Ghost: Books of the Dead - Fantasy Best Seller and Supernatural Teen Book: (Ghost, Occult, Supernatural, Occult and Supernatural) (31 page)

“You seem to know an awful lot about how to summon a spirit,” Emily jokingly said.

“It’s called common sense. You can’t call a spirit in this room,” Jamie mused, “because it’s for relaxing and learning, not to interview the dead.”

“You are so funny when you are angry. I was just joking with you, and plus, we must take this interview seriously. Once we hear them or see them, we must ask all the questions before they leave. I don’t really want to be a bad interviewer, so I must prepare the questions then.”

“You really think this is easy,” Jamie asked, noting the playful banter in Emily’s voice. “You are making fun, but there is one thing I know, Emily, the path is darker than it seems. So be very careful about what you do or say.” Jamie’s voice was stern and Emily felt that Jamie didn’t take the joke lightly.

“I’m not thinking lightly of this. Now, can we look at those books that I received? Maybe we will find something in them that will escalate our process of finding out things. Let me bring them to you. Wait here.”

Emily didn’t want to upset Jamie anymore and went on to bring the books to her. They were heavier than Emily had imagined, and she handed one over to Jamie and took one herself, keeping the rest on the table top.

“What’s in these books? They are so heavy,” Emily said.

“Are they building an army? How many ghosts are we supposed to call? Or how do we know which is the right method?’’ Jamie seconded Emily’s opinion. “How old are these books?”

 “There is no publication date in here,” Emily noted, “but they are old. Look, pages thirteen through eighteen are missing. What if the answers were in these pages?” Emily pointed out.

“We have to keep looking,” Jamie encouraged her. “I never knew that these things were even possible. Here, look at what is written here.” Jamie showed her a few paragraphs that pointed out how to bring back the spirits of a loved one. “Do you want to call or bring back someone you loved and who isn’t there anymore? We can do that for the starter. Is there anyone, Emily?”

Jamie asked without knowing that she touched a nerve. Emily was almost tempted and vulnerable to say the name. Emotions surged upwards and she pressed her lips together. Emily never liked displaying her emotions so openly.

“Who would I want to call? There is no one like that I can think of,” she said with a tremulous voice.

Emily ignored what Jamie was saying and didn’t look her in the face.  Jamie didn’t pay attention to Emily’s discomfort either. She just kept turning the pages.

“I thought it would help if we just called a friendly spirit instead of an angry one. They might not be very pleased.” Jamie winked at Emily who was having a hard time participating in the conversation.

The tables had turned. Moments earlier, she was accusing Jamie of being scared, but now she was not very sure herself.

“Loosen up, Emily, we are not calling anyone tonight, at least not in here,” Jamie said when she realized that Emily was not speaking anymore.

“It’s nothing,” Emily lied.

“What are you possibly thinking about now? Emily, are you even reading what’s in the book?” Jamie seemed surprised that Emily was not paying her enough attention.

“I want to contact Mia now; we can’t push this any further,” Emily said abruptly.

“What prompted you all of a sudden? And you want to call her now? She will definitely suspect something,” Jamie said, trying to reason her out of the decision.

“Yes,” Emily persisted, “let’s get her now. It’s not even that late. I can’t sleep at night with this burden on my back. This has gone too far and I need to put an end to this. Now, please get me the phone. I will call her myself.”

Emily was determined. Jamie couldn’t argue and handed her the phone. Emily dialed the number and Mia picked up the phone right after one ring.

“Mia, hi it’s Emily. I want to see you. Could you come over to my place,” Emily questioned? She tried her best to keep her voice stable.

“You want to see me now? What is this about?” Mia questioned.

Emily could hear several voices over the telephone, but chose to ignore them. “Yes, I want to see you, if that is not a problem, and it is about those books.”

Jamie stood there paying close attention to the conversation and saw that Emily didn’t go on about the books in a roundabout way. She asked too directly for her liking. She wanted to say something, but just gestured wildly.

“I am just curious about them,” Emily said, “and you know a thing or two about them. You know what these books are about and I don’t want to call someone else. I trust you. So can you come and see me now?” Emily waited for a response from Mia.

