The Guidance - By Marley Gibson Page 0,21

sounds so much like Daddy. Please tell him how much I love him and that I'll take care of Mother."

Mr. Lockhart lifts a hand to Miss Evelyn's face and strokes her cheek. Too bad she can't feel it. "Tell her I know."

"I will," I manage to get out.

He turns to the man standing next to him. "Wha'd'ya say we get out of here?" He points over to the left corner of the room. "See it?"

I look over myself, but since it's not my time, the bright light is invisible to me. At least these guys recognize it. Before I know it, the two of them disappear into nothing, and my heart feels as if it will burst from the joy radiating in their wake.

"He's passed into the light," I whisper to Miss Evelyn.

She wraps an arm around me. "Thanks for everything, Kendall." She looks to Celia, who's finally put the damn meter away. "Let's just keep this between the three of us, okay?"

"Sure thing."

Then I hear the creepy laughing again. That soldier is here.

In my head, I try to contact him. Why don't you follow them into the light?

Ain't no light for me ...

I'm going to have to find out who this guy is and get him to move along. And fast.

Monday afternoon I'm armed with the peace offering Taylor suggested. After the brush with the men at the funeral home—and the laughing soldier—I realize life is too short to be miserable. Since Courtney makes me miserable, I've got to be the one to try to mend the fence.

Courtney uses the scalpel and pokes our poor pickled pig in the chest.

"Do you want me to do it?" I ask impatiently. We've been sitting here for ten minutes staring at this thing like it's going to jump up and crunk out for us. Everyone else in the lab is working quietly, getting along, and making progress.

She snaps at me. "I said I'd do it and I'm doing it!"

Something tells me that the girl who seems afraid of nothing doesn't have the courage to make the first cut. I can't help but snark off. "Today would be nice."

Ice-cold gray eyes slice over my face, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. The energy surrounding Courtney right now is black and damn near dismal. She's not a happy girl. A negative haze envelops her like a miasma of shifting darkness. For some reason, I get the sensation that Courtney's hatred for me, for Jason, for our ghost-hunting team, and, most of all, for the attention we're getting has opened her up to—for lack of a better phrase—the dark side. Not like I think Darth Vader and the Emperor are going to strike out from within her, but there's an evilness radiating from her. A door to her soul has been left wide open because of her unease, jealousy, and ill will toward me.

Taylor's correct. I have to make things right with this girl.

I reach over and carefully take the scalpel from her. She opens her mouth to snap at me, then stops. It must be the intensity in my eyes and the way I'm looking at her. Almost pitying.

"What is your problem?" she finally asks, the words punctuated with venom.

Be nice. "I'm worried about you, Courtney."

She laughs derisively. "You're worried about me?"

"Something's not right about you."

"Oh, and you're an expert on who I am, I suppose," she says. "You've been in this school, what ... two months? Get over it, Ghost Girl."

I wrinkle my face. "That's just it. My name's Kendall, Courtney."

"Whatever."

"No, it's not whatever. I'm a person. I haven't done anything to you. You have no reason to hate me."

She rocks back on her stool, stunned and speechless for once.

"You've got other things to worry about," I continue. "That C minus you got in trig might get you in trouble with the cheerleading squad. Instead of focusing all your energies on hating me, you should get your grades back up. You're a smart girl, you know?"

The last thing I expect from her is a snide smirk. "What, did your geek sidekick Celia hack into the school's computers so you could read up on me and use that?"

I roll my eyes. "No. Give me a break. I can read your thoughts. They're practically neon signs flashing above your head."

She drops her eyes down, not meeting my stare. I also pick up that her parents are fighting and her allowance has been cut. She's worried that she won't be able to keep