Nightmare Read Online Free PDF Page A

evidence
they find. They `know' it because they believe their own tactics
are more scientific, or because they're just plain jealous of my
parents' success. Every group claims to be more reliable than
all the others, and it just comes down to a big shouting match
of `my word against yours.' It's all a game, and there's no way
to win."
    As we began walking again, Jordin suddenly tossed the scrapbook she'd spent countless hours compiling into a nearby trash
bin. "Fine!" she shouted. "I don't know anything about ghosts
or paranormal research. That's why I need your help! Teach me!
I don't care if I don't have iron-clad evidence. I just want to experience it for myself."
    Again I examined her carefully. "Why?" I asked. "Why are
you so eager to do this?"
    She held my gaze steadily. "Why did you give it up?"
    I suddenly felt like a coiled tiger ready to pounce. I knew my
stance had taken on a threatening posture as I narrowed my eyes
at Jordin, but I didn't care. I hated this girl for realizing that my
publicly stated reasons for leaving the world of the paranormal
behind were only secondary and superficial.
    "We're done," I said.

    I had already spun on my heels and begun walking away,
flipping through a stack of envelopes I'd picked up that
morning in the mail, when Jordin approached me again from
behind.
    "Not easy affording tuition these days, is it?" she said in her
best innocent voice.
    I shot her a simple glance but said nothing as I sorted through
the mail and continued walking.
    "You paying for it all on your own? No help from Mom and
Dad?"
    I stopped. If it was possible, I liked this girl even less than
before. "What's it to you if I am?"
    "Nothing," she replied with an innocent face. "Just surprised
your parents aren't paying for your studies. I'm sure they could
afford it."
    My eyes slid downward to the bills again, but my defensive
tone of voice never wavered. "Who says they didn't offer?"
    "Of course.. ."Jordin put it together. "You insisted on doing
it yourself. What better way to make a clean break and declare
your independence than to put yourself through college, launch
your own destiny..."
    "Don't you have some frivolous shopping to do?" I asked,
wanting to be elsewhere. Any elsewhere.
    "I could hire you, you know,"Jordin said. "You need money.
I need your expertise. I'm offering you a job that no one else is
more qualified to perform. You pick the destinations, based on
your knowledge of the field. Anywhere in the world. I'll cover the
expenses. We go on weekends or breaks from school."
    My ears were burning now. I couldn't believe this girl's audacity. This wasn't my first request to be taken on ghost hunting adventures, but it was certainly the most outrageous. "You think
you can get whatever you want with money?"

    "It's just a job," Jordin replied, keeping exceedingly cool.
"So what if I'm willing to pay obscene amounts of money, more
than the job's worth? It's my money, and I can throw it away if
I want. You could pay off your entire tuition-with money you
earned entirely on your own, fair and square. And we'd both get
something we want...." She paused. "Maybe even something
we need."
    How I hated this girl. Hated, hated, hated.
    I wanted nothing more than to smack Jordin Cole across
the face. Instead, I clutched my multiple envelopes full of bills
tighter, grimaced, and looked Jordin in the eye. "What's the
catch?"
    "No catch," she said, a sparkle in her eye indicating that she
knew she'd hit a nerve at last. "Just one requirement. I want to
see a ghost. I want to touch it and interact with it. So when you
pick our destinations ... I'm not interested in going to places
that might be haunted. I want to go to the places where we're guaranteed to see or experience something real. The most haunted
places in the country. Or the world."
    "There are no guarantees in this," I replied, angry at myself
for even continuing this conversation. "The dead don't perform.