Mr. Conjure, page 8
She looked at the rows of bowling balls around the place. “Which ones are eleven pounds?”
Kyle finally cracked a smile. “The pink ones.”
“No, really, which ones?”
“You can look. It says on the ball, but I think all the eleven pound ones are pink.”
“Then what about a twelve pound ball?”
“They're yellow. But seriously, you should probably get the eleven-pounder. The twelve might hurt you.”
Mary walked up to a row of pink and yellow bowling balls. She picked up one of the yellow bowling balls, figuring it had to be the lesser of the two girlie choices. She lifted it up and found it unwieldy. She put it back and picked up a pink one. It was slightly better. She had a quick debate with herself. She could bowl with the yellow ball, and feel a little more secure in her image, but probably bowl really badly, or pick a pink one, hope no one from school saw her, and maybe bowl a little better. Figuring it might earn points with Kyle if she took his advice, she stuck with the pink ball.
“Make sure your fingers fit the holes,” he told her.
She fit her fingers in and found it tight. She put the ball down and tried another pink one. Her fingers fit in that one better. Kyle had picked up a black bowling ball.
“How much does that one weigh?” she asked.
“Fifteen pounds. You ready?”
She nodded, and they went back to their lane. Kyle set up the electronic scorecard.
“Okay, I’ll go first. Watch me.” Kyle went up to the edge of the lane with his bowling ball. “You put your middle and ring finger in the holes and your thumb here. Lift it up to your chest. Look down the lane. Focus on the arrows. Those are better targets for you than the actual pins. You’ll take four steps and release the ball.” He demonstrated, and his ball took down all the pins.
“Well damn,” he said, clearly impressed himself.
“Well, that seals my loss,” she said.
“Maybe you have a secret talent.”
“Super secret,” she said.
“Come on, your turn,” he said.
“Don’t you go again?” she asked. She knew people usually took two tries.
“Not when you get a strike, unless it’s in the tenth frame.”
“Frame?”
“That’s what each set of turns is called.”
“Like I said, if I’m good, it’s a super secret talent.”
She rose with her pink ball and went up to the line. She put her fingers in the holes like Kyle had shown her and lifted the ball.
“As you take your steps, swing the ball back and then forward, releasing it. Just aim for the arrows in the lane, not the pins at the end.”
Mary nodded and focused on the little arrows. She took a deep breath and told herself that her first throw would be crap and not to worry about it. She began her approach, swinging the ball back and then released it. She watched the ball roll down the lane. It wasn’t going as fast as Kyle’s had, which didn’t surprise her. It rolled down and veered to the right a little. It struck the right-hand pins, and they toppled down. Mary was mildly impressed with herself. She’d actually knocked a few pins down. She’d been sure she’d get a gutter ball.
“Good try, go again and aim at the left-hand side,” he said.
Mary nodded, though she had no idea how to do what he said. She picked up her ball from the ball return and stepped back up to the line. She looked at the left-hand pins and then the arrows. She aimed at the center arrow again and tried to put more force in her release. The ball rolled faster this time. It went straight and just barely knocked over the center pins. The three pins in the left-hand corner were still standing at the end.
“That was good, Mary,” Kyle said.
She shrugged her shoulders. She sat down to watch Kyle. She didn’t really feel like this was fun. Maybe she was putting too much pressure on herself. Kyle bowled and knocked down all but three pins on his first go. He grabbed his ball to bowl again. He knocked down the last three, getting a spare. She smiled at him and stood up for her turn. What would make a better date? She pondered this as she got her pink ball. An arcade? Concert? Party? She really didn’t like being around a lot of people. A hike? Too many bugs. Maybe she was genetically predisposed to the crazy cat lady lifestyle.
She launched the ball, and it was sucked into the gutter. She didn’t feel too bad about it. When she got the ball back, she stepped back up the line and this time put everything she had into this go. The ball rolled down the lane and hit the middle group of pins. She knocked down the center group, but four pins remained standing on either side.
