Books of the Dead (21 page)

“Have you ever seen her before, maybe if you try then you can remember,” Natalie asked.

“I remember her, I saw her in the library a few days back. Remember the day you met me there? She was there giving me the same cold stare. I didn’t pay any attention back then, but it was her. Do you believe she is a ghost, too?” Merly asked.

“You didn’t tell me back then. I could have asked around, but now I don’t think that is possible. Maybe I’ll ask a few tomorrow, but chances are that word will get around and people will know. So if you want to keep this a secret, then I have to find some other means to get to the truth. However, it is not easy and you know that, right?”

“Yes, I do, but all this does not make any sense, everything escalated so quickly. A few week back, I was enjoying the break and now I am here worrying about things that I might have seen … like ghosts. Is that even remotely possible? It feels so absurd and I am not even sure what to do anymore. Should I simply sit back and wait to see what happens next or intervene and do something about it? Should I see a doctor? Should I inform anyone? Otherwise, people will think that I am completely and totally out of my mind. This can’t be happening and I should do something,” Merly went on saying. Her face and ears were red, and though it was cold that day, there was sweat forming on her forehead.

“You need to calm yourself down. You think that everyone will believe you if you claim to have seen a ghost, and not just one, but two probably. We need to handle this carefully. Maybe we can talk to past students who claimed to have seen the librarian?” Natalie was trying to calm Merly down, no matter how illogical her suggestion sounded.

“And how are we going to get hold of them? That is impossible, Natalie. At times, I do think that I am losing my mind but then I realize what I saw back in the library cannot be unreal, I am not making any of this up, it’s true, am I losing my mind? Am I Natalie?” Merly sounded truly desperate.

“Merly, just calm down for a moment. You are not losing your mind, and neither are you overreacting. We are trying everything we can, it is just that informing a higher authority about what is going on doesn’t sound like a good idea. We just have to find out if Nora’s disappearance has anything to do with what you are seeing, or if Nora is also seeking the truth just like we are, but we will find out.” Natalie affirmed.

“But how are we supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know, we have to think of something and fast. You cannot just be talking to a ghost, we need to find out something fast before people start thinking that you are delusional. I think I know who can help us without the word getting spread,” Natalie said, and there was a strange confidence in her voice.

“You know whom I am referring to, right?” Natalie asked Merly whose face showed no emotion.

“I don’t know whom you are referring to. I don’t believe students just see ghosts in the library and keeps quiet about it, and chances are that if we ask anyone else then the word will get out. I don’t want any more attention than I am already facing now,” Merly said.

Natalie who was pacing the room took Merly by the hand and said, “Think, Merly. There is someone who might know things. I am talking about Mr. Stevenson. He has been working in the library for a long time and there are already rumors that he talks to himself, just like people saw you talking today. It cannot just be a mere coincidence, at least I don’t believe that. I am confident that he knows something. He just cannot sit there the entire day for so many years and not know anything. Have you ever wondered why the rumors regarding Mr. Stevenson being senile began to circulate in the first place?” Natalie’s words were beginning to make more sense to Merly.

“What you are saying might actually be true and it is possible. I genuinely like Mr. Stevenson, but he does act strange at times. I have noticed it lately, but I thought it was only due to old age, but now I am not so sure if that is the case,” Merly said, agreeing with Natalie.

“So it’s time we go and confront him. Merly, he knows you, so it will be easy for us. We will ask him when no one is around and that includes the new assistant librarian. He will act like he doesn’t know a thing, but we know that he knows and we will catch him off-guard, and that way he will have to tell us whatever he knows that goes on in the library, if there is even a ghost for real or two or three. And after that, we find out how to deal with the situation and get you out of it. How does that sound?” Natalie raised her eyebrows and asked Merly.

“Natalie, I cannot thank you enough, and there I was suspecting you. I feel so ashamed. It’s just that I can’t sleep at night, and I lost my reasoning capability somehow, but I guess you are right, I just need to relax and take things as they come. So that is what we will do tomorrow right after our first class. I will wait for you outside the library and you can meet me there. We will ask him together,” Merly declared.

