Graveyard Slot by Michelle Schusterman (classic children's novels .TXT) 📕

“I fear not for my safety, but for the safety of those around me. The evil that has my soul in its claws will not loosen its grip; on the contrary, the exorcism seems only to have strengthened its resolve. Every day, I feel less myself. Every day, I see unspeakable things, things no one else can see, and I know they are the work of this demon.” Jess set the paper on the table and turned to Lidia. “Voiceover narration?”

Lidia nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”

“Professor Guzmán, is there any way we could make copies of all these entries?” Jess asked. “I’d like to go through them and record Lidia reading a few before Friday, if possible.”

“Absolutely,” Guzmán replied. “Inés, can you take care of that tomorrow morning?” His student nodded, making a note in her planner. I zoomed in on her, adjusting the focus. She looked vaguely familiar, although I was too distracted to wonder why. Brunilda’s words were really creepy, but I loved stuff like this . . . so why did I suddenly feel so unsettled?

“This is fascinating,” Dad said, flipping through a few more of the translated pages. “A first-hand account of possession. Look here, this part about seeing messages written in blood on the walls of the sacristy?” He nudged Jess. “Let’s make sure we get some footage in there. In fact . . .” Dad squinted down at the pages. “Looks like she saw lots of ‘messages’ no one else could see, both inside and outside of the church. We should write a list, make sure we cover all these places.”

They continued talking, but blood was rushing in my ears. Dazed, I let my camera fall at my side. I kept picturing the cave behind the waterfall, I WANT OUT scratched all over in the photos.

Looks like she saw lots of messages no one else could see.

“Kat?” Jamie had called my name, and I realized he and Hailey were staring at me. The adults were all focused on the journal, but I saw Mi Jin watching us. My heart started pounding too loud and too fast, and I was seized with the sudden certainty that something terrible was about to happen.

I sucked in a sharp breath when Oscar grabbed my arm. “We’re going outside for a few minutes, okay?” he said to the table in general. “It’s kind of crowded in here.”

“Don’t go too far,” I heard Lidia say. Oscar was already guiding me out of the catacombs, down the tunnel, and up the stairs. Jamie and Hailey were right on our heels.

“What’s wrong?” Hailey asked. I couldn’t respond. My lungs had forgotten how to take in air.

“Kat’s sick,” Oscar said, still gripping my elbow as he pushed on the door.

Thump. It had only opened a few inches before slamming into something on the other side. Or, judging by the resulting yelp, someone.

“Sorry!” Oscar exclaimed, carefully pushing the door open the rest of the way. I wrenched my arm from his grasp and stumbled a few steps away from the entrance before sitting on the grass. I took deep gulps of the fresh, warm air, willing my heart to slow down. Slowly, my panic began to fade. But what had caused it? I was still trembling with fear and nothing frightening had even happened.

It was a few seconds before I realized Jamie was kneeling next to me, his blue eyes filled with concern. Oscar and Hailey stood a few feet away, along with a familiar boy and girl—the teenagers who had been with the tour group in the church earlier. But the rest of their group was nowhere in sight.

“Do you need some water?” Hailey asked anxiously, hovering at my side. The girl smiled down at me sympathetically.

“Your first time in the catacombs?” she asked, her words carrying the tiniest trace of an accent. “Thiago’s claustrophobic, he almost passed out the first time we went down there.”

“Claus-what?” Her brother’s accent was quite a bit thicker. “I did not pass out.”

“I know, that’s why I said ‘almost.’”

As my anxiety faded, my face grew warm with embarrassment. “I’m fine,” I mumbled. “I just got . . . hot.”

Oscar eyed me in a way that made it clear he didn’t believe me, but thankfully, he didn’t push it. I started to stand, and the girl reached out a hand to help me up.

“Thanks.”

“Of course. I’m Abril, this is Thiago,” she added. “Our sister Inés is Guzmán’s teaching assistant. We saw you in the church earlier,” she added to Oscar. “Telling off that jerk for laughing at the tour guide.”

“Aw, you told somebody off and we missed it?” Hailey made a face. “Dang.”

“It was very good,” Thiago said to Oscar, grinning. It brought out a little dimple on the left side of his mouth. “Very funny.”

“Oh.” Oscar blinked. “Um. Thank you.”

I stared at him. Was he actually blushing? Like a modest human being might? That was new.

“You’re with the TV show, right?” Abril asked. “Passport to Paranormal?”

“Yeah,” I said, taken aback. “You’ve heard of it?”

“I studied abroad in California last year,” Abril explained. “The family I lived with, they watched it sometimes. Professor Guzmán is very excited you’re filming an episode about Brunilda.”

Thiago’s expression darkened when his sister mentioned the professor’s name. He started to say something, but Abril shot him a warning look.

Hailey must have noticed it, too. “What?” she asked eagerly. “You don’t like Professor Guzmán?”

“No, it’s . . . ,” Abril said with a sigh. “He is . . . was . . . Inés’s favorite professor. This Brunilda experiment, it was a risk for him. The university doesn’t take it very seriously.”

“But he’s getting amazing results,” Jamie pointed out. “He said that two weeks ago, Brunilda made the table float. They still aren’t taking him seriously?”

Abril glanced back at the entrance. “No, they aren’t. Inés thinks the university is going to stop funding all his projects, actually. They don’t approve of what he’s doing. That’s why he’s so happy your show is here. Good publicity for the school—he thinks it