Ghost: Books of the Dead - Fantasy Best Seller and Supernatural Teen Book: (Ghost, Occult, Supernatural, Occult and Supernatural) (30 page)

“Are you looking for Mr. Mitchell,” asked someone they didn’t recognize. It was a young student who was probably younger than both Emily and Jamie was standing right behind them.

“Who are you,” Jamie asked? There was an obvious irritation in her tone.

“I just came here for a book, and I am about to leave, but are you looking for Mr. Mitchell?” he asked again.

“Who else is here?” Jamie asked.

“Jamie, why are you being cross with him? He was just trying to help,” Emily intervened.

“He is wasting our time,” Jamie said rudely, obviously intending the boy behind them to hear it clearly.

“I saw him there,” was the boy's answer. There was no sign of anger or annoyance in his face in spite of Jamie’s mean behavior.

“Where did you see him,” both the girls asked him simultaneously?

“Over there,” he pointed towards the direction where he saw Mr. Mitchell. “I saw him by the criminology section. He was talking to someone, a student, and he is still there.”

The boy went out quietly without saying anything else. Emily turned towards Jamie and urged her to find Mr. Mitchell. She was nervous about that section and didn’t want to go alone.  “Go ahead,” she urged her friend.

“I am,” Natalie shot back. “You're coming, too.” Jamie once again dragged her friend along with her.

Mr. Mitchell was getting up from one of the benches and coming towards them.

“You girls are already here?” he asked.

All of his previous anxiety and tension was gone. He was calm and had an air of confidence about him. Emily found it hard to believe that just a few hours ago he was shaking and acting out of character. She looked at Jamie and then back at him. Mr. Mitchell didn’t give any attention to their strange looks.

“If you girls want to know something, then follow me to the front desk.”

Emily was unprepared for such a calm reaction from the rather submissive Mr. Mitchell. Jamie didn’t seem to take it well either. She seemed not only surprised, but dumfounded and didn’t know how to react. The girls followed him and saw that he was already in his seat, noting something down in a diary. The girls dared not to say anything. They thought he would say something first, but he didn’t.

After a few moments of silence, Emily said, “Mr. Mitchell, we are here and we want to know what we asked you this morning. We want the answers and you have them.”

“Sure, I have them, but you can have them, too. The answers are with you. Now what I am saying is, if you want the real answers, then ask the right person and they will tell you.” There was a wicked gleam in Mr. Mitchell’s eye, something Emily had never seen before.

“What do you mean, Mr. Mitchell? Who do you want us to ask?” Emily demanded an answer.

“You are being very vague, Mr. Mitchell, and what are you trying to imply?” Jamie barked out.

Mr. Mitchell, however, remained calm. He showed no sign of anger, although he avoided Jamie and her question. She looked like she was not oblivious of the fact.

“I meant that I am not the correct person to answer your questions,” he said slyly. “If you want to know what is going on, then you must ask the one who holds the answer. Because it is for sure that I don’t have the answers that you seek.”

This time Jamie decided not to say anything. It was apparent that Mr. Mitchell was avoiding her, so she let Emily speak. “Mr. Mitchell, no more riddles. Tell us what do we need to do? To whom should we go?”

“Call them, summon them and then ask them why they desire to speak to you of all the people in this university.”

“You want us to speak with the ghost?” the girls asked in chorus.

“That is what it takes to know the answers, but it all depends on if you are ready to believe them. Believe the fact that it works,” Mr. Mitchell said.

Emily tried to consider what Mr. Mitchell said. She looked at Jamie, knowing that they both lived in a different dimension from where these types of things were practiced. He was implying that they conjure up the very things that they hoped to avoid.

“Are you serious about this? Are you actually asking us to contact spirits?” Emily was afraid to hear the answer, so she continued further. “How are we supposed to do that? We’ve never practiced this before and it is dangerous,” Emily inquired in disbelief.

“I told you what I know, and I cannot divulge anything beyond this. You have the means and know the way. I told you what to do, but how you do it is entirely up to you. No task is easy, but it can be done. Just be careful what you ask. This is my warning to you.” Mr. Mitchell checked his watch.

