Books of the Dead (27 page)

Natalie and Merly both looked at the piece of paper in awe, and were surprised as they clearly knew what that meant. “Look at this, Natalie! How is this even possible?”

“I have no idea. Now where do we start looking?” Natalie asked.

The girls recognized the name and had a look of knowing something on their face.

“What is it? Is there something that I do not know?” Camille questioned.

“No, there is nothing that we could tell you; we are as surprised as you are regarding this thing.” Natalie tried to act convincing. Camille had already caught on to the fact that Merly was lying.

“You don’t sound convincing enough, and I saw the look that you gave me. So I’ll ask you one final time, what is it?’ Camille tried harder.

Both the girls got up without saying a thing and completely ignored what Camille said. Then before going out, Merly said in a polite manner, “There is obviously something that I have to take care of myself. You cannot help me with this and I don’t expect it either. Don’t expect an answer, because I can’t and I won’t tell you anything.” Merly closed the door behind her and left, but she could hear Camille shouting their name in her own agony.

“What triggered all this?” Natalie asked innocently, as if she was oblivious to the entire situation.

“I think it’s me, it must be me. I started all this and now I have to put an end to this before more people are driven to madness. I cannot see that happening. I cannot push more people into trouble. I still have no clue where Nora is or why she refuses to contact me. How many days has it been, Natalie? Or Mr. Stevenson, who confessed then denied everything, and now Camille. This is not right and it must stop!” Merly said..

“Do you want to contact Nora one more time?” Natalie asked earnestly.

“What is the point? But I know she has the answers, but what if she refuses to talk to me, what then?” Merly expressed what she felt and Natalie couldn’t deny. It was true that things were indeed out of hand and no matter how sincerely they tried, it seemed like they were traveling round in circles.

“I will head to the library, will you come with me?” Merly asked Natalie before making her way to the library.

“You want to go now? Because of a piece of paper, are you sure about it? I mean, what if Camille had forged it or something like that. We will never know that,” Natalie said expressing her doubt.

“I do not believe that she made it, and we cannot do anything. I keep saying this to you that we have to trust her. Now come with me will you.” Merly dragged her friend towards the library.

“What will you do there? Mr. Stevenson will deny everything and I told you that before. There’s no point … wait!” Natalie obviously was not sure what to think about it, so decided to follow Merly.

Mr. Stevenson was not present when they entered the library and as per Merly’s instruction, they made their way towards the criminology section. The benches were empty and it was a perfect opportunity for them to discuss their situation.

“Why did you drag us here? What will we find here?” Natalie asked.

“I will exorcise the library ghosts here. I need to ask them or her questions and why she’s bothering me. She needs to answer me,” Merly answered as a matter of fact.

“What are you talking about? Are you crazy or have you finally lost your mind? You want to do this in the library ... in here? We can be expelled due to that. We cannot absolutely do this here, and I will not let you.” Natalie reacted very sharply and did not try to hide it.

“Are you not being selfish? Or are you afraid? If you want to leave, then go, because I will not stop you, but don’t you stop me from doing this. Don’t stay here with me if you don’t want to.” Merly dismissed Natalie without thinking twice.

“And for whom am I vouching? Merly, don’t you see that you are driven by madness? Stop now before it burns you, before it destroys who you are.” Sadly, Natalie’s concern was unable to touch Merly’s heart.

1. Chapter 8
   

“Leave then.” The words began to reverberate in Natalie’s head, but she did not let the hurt show. She had a bad feeling about it, but she didn’t let that be known either.

“I’ll be here no matter what. What do you plan to do?”

“I will do what I did this morning. I know how to do it, and I studied from the book this morning, so I can do it.”

“Do you want me to be here or do you want to do this alone, Merly?”

“I want to do this alone; I have put you in enough trouble, but not anymore. Wait for me and … just wait for me, all right?” Merly said.

Natalie touched her friend’s hand and promised to wait outside. There was no sound or disturbances that Natalie heard or observed, hence, she waited patiently outside and for Merly to call her. Minutes later, she heard faint chanting and sound of rhythmic prayers, but she dared not to look. Natalie went forward to make sure that no one was coming that way, or she would have to warn Merly. Standing there alone, Natalie was ready to rush to Merly’s aid, if she needed, but there was nothing she could attend to other than the occasional chanting sounds which stopped midway and they were replaced by hushed whispers and heavy breathing. Natalie thought she heard Merly’s voice, but then the warm sensation of fear blanketed her courage and she stood transfixed there without moving.

******

There was a faint light that appeared at the beginning, and Merly thought that she was imagining things, and that it could be happening with her was something she was having difficulty coping with. She closed her eyes tight and concentrated harder. There were a number of faces that reflected in her mind’s eye, but she blinked her eyes tight shut. When Mrs. Nigela’s face came into her consciousness, Merly stopped chanting. However, Mrs. Nigela’s face was soon replaced by that of the ghastly-faced librarian whom she had seen once. The apparition appeared not like she had seen twice. The shadow-like thing sat in front of her, and as Merly deemed the happenings to be unbelievable, she struggled to steady her nerves.