“Well, I think it’s clear that I have no hidden talent for bowling,” she said, giving Kyle a sheepish smile.
“You’re doing good. If you were getting strikes, I’d suspect you’d been bowling with someone else.”
“Oh? Would you be jealous?”
Mary said it teasingly, but the way Kyle’s face froze for a microsecond rang alarm bells. He focused on his ball and bowled another strike. “Yes, of course,” he said, lightly, but she could tell he had to struggle a little to make his voice sound like that.
She remembered the night on the Bluff. He and Cy had gotten into it about her. She hadn’t asked him about it because she wasn’t sure if he remembered what he’d said. He’d been drugged and abandoned by his so-called friends, then his dad had chewed him out and he’d gotten grounded for what his friends had done. But on the Bluff, he’d accused Cy of still liking her. She’d been shocked by the accusation, but she’d wondered if that was something he worried about much. She just didn’t know how to assure him that he didn’t have anything to worry about. Even if Cy broke up with Vicky and showed up on her doorstep with a rose bouquet to proclaim he believed in ghosts now and thought Mary was beautiful and awesome, she’d close the door on his face. She wouldn’t slam it, but she would definitely close it firmly. She was happy with Kyle and he supported her. She wasn’t going to give that up.
“Hey, do you to get something from the snack bar?” she asked.
Kyle didn’t turn away from the lane. He released his second ball and bowled another strike. He was really good at this. Should she be telling him that? Cheering with every strike? Did she need to get pom-poms? She rewound that thought and looked at it. Was she considering voluntarily waving pom-poms around to make a guy happy? Well, maybe if they were black. And only for Kyle.
“Sure, what do you want?” he asked.
“No, I’ll get it,” she said standing up.
“No, this is my treat.”
“But you’ve already paid for the bowling. Let me get this.”
“Let me,” he said.
Mary rolled her eyes. “Fine, but I’ll go get it at least.”
“But it’s your turn.”
“Kyle, let me get the nachos and sodas, that way I can eat half the jalapenos without you ever being the wiser.”
That got her a smile. “Fine. But for the record, I know how many jalapenos they put on the nachos and will be counting them.”
He pulled out his wallet and held out a twenty to her. It felt weird taking money from him, but this was something girlfriends did, right? She knew it was kind of sexist for the boyfriend to pay for everything, but he was insistent, and she was broke. She went up to the snack bar and placed her order with the bored attendant. She turned back to the lanes as she waited. There were all sorts of people bowling. Some were families with parents and children. A few groups appeared to be in a league, judging by the matching brightly colored shirts. There were a couple of groups of teenagers. She didn’t recognize any of them thankfully. All the lanes had more than two people bowling. They were the only date there.
“Here you go, honey.”
Mary turned and took the tray with a polite thank you. She walked carefully back to the lane. All the signs warned her not to take food or drinks onto the lanes, but there were booths bolted down just outside the lanes to eat at.
Kyle made a show of looking down at the basket. “Hmm, there appears to be a number of jalapenos missing.”
She knew he was teasing and played along. “The chef was being stingy.”
“Was he? I must complain to the concierge.”
She ate a nacho. “Thanks by the way.”
He shrugged. He picked up a nacho and popped it into his mouth.
“So how is the ghost settling in?” he asked.
“She set off the fire alarm this morning.”
Kyle looked at her in concern. “If she’s that bad, destroy the anchor. I don’t care how upset it makes Rachel.”
Mary waved away his concern. “No, sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that. She didn’t do it on purpose. Harvey was fixing breakfast, and she was trying to help. It wasn’t serious, but I was on the phone with Gran when it happened, so she heard it and had questions.”
“You sure you should be hiding this from her?”
“She’s ten hours away and she’ll be back in a few days. No point worrying her, and everything’s fine now. The ghost isn’t there to freak out another stupid teen, and Jenny should recover fine with some counseling.”
“But still, attempting suicide isn’t something someone just decides to do on a whim.”
“Hence the requirement of counseling.”
“Was she suicidal before?”
