Page 42 of Rescue

“Why not?”

“Because not knowing is part of the experience.”

“Paige is big on the experience,” Daisy murmurs to Haylee. “It’s best not to question it.”

We meet our tour guides in front of a church on the Royal Mile. I expected silly costumes and feel a little let down when they greet us in simple, dark suits. Though oneiswearing a pretty sweet looking cape. Paige has arranged for a private tour for us, so we follow the guides down the high street to the entrance to the underground vaults.

“We’re going down there?” Cash asks, his voice a little high pitched as he looks down the stone stairway to the dark beyond.

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” Paige says, following the guide down into the darkness.

“Come on, Cash,” Daisy says, holding out her arm for him. “You can walk with me.”

“Fine,” he says, taking her arm. “But I’m only doing this for your protection, you know. So you won’t get scared.”

“Of course you are, dear,” she says, rolling her eyes at me as they head down the stairs. “After you,” I tell Haylee then follow her down. We meet the others at the bottom of the steps in a room with rock walls. It’s lit only by torches, the effect pretty creepy. The guide explains how we’re standing in a portion of the city only recently excavated. The streets and buildings below have long since been built over. As we follow him deeper into the tunnels, I can’t help but feel a little let down. The vaults are creepy and dark, but the guide mostly focuses on historical details, only occasionally mentioning reports of hauntings.

“I thought this would be scarier,” Levi says when we emerge an hour later.

“Just wait,” Paige says knowingly. The next part of the tour takes place in a cemetery called Greyfriars Kirkyard. The guide explains how the graveyard is famous for the story of a loyal dog who guarded his owner’s grave for years after his death. “And,” he says, his voice dropping several notches, “there’s also the matter of all the ghosts.”

Nothing jumps out at us, there are no strange noises. But that doesn’t lessen the fear one bit. There’s something about walking through an old graveyard, in the middle of the night, listening to ghost stories, that is simply frightening. I notice as we walk farther through the headstones that our group in closing in, each of us subconsciously wanting to get closer to the others. Cash is still holding Daisy’s arm, but he seems to be clinging tighter than she is now.

“You know what would be awesome?” Paige whispers loudly. “Playing Ghost in the Graveyard in here.”

All of us who have played this particular game with Paige groan loudly. “What’s Ghost in the Graveyard?” Dylan asks.

“Oooh, we’ll have to play sometime,” Paige says. “I can totally show you, it’s really—” There’s a rustling in the trees, and Paige lets out a little shriek. “What was that?”

“Perhaps a crow,” the guide says. “Or perhaps… something else.”

No one talks much after that. My own heart is beating much faster than I would want to admit. The guide brings us to a stone mausoleum. “Within these walls,” he whispers, and I notice everyone in the group leaning in to hear him better, “dwells the most well-documented poltergeist in the world.”

“A poltergeist?” Cash asks, his voice decidedly squeaky.

The guide nods. “The Mackenzie Poltergeist has been haunting visitors to this spot for decades. Many unexplained things have happened here.”

“Like what?” Haylee asks. Is her voice shaking?

“Many men and women will find their skin marked by this spirit,” he says. “Scratches, bruises, all unexplained. Others will feel a presence, a brush of cold air on their skin. Hands pushing their bodies. Some will hear screams. Pictures taken here have shown shadowy figures standing near our guests.”

Daltrey immediately spins around, as if to catch sight of a shadowy figure.

“I can allow you into the tomb,” the guide says, looking from face to face. “That is… if you aren’t too afraid.”

“Shit,” Cash mutters, and I release a little laugh, needing to break some of the tension. Haylee looks up at me, smiling, eyes flashing.

“Let us inside,” Paige says, her voice shushed.

“As you wish,” the guide says, opening the wooden door to allow us entry. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The guide gestures us through the stone doorway but doesn’t follow as we step into the silent tomb. Does the air feel colder? It’s pitch dark, no light from the moon filtering through the stone walls. When Haylee leans toward me and her hair brushes my ear, I jump a foot in the air. “How much will your brothers tease me if I admit that I’m terrified?” she whispers. Her breath on the skin of my neck makes me shiver, and I can only hope that if she notices, she’ll write it off as a symptom of the cold.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” I say. “Not that I’m scared or anything.”

She laughs softly. “Sure you aren’t.”

“I’m scared as hell,” Daltrey says from behind us, making me jump again. I had no idea he was back there. He laughs at my reaction. “You sure you aren’t?”