“You are not, Mrs. Nigela, and I knew it the moment that you appeared yesterday. Please tell me why you wanted to see me? Have I done anything to deserve this? Did I make you angry? I am scared and I ask for forgiveness. Please tell me, because I cannot take this anymore.” Merly’s voice was shaky and she was crying, heavy wet tears flowed down without stopping, but the shadowy figure in front of her was unmoved by any of her pleadings.

Much later, when Merly realized that she was drifting in a state of drowsiness, did she see that the shadowy figure, which was in front of her a few minutes ago, was replaced by a woman in a white dress with the similar green eyes that she had seen before. Merly came back to her senses and stared at the figure in front of her. With complete awe, she instinctively tried to speak, but she realized a similar symptom like the previous time, her voice was struck in her throat. Merly tried speaking, but it didn’t work. Dejectedly, she slumped back in her seat, but kept her eyes on the woman in front of her. She was scared, but her determination was greater. Hence, she didn’t try to get up and run away, and to her surprise, the figure could read her mind.

Merly looked at the figure and the first thing that instantly came to her mind was that she was initially not there. Merly stared at the figure before her intently and before she could say anything, a voice spoke in her mind. “I need your help,” the voice said.

A cold sensation passed through Merly, she didn’t say anything, but thought, What help can I be to her? I am but a mere mortal, and I know nothing and why am I chosen?” Merly’s questions were answered.

“Because you wanted to see me, that is why. You are the only one who can help me, but I need to know that do you believe in me?” the figure in front of her asked.

Merly didn’t need to say anything, because the fearful look in her eyes was answer enough.

“Only you can help me, but it should be our secret, our little secret. You have to swear to me that you won’t tell anyone anything. The moment you walk out of here, you are bound by secrecy.”

Merly didn’t know what to say. Trusting a stranger was one thing and she hardly did that, but this was something that she was completely unsure of. A spirit or a ghost, Merly was not even sure what to name it, her uncertainty was clear and her doubts were apparent. There was not a shred of question that Merly could not make up her mind regarding her next move. The shadowy illusion in front was able to see that, too.

“The dreams will keep coming, and they will not go unless it drives you insane. You will lose your peace and sanity, and search for sanity, but you will not find any. All things are related. Do as I say and things will be back to where they were. I will make a promise to you, but then you have to promise, too.” These words were spoken to Merly.

Now there was no way that the thing before her could know any of the things it said, and that terrified Merly, because it cemented the fact that what it claimed to be was real. Days had passed, and Merly didn’t sleep one night without being woken up due to the horrible nightmare. The fatigue was showing. It slowed her down and she did want a little peace. The green eyes never left her; it could see through her soul and judged her every move. It could read the voice in her mind and Merly saw no escape from it. It was hard for her to figure out if she was being threatened or offered help, and the only thing she could do was to take up the offer and agree to help. So for one last time, Merly closed her eyes to silence the voice in her head and think independently, as it would either set her free or bring her down forever from where there was no escape.

“There is nothing that you can do now. Submit and I will set you free. There is something that you want to know ... what is it? Don’t hesitate to tell me,” the voice spoke in Merly’s head again.

“I didn’t seek you, but there was someone else. The old lady librarian, she helped me before with a book, and the other time, she tried to reach out for me, but I was too frightened and I reacted by losing my senses. She was here before, but now I don’t see her. I need to know what has she got to do with any of these things that are happening with me,” Merly spoke her mind.

“Your questions will be answered, but you need to believe in me first. We can’t work without the trust. So are you willing to trust me, because I will help you if you are willing to help me in return?”

Merly nodded back, and then the voices spoke in her head, “Go and tell your friend to leave and not to come back until you tell her to. Don’t contact anyone, not even your other friend, Nora. I know for a fact that she is not here and out there looking for something, but trust me, it won’t do you any good. So listen to whatever I am saying and it will lead you towards the path where you will find peace and sanity. So go on now and do as say.”

There was no strength in Merly to question back the voice, so she got up from the bench like a robot and walked towards where her friend was waiting for her patiently. “Natalie, you must go.” Merly found her voice again, but she felt that she was being controlled by someone. She had no strength to challenge it. Natalie looked towards Merly in surprise, shocked to see her talking in a mechanical voice and the things she was saying. Natalie had no time to react to this. “Go back now, because I don’t need you here. Don’t question my motives, and if you want to know anything, wait for me back in the room. I will come back and speak to you.”

Natalie expected a different reaction from Merly and hoped to hear a different story, but something else was happening, something that she didn’t expect. Therefore, detecting something was amiss, Natalie decided to go and observe from the side. “Fine, I will leave if you want me to, but Merly, please don’t believe everything you see or things that people say to you. Judge on your own before doing something,” she said.

Merly didn’t pay attention to what her friend said, “I am capable of handling things on my own. It will be better if you look out for yourself.” With that, Merly turned back and headed towards the bench. A faint part of Merly nagged on some unidentifiable feeling, which told her among many things that she was being controlled, that she was being dragged into this against her own will, but she was handicapped and was incapable of any reaction.

