Chapter 33: Hey, is that chicken I can smell burning?
Miss Black Cat had another 3 hours to go on her shift at the BBQ Chicken McBurger Shack and all her damn phone could do for the last 10 minutes was ring. Her boss stared at her through his thick greasy glasses daring her to answer it. In the end, she reached into her pocket to turn it off.
She glanced at the screen. 10 missed calls from Beth. Why the hell is she phoning me? It was her first night at being a ghost tour guide, she thought.
She twirled the phone in her hand. Beth was no fool. No drama queen. She was logic to the bone. How she was even a ghost tour guide was still a mystery to her. But Miss Black Cat knew in her soul that Beth was no joker.
"Joanne could we get back to the burgers, please." Her boss hissed.
Miss Black Cat thought for a moment, winked at her boss and called Beth back.
A minute later her bossed screeched. "Hey where are you going? Get back in that kitchen and flip some burgers!"
The call had been bad from Beth. Miss Black Cat turned around as she opened the door to leave the shop and said with a big smile. "Hey, is that chicken I can smell burning?"
It took her just 25 minutes to cycle the 6 miles across London to where Beth was. Her legs felt weak and wobbly as she walked up to the public toilet. A scream came from within. Fear jolted through her like electricity. This was it. All the long hours of training, all the years of dreaming of becoming an Occult detective had come down to this.
She steadied herself and was about to step in when a hand grabbed her from the darkness. Wraith Macabre's face loomed next to hers and whispered. "Not yet, let's talk first." Miss Black Cat slowly nodded and they both crept away to Wraith's car that was nearby.
"How are you here, how do you know about my friend Beth?" She wanted to say more but Wraith hushed her and told her about the phone call he had. "It was from a much-frightened woman called Mrs Rutherford. She said the address and that a very important person wanted to speak to me. When I asked who, she said the last time I had met him was in Thornville Cemetery.*
"What does that mean? I'm confused. Beth screamed to me there was a ghost in the toilet."
"It means, Miss Black Cat, that you get these people and your friend out as fast as you can and bring them here behind my car."
Hex came trotting up. "Checked the area, it's all clear. Ready to go when you are boss."
Miss Black Cat shook her head. "Tell me who's in there with my friend."
Wraith took out some red chalk from his pocket. "Ok I'll be straight with you Miss Black Cat; I have to draw out a Vox inferno spell. I'm going to speak to the devil."
Miss Black Cat looked stunned then whispered. "This is serious crap innit."
"As serious as it gets. Look." Wraith said. "I got no choice in the matter. I have to talk to him; hell for the last few months has been acting strange." He held her hand. "Can I ask a favour?"
"Of course." Miss Black cat said and squeezed his hand.
"If this is really just some kind of trap and it all goes wrong, can you tell Iva?" He let go of her hand and said. "Even when I'm in hell I'll be thinking of her."
"Boss." Hex said. "They're screaming inside again. We have to go."
Miss Black Cat looked at Wraith. "If it all goes wrong, I promise I'll tell her. Just do me one small favour in return when you speak to that son of a bitch."
"Name it." Wraith said.
"Tell him everyone thinks he's a jerk."
Wraith laughed and gave a thumbs up. "Let's go."
*See Chapter 1.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
mangabigbang
mangabigbang Thank you for reading Wraith Macabre. There will be a chapter every Tuesday and Friday, with more spooky adventures of the occult detective as he tries to solve weird and wonderful cases!!
This is a novel by David Thomas, the writer of Avatara the manga series. Read Avatara webnovel based on David's manga script, written by novelist Domnic Obi:
http://tiny.cc/ni1j9y
Manga Big Bang website: www.mangabigbang.com
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