The Whispering Skull (Lockwood & Co., #2)

by Jonathan Stroud

Our ordinary response in such circumstances would be to either (a) ignore it (Lockwood); (b) ask them politely to ring back (George); or (c) send them away with a shrill torrent of abuse (me: I get grumpy when I’m tired).

“It’s easy to judge me now. But you don’t yet know what it’s like, the day your Talent starts to fade. You’ll still sense ghosts—you’ll know they’re present. But you won’t see or hear them properly anymore. You’ll get all the terror, without being able to do anything about it. Sometimes nerves will simply overwhelm you.”