Mary didn’t know, but it seemed likely. She couldn’t imagine that Ghost Mary’s influence was that powerful for the briefness Jenny, and she were around each other.
Mary’s phone started ringing in her bag. When she looked at it, she was surprised to see Taryn’s number on the display.
“Hey, Taryn, what’s up?”
“She did it! The idiot did it!” Taryn’s voice was a mixture of anger, desperation, and fear, but Mary didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Uh, who’s the idiot?”
“Rachel! Come to her house right now. Please! Oh God, I can’t believe this.” She ended the call before Mary could ask more.
“What was that about?”
Mary looked at the half full scorecard on the screen. She hated the thought of wasting Kyle’s money.
“Mary? What’s wrong?”
“Rachel’s in trouble. Taryn wants us to come over to Rachel’s house. She was really upset.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
“But what about the game?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.”
Kyle got up from the booth and held out his hand. “There’s no way we’ll enjoy this now. We can try again another day.”
“I’m paying then. Okay?” Mary said firmly.
He nodded with a smirk. She grabbed the paper basket of nachos to take with them. She wasn’t letting the food go to waste at least.
She fed nachos to Kyle as they drove to Rachel’s. He didn’t get many jalapenos this way, which he protested greatly. They’d finished the nachos by the time they got to Rachel’s house. Mary saw that both family vehicles were there, which meant that both parents were probably home.
As she walked up with Kyle, she wondered if the Pillars would think it was odd for her to come over with her boyfriend. They’d met Kyle at least, but still was it rude? Mary didn’t know and got a little nervous. She hadn’t felt nervous going to Rachel’s house since the first time she’d visited back in middle school for her first sleepover. It had been her first sleepover ever. She’d known that she was a little old to be going to her first sleepover, but she’d never been invited to one before. She’d initially said no to Rachel’s invite which had made her best friend really upset. She’d finally broken down and confessed that she didn’t own a sleeping bag. Rachel had told her that she didn’t need one. Rachel had a full bed. They could both sleep in it. And that had been it. Mary had spent a night at Rachel’s house every other week for the rest of middle school. When she wasn’t staying at Rachel’s, Rachel was staying at her house. During that time, Mary realized that Rachel was more than her best friend. She was practically her sister.
Since Kyle was with her, Mary knocked on the door rather than letting herself in. Mrs. Pillar answered the door.
“Mary? What are you doing standing out here? Come on in. Hi, Kyle, how are you?”
“I’m good, Mrs. Pillar.”
“We didn’t want to barge in,” Mary said.
“Taryn and Rachel are up in her room.”
“Thanks, we’ll be quiet,” Mary said.
“Don’t worry about it. Do you want some snacks or something to drink?”
“We just had something. Thanks.”
They left Mrs. Pillar in the living room and went upstairs to Rachel’s room. The door was closed. Various band stickers decorated it. Mary gave a little knock and called out to announce them.
“Come on in,” Rachel called back.
Hearing her friend’s voice sound so normal put Mary at ease, but now she was even more curious about what was going on.
They went in and found Rachel reclining on her bed while Taryn paced around the room. Rachel’s room looked the same as the last time Mary saw it. Strings of blue Christmas tree lights lined the ceiling. A green lava lamp was on the dresser. Black light posters were on the walls. Someone had picked up the mounds of clothes that usually dotted the floor. Mary suspected Taryn had done that. Rachel never felt the need to pick up for anyone. Nicolai, Rachel’s Russian Dwarf hamster was eating in his cage. From his cage wafted the scent of cedar chips and urine.
“Hey, guys. So glad you could make it to the party,” Rachel said.
That set Taryn off. “Tell them what you did! Tell them!”
Rachel sighed and crossed her hands over her stomach. “Shouldn’t we wait for Eddie?”
“I didn’t call him.”
“Why not? You called everyone else. Only seems fair he’d get a call too.”
Mary could see Taryn was getting madder every second. Mary had never seen the girl angry. She’d always been so easy going about everything. It had to be bad if she was this upset, but Rachel looked perfectly fine. “Rach, what’s going on?”
