Ghost: Books of the Dead - Fantasy Best Seller and Supernatural Teen Book: (Ghost, Occult, Supernatural, Occult and Supernatural) (27 page)

“Do you think Denise and Keisha were the ones who eavesdropped,” Jamie asked?

“I didn’t see them anywhere last night. I think Scott probably knew who it was. I went with him to the library, but as he was about to tell me, his phone rang and he said that he had to leave.”

“So you didn’t find out anything? This is not taking us anywhere.” Jamie sounded disappointed.

“Scott told me something which I otherwise wouldn’t believe,” Emily said. “Mr. Gallagher’s assistant, Arnold, you know him right? He saw Grace leaving for Elmhurst and she even asked him where to get off when she got there.” Emily bit her lip before continuing. “What surprised me the most was that Grace was secretly meeting him, and wanted to know about Mr. Gallagher. Grace never told me anything about it. I was really upset about her indifferent behavior over the last few days, but I wonder why she never told me.” 

“And then what happened,” Jamie asked?

Emily took a deep breath and told her everything about what happened back in the library, how she met a woman who went on nagging about if she believed in ghosts, and when she started to walk away how the old librarian appeared before her. Jamie listened attentively and didn’t interrupt at all.

“So what do you think,” Emily asked her? When Natalie shrugged her shoulders, Emily continued. “I fainted and I was given an IV. I even told Nurse Sonnen not to inform anyone about how I initially reacted after I regained consciousness.” She paused to think of what to say next. “Why do you think the students said that I was speaking to myself?”

“Maybe you were or maybe you weren’t,” Natalie offered, but it was little comfort to Emily. The junior went on to ask, “What if someone was there? I mean, I knew about the library ghost and I can vouch that the rumors are true. What was she like? Did she try to scare you or intimidate you?” Jamie went on and on, asking questions like she was a detective.

“No, the woman didn’t try to scare me like the librarian did, and that’s the weird part. It is true that I was freaked out by her cold stare and how she asked me all those questions. Yet, she didn’t try to reach for me or scare me. I was already upset, so I asked her to leave when all of sudden she asked me if I believed in ghosts. I refused to answer, for obvious reasons, and then she said, ‘I better believe, because I am about to see one.’ That scared the crap out of me. Her eyes, they were so haunting. I have never seen anybody’s eyes that looked so green, so deep...” Emily trailed off and closed her eyes.

“Do you remember ever seeing her before, “Natalie asked.

“I do remember her,” Emily recalled. “I saw her in the library a few days back. Remember the day you met me there? She was also there, giving me the same cold stare. I didn’t pay any attention back then, but it was her. Do you believe she’s a ghost though,” Emily asked, hoping Jamie would say no.

“You didn’t tell me back then. I could have asked around, but now I don’t think that’s possible. Maybe I’ll ask a few people tomorrow, but chances are that word will get around and people will already 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’s not easy and you know that, right?”

“Yes, I do, but all this does not make any sense,” Emily responded. “Everything escalated so quickly. A few weeks back, I was enjoying the break and now I am here worrying about things that I might have seen … like ghosts.” She let her voice drop a few notches. “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’m completely and totally out of my mind.” She chuckled to herself. “This can’t be happening. I should do something,” Emily went on saying. Her face and ears were red. Although 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?” Jamie was trying to calm Emily down, no matter how illogical her suggestion sounded.

“And how are we going to get a hold of them? At times, I do think that I am losing my mind, but then I realize what I saw back in the library.  It had to have been real. I am not making any of this up. It’s true, but am I losing my mind? Am I Jamie?” Emily sounded truly desperate.

“Emily, just calm down for a moment,” Natalie urged her. “You are not losing your mind, and you’re not overreacting. We are trying everything we can; it’s 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 Grace’s disappearance has anything to do with what you were seeing, or if Grace was also seeking the truth just like we are. We’ll find out together,” Jamie affirmed.

“But how are we supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know,” Jamie admitted. “We have to think of something and fast. You can’t just be walking around campus talking to ghosts,” she chided. “We need to find out something fast before people start thinking that you’re delusional. I think I know who can help us, without the word getting spread,” Jamie said, and there was a strange confidence in her voice. “You know whom I am referring to, right,” Jamie asked Emily?

The young blonde’s face showed no recognition.

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

Jamie, who was pacing the room at this point, took Emily by the hand and said, “Think, Emily. There is someone who might know things. I am talking about Mr. Mitchell. He’s 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 to yourself today. It can’t just be a mere coincidence; at least I don’t believe that. I am confident that he knows something. He just can’t sit there the entire day, for so many years and not know anything. Have you ever wondered why the rumors regarding Mr. Mitchell being senile began to circulate in the first place?” Jamie’s words were beginning to make more sense to Emily.

