Books of the Dead (8 page)

Merly was saved by Jeremy’s phone ringing in his pocket. He looked at it then muttered something, which Merly didn’t understand, and then said, “I have to go” and left abruptly.

This left Merly confused, and she stopped in the hall and stood there thinking how many lies she needed to make up before she could escape from this situation.

It was almost noon and still there was no news from Natalie. Merly felt dejected and sad. She thought about calling her up, but decided it was better to give her some time. Merly didn’t want to come off as nagging and bothersome, and sat by herself quietly. Some of the students came up her and asked about Nora, and Merly went on repeating the same thing. No one seemed to believe that Nora went on a holiday right after the beginning of the semester, but the truth remained that Merly was as oblivious as rest of them. She had no one to rely on or to trust. Merly knew that she will have to wait until Nora contacted her, but convincing others about that was the biggest problem.

Merly decided to go and talk to Mr. Stevenson again to see if he came up with any news, but she saw no one at the library and only the grim-looking assistant looked at her questionably. Before he could say a thing, Merly backed out. She wasn’t in the mood to carry on a conversation with him, and decided to head back to the dorm. Though she knew that her decision would make her miss the last class, yet heading back to the dorm seemed like a better idea. Merly didn’t wait to inform any of her classmates before walking back to her dorm.

She found Mr. Clove, the postman, walking near their building.

He stopped upon seeing Merly walking towards him. “Ah, good that I saw you here. There is a letter for you,” and handed her a neat brown envelope with her name clearly written on it.

“A letter for me?” she exclaimed.

Merly was clearly surprised. Her mother would call whenever needed, and the few friends she had contacted her through email. She flipped the envelope over to see who it was from, but found no name written on it. A feeling of déjà vu rushed over her. She knew what a letter with no name signified and who it is from. The unknown sender strikes again and Merly was not mistaken. After Mr. Clove took his leave, Merly opened the envelope to find a black sheet of paper. On it was written in golden ink, “Meet me in the library” in bold fonts.

She flipped the paper to see if anything else was written on it, but found nothing. The piece of paper contained nothing except those five words.

What should I do? Merly questioned herself. Nothing other than the time or day was mentioned on the paper. She knew it was not from Natalie and concluded it was the unknown sender who sent her those books. Merly decided to tell Natalie about this and didn’t want to keep all the things to herself, already numerous things were bottled inside her and keeping more stuff within drained her energy.

Merly dialed Natalie’s number in a hurry on her way up to her room, but didn’t get an answer. She didn’t try a second time, but instead knocked on Kelly’s door. It was not who she expected to open the door. She was welcomed by Camille who looked at her with a coy face and asked her in. Kelly was nowhere in sight, nor Zoë, yet Merly looked around.

“Where are Kelly and Zoë?” Merly asked.

“Oh, in the other room. We were studying,” she said casually.

Nothing seemed off to Merly. Studying in groups was common for students in college. “I came to see Kelly,” Merly said.

“Come on in,’’ Camille gestured.

Merly entered their room where she found Zoë and Kelly reading something from a large book. Kelly looked up when she heard footsteps and Merly thought that Kelly was startled upon seeing her.

“You guys didn’t expect me,” Merly stated.

Zoë and Kelly closed the book they were reading and shoved it aside without saying a thing, as if they wanted to hide it from her. Merly didn’t bother, but she wasn’t sure either if she could inform Kelly about the anonymous letter. Every day, it was becoming increasingly hard for Merly to trust anyone, and she didn’t need anyone’s betrayal at that moment. Merly however cursed herself for being suspicious of everyone lately. These girls were her friends and even a few days back, she used to talk with them as feely as she used to days back.

Zoë was the first to break the silence. “Hey, is there any news from Nora? Did she call you?”

The rest looked at her and hoped for an answer.

“I tried calling her up, but she left her phone behind,” Merly said.

Nobody said anything in response, but right at that moment her phone buzzed and Merly found the display showed a new message and it read, “I found something - it’s important,” and the message was from Nora.

Merly stared at the screen, then back at her friends, then back at the screen again. The trio of friends was still waiting for an answer. She looked at her friends and lied, “It’s my mother and I need to call her,” but she didn’t move.

“Is it something to worry about? You look worried,” Kelly questioned.

“No, I...” Merly paused then said, “I need to go, please excuse me.”

She was just about to leave when Kelly stopped her, “You never said what you came for,”

Merly looked at Zoë and Camille when they voiced the same question. “I just came to spend the evening with you guys; it is not that important.”

They didn’t say anything, but merely nodded and excused her. Merly rushed inside her room, bolted the doors shut and tried calling the number from which she received the message. The line didn’t get connected. Exasperated she threw her phone down. On one side, there was this anonymous letter and now this message from Nora, and Merly was confused. She was too confused to think rationally.

