The voice whispered in a pitch too high to be human. It rose and fell with the same cadence of the screams that followed us from the forest. It was the same voice from the Locust Tree Mountains.

The silvery cry came again. I turned to Zhao Jie and You Xiaoqing, "Do you hear it?"

Zhao Jie was shivering uncontrollably. The whites of his eyes shone out and his knees started to buckle. I drew out Tong Mei on instinct and placed it in his quivering hand. After a moment his eyes rolled back and he gradually stopped shaking.

You Xiaoqing was standing beside him staring at the front door. She moved as if to go inside. Handing Zhao Jie the copper, I stretched my other hand to stop her. I wrapped my hand around her arm, but she pulled against it great strength. I staggered between the two of them.

Moving as quickly as I could, I put the little compass in You Xiaoqing's hand. She faltered, blinked, and then turned away from the door. The pair of them looked at me dumbfounded and asked in unison, "What's wrong with me?"

"It was the little ghost." I nodded to their hands, clamped respectively on their lifelines. "Keep those close or it'll happen again."

They returned my words with frightened looks. I did my best impression of confidence and gave them a smile.

Then the cries split the air once more. The sound splintered into our ears and I winced, closing my eyes and grabbing at the jade amulet. It didn't stop the rising screech. Zhao Jie clapped his hands to his ears, stuffing the copper against one of them. You Xiaoqing did the same with the compass. The three of us huddled down together against the noise.

The screech continued to rise into a skull splitting length of vowels. My teeth began to ache in my mouth and my brain felt like it was three sizes too large. I grabbed my friends' hands and pulled them away from the house. We reached the street and moved down several houses before it died away. Zhao Jie was pale and panting, You Xiaoqing looked on the verge of fainting, and I'm sure I was no better.

"Where is everyone?" I managed. We looked around, swiveling our heads at the nearby houses. No one was on the street. No one came outside to investigate the screaming. Nothing moved except for the three of us, heaving in breath after breath. The ringing in my ears subsided and was replaced by the rapid thump thump thump of my heart.

"Fuck that hurt." Zhao Jie said. He blushed a dark red and looked at You Xiaqing. "Pardon my language." She gave him a small smile.

"It's the ghost, it has to be. Shuang Lin and his family what do you think happened to them?"

They exchanged a glance. You Xiao Xiaoqing spoke next, "That sound can kill people. I almost went down just now."

"But there's nobody here!" I half shouted. "No one came outside to see what was happening. Do you think they can hear it?"

We looked back at Shuang Lin's house worriedly.

After the briefest of moments Wang Chunmei's voice filled the street, "You! Go away! I'll kill you if you come near me!" Her words shivered with fear.

"Is she talking to us?" Zhou Jie asked hesitantly, fear tingeing his own voice.

Then another woman spoke, "Wang Chunmei, don't be crazy! What am I to tell your mother about this behavior? Aunty has always treated you well! Let's go back inside..."

"Her aunt!" You Xiaoqing said, "They're still alive in there!" She turned as if to charge. I put a hand on her arm, this time soft, but restraining.

"We can't go in there now. It's getting dark and the Yin air is heavy. The ghost is stronger this time of day. We can come back in the daylight."

I saw the doubt and frustration in You Xioaqing's eyes. A moment passed before she nodded and we moved back towards the school in silence. Only after putting a large distance between the house and ourselves did Zhao Jie and You Xiaoqing gave the little compass and copper back.

When I got at home, my mom was waiting with questions. "Where have you been?"

I'd practiced my response on the walk home and replied very casually, "I was playing with Zhou Jie on the new playground equipment! It's really cool!" I gave her my best grin and prayed silently. She eyed me for a moment and then smiled back.

"I'd like it if you walked home with your classmates from now on. There's word of some girl acting crazy in the village," She gave me the mom look. "And we all know how you fair with crazy."

"Don't worry mom," I said, "I've got Master Liu's treasures to protect me."

Wang Chunmei's antics were in the paper the following morning. I saw the story title on the cover page while my dad was reading it. She became the hot topic around town the following days. We heard rumors of possession, illness, allergies, and even diet problems. One conversation caught my ear on the way to school, "Do you think she's the mother?" an old woman whispered to her walking companion.

"No way! That girl's barely eighteen! She couldn't have had a baby and abandoned it at that young age!" Her friend replied.

An older gentleman walking in front of them, presumably on his way to work, stopped walking so abruptly that the old women almost crashed into him. "I'll have you keep my niece's business out of your mouths!" He told them, mustache quivering and face purple. "She's a sweet girl, never had a boyfriend, and I'll have you know-" he paused and raised a hand, his face now a deep velvet color and voice a hoarse rasp, "That she is a virgin! That preposterous ghost story is unfounded and slander!" The final word came out in a fountain of spittle.

The kids at school picked up rumors from their parents. The teachers plucked those rumors out in between classes and tried to calm the hallways down, but the stories of Wang Chunmei at Shuang Lin's house ran rampant.