“So you did as I told you, I am impressed, but now you will have to do some other things that I ask you to do.” The voice never stopped speaking. Merly shook her head twice to shrug it off, but the voice didn’t change.

“What you are trying to do will not work. I will not leave unless you do what I ask you to, so obey me while you can.”

“Whatever you say,” Merly obediently answered back.

“Then you need to go and find Mr. Summers for me and then ask him about his sister. Get all the information you can out of him, and if he questions you back, then make up an excuse about why you need to know. Only then, come back here, but remember the promise. If anyone asks you about this, you can’t say anything. Break the promise, and you will be in trouble. Am I clear?” The figure in front questioned firmly.

Merly nodded and went on her way out of the library. Once out of the library, Merly cooled herself down and kneeled outside the library door. She rested there for a while going over what just happened. “Who was I talking to right now and why? Someone is controlling my mind. What do I do?” Merly desperately looked up, but then out of fear and frustration covered up her eyes. She then remembered that she had a task at hand and thus set out to find Mr. Summers. Luckily, she didn’t have to make an effort as she caught sight of him going towards a classroom. Merly thanked her lucky stars and called out to him. “Mr. Summers! Mr. Summers! Please wait, I have something that I wanted to talk to you about,” she said upon finally catching up with him.

“You want to talk about something now? But I had your class this morning and you were not there. You didn’t attend the lectures, did you?” Mr. Summers asked sternly.

Merly bowed down her head in shame, “I am extremely sorry, professor, but I was busy with something and I got delayed so…”

“Oh, yes, this thing that you had was so very important that you couldn’t even attend an important class, so now you come running to me for the notes. Merly, don’t think that I haven’t noticed your reluctance over the last couple of days, and as a teacher, I despise this kind of behavior, so come back in your next class and I will see what I can do.” Mr. Summers was angry and didn’t fall back to show it.

Merly was dumfounded for a minute and forgot what she was going to say, but when she saw him walking away, she raced towards him to let him know her actual purpose of calling him, “Professor, this is about your sister” was all Merly said, when Mr. Summers looked back at her with fiery eyes and obvious anger in them.

“Merly, you are overstepping your limit. What are you trying to imply here? What about my sister? I don’t want to talk about this, so go back!” Mr. Summers sounded furious and he stormed out of the corridor. However, Merly didn’t give up, she followed Mr. Summers along his footsteps.

“Mr. Summers, you need to wait. There is something very important that I need to ask you. Wait please!” Merly kept on saying.

“What do you need, Merly? I just said that there is nothing that I want to talk to you about and here you are bothering me with your questions. Leave now … just go!” By this time, Mr. Summers looked furious.

Merly contemplated if she should go on with her mission, but right then, the voice in her head spoke again. Merly didn’t stop and asked instead, “Mr. Summers, you do have a sister don’t you? And I am here to talk about her.”

His eyes grew red in anger and his facial features turned twisted. He looked sternly at her, then he almost shouted while gritting his teeth and said, “How dare you? And I don’t have a sister. I had one, but she is dead, and if this is your idea of joke, then you are in for trouble. I will personally make sure that this reaches the heads and you are punished accordingly.” Mr. Summers was fuming with sheer anger.

However that didn’t seem to bother Merly, and she ignored the warnings, “What is her name? And how did she die?” she asked.

There was a clear look of disbelief in his eyes, as Merly was clearly ignoring what he said to her and questioned him instead. As there was nothing else that he could say further, Mr. Summers stomped off away from her. Merly for a second was left speechless, as she couldn’t understand the reason behind Mr. Summers anger at the mention of his sister. People die, she thought, but why did he get angry over that? So did anything bad happen to her? I must find out. Mr. Summers was already gone.

“What should I do now? Whom should I ask for help? I cannot ask for anyone’s help.” Merly went back and forth saying this to herself. She promised that she would not tell a soul and feared the disaster she might face upon breaching it. “No, I cannot tell anyone, not even when Nora comes back. I… I…I must go and ask Mr. Summer again, but where will I find him? Where? Oh, he must be in his quarters, I must ask him.” Merly uttered the lines in a frenzy and went to seek Mr. Summers in a hurry.

Merly was sure that she would find Mr. Summers in his quarters and she was not mistaken. She found him walking quickly towards the entrance of his cottage. “Mr. Summers, please one last time, just listen to what I have to say. You cannot simply negate what I am saying, and why are you reacting in this manner? I need to know that.”

“What is wrong with you today, Merly? I cannot even fathom that. I am trying to avoid you, however, you seem to completely ignore that. In what language do I have to say it so you may go? Go, Merly, please, I don’t want to talk to about my sister,” Mr. Summers begged.

Merly thought she saw tears in his eyes, but he turned away his face when he realized that Merly was looking directly at him. “You are obviously hiding something from me and that is affecting you. I think you should tell me about it,” Merly said in an assuring manner.

Mr. Summers pondered over for the next few minutes, then asked her to wait for a short time outside. Merly could feel the winter chill, but tried to stay focused. Mr. Summers came out after a short while and handed her a picture. Merly kept looking at it with a transfixed gaze.