Jamie and Emily were both at a loss for words to say anything in return. Mr. Mitchell’s words seemed absurd and phony, but Emily couldn’t throw them away completely. Then, before Mr. Mitchell could walk away, Emily remembered one thing.

“But Mr. Mitchell, I do not believe in ghosts and spirits,” she told him. “You are asking me to summon them and ask them questions. I don’t believe that’s possible for me,” Emily said.

“You don’t have to believe me,” Mr. Mitchell countered. “I just said what I had to, now the rest you have to decide for yourself. Whether you want to walk that path or not is up to you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to work.”

Mr. Mitchell’s final statement was firm. He gestured for them to move out and leave him in peace. The girls once again obediently complied. They walked out of the library, but were still in a state of shock. They found the librarian’s suggestions bizarre.

“Is that possible? I know there are some people who say that it is, but why did he even suggest it to us? He could have told us himself, but instead he directed us towards something that we are not even sure of. Now, how do we just go and ask the ghost? The old man has gone completely senile,” Jamie said.

“Don’t say it out so loud, someone might hear us. Was he completely senile? Something was definitely different about him this time. He never spoke with such confidence before, and something changed in him. Just let’s get out of here first. Grace is still not back, so why don’t we head back to my dorm?” Emily suggested.

The girls left the Fletcher building and headed for the dormitory houses. The corridor to Emily’s room was half-lit. One of the lights flickered, the one that was in front of Emily’s room. It seemed to be malfunctioning. The rest of the lights were on. “What is wrong with the light now?” Jamie commented irritably. “Leave it as it is. I will complain about it tomorrow morning. Let’s go inside quickly,” Emily took Jamie inside.

“It is so cold today,” Jamie remarked. “Do you care for some coffee? I could do with some, too,” Emily said.

Emily left her bag on the table and went ahead to prepare the coffee while Jamie relaxed on one of the chairs. She tried to close her eyes to relax. She curled herself up and drifted off for a few seconds before opening her eyes again

. “What is that buzzing sound?” Jamie asked. “Oh, Emily, it's your phone.”

Emily called from the kitchen. “It is in the front of my bag; please answer it for me, will you? I am getting the coffee.”

Jamie searched Emily’s bag and took the phone out to see who was calling. “Emily, it’s Valerie, your classmate, I guess. Should I answer it for you?”

Emily didn’t say anything, but came out of her room. “No, I will answer it myself. Give me the phone,” she said. She remembered what happened in the class earlier that day and didn’t want her friend to be concerned for her again. “Valerie, why are you calling me? Do you need something from me?” she asked.

“How far are you with the assignment,” Valerie asked? “You didn’t come back to class so I called to find out.”

“I was busy, Valerie, I told you that. I couldn’t get back the class, and also, I might not attend tomorrow’s class as well. There are things I need to take care of,” Emily said. All the while she kept glancing towards Jamie to see her reaction.

“But, tomorrow we have to…” Valerie was about to say, but Emily didn’t let her.

“Tomorrow, I cannot attend the class. You don’t have to tell anyone about this. I will make an excuse, submit the assignment, and maybe the professor will grant me some extra time. I just need some extra time and then I can manage it. Valerie, I know that you are concerned, but don't be. What I am doing is equally important, so I also ask for a little time from you.”

“If you are so sure about this, then go ahead. I have no right to stop you, and I won’t tell anything to anyone, but … but I hope you can come back soon.”

Valerie hung up. The blank dial tone went on for a few moments, and Emily finally let go of it. She felt bad about dismissing her so easily but there was nothing she could do about it now.

“It was Valerie, “she explained to Jamie. “She was talking about an assignment that I have to submit and…” Emily tailed off during her explanation.

“I know it was Valerie. I said that to you and I heard why she called. But what I don’t understand is why are you offering explanations? Why are you answering anybody who asks you about your actions? You do what you want, Emily. You are doing this for yourself; therefore, you are not answerable to anyone ... just remember that.” Jamie tried to ease some of the awkwardness that the phone call caused.

“She was just trying to be helpful, but I guess you are right. I am thinking too much about this and probably nobody cares,” Emily said.

