Voices From Beyond (A Ghost Finders Novel) Read Online Free PDF

like a heat haze. Ripples moved slowly across the carpet, spreading out from the coffee table like waves on the surface of a disturbed pond. The students cried out and huddled together. Loud, knocking noises sounded in the walls and the ceiling, moving round and round the room as though chasing each other. As though something were banging on the outside of the world, trying to get in. The wooden Ouija board suddenly rose from the table, shooting up through the air till it slammed flat against the ceiling overhead. It clung there, entirely unsupported. The coffee table jumped and shuddered, rocking back and forth on its spindly legs. Elspeth pulled away from the others, and looked wildly about her.
    “There’s someone else in this room! Someone else is here with us!”
    Angie burst into tears. She turned to Dominic, who put a protective arm around her and glared defiantly about the room. Martin was on his feet, his hands clenched into fists, ready to lash out at anything. Elspeth looked fiercely off-camera, at the professor.
    “We’ve got to get out of here! We can’t stay here!”
    “No-one is to leave!” said the professor’s voice. He was trying hard to sound like someone still in control.
    “Go to Hell!” snarled Martin. “This isn’t what we signed up for!”
    “If anyone leaves, they can forget about any help with their course work, or their grades,” said the professor’s voice. “This is important work we’re doing . . .”
    “Stuff your help!” said Dominic. “Get out from behind that camera and do something! This isn’t your experiment any more!”
    The coffee table stopped moving. The flaring lights disappeared, and the loud, knocking noises broke off. Everything was still and quiet in the lounge. The four students fell silent, looking around them with wide, shocked eyes. The Ouija board, pressed against the ceiling, dropped back down, hitting the coffee table with a dull, flat sound. Everyone jumped. And then, all four students slowly relaxed, bit by bit, as the room remained still and peaceful, the accumulated tensions seeping slowly out of them.
    “Is that it?” Angie said tremulously. “Is it over now?”
    She realised Dominic still had his arm around her and moved away from him. He quickly lowered his arm and stepped back. Martin unclenched his fists, scowling about him for any sign the phenomena might be about to start up again. The professor started to say something; and then his voice broke off as all four students suddenly sat down hard, their bodies slumping bonelessly, until they were all sitting on the carpet around the coffee table. Their faces were horribly slack: empty of all expression, or awareness. Their mouths dropped open, and their unblinking eyes saw nothing at all. They sat still, barely breathing, completely silent, all trace of personality gone from their faces. The professor called out to them, saying their names increasingly urgently; but none of them responded. He came out from behind the camera at last, appearing on the screen for the first time. He shook the students by the shoulder and shouted into their empty faces, his voice rising hysterically as he realised there was no-one left to hear him.
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    Professor Volke buried his face in his hands. Melody stopped the recording, and the television screen went blank. Volke breathed deeply a few times, then raised his head to look desperately at JC.
    “Do you understand what happened here? Nothing like that was supposed to happen! It was a stupid séance, a parlour game! You’ve got to help me wake them up!”
    “They’re not asleep,” said Happy. “They’re gone.”
    “Are you sure?” said JC.
    “Their heads are empty,” said Happy. “I’m not picking up a single thought or impulse, on the conscious or unconscious level. Everything they were has been ripped right out of them. Nobody’s home.”
    Melody looked up from her equipment. She’d finished setting up her