You Xiaoqing and I did our best to spread the truth. Yes, something was going on. No, we didn't see anything, only heard screams. Yes, it was scary. No, we didn't see any bodies. I rounded the hallway one afternoon and found Zhao Jie with a gaggle of fifth graders around him.

"It was a huge ghost!" He drew out the word huge while spreading his arms and grimacing for effect. "And its mouth was dripping with blood!" The girls in the group shrieked at the perfect time and Zhao Jie smiled.

"Big mouth." I muttered, trying to suppress a smile. Later that day, my dad asked me to his office, something that he'd never done before.

"What do you know about this Wang Chunmei girl?" He asked, still using his administrative teacher voice.

"Nothin'" I said.

"Don't lie to me, Xiao Yong." He said again, placing his arms on the desk between us and leaning in.

"It's all talk! They're just rumors!" I said again, knowing I was caught.

He looked at me through his reading glasses. He looked older somehow, more like Master Liu than ever. I wasn't used to seeing him in his teacher role. "Stay away from that house." He said. "You know why."

I nodded my head and asked to leave, barely waiting for permission before I was in the hall and speeding towards my class.

Zhao Jie, Shang Haoming, You Xiaoqing and I made plans to revisit Shuang Lin's house that weekend, but when I awoke on Saturday morning my father told me I'd be staying in and studying. "And tomorrow too." He said in a tone that dared testing. Zhao Jie came over around ten that morning and asked to come in but my dad answered with a simple, "No." and closed the door. He did the same thing when Shang Haoming and You Xiaoqing came knocking. I watched them through the kitchen window as they reevaluated our plan.

At noon, Shang Haoming, You Xiaoqing, and Zhao Jie, all three milling about outside my house, my father finally had enough. He opened the door and peered out hollering, "Xiao Yong is almost ready, what are you four going to do today?" His voice was pleasant and breezy, without a care in the world.

Shang Haoming returned my dad's smile and called back, "We heard there's an entranced girl at Shuang Lin's house! We're gonna' go check it out!"

I winced as my father slammed the door. I could imagine the bewildered look on Shang Haoming's face. Dad rounded on me with all the wrath of a disappointed father. You know the type.

On Monday the stories were fresh and new. Word had it that Wang Chunmei's family tried to take her to a hospital, but she wouldn't leave the yard. When they tried to force her out she tried to kill herself.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I heard from a sixth grader, why would they lie?" Ku Tou said stubbornly.

The next was that she climbed to the highest part of the roof and tried to jump, but her uncle saved her right at the last moment.

"That's dumb." You Xiaoqing said. "If she wouldn't leave the yard, why would she climb on top of the house?"

Ku Tou only shrugged at this, not bothering to defend his sources a second time.

"I heard she's frozen solid and her skin turned blue!" Zhao Jie added, looking serious as a heart attack. "And her arms are locked around that doll that she had. Nobody could pry it away from her."

We all looked at him incredulously.

"What?" He asked. "She might die"

When her family started inviting Taoists into the village to treat her, I hoped deep down that it would be Master Liu. I never saw any of them, especially with my dad locking me in all hours of the weekend, but the others fed me stories during school.

"I heard that it's a really old guy." Zhao Jie whispered loudly.

"Who?" I asked.

"The latest master the Wang's brought in." He said. "They say he used countless paper amulets in the yard, murmuring incantations." He tossed his hands around like he was making it rain. "And he jumped for a half day. Plus I heard something about a drink he gave her. They say he cured her!"

"No way!" I told him. "Let's ask You Xiaoqing during lunch, she won't make stuff up." He punched my arm.

"Yeah, that's what I heard too." You Xiaoqing confirmed. "Something about a kind of drink made with amulet ashes. The master left town this morning."

She wasn't cured though. After the master's visit, Wang Chunmei began wandering aimlessly around town spouting nonsense. She looked perfectly healthy and was lively as ever, but her mind was gone.

Zhao Jie and I passed her on our way to school as Chinese New Year was approaching. She stumbled past us on the sidewalk, weaving back and forth like a drunk. The rumors followed her, but the town seemed to stop caring after the master's visit. I nudged Zhao Jie and pointed at her, whispering as quietly as I could, "Did we do that to her?"

Zhao Jie shook his head but wouldn't look at her. "No way."

"But we let loose the ghost!" I hissed.

"You don't know that." He said and increased his pace, leaving the haunted Wang Chunmei stumbling behind us.

Chinese New Year came and went without incident, though Wang Chunmei didn't improve. Spring Festival approached and I considered calling Master Liu and asking for help. The thought faded quickly when I realized he'd never responded to the first message. "He'd probably be mad at me anyway." I thought.

I found out much later that my dad called when I wouldn't. He left a message for Master Liu, detailing the situation.

A heavy snow fell towards the end of February and an air of good luck descended onto the village. I almost forgot about Wang Chunmei as the festivities cropped up.

I may have forgotten about the ghost, but it certainly didn't forget about me.