I watched and waited. When nightfall finally came, I left for Cemetery Raven, hoping for a better outcome than my two previous, flopped, investigations.

The entrance of Cemetery Raven slowly came into view as I approached, and then passed, the last two houses of my street before the exit. Zil wasn't there yet. Hoping I wouldn't have a long wait, I crossed the road to stand at the wrought-iron gate.

The sky continued to gradually grow murky until the flaming colors of daylight faded and it darkened into night. I looked around again, but still saw no sign of Zil. Thinking he might back out of our plans to meet, I decided to only stay a couple more minutes and then leave if he didn't come. I looked into the cemetery; as far back as I could see, all the way to the woods. Except for the expected occupants, it was empty.

I looked to my left at Cortland Bridge. Its silhouette, black against the pitch dark sky, was picturesque. But it held a deadly truth – and, like a fool, I still wanted to return.

"Easily visible during the day, the weathered, ages-old structure would soon be lost from sight as the last vestiges of a deepening horizon abdicate its hold to a nighttime sky."

I spun around. Zil was inside the cemetery! Smiling lazily, he said, "Hello, chere."

"Where did you come from? A minute ago, no one was there." Then, recovering from the shock of suddenly seeing him there, I realized he'd called me by a different name – Chere.

What I didn't know was where I'd heard it, or why it sounded familiar. I scowled. "Wrong. Try again."

The corner of his lip turned up slightly. "I know your name, Ashe. To the French, 'chere' is what we call someone special, or use as a term of kindness."

"Like friendship?"

"Yes, like that."

"I thought it was 'Cherie.'"

"That is an exaggerated term. I never say, 'Cherie.'"

Ready to get past the awkward moment, I said, "Okay. Hi – Chere."

Zil's head bowed slightly as his laughter rumbled low in his chest. He exited through the graveyard gate. "No. I am afraid it is what a man calls a woman, not the other way around."

My embarrassment had taken on a life of its own, one I felt I might not escape, unscathed. "Oh ... Have you said that before?"

His smile stilled and his emerald green eyes glistened in the moonlight as he looked at me with a curious, secretive, gaze. "On occasion."

I could feel imaginary walls start to close in on me. Wanting an escape from my humiliation, I said, "Where were you just now? I looked, but no one was in there."

"I was here. Perhaps you did not see me." He looked back at the bridge. "Does what I said not describe Cortland Bridge?"

It did ... perfectly. Except for the secrets it held. Once darkness descended, its phantoms would emerge and wait within the shadows until some naïve intruder went inside – and then the punishment would begin. But Zil had offered to go with me, and so I'd be that naïve person to suggest we go, in an unspoken dare for him to keep his word.

Without first discussing with him any particular destination to go, I turned in the direction of the dead end. Zil walked beside me. We stopped at the three-way split and I glanced at Cortland Bridge. In that instant, though it was irrational, I decided I'd return later to face the bridge, and the hateful entity that had attacked me inside of it, alone – because when I'd gone earlier with Rhys, the bridge had been quiet. I didn't want a repeat of that with Zil.

"There are other places to look, other than the bridge."

I looked at him suspiciously. "Mind reading again?"

"I could see it on your face."

"Okay. Then, where?" I said, trying to appear indifferent.

"There is an old barn close by that is said to be haunted. But I have heard the man inside does not like others on his property. Are you interested?"

I was skeptical, but it would give us someplace to start our search for ghosts. "Sure."

Zil extended his hand to me. "Come, I will guide you. The ground here is not even and I want you in one piece. Remember, no bleeding."

I smiled wryly at his joke, took his hand – and sharply pulled back. Looking from it, back to him ... his flesh was – like ice. Hoping I hadn't just hurt the feelings of a sick person, I said, "You feel ... it's not cold out."

Zil didn't seem insulted, but he clearly hadn't anticipated my reaction, either. He shrugged scantly. "I have a natural tendency to be cold."

Telling myself to concentrate and not flinch, I forced myself to take his hand again. We took the path to our right, in the direction of the wooded area.

The closer we got, the more I began to second-guess Zil's story and that a barn would be that far back. Prepared to suggest we look elsewhere, like a cemetery, we passed the tree line and the silhouette of a building came into view. We went to it and stopped a few feet from its door.

