I turned to Shamequa. “Did Rubin do it? Did he record that whisper on your dad’s recorder?”

She shook her head. "I don’t see how he could.”

"No way!” Rubin protested. "You saw Shamequa unpack that recorder. No way I ever touched it.”

Buzzy retreated, his stare still accusing Rubin.

Todd moved to the audio recorder. He gazed at Shamequa. “So ... if Rubin didn’t whisper those

words, that means ... That means we have our proof.”

"Yes!” Summer cried happily. She slapped Todd a high five. "We’ve captured the ghost. We’ve proven

that this house is haunted. We really are ghost hunters!”

She and Todd cheered. Todd reached for Summer’s hands, and they did a short victory dance

together. Misty joined in.

I wasn’t quite ready to celebrate. For one thing, the ghost said we’d never leave the house alive. Maybe

the others were forgetting that part, but I wasn’t.

"Miss Flake is going to freak out,” Shamequa said. She started to pack the video recorder back into the

suitcase.

“No. wait,” I said.

"Can you make copies of the ghost whisper?” Summer asked. "I think we should each have a copy.”

"No problem,” Shamequa replied. She picked up the audio recorder.

“Wait. Come on. Wait,” I insisted. "Can we listen to it one more time?”

Summer shivered. "Why? We’ve heard it, Sammy. Don’t you want to get home? We’re all freezing to

death.”

I motioned to Shamequa. “Just play it one more time. I... I still think it’s Rubin. Just one more time.”

She shrugged and pushed the PLAY button.

We all stood staring at the recorder. Silence at first, then the crackling static. Then more static. The

crackling grew louder, then faded. The recording ended.

“Hey!” Summer was the first to speak. "Back it up. What happened to the ghost voice?”

Shamequa pushed the button again. The static played, rising and falling like the wind.

No voice. No whisper.

“I ... I don’t understand it,” Shamequa stammered. “I’m playing the same part of the recording. But

н

"But the voice is gone.” Summer finished her sentence.

“But... we all heard it,” Misty said. “We know it was real.”

"Gone,” Summer muttered, shaking her head.

And then the ghost detection meter began to click. From the open suitcase. It clicked slowly at first,

like the second hand on a clock. Then it picked up speed, clicking a rapid drumbeat.

A shadow danced on the wall. And then an animal howl tore through the room, like a furious wolf.

Summer and Misty screamed. Todd ducked as a shadow leaped off the wall and appeared to rocket

toward him. He hit the floor and scrambled out of the way.

Rubin backed to the wall. His dark eyes wide with terror.

The meter clicked and the shadow danced and the shrill howl rang out again.

Not the wind. Not the howl of the wind. But a terrifying cry inside the room.

“Let’s get out of here!” I screamed. "Everyone—move!”

But something held me in place. I spun toward the door but I couldn’t move.

And that’s when I started to feel seriously weird.

16

It started with an icy tingle at the back of my neck. A prickling on my skin that felt different from the

shivery feeling I'd had all night. And it buzzed. I mean, I could hear a soft buzz—like an electrical charge—

as the chill spread over the back of my neck.

And then the cold swept down my body, like an avalanche of snow. That’s what it felt like. Deep

snow covering me, slipping down my chest, my arms, my legs.

I was too frightened to cry out at first. Locked in total panic. But then I tried to call to the others—

and no sound came from my throat.

As I struggled to signal to them, I could feel the buzzing current shooting through me. My head

throbbed. Began to feel heavy. I could feel it freezing. My whole head. Frozen and hard like a block of ice.

I tried to wave my arms. To get their attention. To scream. To kick. To do something.

I was buried in the cold. The icy heaviness pressed down on me. The electrical buzz rang in my ears.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

I'm a snowman. I’m as heavy and cold—and dead—as a snowman.

Where were the others? Why weren’t my friends helping me? Were they frozen, too?

Gripped in horror, I tried to scream again. But my face was frozen hard. I couldn’t even open my

mouth.

17

And then suddenly, the weight of the cold slowly lifted. I could feel myself getting lighter. Feel my head

clearing.

My vision was suddenly sharp. The room came back into focus. I blinked. I shook my head.

I tossed my whole body around, struggling to shake off the remaining cold.

Still stunned, I swung my arms and examined my hands. I bent my knees.

I could feel the warmth slowly rise from my feet, up my legs, over my waist, my chest.

I’m thawing. The cold is melting, fading away.

I blinked a few more times and rubbed the back of my neck. Still cold and stiff.

Trembling, I glanced up and realized everyone was staring at me.

"Sammy—are you all right?" Buzzy asked, hurrying over to me. “You scared us. You looked so weird.”

I cleared my throat. “I... felt weird,” I said. “All of a sudden, I—”

“Know why you looked weird?” Rubin interrupted. “Because you’re weird.”

“Rubin, get off his case,” Buzzy said. He turned to me. “Do you feel sick?”

“I felt cold,” I said. “Cold all over. I couldn’t move or anything. Like I was packed in ice. It... it happened so quickly. The cold just washed over me and ... and buried me.”

I expected them to make fun of me. I figured they’d say, Same old wimpy Sammy.

But they watched me with serious expressions. No one said a word, not even Rubin.

"Let’s get out of here,’’ Todd said finally. “It’s almost midnight, and this house is getting creepier and

creepier.”

Summer sighed. “We don’t have our proof. We don’t have anything to show Miss Flake.”

“I don’t care,” Todd said. He gathered up his spotlights. “I’m out of here. If there are ghosts in this

house, I wish them a happy Halloween.”

Misty and Summer helped Shamequa pack her equipment back in the suitcase. Rubin kept a light on

them as they worked. Every few seconds, he swung the flashlight around and shined the light into my

eyes, just to be annoying. He laughed every time.

No one talked. What was there to say? Our ghost hunt was a failure. Yes, we heard a whispered voice.

Yes, we saw a shadow and heard weird howls. But we had no proof. No proof at all.