Ghoulies Abroad by Julie Steimle (bts book recommendations txt) 📖

was with him. The cop set his eyes on Rick darkly and approached him. “Those your rooms?” he asked in thick Chinglish.

Palely, Rick nodded. “My friends and I came back from dinner, and we found our rooms like that. They are haunted, and we are not staying here. I want to check out immediately.”

“Where your friends now?” the cop asked, his English rather poor and his accent thick.

“Looking for another place to stay,” Rick said. He looked to Chen. “We can’t stay here when you have ghosts.”

“We hear you have snake,” the policeman said, unmoving in his glare.

“No,” Rick snapped. “I don’t have a snake! Why would I have a snake? Where would I even put a snake?”

“You friend bring snake,” the police said.

Meeting his gaze firmly, Rick replied, “None of us brought a snake with us to China. That would be stupid.”

But the policeman glanced to Chen. “You lie.”

Tom Brown immediately dropped through the ceiling and landed on the policeman’s head with his feet. Tom was wearing yellow monk robes, clearly stolen. Cackling while swinging monk beads on his arm, Tom danced on top of the cop. Everyone around them shrieked, backing away. Rick and Chen also had to pretend, though Rick was the only one with a visibly delayed reaction.

With a mid-air flip, Tom launched off the policeman (who for some reason was no worse for wear), and he landed in the center of the lobby. Rick’s eyes widened convincingly on Tom. Then he pointed. “I told you! A ghost!”

Tom scampered off, running up the walls while going translucent before going through the ceiling again.

Monks in orange robes jogged into the hotel lobby now, called by who knows—perfect timing really. They were carrying incense and other things. Already they were chanting to banish evil spirits. Rick wondered slightly if that would have any effect on a half imp. Imps were by nature immune to exorcism. Per the nature of their existence as minor tempters, they were virtually allowed to roam freely and do whatever they wanted. But perhaps Tom’s human side could be affected.

The manager shakily pulled up a slip for Rick to sign showing he was paid up. One of the women was counting out change as Rick had given an excess amount. 

“Keep it,” Rick said. “For damages.”

The manager stared at him.

Rick and Chen turned to go.

“No! You no leave yet!” the policeman shouted after them, looking beyond frazzled. And yet Rick stared at the policeman’s face. Something was off in the color and shape of his eyes. The pupils for a second had gone cat slit and red.

“Oh crud,” Rick muttered, backing away from him.

“Neither of us can transform in public,” Chen murmured, seeing the same thing as Rick.

Rick nodded still retreating toward the door.

“Should we run?” Chen hissed, his nerves tensing up for a fight.

Not sure, Rick cringed. He sneezed again, realizing the room had a strong garlicky smell. His eyes were starting to water.

The policeman drew his gun, advancing towards them from behind the counter.

One of the monks stepped out of line. He swung his incense ball toward the cop, the chain wrapping around the policeman’s wrist just as he fired. A loud crack split into everyone’s ears as the bullet lodged in the ceiling. Plaster particles dropped to the ground. Those in the lobby screamed. Rick and Chen ducked, rushing to the doors. Looking back once at the smiling monk who had promptly kicked the policeman in the groin and stomped on his foot, Rick recognized something in the monk’s smirk and shape of head.

The taxi driver.

“Let’s get out of here.” Rick pushed Chen ahead of him toward the doors.

“But what about the monk!” Chen shouted, pointing.

“He’s ok!” Rick dashed out the doors and onto the street, dragging Chen with him. “I’ve got a feeling we’ll see him again.”

Tom immediately dropped down from the sky, landing next to them on the sidewalk. He was back in his jeans and hoodie again. “Finally.”

They darted to the street and hurried across it.

“But that cop was a demon!” Chen resisted.

“Monk man will make short work of him,” Tom said grinning impishly. “No worries.”

They got across the road and ran to another corner and hailed a cab.

“Huoche zhan!” Rick said to the driver as soon as he got in the back.

Nodding the driver, he turned on the meter and took off.

“So are they going to meet us there?” Tom asked, glancing back at the hotel. “I mean, do they know how to say train station in Chinese?”

Rick nodded. “I wrote it on a paper for them to show the didi driver. But also the didi driver has it in his GPS already.” Rick then sniffed out the driver, trying to detect demon smell, but all he smelled was cigarettes.

The ride to the train station was quick enough, though Rick and Chen both looked back to see if the police were following. So far, no.

When they arrived at the train station and paid the driver, they searched out the Seven. They also searched out the ticket office, which the Seven would most likely be at with all eight tickets if they managed it. But the Seven were not there either.

“Maybe they got lost.” Chen looked around anxiously at the crowds.

Rick shrugged, looking around with a little less worry.

“Maybe they were waylaid and ended up getting arrested,” Tom murmured unsurely.

Raising his eyebrows, Rick considered that. That is, until his phone dinged.

A text came up.

 

Are you here yet?

 

Rick texted back:

 

Yes. Where are you?

 

Almost immediately a text answered him.

 

Bathrooms. We had to take care of something.

 

Rick hoped that something was just a call of nature and not another demon after them. Texting back, he said out loud, “Where should we meet you?”

“Oh,” Tom peered over his shoulder. “Did they contact you?”

“Yep.” Rick then peered at their response.

