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

Jamie went on, speaking faster now. “Exorcists can get rid of spirits possessing people—and animals and objects. Theoretically, they can even sometimes send the spirit from one thing into another, like, to trap it. So we think maybe when you guys contacted Ana, you somehow used your camera to exorcise her, just like you did with Red Leer.”

“From who?” I interrupted. “She wasn’t possessing anyone!”

“Right,” Jamie said. “But spirits can possess objects, too, remember? If her spirit was there—in her grave, her tombstone, or even her mother’s tombstone—you might have, like, pried her loose or something.” He paused, wrinkling his nose. “Okay, we don’t totally have that part of the theory worked out yet. But the rest makes sense.”

I smiled despite myself. “Sure it does.”

Jamie grinned. “Just hear me out. Let’s say somehow you conjured Ana’s ghost out of her grave and transferred it to another object. Then you took that object along and carried it with you everywhere. A possessed object like that, with all that spirit’s emotions, would make you feel weird, right? Anxious. Maybe even paranoid. And every time you used that object, the spirit would tell you what she wants: to get out.”

I sat up straight, the forgotten muffin rolling off my lap and onto the sofa. “Oh my God. You think Ana is in my camera?”

“Pretty much,” Jamie said. “It would explain why you’ve been feeling sick; you’re picking up on Ana’s emotions. We all felt it yesterday when the camera was filming us. And it would explain why you’ve hated being around cameras in general.”

That took a second to process. “How did you know about that?” I asked. It came out maybe a little more defensive than I intended.

“Oscar told me.” Jamie looked a bit nervous. “I hope you don’t mind—I asked him if he knew why you’ve been acting so weird. He said you thought you were camera shy or something, and you don’t like being on TV. We just wanted to figure out what was going on so we could help.”

“I don’t mind,” I said slowly. “I thought I had stage fright. But that kind of thing doesn’t usually make me nervous.”

“Exactly—because it was Ana, not you!” Jamie exclaimed. Then his face fell. “Wait, but you saw Ana at the waterfall? That doesn’t make sense if she’s in your camera.”

“Yes, it does.” I closed my eyes, remembering the scene. “I saw her through the viewfinder. When I lowered the camera, she was gone.” And the cave! I only saw the message in the pictures, not on the actual cave walls.

“Then we’re right!” Jamie said excitedly. For a half second, my spirits lifted. Then I remembered the bathroom last night.

No camera.

Jamie was still watching me, so I did my best to look enthusiastic. “I think so, yeah! It makes a lot of sense.” Except at some point, Ana might have moved from the camera to me. “So . . . so what should we do? How do we get her out of . . . um, my camera?”

“There’s a library a few blocks from here,” Jamie replied immediately. “Abril showed me. We can use their computers, since everyone took their laptops to the church; they’re setting up all the equipment to film tonight. Oscar asked us to look up some stuff about Brunilda and the catacombs, too.”

“Okay.” As we headed across the lobby, I realized something. “Hey, where is my camera? I left it with you guys last night when you were uploading the video.”

“Oscar has it,” Jamie told me, holding the door open. “He and Hailey are going to go through Guzmán’s stuff and see if they find any evidence that he’s planning any tricks during the séance. But Oscar thought he’d try using your camera and seeing if he got any more messages or weird vibes, like yesterday.”

“Ah.” I wondered how I’d explain it when Oscar didn’t see or feel anything unusual. Funny thing, I don’t think Ana’s in there anymore . . .

“Where is Oscar?” I asked suddenly. “He didn’t want to come?”

Jamie gave me a sidelong glance as we crossed the street. “He did, but Hailey talked him into going with her and the cast so this would just be you and me.”

“Why?”

“Well . . .” He looked down at his shoes, face slightly red. “For some reason, a few months ago Hailey decided she was really good at matchmaking. She spent all semester trying to fix up her friends at school and some of mine, too. Most of them did not appreciate it.”

We turned the corner, walking past the east side of the church and the wrought-iron gates to a small cemetery. I could see the library a few blocks down, a small but stately gray building that looked more like a mansion.

“Anyway,” Jamie continued, “the week before school let out, she kept leaving fake love notes from this girl, Tamara, in my friend Roger’s locker, and fake notes from Roger in Tamara’s locker, because she was convinced they liked each other.” His mouth quirked up. “They did not. It was awkward.”

I stifled a giggle. “That’s kind of hilarious.” Then I realized what he was implying, and a blush crept up my neck. “Wait, so . . . are you saying she’s trying to set us up?”

“Yeah. I told her to knock it off,” Jamie said quickly. “And that Oscar could come with us. But he said he didn’t mind. Although he also said going to the library maybe wasn’t the best place for a first date. Not that this is a date!” he added. “Unless, I mean . . . do you want it to be one?”

My skin started to tingle and my heart sped up, kind of like a sugar rush.

“Well,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Figuring out how to perform an exorcism actually sounds like a pretty ideal first date to me.”

I sneaked a glance at him. His cheeks were still pink, but he was smiling. “Works for me, too.”

Nerves twisted my stomach, but mostly in a nice way. And besides, I was tired of being frightened: of cameras, of trolls, of