It was nothing short of a miracle that the barn was still vertical. Worn and somewhat charred-looking, either by age or something much worse, it listed noticeably to one side and the roof was nearly caved in. "I'm not so sure about this. Old doesn't mean haunted," I said.

"If nothing happens, we will leave."

I let go of his hand. As subtly as possible, I wiped mine off on my pant leg and then removed the recorders from my pants' pocket. Keeping one for myself, I handed him the other.

Zil took it and looked at it curiously. "What is this?"

"It's a recorder. Haven't you seen one before?"

"Not like this one."

He was being weird again, but I didn't address it. "It's for ghost hunting, but it works like any other recorder. If the man's ghost is here, and he says something we can't hear, it can capture his voice and then we can play it back and listen to his words."

Acting secretive, Zil asked, "Do you find this necessary to use?"

"Yes." I reached over and pushed the 'Record' button. "It's on."

Zil walked to the door. Once there, he stopped and looked back at me, as if questioning whether I'd follow before he pushed it open and entered.

I eyed the old building for a moment ... and then walked in behind him.

Illuminated by moonlight streaming in through the fallen roof, only the corners of the barn were left in murkiness. Straw was strewn across the floor, while patches of cobwebs and spider webs covered the wooden walls that reeked of rot and another, slightly rank, odor I couldn't identify.

"I do not think we are alone. There is a strong energy here," Zil whispered. "Do you not feel it?"

From the moment we'd stepped inside, I'd felt we should leave. But as strong as it was, the desire to stay and try for another, hopefully successful, ghost hunt was stronger. I held the device out from me. "Is anyone here? If you are, please say something." After a moment, I whispered to Zil, "Do you hear anything?"

He shook his head.

I called out again, "We're here to see if the man who haunts this barn needs closure."

Believing I'd just seen subtle movement in the darkened corner to my right, I turned to face it. "Was someone just there, or am I talking to an empty room?"

Suddenly Zil murmured, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"A faint voice. Or laugher, perhaps."

Angry he'd taken me there to ridicule me, I snarled, "Your idea of a joke – is not funny!" I started to snatch back the recorder from him so I could leave, but he held it over his head where I couldn't reach it.

"I am not joking. I am serious. I heard something." Zil looked excited, but I didn't trust it. I waited for the inevitable laughter at my expense, but instead he slowly held out the recorder to me. "Listen."

Unconvinced I'd hear anything but us, I took it and played it back.

For the first few seconds, I heard nothing. But then ... a voice! Not wanting to believe I'd heard something falsely, I replayed it. Muffled, but it was there! I whispered, "Recorded evidence! I can't believe it! I ..." Zil was listening like he was interested in what I'd say – and I'd treated him like the enemy. "Zil, I'm ..."

"It is okay. There is no need for apology."

"Okay – weird. You somehow always seem to know what I'm thinking. I'm beginning to believe you can read minds."

"I am observant. Your eyes reveal your thoughts. You could never play cards and hold secret what yours were."

I was about to suggest we continue asking questions, but paused when I heard something creaking overhead. I looked up. Somehow still attached to the few remaining boards, a broken ladder that, at one time, would have connected a bottom floor to a top loft, was swinging slowly.

I whispered, "I don't feel a breeze."

Looking cautious, Zil called out, "We are trespassers on your property. Kick us off!"

"What are you doing?"

"It is called provocation. If he is upset, he may come forth."

"Just don't make whoever it is so mad that farm equipment is used against us."

Suddenly, I heard a low, angry utterance behind us, "Damn you!"

Chills ran down my spine. Slowly, I turned. In the same corner where I'd thought I'd seen movement moments before, was a loose outline of a human, and not a living one! "Zil, your provocation – it worked."

Staring challengingly at the spectre, he pulled me close. "Keep behind me. I can sense his anger."

I started to try to wrench away from him. "What are you doing? The ghost is why I'm ..."

My mouth gaped open.

Zil's eyes ... encircled by a wide rim of pure black, were a sharp silver color!