“I went back to the house and played the game.”
“Yeah, so?” This didn’t alarm Mary. Ghost Mary was gone. Nothing was there.
“I met Mr. Conjure.”
Rachel’s words disappointed her. “Rach, come on. We’ve been over this. There’s no such thing as Mr. Conjure. He doesn’t exist.”
“You’re wrong. Mr. Conjure does exist, and you’ve met him before.”
“Who?” Mary couldn’t think of any ghosts who would fit the description of Mr. Conjure.
“More like what.”
Mary was beginning to get frustrated with Rachel. She was about to tell her to just spit it out when it clicked. Not someone but something that clawed at you and hid in the dark. “A Shadowman?”
“Ding, ding, ding.”
Mary’s eyes immediately panned the room noting all the shadows. It was too dim in there. She hit the light switch for the overhead light.
Everyone blinked at the sudden brightness.
“Did it touch you? Are you all right?” she asked.
“It got me. But I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t know that!” Taryn exploded.
Kyle held his hands up for everyone to calm down. “Maybe Rachel should start from the beginning.”
Mary nodded. She wanted to hear this. Taryn let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m going to the restroom, and I’m taking my time.”
Once she was gone, Rachel slumped. “I’ve never upset her like that before.”
“You scared her. Not cool,” Mary said.
“Oh, you’re one to talk.”
“What—”
“Alabama?”
Mary glanced at Kyle in confusion. His face was carefully blank. “What about Alabama?” she said.
“You scared me pretty bad then, too,” Kyle admitted quietly.
“Oh, well. I was pretty scared myself.”
“I know. But—that’s not the issue right now,” he said, turning to stare at Rachel again.
“Tell us what happened tonight,” Mary said.
“Start at the beginning,” Kyle added.
Rachel slumped and turned her eyes away from them. “I knew the whole thing with Mr. Conjure wasn’t over. Jenny was adamant that he was stalking her and the ghost mentioned a monster. So I went back to see if I could find him.
“I did the game and as I was blindly making my way back to the salt circle, I felt something. It was like a slimy thundercloud reached into me. I knew the sensation wasn’t my imagination. I opened my eyes to find a pair of red eyes staring at me.”
Mary knew exactly what those red eyes looked like. Thinking about them now made her shiver. She’d thought she would never have to see them again. “Are you sure it was a Shadowman?”
Mary would rather Mr. Conjure was real than deal with another one of those things.
Rachel patiently nodded. “I know you don’t want to believe it, but I’m sure. It must have followed Jenny and stalked her up to her suicide attempt.”
“And now it’s stalking you.” Taryn had slipped back into the room. She’d calmed down, but she was obviously still very worried.
“But I know what we’re dealing with. It’ll be fine. We’ll kill it just like we did the last one.”
“Stand up,” Mary said.
Rachel raised an eyebrow at her.
“You know the drill. Stand up and let us test your shadow.”
“This isn’t like what happened with you. It isn’t attached to me.”
“Then why aren’t you standing up to let us see?” Mary asked.
“Because she gets dizzy if she stands,” Taryn said.
That surprised Mary. “Did this start as soon as the Shadowman touched you?”
“A little later. I felt sick immediately, but it was more like a grossed and freaked out feeling. I started getting dizzy once I got home, and the adrenaline wore off.”
Mary didn’t like this. Hearing about the effects of the Shadowman’s touch made her stomach churn. When it had touched Rachel, it had taken something from her. A bit of life force or anima. Mary had been tired too after the other Shadowman had touched her. When it had latched onto her shadow and had used her like a marionette to do its bidding, she’d been left feeling tired and listless without knowing why. She didn’t know what would happen if the Shadowman kept feeding on someone long term. Would they just keel over one day? Mary owed Jenny an apology. She knew too well how scary a Shadowman was. Facing a Shadowman alone without any idea of how to stop it would have been terrifying. Mary knew how to stop it and she still thought they were terrifying.
