The Ghost Runner by Norwyn MacTire

Author:Norwyn MacTire [MacTire, Norwyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Athletes, Darby Creek, Fiction, Hi-Lo Fiction, League of the Paranormal, Paranormal, Sports, Sports Fiction, Supernatural, Recreation, Games, Occult, Social Themes, Emotions, Feelings, Cross Country, Cross Country Meet, Cross Country Meets, Cross Country Runner, Cross Country Runners, Cross Country Running, Ghost, Ghosts, Norwyn MacTire, Runner, Runners, Running, The Ghost Runner
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2019-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

7

Ollie had parked the car on his family’s street rather than in the garage. That way, his parents would be less likely to notice when he headed back out again. Once he was inside the house, he realized he hadn’t even needed that kind of caution. His mom and dad were already asleep. Must have been a long few days. It certainly had been for Ollie.

His next stop was Luz’s room. He knocked softly, not wanting to wake up his parents. No answer. He knocked again, still cautious. But if she had headphones on, there was a chance he’d be softly knocking all night.

When he texted Luz instead, she appeared in her doorway a second later.

“Hey bro,” she said. “What do you need?”

“Um, actually . . . your phone?”

The camera on Luz’s phone was about ten times better than the camera on his. Which had never been an issue until Ollie needed to potentially take some nighttime shots in the middle of an already dark, wooded enclosure.

At first Luz asked for something to hold onto in return, then realized she didn’t want to keep track of Ollie’s phone in exchange or have his letter jacket taking up space in her room or take the key to his bike lock and lock his bike to itself.

“But don’t you dare read my texts,” she said. “If I get it back and you’ve opened any, your phone and the jacket and your bike are gonna be out on the lawn with a big cardboard sign that says Free.”

“Fair enough,” Ollie said.

“What do you need it for, anyway?”

“I’ll know that when I see it.”

* * *

Ollie approached the Westlake Arboretum with Luz’s flashlight app on, but he kept the phone pointed at the ground. If anyone else was in the woods near the trail, the beam of light might tell them Ollie was coming. But he knew the course well enough to make his way inward just by looking at the ground.

In Ollie’s other hand, he held his winter coat. The temperature had already dropped since practice. It was in the forties now. But Ollie didn’t yet feel the kind of chill he had felt earlier. He hoped he wouldn’t, hoped the coat would remain an item that he hadn’t needed to bring.

As he got closer to the Skyless Trail, he was tempted again and again to stop and turn around. He hoped at least that Nate was right, even if Nate’s refusal to consider anything except a prank had Ollie fuming earlier that night. And at the edge of the woods around the trail, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Shoe treads along the ground. Recent. They wouldn’t have been from someone running one of the team’s workouts, either. The footprints clearly led off the trailhead and into the trees.

Before following the treads, Ollie snapped a photo of them. He couldn’t try to play detective until later. No way to figure out who might be the owner of the shoes just yet. But he had his first bit of evidence now.

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