My Demonic Ghost: Banished Spirits Read Online Free PDF Page A

of dust that clung to it. The house used to be filled with dashes of green and gold, the radio playing classical favourites, and the lights were left on in every room to help bring forward the beautiful paints, or so my Aunty justified the large electricity bill.
    I moved into the lounge and flicked on the light switch, blinking the room into life. Turning to continue dusting, I nearly stepped through the spirit who had appeared within an inch of me. He was glaring at me, accusingly, through the sweeping bangs of his hair.
    “Keep it off,” he demanded before bursting into a cloud of smoke as the lights flickered and burnt out. I took a quick step back and yelped. I could feel the panic rise in me and did my best to stop my shaking.
    I couldn’t continue cleaning any longer so I crawled up onto the couch with my book, flicking through the pages and looking wearily upwards to check if the ghost was lingering around. I just had a suspicious feeling of danger. I could vaguely sense that he was watching and couldn’t shake that fear of angering him. I had my spirits and demons source book out as I desperately flipped through the pages trying to find any information about Banished spirits.There were stories about witches, demons, ghosts, spirits of the dead and spirits of the underworld, and yet nothing could match the description of Lock. He was too real, looked too real (except maybe for the dark ash smear) and did not act like a mindless simulation of a former life, but like the behaviours of ordinary children. I hadn’t slept at all last night. I was sitting with such tension that my joints started to ache. Knees tucked up to my chest, shoulders tensed so that my neck disappeared, hands continuously rubbing and fidgeting together as my eyes shot around the room in high alert; I could definitely feel the decline in my own sanity. What I needed was to feel secure, to have friend or family member to keeping me company.
    “Whatcha reading?” I let out a long scream, nearly tossing the book into the air as Lock appeared, hovering above me and looking down over my shoulder onto a page about expelling ghosts. I slammed the book shut before he could read anything more.
    “Please, don’t! Just go away!” I shrieked while hugging the book to my chest, afraid that he would try and tear it from my arms. I felt stupid, really stupid for blushing so hard when he looked at me. Lock floated backwards, looking a little hurt, before sinking to the ground and landing on his feet.
    “I’m so bored. You’re boring. Do something!” he whined. I looked up at him with my eyebrows raised. What does he expect? Am I meant to be his source of entertainment? I couldn’t pull my eyes from him; I just didn’t know what he was capable of, of his true intentions.
    Softly I hiccupped, “Like what?” I couldn’t think of anything fun that included a Banished spirit boy with mood swings.
    “I dunno, you think of something!!” Lock snapped again. I felt taken aback; did my father entertain him or something? Regardless, there was no way I was going to challenge him, no matter how rude he was.
    “What are you?” I questioned softly after a moment of pause, trying to even out the shaking in my voice. He looked down at me, rubbing at his serpent eyes before running a hand roughly through his hair. I couldn’t stop myself from studying him, his every twitch and nervous fidget. He was astonishing when he wasn’t drowning me down into a bottomless pit of uncertainty and awe, he looked different. Much different, even shy perhaps?
    “I’m Rachael and I’m fifteen …umm, how old are you, Lock?” I felt like I was a hostage negotiator trying to keep him calm. Not once did I let my body relax.
    “None of your business,” he said.
    “Do you have any friends? Any family?” Lock scoffed loudly at the idea of family. He just didn’t make any sense; he wanted me to help, but wouldn’t cooperate. Every time I brought up a new question about him