“You can thank me all you want later, but we need to put an end to this, so let’s roll now,” Natalie announced.

1. Chapter 6
   

Anticipation kept Merly from sleeping the entire night. What would she learn and where would the information take her nagged at her mind. She tossed and turned, then got up once, paced her room, but tiredness didn’t dawn on her. She had an incredibly hectic day, fainted, then brought to the doctor and back, but at two-thirty in the morning, all she could think of was how she would approach Mr. Stevenson. What if he refuses to speak to me? What if he doesn’t believe me? What do I do then? she mumbled in her mind. Merly was not too sure if Mr. Stevenson would comply with their questioning. He had not been acting normally over the past few days, and Merly observed it. There was a high probability that he would simply bypass the questions or makes an excuse or just deny about knowing anything.

Merly wished that the time would fly by fast. When the first rays of the sun hit Merly’s window pane and reflected on her face, she didn’t waste anymore time. She prepared a quick breakfast, but all the anticipation had kept her awake, and only when she closed her eyes and awoke again, it was time for her to get up, but she didn’t complain. Merly pushed her breakfast plate away, there was still some time for college to start, but she couldn’t wait.

******

Natalie was up, too, but doubted if Merly would be. Nonetheless, she was ready and prepared to go. One last time, she checked into Francesca’s room, but she was still not back from the night of group study, so Natalie didn’t wait. She went out as both of them had decided to meet outside the library right after the first class.

Merly was the first to reach the college, and like she expected, the corridor that leads to the lecture hall was significantly barren. There was no one there, so she decided to look around for a moment. During her time in the institution, Merly never bothered to explore her surroundings. Today, however, was different. She felt light-headed in spite of all the anticipation, so she started walking slowly across each room. She went past the first room, and it was open.

The old janitor was cleaning the board and nodded at the sight of someone peeping through the door. “Is this your class? You are early,” the cleaning lady said.

“No, this is not my class; I didn’t mean to bother you, I am just here a bit early today,” Merly said very meekly.

“I understand ... no student is here this early ever, except for this one girl. I just see her every time, walking past, never turns a head, never looks side ways and never blinks, and those strange green eyes….” The cleaning lady went on talking mostly to herself.

Merly wasn’t listening, but the description of the green eyes caught her attention. She was almost past the door, but she stopped, “What did you just say?” Merly asked.

“You are still here? I said nothing, so go on.” The cleaning lady gestured towards Merly to move along.

“No, you said something, something about a girl with green eyes who is always here. Was she here today? Did you see her or talk to her?” Merly questioned.

“Why do want to know? Is she your friend? And what is with so many questions? Just ask one at a time.” The cleaning lady was not taking Merly or her questions seriously.

“Please, ma’am, this is important. Did you see her today? Was she here?”

“She was here all right; she is here most days.”

“Where do you see her? In the classrooms or in the corridor, where exactly do you see her? Please tell me!”

“Come to think of it, I see her in the library. She must work late or I don’t know, she might live there. What she does confuses me … and you know, it is strange, she has the same book in front of her everyday.”

“Did she ever speak to you? Or did you ever talk to her?”

“No, I never spoke to her, in fact, I don’t usually bother students while they are working or studying. I just go past them and make sure that my presence gets unnoticed. But there is something unusual about this girl, something I cannot place my finger right now. It can be her appearance or the way she sits there all by herself. There is something about her that is not right,” the cleaning lady said while still working on her job.

Merly stood there listening to every word that was said to her. “Did you ever see her with anyone or outside the library? Or someone else speaking to her?”

“That is the oddest part, in all my working years, I have never seen her talking to anyone in particular, no student in particular to be more precise.”

“No student in particular?” Merly asked.

“That means she never speaks to any students, but she does speak to someone that you know.” Merly was almost sure whose name would be said.