Was it right to call Natalie, she thought, but dialed her number anyway. It rang twice before Natalie answered her phone, but Merly didn’t tell her about the message from Nora, but instead informed her about the anonymous letter and its contents.

“Can you show it to me?” Natalie asked.

Natalie didn’t live in the dorms; therefore, showing her the letter would require another day. “I’ll meet you tomorrow in the library,” Merly proposed.

“Yes, along with the sender of the letter,” Natalie joked.

Although Merly was curious enough to know what was going on, she wasn’t very sure if she wanted to meet the sender of the letter. Sitting down alone, she thought about numerous people who could have sent her the letter and imagined a lot of things she wanted to do and say when she met the person face to face.

The next day was rather bright and sunny. Merly forgot the sleeplessness of the previous night quickly and headed towards her class. There was a surge of anxiety within her as she anticipated the person she was about to meet. Merly sat down quietly at her desk. Jeremy came over to ask her why she missed the class on the previous day. Merly made a petty excuse, and soon everything was forgotten.

Jeremy informed Merly that there was a new assignment to be completed and submitted the next day.

“It’s tomorrow?” Merly questioned.

“Yes, it is due tomorrow, and you missed the class yesterday. I suggest you start working on it soon.”

Just then, Professor Kimberly came in and everyone was immersed in her lectures, but Merly’s mind was occupied with the assignment she needed to submit.

Two more classes before Merly could start working on her assignment. Professor Jennings was very strict and when he demanded an assignment, he listened to no excuse, and Merly was familiar with that fact. She knew that she had to take the blame for missing the previous class, so as soon as Professor Katherine left, she quickly noted down the requirements of the assignment on her notebook and headed towards the library. Sarah called from behind and said something, but Merly never heard it.

She dashed towards the library entrance, greeted the new assistant, but noticed that Mr. Stevenson was absent. Merly didn’t ponder on that. She chose the desk near the three windows and sat there for a few minutes before opening the first few pages of her notebook. Jeremy told her that her partner for this assignment was Zoë.
Why didn’t she tell me anything yesterday? I went to her room and Zoë wasn’t even present in the class that day or even yesterday.
But it was not the right time to contemplate unnecessary thoughts and decided to ask Zoë about this later. First, she needed to complete her part of the project.

1. Chapter 3
   

Merly looked at the notes she had taken down, but didn’t know from where to start. She has been sitting at the same desk for the last four hours and knew that the assignment was going to be a tough one. That is why she chose this desk. It’s closer to the window where it is lighter. The same desk is also close to the criminology section. The desk was filled with at least a dozen books that talk about major cases, police procedures, and law governing crime and so on. She walked up to the rack, took a few books out that she felt would help her out with her work and sat down with it.

They were not much help as Merly closed the book in front of her and decided to move on to the next one. The phone rang, and the display told her that the call was from her friend, Zoë.

“Hey, Merly. I am running a little late. I will be there in an hour.”

“Zoë! We are supposed to do this assignment together. Please come soon, I am stuck and I need you to help me out on this.” Merly said, but never blamed her for not telling her about it the other day.

“Well, I know it, and I am coming as quickly as possible; and Merly, I didn’t know about this. Sarah informed me about the assignment. Okay, bye!” Zoë clarified, and the call ended.

Merly had a feeling that Zoë would never join her to help with the assignment. They have been studying together at the university for the last two years. Although she would like to complain about Zoë not helping, Merly preferred to work alone. However today, she would have liked it if Zoë was here. The assignment was taking way too long to solve. She could have used some company.

She pushed the dozen books to the other side of the desk and decided to grab some more books. Four hours in, there was no solution in sight. The problem given was getting a little tedious now. So far, she had only used books from the first rack. She decided to move on to the next one, and kept browsing. She kept doing this for a while, until she was almost at the last rack of the section. It was clear she was getting desperate.

“May I help you?” said a voice from behind.

Merly turned to see who it might be. A woman, probably in her fifties was standing a little distance from her. A librarian tag was hanging from her shirt pocket. Merly had never seen her before, and she thought the shirt was a little out of style, like it was from a different time period. The woman was middle age, and that was probably what it was, she thought. Merly wondered why the librarian tag was hanging in her shirt.
She’s probably here, because Mr. Stevenson is absent today
.

“Yes. I was looking for something that would help me with my assignment. So far, I am drawing a blank.”

“Try the red book. Second rack to your left.”

Merly did so, and quickly looked at the chapter index. It seemed to have the exact topic she was looking for. She turned back to say thanks, but the librarian was gone. Not thinking too much about it, she returned to her desk. Zoë was sitting there, adjusting her makeup.

“I am here!” said Zoë.