“What you’re saying might actually be true. It’s certainly an option,” Emily admitted, raising her eyebrows. “I genuinely like Mr. Mitchell, but he does act strange at times. I have noticed it lately, but I thought it was only due to his old age. Now I’m not so sure if that is the case,” Emily said, agreeing with Jamie.

“So it’s time we go and confront him. Emily, he knows you, so it will be easy for us. We’ll ask him when no one is around and that includes the new assistant librarian. Mr. Mitchell will probably act like he doesn’t know a thing, but we’ll catch him off-guard. That way, he will have to tell us whatever he knows about ghosts in the Fletcher building library. And after that, we find out how to deal with the situation and how to get you out of it. How does that sound,” Jamie asked? She felt triumphant and resolved about their course of action.

“Jamie, I cannot thank you enough, and here 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. I guess you’re right, I just need to relax and take things as they come. So that’s what we’ll do tomorrow, right after our first classes. I will wait for you outside the library and you can meet me there. We’ll ask him together,” Emily declared.

“You can thank me all you want later, but for now, let’s put an end to this,” Jamie announced.

Anticipation kept Emily from sleeping the entire night. The things she might learn and where would the information take her nagged at her mind. She tossed and turned. Then, she got up and paced her room. She had an incredibly hectic day, fainted, and was then brought to the doctor and back. Yet at two-thirty in the morning, all she could think of was how she would approach Mr. Mitchell the next day.

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.

Emily wasn’t too sure if Mr. Mitchell would comply with her line of questioning. He had not been acting normally over the past few days, and Emily knew it. There was a high probability that he would simply bypass the questions, make an excuse or just deny knowing anything.

Emily wished that the time would fly by faster. When the first rays of the sun finally hit Emily’s window pane and reflected on her face, she didn’t waste any more time. She got up and prepared a quick breakfast. She took a few nibbling bites, but her appetite failed her. Emily pushed her breakfast plate away, and got dressed instead. There was still some time left before classes start, but she just couldn’t wait.

******

Jamie was up, too, but doubted if Emily would be. Nonetheless, she was ready and prepared to go. One last time, she checked into Fiona’s room, but her roommate was still not back from the night of group study. So Jamie didn’t wait around; she went to class. She and Emily decided to meet outside the library right after the first class, but Jamie was already thinking about what would happen next.

Emily was first to reach the college. The corridor that led to the lecture hall in the Fletcher building was significantly barren. There was no one there, so she decided to look around for a moment. During her time in the institution, Emily never bothered to explore her surroundings. Today, however, was different. She felt light-headed from all the medication and 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’re early,” the custodian said with annoyance in her voice.

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

“I understand, I guess. No students are here this early ever, except for this one girl. I thought you were her at first. I just see her every time, walking past, never turns a head, never looks sideways and never blinks, and those strange green eyes….” The cleaning lady went on talking mostly to herself.

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

“You’re still here? I didn’t say anything, so go on.” The cleaning lady gestured towards Emily 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?” Emily questioned.

“Why do you 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 Emily 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. I don’t know. She must work late or maybe she lives there.” The old lady shrugged her shoulders. “Honestly, I don’t know what she’s up to… and you know, it’s strange, she has the same book in front of her every day.”

“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 on 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.

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

“She never speaks to any students, but she does speak to someone else,” the custodian recalled.

Emily was almost sure whose name would be said.

“Yes, she does,” the old lady continued. “Occasionally, I have seen Mr. Mitchell 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, I have no idea, but I have been seeing her for a long time. I have seen strange things happening, but even for me, this is strange.” The old lady huffed and puffed to catch her breath. “However, old Mr. Mitchell, he never seems to get upset whenever this girl is around.” The cleaning lady shrugged, clearly expressing that she didn’t know the reason why Mr. Mitchell acted that way.

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

“He’s old, older than me,” she explained, laughing to herself. “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 again, I don’t think he would take it very nicely either. 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. Mitchell is kind, compassionate and very sensible. He would never do something as senile as talking to himself. He doesn’t do that,” she concluded with a dismissive wave of the cleaning wand.

The topic strayed away from the green-eyed girl and onto Mr. Mitchell. The cleaning lady wasn’t prone to gossip and didn’t seem too pleased about that. It wasn’t Emily’s fault. She couldn’t understand why the old lady changed the topic so drastically. Emily tried to steer the conversation back towards the girl who was seen in the library.