drove into town." She jutted her chin at a sign to her left, and Arielle squinted at it, too.

"A... middle school? Why?" Arielle crossed her arms. "Is it haunted? How are you aware of it? And are we authorized to be here?"

Stella turned into the parking lot. The building itself loomed a few yards away, surrounded by fences and bushes and a few dimmed street lights. "The school isn't what I'm interested in." She parked, shut off the car, and spun to Arielle. An eerie glow gathered in her eyes, but whether it came from the nearby lights or if they shined, Arielle couldn't tell. "It's this parking lot. I... read stuff about it. I read that... a murder took place here."

Arielle gasped. "Dude, what the hell?" She paused halfway into unbuckling her seat-belt. "No way. Why would you bring us here? Haven't we dealt with enough negative energies for the past few days?"

Peeking at the dashboard and emitting a deep sigh, Stella fiddled with her hands. She was nervous.

Why is she nervous? What's going on?

Stella wouldn't hurt her. They were friends. Best friends. And yes, there were secrets between them, differences in opinions, a few arguments about Jade—