“You are just in time. This lady librarian just helped me out. She looked kind of odd,” said Merly, taking the seat next to Zoë.

“Wait a minute. Was she wearing a flower-patterned shirt? Kind of old?” inquired Zoë.

“Yeah. How did you know?” replied Merly.

“That’s the library’s ghost. I have only heard about her and never thought she was real. You actually met her.”

“What?” exclaimed a shocked Merly.

She looked back at that row of books again, hoping to see the librarian again. Nothing was there. So it happened and Merly saw what she was not supposed to, because she never believed in it.

“You must be joking!” an angry Merly exclaimed, slammed her book down. She realized what Natalie told her the previous day, but she didn’t want to show her fear to Zoë and didn’t quite believe it herself, as well. She reasoned that it was possibly a joke and that someone took the joke too far; therefore, went over to look for the odd-looking librarian, who came like a miracle to help her with her assignment.

Merly went towards the way she saw the librarian go, but didn’t see her. She still didn’t believe what Zoë said to her. This is not true, she said to herself again, and went to ask the new assistant librarian to clear her doubt. He was sitting in his usual chair looking at the computer screen when she called for him loudly.

He looked from what he was doing and said, “Keep your voice down, this is a library.”

Merly somehow had the feeling that that the new assistant didn’t like her all that much, but she shook the feeling off. “Who is replacing Mr. Stevenson today?” She asked without delaying and hoped that it would be the odd lady librarian she saw that would dismiss the story of the ghost.

Now he looked at her directly and said, “I can help you with any book you need.”

“This is not about the books; I want to know who is replacing Mr. Stevenson today?” Merly questioned again firmly.

“No one,” the new assistant answered with an air of annoyance.

“But…” Merly was cut off when he firmly said

“I am the only one here. Mr. Stevenson had some problems, so he is talking the day off.”

Then who was the lady whom she saw. Merly didn’t want to believe Zoë for a second, but Natalie’s words from a day before rung in her head. What if the rumors were true, and what if the stories about the ghost were real. Abnormal thoughts crept in her mind. What if someone knew about this or the actual sender of the anonymous letter germinated her mind. Merly’s head felt heavy and dizzy at the same time. She took the nearest bench and sat down clutching her forehead. When Merly lifted her head, she found a girl with green, bright eyes looking at her intently. The girl had no books in front of her and her stare made her a little shaky

People, can’t mind their own business now a days, she thought with irritation.

In the midst of all these things, she realized that she had left Zoë in her seat, and the project was going nowhere. Natalie didn’t contact her. She took out the phone from her pocket, but there was no call from Natalie.

But she asked me meet her here today…

Annoyed, she shook her head and saw the girl with the green eyes still looking at her, but Merly didn’t pay attention to it, so she stood up and without looking back walked up to where Zoë was waiting for her.

“So who was the lady librarian?” Zoë mocked.

Merly didn’t like it. Zoë was mocking her and she knew it, but there was nothing she could do about it. They needed to complete the project together and it was already getting late, so she ignored the question. Zoë didn’t say anything either, but Merly had an irritating feeling in the back of her mind that Zoë’s behavior seemed to be different for the past couple of days. However, Merly hated being paranoid. It was unlike her and to get her mind off it, she took the red book which had the answers to her assignments questions and started reading it.

Zoë looked reluctant sitting in front of her, so Merly passed her the notebook where she had taken down the notes and asked Zoë to go through them, and then quickly added, “We need to complete this fast.”

Both the girls sat down. No one uttered a thing before a footstep broke the silence. Merly didn’t turn back or look to see who it was as she was too immersed in her work, but Zoë did.

“You?” she said.

Merly still didn’t bother to look up assuming that Zoë might be talking on the phone.

Natalie was standing close to Merly and patted her on the back. This time, she turned around and was a little taken aback upon seeing Natalie. She had almost given up on Natalie arriving or bringing any news to her, but there she was standing with a quaint smile on her pink lips. Merly noticed the foxy eyes glowing like they held an answer, and there was an odd impatience in her touch.

Zoë didn’t know about Merly’s secret meeting with Natalie, so she looked at them suspiciously. Zoë seemed bothered by the unlikely bond between two people who were complete opposites.

Zoë was obviously not very fond of Natalie, and seemed not particularly happy about her presence at that moment. She said condescendingly, “You two are friends?” And a second later added, “...now?”

Merly didn’t want to divulge anything nor did she felt compelled to. She had a hard time trusting Natalie already and telling Zoë every detail was a mammoth task. She knew Zoë wasn’t always truthful with her as well. But Zoë was clever and intelligent.

“Do you mean to get information from her about Nora missing or your missing books?” Zoë asked.

Merly said, “Zoë, it’s unrelated so you don’t have to bother.”

“It’s not unrelated Merly, and you know that; otherwise, what business do you have with someone who is known to keep information about the university?”

