"Is this it? Ghost tales?" Cassie asked the principal, taking out a book from the shelf.
"No".
"What's this book about?".
"It contains a large list of people and their encounters with ghosts. My long time friend also wrote her own tale about her encounter with a ghost".
"It says published in 1893. Wait... How old are you?".
"Believe me when I say you don't want to know".
"What about this book? Conjuring spirits?"
"No, that's not the book".
"I've shown you over 20 books now and you keep saying no. I'm running out of time, actually Linda is but we don't have a lot of time so..."
"Found it! How to get rid of a spirit's possession. I was a friend to the author" The principal said bringing out an old, dusty book. Cassie moved closer and stood next to the principal as she flipped the heavy pages of the book.
"Here! It says troubled spirits only possess a person's body out of the owner's free will".
"That means Linda gave it her permission. Why on earth would she do that?!".
"Troubled spirits first ask for a favor and then when you show willingness to do the favor, they see it as a given access".
"How can you know if you're associating with a troubled spirit?" Cassie asked.
"You don't. Only the really gifted ones can know if one is a troubled spirit. By gifted ones, I mean white bloods".
"So how do we get the spirit to leave Linda?".
"We must make sure that the spirit doesn't take revenge using her body because after revenge comes regret which is the inevitable death of your friend".
"So where's Linda now?".
Marc walked in and whispered something to the principal and left.
"She's at the dinner hall. We have to go!" The principal said and Cassie followed without hesitation.
"Linda! Get down from the table and drop the kitchen knife so that you wouldn't hurt anyone!" Bella screamed at Linda.
"Everyone step back! Melinda is currently being possessed by a troubled spirit!" The principal shouted and everyone quickly dispersed from the area.
"Linda! Can you hear me? It's Cassie. I'm gonna save you, no matter what!".
"Cassie? Please help me. I don't know what's happening to me... I don't have control over my actions. You should leave, I'm afraid I might hurt you!" Linda replied, tears dropping from her eyes.
"Just hang in there. It's your body, stay strong. You can overcome it, I know you can!".
"Enough of the touching words. Now let's get to work!" The principal said. Cassie nodded and brought out black salt and used it to draw a pentacle. The principal slit her wrist and sprinkled her blood along the lines of the pentacle.
"So what next?" Cassie asked the principal
"All you have to do is get her to stand on the pentacle. And she must do it willingly".
"But the spirit won't let her".
"It's up to your friend to decide".
Cassie slowly approached Linda, stretching out her hand.
"Linda, there's a way for you to be free but you have to be strong".
"I can't" Linda replied moving backwards as Cassie approached her.
"That over there" Cassie said pointing at the pentacle, "That's your way out but I can't force you to step into it. It must be of your own free will".
"I want to, I really do but I can't. I'm really scared Cassie".
"I understand but I can't lose you".
Linda took a deep breath and moved closer to Cassie.
"I have a favor to ask of you" Linda said to Cassie.
"What do you want? I'll do anything" Cassie replied. The pitiful look on Linda's face changed into a dark smile as she grabbed Cassie's wrist. Cassie felt something enter her and she fell to the floor. Linda who was now herself started tapping her to wake up.
Cassie's eyes opened, it was as dark as a coal. She stood up and held Linda by the neck, slowly lifting her off the ground.
"Ca... Cassie... Pl... Please" She pleaded.
"Hey! I think you're looking for him!" The principal screamed at Cassie holding up a picture of a student, Owen McCarthy who was responsible for the death of the little girl.
Cassie let go of Linda and she (Linda) fell hard on the floor. Cassie slowly moved towards the principal.
"You want it, don't you? Well go get it!" She shouted and threw the paper into the pentacle. Cassie hurriedly ran to get the paper and in doing so, she stepped into it. She immediately felt this hot, burning sensation all over her body as she screamed in pain. After a while she stopped screaming, Linda rushed over to her and carried her out of the pentacle.
"How are you feeling?" Linda asked Cassie.
"I'm okay".
"I'm really sorry for not listening to you. It's all my fault" Linda apologized.
"It isn't. None of us knew that she was a troubled spirit". Cassie said and turned to the principal.
"How did you find the person responsible for her death?" Cassie asked.
"That's because I was the one who ordered him to kill her" She confessed.
"What?!" Cassie and Linda asked simultaneously.
"Owen came to me with a girl standing beside him. He said he found her at the apple tree and that she was hurt and she needed treatment. I noticed the deep cut she had on her arm and saw that she was a red blood so...".
"So you killed an innocent little girl because she wasn't a black blood?!" Cassie asked getting furious.
"And I regret doing that. It was a long time ago, like about 50 years back. I wasn't a good leader at that time but I'm better now".
"So what about the little girl? Has she gotten her rest?" Linda asked.
"No. We have to look for her body and take it to the tomb of Aleskar so that she will pass on peacefully and get reincarnated".
Cassie stood up "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to work".
The principal smiled and nodded.