Before I could react, I was distracted by an increasing pressure and intense level of static electricity that seemed to fill the barn. I began to feel lightheaded. Afraid, and thinking I'd pass out, I searched for something in the dark barn to lock my eyes onto to help steady my focus. I couldn't. I was too disoriented. Something icy touched my arms and I looked down at them. Zil's hands were on me. Feeling clumsy and off-balance, I allowed him to move me aside. He started to say something. Thoroughly unintelligible ... long, drawn out, and defiant – he was speaking to the ghost. As his voice began to echo, my head began to throb.

Just as fast as the terrible sensation hit, it quit. My head cleared and my eyesight returned, but I felt exhausted and weighted down as if I'd been wading through thick mud up to my hips. Ready to call an end to the ghost hunt, I tried to turn and leave, but my body wouldn't cooperate – and the harder I fought to make it work, the weaker I became.

"Zil, I can't move!"

"Strangers ... you don't belong!" the spirit muttered angrily.

The air became thick with something I couldn't define, and I sensed things were about to go from scary to dangerous. The peculiar pressure began to lift from me, and fill the barn instead. All around us, the wooden building began to creak, with the noises increasing until it sounded like the structure would fold on top of us. Next to me, Zil tensed. Fighting not to surrender to mounting panic, my eyes canvassed the areas I could see, but I couldn't find what was making it happen.

Zil pulled me to him as a loud hum started and all of the straw covering the floor began to flutter and then skitter past us, in the direction of the ghostly man!

The door of the ramshackle barn began to rattle violently behind us. We turned to look ...

A whirlwind had formed! As it started its sweep past us, Zil immediately pushed me back to the wall, positioning himself so that he stood as a shield between me and the ceiling-high twister. Clinging tightly to one another against the strength of the wind, we slid to the ground. Praying we wouldn't get sucked into it, and with my hair stinging my face, I looked over Zil's shoulder to watch as the tiny, but powerful, tornado approached the spectre and then slowly rotated behind him, where it continued to churn dangerously. Unsure if the ghost was responsible for what was happening, I feared if he was, we would pay dearly for entering his barn.

Then, slowly, the cyclone died away. Everything fell still.

"Chere, we must leave!" Zil whispered.

He stood and pulled me up with him. Together, we started for the exit, but just as we reached it, the door swung open halfway on its own, held that position for a nanosecond, and then slammed shut with unbelievable force! I looked up to see if the loosened rafters would collapse down on top of us. They seemed to hold, but at the sound of a latch being locked, I cast my eyes back to the door.

It was bolted – and neither Zil nor I had been the ones to do it!

The darkness of the barn began to change. A strange orange glow had started. I looked up at the gaping hole in the ceiling at the moon. But when I heard the noises of snapping and popping coming from behind, and the dimness of the barn became brighter, I knew it wasn't the cause.

We turned ...

Fire!

Zil and I moved closer to one another as we watched the flames building in their race along the furthest wall, toward the ceiling. Despite the natural air vent of an already-damaged roof, smoke quickly filled the barn – and the indistinguishable, disgusting smell I'd noticed earlier, intensified.

The ghost man shouted something I didn't understand. I looked at him, and watched his horrifying transformation from semi-transparency to being a fully solidified, angry-looking man. He stepped into the fire ...!

Zil grabbed my hand. "Stay with me. I am going to kick down the door!"

He turned to it, his leg went up ...

He fell back as the wooden door exploded into flames – independently from the rest of the blaze!

Cut off from our only escape, Zil frantically began to look for another way out while I desperately searched for something we could use to break down the door with. But when a loud roar came from the far end of the barn, I whipped around. Standing in the center of a fire burning out of control, and watching us with obvious hostility, the ghost demanded, "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" I shouted back. "We came here to help, not to be barbequed alive!"

"No trespassers are allowed on this property!"

The flames, as if powered by his anger, erupted and sent sparks high into the air. I cowered at the sound. Fiery streaks fanned out and began to skirt along the walls and ceiling toward the untouched sides of the barn, and us, destroying everything in its path. Behind us, the shut door continued to burn.

"Are you the one who started the fire?" I yelled, turning back to the ghost.