“Zoë, you are supposed to help me with the assignment and what I need Natalie for is not your business,” Merly said, her voice raised a bit.

“You came to both me and Kelly and involved us, and Nora is our friend, too, so don’t say it is not my business.” Zoë had anger laced in her voiced.

“You are being unreasonable Zoë. Yes, I talked to you and Kelly the other day, but that doesn’t mean I have to tell you what business I have with Natalie now.”

“Of course, go ahead, but this won’t end well,’ she said.

“What is wrong with you today? Minutes ago you were fine, but now you are threatening me.” Merly was not used to such behavior and especially from Zoë. It was true that she was taking interest in different things lately, but that didn’t explain the harsh way she spoke to her.

“Zoë!” Merly pleaded, but she didn’t answer her. Merly looked back at Natalie who was a mere spectator of the entire thing that played out in front of her eyes. She didn’t even bother that it was the library that the entire incident took place at because she had more important things to tell.

Merly motioned Natalie to go and wait for her at the other end of the library where there were less people. “Wait for me near the archive,” she said, but Zoë didn’t miss that.

“Now you can’t even say things in front of me. You have changed, Merly,” Zoë said in an unfriendly tone.

Merly wanted to say that something did change, but it was the other way around. It was Zoë who acted differently and was not herself, but arguing with her at that moment would be futile. Merly knew that they would never come to a mutual understanding especially not at that moment, and they had to finish the assignment. So she suppressed the words and instead said, “Zoë, let’s at least not fight in here while we are working on this assignment and …..”

“Leave it there; you won’t hear a thing from me. I’ll do the part that is required of me.’’ That was the last thing Zoë said.

“I’ll come and work with you once I am done speaking with Natalie, so wait for me.” Merly waited for Zoë to answer, but as expected, Zoë didn’t say a thing, but instead kept her head low and went on writing something vehemently.

Merly shook her head regretting what just happened. She walked where Natalie was supposed to wait for her, and on the way she met the same girl with odd green eyes sitting in the exact same position that she was sitting earlier. Merly walked past her giving just a fleeting glance.

“Hey,” Natalie called out, “... over here.”

“Sorry about Zoë,” Merly said to apologize, but Natalie stopped her midway.

“Save it, you don’t have to apologize to me because of her; I know why she is not so fond of me.”

Merly wanted to ask her the reason behind Zoë’s cold behavior, but decided against it at the last moment.

“I thought you weren’t coming, and I must admit that I am relieved.”

“Of course, I had to come. I have news to give you and also I wanted to see the letter that you received yesterday. Did you bring it?” Natalie inquired.

“Yes, I did. I’ll show it to you.” She started taking out the folded piece of letter from her pocket and then handed it over to Natalie who looked at it with precise detailing, and Merly saw the concentration in her eyes.

“So what do you think?” Merly asked after a few minutes had already passed.

“I talked with a few people, but I didn’t hear anyone who had received anonymous packages or letters before and not even the one who saw the ghost,” Natalie stated.

“Today, a few hours ago, when I was stuck with my assignment, I saw an old librarian. She was dressed quite different and looked pretty old and shabby, but she helped me out with an assignment book and I thought she was a replacement of Mr. Stevenson for today. When I told Zoë about it, she said that she was the spirit of the old librarian. What is going on? Please tell me!” Merly begged.

“You saw her? I told you about her spirit lurking in the nooks and corners of the library, but you actually saw her, this is real!” Natalie sounded enthusiastic.

”You believe it? Natalie, you are supposed to help me so please don’t say it is real. Zoë must be teasing me.” Merly sounded frail.

“I am sorry, Merly, but it is true. Zoë didn’t lie. I told you about it the other day, don’t you remember? And if I am not wrong, the student who saw her as well only did for a brief moment and not like you.” Natalie sounded convincing.

“This cannot be real,” Merly kept telling herself. She didn’t believed Natalie the first time, didn’t believe what she saw either, what Zoë told her, and she didn’t want to believe what she was hearing Natalie say.

“Who else saw her? Other than the person you told me about, was there someone else? Tell me Natalie.”

“It was Camille—she saw her. I heard this from a friend. At that time nobody quite believed her, although the rumor of the old student always existed. Some people say that Camille was different back then, but she started taking interest after she saw what she claims is a ghost in the library,” Natalie said what she knew.

“Camille,” Merly uttered the name and realized that Zoë, being Camille’s friend must know about the incident. “So that is why she was so sure,” she muttered.

“You said something?” Natalie asked.

“Does anyone else know about this apart from the one who told you?” Merly was desperate to seek answers.

“Merly, there are many who know that someone saw the ghost, but no one’s that sure who it is except for those who claim that Camille changed,” Natalie answered.