 

At the ticket check point.

 

Then—

 

Let’s hope we can get in

 

—popped up.

 

OK

 

Rick texted then shut off his phone. Wordlessly, Rick urged Chen and Tom to follow him. They did, quickly.

At the security entrance for the trains, Rick lined up behind a one man with a receding hairline. The man looked back, eyed Rick’s face—while Rick smiled back—then faced forward again, uninterested. Taking that as a good sign that no one was looking for them, he stayed where he was.

Daniel was soon at his right, stuffing his ticket into his pocket before stepping off again to another line. Chen watched him with widening eyes, then he hissed forward to Rick, “He’s good at this.”

“They all are,” Rick murmured. “Which I always found kind of freaky.”

Chen nodded.

“I think it’s cool,” Tom said. But then he glanced to the front of the line at the security guard who was eying him funny. He grunted dejectedly. “I have a bad feeling that I am going to need to take an alternate door again.”

Rick raised his eyebrows. “You were recognized?”

Tom slowly shook his head. “No. But I think I fit a profile…”

Which was probably true. Undoubtedly the security kept their eyes out for suspicious-looking foreigners… and Tom always had a crooked up-to-no-good smile on his face. It wasn’t entirely his fault… as that seemed to be the resting face for a half-imp.

Tom slipped out from under the cord, ducking between stanchions. He walked away as if he were heading to the restroom. Chen peered after him as Tom vanished into the crowd.

“He’ll probably meet us at the train,” Rick said. “Don’t worry.”

The guards gave Rick’s passport and ticket a cursory glance as they let him through. Rick was not carrying any of his bags so he had nothing to put through security. But the guards held Chen back, eyeing his passport and murmuring out loud, “Bai Nian…” as they examined his name.

“Ni shi nei guo ren?” one of them asked him.

Steeling himself up, Chen said, “Wo shi Meiguo ren. I am an American.”

Of course that was obvious because of his passport, but the guards eyed him severely. One guard said in clear English. “A lot of Bai Nians have changed their name to Wang.”

Chen stared, his expression confused, though Rick doubted he was. Chen was sweating.

Rick hopped back and said, “Do you mind hurrying it up? He is my translator.”

The guard turned to him sharply. “Really? Then you both will—”

A huge commotion to the right knocked over one of the metal detector doorways. Rick peered over to see, but Chen all of a sudden seemed to drop out of sight. When the guard glanced back at him, he stared goggle-eyed at the place where Chen had been. The guard searched around for Chen but caught no sign. Neither had Rick, if it came to it. Not even clothes on the floor. The next thing Rick knew their own luggage scanner went off on someone’s bag, drawing in several guards. Someone pushed Rick back to the train side of the line to keep moving while that section immediately got closed down. Everyone in the line behind him had to go to another entrance.

Rick wandered into the rest of the station wondering what happened to everyone. He found himself alone with only his passport and ticket, which was dangerous. Shrugging, as he had no other choice, he wandered toward his train entrance.

But then a small spider monkey ran up and climbed up onto his shoulder as he was walking over the tile.

He sighed, halting. “Did you leave your clothes?”

The little monkey shook his head then leapt off, running ahead of him toward the crowd. Rick followed him, noticing several heads turn to look at the little monkey before it vanished among legs and benches. Perhaps Tom had taken Chen’s clothes. Chen did not have his bag either, so there was no reason for him to hang back with a ticket he had no pockets for.

At the actual platform gate, Rick sat down and waited for his train to arrive. James sat next to him, looking incredibly touristy. He was also petting a small flat-faced dog near his feet, a dog with no collar or tags. Semour dropped next to him with an I love Nanjing tee shirt in his hands. Rick wondered where he got it. He spotted Eddie on the farther end with Andy, eating something. Daniel walked across the tile with Tom whose hoodie hood was up and glasses on—his wings well-hidden by his winter jacket.

“Are we all here?” James murmured as if talking to himself.

Rick scratched his chin. “If that dog is who I think it is, yes.”

Making a little yip, the dog pawed Rick’s shoe, snuffling up his leg.

“Man, I hope so,” James murmured. “I don’t see a reason for there to be a dog in a train station.”

“I hope others don’t think that,” Rick hissed.

Soon their train arrived. James was tempted to pick up the dog, but it ran off before he could attempt it. Each one of them went through the turnstiles, having their tickets scanned before going down with the rest of the crowd to the trains. Rick could not see Chen anywhere. He hoped he wasn’t lost.  

As they got onto the platform, each of them separated to their various train cars. James whispered into Rick’s ear as he left, “Late tickets don’t come together, so just keep an eye out for our stop.”

He was gone in seconds.

Rick boarded as soon as he could. He spotted Andy ahead in the same car, taking a seat next to Eddie. Apparently they had paired off according to seating, because Tom had passed through with Daniel and there was a seat empty next to Rick. Tom dropped off Chen’s clothes as he walked by.

When the train started, Rick looked around.

Still no Chen.

Then the train rolled forward.

If Chen was not on the train, they were in big trouble. Chen’s bags were with Andy and Eddie. Daniel was dragging Rick’s things with him and Tom carried the laptop. He couldn’t see Semour or James.

But then a snake silently slid up from under the seat. Rick jumped a little, almost letting out a yelp, but he suppressed it just in time.