His lip curled with contempt. "Not me. You two did, as soon as you walked in. You called to me, awakened me, and for what – so I can re-live my last moments? I died in here once before and now you'll know what I went through!"

A terrible realization hit ... the rancid smell – burned flesh!

Knowing what it could mean for us, I started to look for a way out again, but the smoke was overwhelming, and I'd weakened. Gasping, I bent to get air, but every inhalation, every movement, was misery.

I could hear the man's cruel mockery at our suffering as he called out, "You can tell me what it's like to burn alive, to feel it as your skin bubbles and hisses, and to know your life's being sucked away as you struggle to breathe – only you can't!"

Zil's voice, as if it was a thought, was in my head, "Ashe, we must leave now!"

I didn't have time to worry about whether I was hallucinating or not – I was dying of smoke inhalation!

Zil's arm was around me, pulling me with him. I didn't resist even when I saw that he was moving me closer to the burning door. Nearly there, and with visibility impossible within the thick smoke, I tripped. Zil caught me – but I could see he was hurting, too.

The man was there, barring our way, his stare devoid of pity or remorse for what he'd started – for killing us. Startled by his sudden appearance, I took a stumbling step backward. It caught momentum and I fell to the floor, away from Zil. Before I could try to get up, I heard the ceiling creak loudly above my head. I looked up ...

A large piece of the fiery roof had broken free and was falling!

"Ashe!"

Zil had me ...

He pulled me back and the smoke swirled with how swiftly he'd moved me. With Zil crouched protectively next to me, I watched the burning beam crash down onto the spot where I'd been just seconds before. With his teeth gritted, Zil kicked it away before glaring up at the scary ghost.

"I said you're not leaving!" the man growled.

I was suffocating. Clutching onto Zil weakly, I said, "We have to get out of here. We can't die like this."

He didn't hesitate. He pulled me to stand and we started for the door again. There, he let go of me and bent to scoop up a large beam the fire had somehow missed. Grasping it, he pulled back, and just as he started a forward thrust, something encircled my waist tightly.

"Zil...!"

He whipped around – something was moving me! Looking alarmed, Zil watched as I flew backward toward the fire. Just inches from it, I was unexpectedly released. Staggering, I tried to catch my footing and not tumble into the flames.

Finally, I caught my balance. As I took my first frantic step back to where I'd last seen Zil, something icy touched my hand. Unable to see and fearing I'd mistaken the cold for something that would burn me instead, I was jarred when Zil suddenly emerged through the thick cloud of smoke. His look was urgent and the message was clear – escape or die!

We clasped hands and I worked to keep pace with him as we started back toward the blocked exit. On the way, something shifted under me and I teetered. Zil stopped my fall, but as he turned and started again, I breathlessly slunk to the floor. He started to reach for me ...

His expression changed and he shouted something I didn't understand just before he pulled away. Fearing what might have happened, I shrank back ... and watched as he was whisked upwards toward the ceiling. He stopped – but it lasted only a second. Viciously thrust backwards, Zil flew through the polluted air at a speed that was completely inhuman. Rocks and burning boards followed – and with the ghost's maniacal laughter ringing out the whole while!

Afraid he'd be hurt, or worse, I labored to stand. With only the flames to light my way, I did my best to avoid anything I might fall over as I clumsily started in the direction I'd seen him go. Selectively maneuvering through the maze of wreckage in my search for Zil, I called out to him.

"Ashe – I am here!"

I veered slightly to the left, from where I'd heard his voice, and almost toppled over where he lay on the floor surrounded by scattered pieces of burning debris. I dropped to my knees at his side. Coughing almost uncontrollably, I said, "We need to get out of here – now! Can you?"

Zil took my hand ...

Something had me by my waist ...

With a brutal yank upwards to the ceiling, I almost lost the minute amount of oxygen remaining in my lungs. Seconds before I would've smacked into it, I was abruptly halted. For a moment, I hung suspended in place – and then ... released. With nothing to buffer my fall, I landed hard onto my feet and felt my right hip pop severely. Unable to breathe and forced to stifle any crying out, my knees buckled and I collapsed to the floor.

Driven by desperation to still try and escape the living nightmare, I slowly rolled onto my belly. With my hands flattened to the