“Yes, she does. Occasionally, I have seen Mr. Stevenson speaking to her. You see, I have been here for a long time, so I know people around here, but this girl I don’t know, which class she goes to or what she studies, but I have seen her for a long time. I have seen strange things happening, but even for me, this is strange. However, old Mr. Stevenson, he never seems to get upset whenever this girl is around.” The cleaning lady shrugged clearly expressing that she didn’t know the reason regarding why Mr. Stevenson acted that way.

“Have you ever tried talking to him about this?”

“He is old, I try not to rile him up. He flips over little things these days. I have known him for a long time and I am sure he won’t mind me asking, but then, I don’t think he would take it very nicely as well. Haven’t you heard what some kids say? They say that he talks to himself, but all my years, I have never seen him do that. Mr. Stevenson is kind, compassionate and very sensible. He would never do something so senile as talking to himself. He doesn’t do that.”

Merly could feel that the topic had deflected from the green-eyed girl to Mr. Stevenson and the cleaning lady was seemingly angry about the entire situation. Merly couldn’t understand why she changed her topic so drastically, and she tried to steer the conversation towards the girl who apparently was always seen in the library.

“So you are telling me that she never talks to any other student and the only one she talks to is Mr. Stevenson? Do you know what they talk about?” Merly steered the conversation back.

“That is what I am telling you, she never speaks to any student, the only person with whom I have seen her speak is Mr. Stevenson. He seems tense while talking to her, so I never bother him, and he has so much going on in his life already, with his son and everything else. That is not my story to tell, but why are you so concerned about this girl?” the cleaning lady said with suspicion.

Merly didn’t know what to make of the situation. On one hand, she was confused regarding what she was told, and on the other hand, she couldn’t figure out why the girl only spoke with Mr. Stevenson. Then she had no answer she could possibly provide to the cleaning lady and fumbled with her answer. “I want to know because … I spoke … I mean I saw her, too, she was there…”

Merly left her answer midway and never completed what she was saying.“What are you saying? It hardly makes any sense.” the lady looked confused as well.

“It’s nothing, ma’am, I just wanted to know out of curiosity. There are so many students around and the one you were talking about intrigued me.” Merly hoped that the answer was satisfactory.

“You might find her in the library if you go now.” the lady urged her.

However, Merly was not very confident about that, she had no intention of meeting the creepy girl as she was starting to believe that the green-eyed girl might be a ghost, too. She excused herself and walked towards her classroom. There were students coming in now and a few of them passed her by, a couple of them greeted her, others simply went their own way. Then a realization struck Merly, she thought that if the cleaning lady was able to see the ghost of the green-eyed girl, then she could see the ghost of the old librarian, too. Merly judged if it was appropriate to ask her about that or if she could ask without raising her suspicion. Hence, she turned back and decided to ask her, but by the time she reached the first classroom, the cleaning lady was already gone.

Merly looked outside and then on the inside of the classroom. She even walked a few stairs down to see if the lady was still there, but she was no where in sight. A little disappointed, Merly walked back to her class and waited for the rest of her classmates to arrive before the first lecture commenced.

The class started filling in, and the familiar faces started to appear one by one. But Merly didn’t concentrate on any of that, the only thing that went through her mind was to confront Mr. Stevenson. The first teacher who came to give a lecture informed the class that the lecture hours will be doubled that day, for the other days, since they missed the class on the previous day. Merly found that her patience was running thin, but she had no other choice other than to wait. Therefore she waited, with every minute feeling like hours, but that is how Merly’s lack of patience was showing recently.

Jeremy noticed Merly’s taut expression and tried to call her across the room, but she was too lost in her own thoughts to take notice. “Merly! Merly!” he tried again, but Merly seemed to be in another dimension.

Sandra who usually sat beside Merly saw that so she alerted her, “Hey, can’t you hear? Jeremy is calling you. He is asking you something.”

Merly got back to her senses and looked in the direction where Jeremy sat. He mouthed some words and she tried to focus on to what he was saying, but she couldn’t. She tried to listen hard, but somehow she couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Merly was disoriented and looked at Sandra, but she was copying down the notes, and then Merly looked back at her own note book, but that was blank. A jab of regret and shame filled her mind and heart. She was neglecting her lessons and she knew that would reflect on her academics.