“Yes, I can do that,” the voice on the other end said, “but I want something in return. Can you give the books to me,” Mia asked?

“You can have all of them for all I care, just come and see me now. I am in my room, and Mia, I would prefer if you could keep this a secret between us. If you can do that, then the books will be yours.”

Emily disconnected the phone when Mia agreed to meet with her.

“That was way too straight forward,” Jamie argued immediately. “Hopefully, it will work,” Emily stated.

 “You didn’t tell me that you and Mia were such good friends.”

 “I lied to Mia,” Emily explained. “I said all that stuff because I wanted to sound casual and not to arouse her suspicion. I was convincing, even you believed me. She is on her way up here.” Emily tabled the conversation and went back to the book.

Jamie didn’t seem to believe her. She just cut her eyes and said, “We will see.”

There were three knocks on the door after fifteen minutes passed.  Jamie opened the door. It was Mia. Jamie urged her to come inside. Mia was obviously surprised to see Jamie. The perceptive junior student waited for Emily to answer the impending question that Mia was about to ask. 

“You know Jamie, I mean everyone knows her. She is my friend and on this journey with me, so feel free to talk in front of her,” Emily insisted.

“If you are fine with this, then I have nothing to complain about. Now show me those books first,” Mia retorted and decided to ignore Jamie.

“You need to tell me something first,” Emily haggled. “Did you tell any of this to Denise or Keisha?”

“I didn’t, because you asked me not to. In return, you promised me the books. I am not in elementary school anymore. I know what you meant when you said that you wanted to keep this a secret. Plus, Denise and Keisha are out with a friend. I am not going to tell them. These books are more important to me.” Mia uttered each word specifically so that both Emily and Jamie were convinced.

“That is good to hear.” Emily showed her the books once she was convinced. “The books are on the table. Get them for yourself and take a look.”

Mia went where over to where the books were stacked and devoured the smell from the covers. She was obviously entranced by the potent tomes.  Then she leafed through the pages. Emily and Jamie both looked on with blank stares. “These are gold,” the purple-haired girl announced. Mia turned back and said, “These are worth more than anything. I want them all.” Mia sounded like a greedy lunatic, and there was an eerie gleam in her eyes.

“You can have them all, but not before you help us.”

“What do you want me to do?” Mia set aside the books then turned towards them with the question.

“You know what I want, but I don’t want to do it here,” Emily responded.

“Both of you need to come with me then. Bring the book with the green lettering on the front and the one with the brown cover along with you. We will need them,” Mia stressed and took a book with a red cover with golden lettering on it and went towards the door.

Jamie and Emily did as they were instructed and they both followed Mia. Emily looked at her watch and it was 9:30 p.m. She hoped that it was the last time she had to face any more trouble.
Tomorrow I will have a better day, and I will have the answers tonight
, she told herself
.

“Emily come on, don’t lag behind. Hurry up!” Jamie called from the front.

“I was getting the keys. You go ahead.”

Emily shook off the last feeling of hesitation and walked faster to catch up with Jamie and Mia.
I hope no one sees us tonight,
was the last thing that ran through Emily's head. Mia took Emily and Jamie through the back of their dorm and around the second building. They passed the pharmacy along the way and approached the third building when Mia stopped them.

“We are here,” she said.

The three of them entered the building silently. It was an administration building that was mostly used to store excess equipment and supplies. Miss Carlson was at the desk of the entrance area. She seemed to have dozed off and didn’t see the girls enter. Mia motioned for Emily and Jamie to take the back door, which led to a staircase nobody used any longer. At the top of the stairs there was an abandoned room on the last floor of the building.

“I left the door to the staircase open for you,” Mia told the girls. “Go quietly and wait for me at the end of the stairs. There is a room at the end that needs a key to open, and I have it in my room. I am going to get the key, so don’t touch the door and don’t make any noise. I will be back in a minute.” Mia pushed them towards the door and left.

Emily saw her take the main staircase. The girls didn’t wait and made it towards the staircase. They entered through the door and closed it silently behind them and started climbing up the stairs. The night was cold, and the dark, gloomy environment made it even more frigid.