“And even if they do care, just let them. Don’t let that affect you. Now stop thinking too much and hand me the coffee. I am having a nagging headache that Mr. Mitchell gave me. Someday, I will get back at him for good.” Jamie managed to calm Emily down.

“What do you want me to do,” Emily asked once she was finally settled down?

“Do you want to do this for sure? Are you confident about this because what Mr. Mitchell asked you to do is not easy? He is asking you to do something that is far from what you believe in. You cannot back out once you go down that path, so be very sure of what you are getting into Emily. For all I know, there will be nothing but regret later on for you.”

“I know what I am getting into, but Jamie do I have a choice? Didn’t I come too far already? I know what awaits me. Either I will get to know why this is happening to me, or this will all end in regret. Yet, I need to know and no matter how many times you warn me, I simply cannot back out. I have no one blame, and I am thankful to you for aiding me on this.” Emily was sincere when she expressed her gratitude towards Jamie.

“If you are so confident about this, then I am with you, and I am with you till we see the end of this.” Jamie placed her hand on top of Emily's.

Emily shivered. A cold winter wind blew in from the open window of Emily’s room and it brought along with it unknown thoughts and feelings. The cold wind settled on her skin and she got up to close the window panes. In the last week, she had come a long way. She had become a mere shadow of her former self.

“Let’s do it,” Jamie said. “Let’s go and ask someone who could help us, but we have to be careful. The person needs to be someone who we can trust and won’t tell on us. It would do us more harm than good if word got around. So, do you know someone like that?” Jamie implored.

“I know of someone. However, I am not entirely sure if she is the right person to ask for help or if we can trust her completely,” Emily said.

“Who are you referring to? Do I know her?” 

“I am talking about Denise and Keisha’s friend, Mia. She was here the other day looking for the books, and I learned that she took interest in these matters. I could ask her, but I am having doubts. What should we do?” Emily was doubtful and Jamie wasn’t too sure of the suggestion.

“You want to ask her, but that way, Keisha and Denise would know. They know so much. I don’t think she is a reliable person or if I could trust her. Don’t you know of anybody else?”

“If anyone should know about such a person, then it should be you. I don’t know of anyone else, and I just came to know Mia just a few days back. We have to take this chance. She is our only hope to get through this.” Emily saw no other way out and wanted to stick with Mia. At least she was known to Mia, and they could always ask her to keep it a secret.

“How do we get to her without drawing attention, because she will tell?” Jamie was still not convinced.

“I will talk to her. I’m sure that she won’t let me down ... you didn’t let me down,” Emily assured Jamie.

“But that’s tomorrow, we can’t call her now. Wouldn't it be better if we approach her in a round-about way? If we start out asking her about ghosts and spirits, then she could think we’re insincere,” Jamie suggested.

Emily contemplated the pros and cons of the idea and a smile formed on her face. Then she said, “It is not a bad idea. Maybe we can pull this off without her suspecting anything. We need to be careful and more convincing. She saw those books in here and we will pretend that they have sparked our interest and we want to be a part of it.”

“She would most likely tell us stuff, because I have a feeling that she wants more people to be involved with the crazy obsession she has. We can then learn from her about how these things works. We can prepare ourselves and be safe. There is no point in getting into unnecessary trouble. I don’t really trust Mr. Mitchell. Who knows what his intentions are? But Mia must know her stuff; she must have done this before. Let's ask her,” Jamie reasoned. Her voice faltered slightly.

“You don’t have to be in this if you don’t want to,” Emily reminded her.

“What do you mean? Of course, I want to be in this, and I said I will see this through to the end. What made you doubt me?” Jamie asked.

“If you are scared, then I can do this on my own. Your voice faltered and if I am not mistaken, this is indeed a perilous path. I am sad that I dragged you into this, but you can walk out anytime you want and I won’t say anything.” Emily didn’t want to hold Jamie back, so she tried for the last time to let her go.

However, Jamie was adamant. “It’s just the cold, so I shivered. Do you really believe that I’m scared? I was the one who urged you to go ahead with this. You just take care of yourself, because I can handle myself. In fact, I am so pumped up right now that I want to call Mia and invite her over.” Jamie seemed to try to shrug off the fear that Emily clearly heard in her voice.