“Merly!” Jeremy called again, and this time a bit loudly and they were both lucky that professor Clint’s voice was louder and stronger than his, otherwise, both of them would have been expelled from the class. Mr. Clint was strict and the students were well aware of that, yet Jeremy took his chances. Merly looked directly at him and saw that he gestured her to wait for him outside after the lecture by professor Clint was over.

As the time lapsed past one hour, it got difficult for Merly to contain herself any longer. She wanted to excuse herself and leave, but understood that it would draw attention, so she sat there waiting for the class to get over.

Sandra who was sitting beside her saw Merly’s blank notebook and nudged her. “Hey, you are not writing down anything? You got a problem?” Sandra wanted to know. Sandra knew that according to the grade of the class, Merly was one of the best students in the class. She never missed any of the lectures, was always on time, submitted her assignments regularly and she was always the one to go ahead and ask the extra questions of the professors. Everyone in the class was acquainted with that, but recently, her reluctant behavior didn’t go unnoticed. There were several students in the class who talked about it and said that it was only a phase. Others couldn’t understand what prompted her to change all of a sudden.

Merly didn’t answer Sandra’s question directly and pretended that it was not important enough to answer, but her friend didn’t let it go. While they were given a short break of ten minutes, Sandra got hold of Merly,

“Just wait, why are you avoiding my questions?” She seemed to seriously wanted to know.

“I am not avoiding anything; and there is nothing for me to tell you.” Merly avoided looking into Sandra’s eyes fearing that’s her lies would be caught.

“I don’t think that you are exactly telling the truth, Merly. You haven’t copied anything down and there is so much that Professor Clint already said. You are hardly present in class and you leave most lectures in the middle, and you don’t even come back for the end of it. I have been sitting here for the past week, and there is obviously something wrong with you.” Sandra looked concerned, and as one of Merly’s earliest friends, it was obvious.

Merly wondered why Sandra didn’t show her concern before, and her unexpected interest regarding her problems bothered her.

Sandra appeared to have known what was going through Merly’s mind, so she said, “I didn’t say anything, because now a days you hardly talk to me anymore, since you made friends with Natalie. I was still your friend despite you being so close to Nora. I was sad and hurt so I didn’t intervene before, but if you continue with this attitude, your grades will fall. Did you listen to what the professor said?” Sandra’s voice fluctuated from being sad, hurt to concern again.

Merly had no answer to offer. She was aware of where she stood. Her recent friendship with Natalie bothered many and Sandra was no exception, still what she failed to understand was that Sandra was not jealous or curious; she was vexed by Merly’s reluctance and indiscipline.

“What did the professor say?” Merly asked clearly bypassing what Sandra said before, she kept her voice low.

“You were not even listening, were you? We have to submit the assignments by tomorrow and we will be marked on them. You didn’t even bother to copy down the topics.” There was a clear amount of displeasure in Sandra’s voice.

”I can always ask him again,” Merly said humbly.

“You know that you cannot do that; he will get furious. Here take this, I have noted them down for you.” She handed her own note book to Merly.

Merly took the notebook from her, then flipped through the pages to take a look at the assignment that was given to her. For some time, she didn’t say anything, but just stared blankly at the paper with words and sentences scribbled on them. Sandra nudged her from the side again, and whispered that it was time for Professor Clint to be back and resume the lectures. So Merly picked up her pace and started to scribble down her assignment as fast as she could and as Sandra told her, the professor was back and continued with his lectures. Merly tried to focus harder this time so as not to disappoint her friends; Sandra glanced at her every now and then to make sure she was taking down everything that was being said.

Professor Clint stopped in middle of his lecture, checked his watch and announced that the class was over for the day. While most of Merly’s classmates got busy preparing for the next teacher and the given assignment, Merly carefully took her leave. She made sure that no one was looking at her, not even Jeremy.