“Don’t touch the door until I come,” Jamie repeated Mia’s word in a twisted and mocked tone. “Why? What is behind that door? I don’t trust Mia and she made it sound creepier on purpose,” Jamie babbled.

The staircase seemed unused and dangerous. Emily wondered if they had staircases like that in their building as well. Jamie’s constant blabbering disturbed her thoughts, so she pulled her and said, “Hush now and stop suspecting everyone. Remember, we are the one who asked her for help. She didn’t drag us here. We came on our own will, so be quiet now, and hurry up. We will wait for her upstairs.”

“You are too trusting, Emily. Make sure that never pulls you down,” Jamie mumbled.

“Come on and stop lagging behind ... hurry up!” Emily called again.

The dark green stairs stopped at the fourth floor. There at the end of the staircase stood a black wooden door. It was locked. The key was with Mia.

“Let’s wait here, and she will come,” Emily said and stood afar from the door. She remembered Mia’s warning, but Jamie was not deterred.

“Why can't we touch this? Is there an evil spell over this? Who even believes these anymore? I am sure all of these are a hoax! What Mr. Mitchell said, and what Mia is saying ... I don’t believe any of it,” she said.

“Jamie, do you even realize that you are going back and forth about this. One minute you are excited that the lore about the library ghost is true, and the next second you think this is a hoax. Don’t do this. You promised me that we are in this together and…” there was something else that Emily wanted to say, but Mia’s presence cut her off.

“It won’t work if you don’t believe,” Mia claimed.

“What?” the girls said together. Mia’s sudden presence had alarmed them. They both nearly leapt out of their skins.

“I will tell you later. Here is the key,” Mia’s slyly said and showed them a medium-sized brown rusted key.

She put it in the lock to open the door. Emily’s heart raced with fear and anticipation, but Jamie was eager to unveil this elaborate hoax. They said nothing ... their expressions said it all.

“What is so special about the door? Why did you ask us not to touch it?” Jamie asked as soon as Mia put the key in the lock.

Mia didn’t answer and went inside first. Emily followed second and the last to enter was Jamie. Mia settled herself on a dirty looking couch that was aligned at the end of the room. The girls took time to look around the room, and Mia didn’t disturb them while their eyes journeyed through the space.

There were several pictures of ghosts, and newspaper cuttings pinned on the walls. There were broken shards of mirror and some full-sized ones aligned against the wall.

“Are these even real? What do you guys even do here?” Jamie wanted to know.

“Don’t you know what we do here? You do know and that’s why you’re here,” Mia replied back while still sitting lazily on the couch.

“All this went on and we had no idea about it. What else don’t we know?” Emily asked in bewilderment. 

“Many things,” Mia said with a cackling laugh, “but I wonder why Jamie had no idea about these. From what I heard, she knows everything that happens at the university. Yet, you didn’t know that there was a back room in here where we practiced magic?” Mia joked.

Jamie returned a look of disgust and annoyance, but decided not to respond to Mia’s statement. She tried to stay on task instead. “Now tell us already what we need to do,” she said without delaying it further. Jamie seemed not to like the place too much and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

“What’s the hurry, you just arrived here. I guess you’re in a rush though. In the phone conversation, it all sounded so desperate and I thought it was someone you needed to see tonight,” Mia said.

“It is true, I do need to see someone, but before you do anything, I just want to know how these things work,” Emily leveled on her. “And how safe are they? I want to make sure that Jamie isn't harmed. I want you to answer me these questions first.”

Emily was clear in laying down what she needed and wanted to cover all grounds before going about it. She wanted to plan her every move so that nothing went wrong.

“So many conditions … you are asking too much, Emily. Plus, if this is a onetime thing for you, then why are you so scared? Look around,” she said, opening her arms, “because this has never bored me and it wouldn’t bore you either. Take your time and tell me what you need to know, and I will offer you my help,” Mia said very calmly.

Emily tried to relax herself as she didn’t want Mia to see her despair. “I don’t know if this is a onetime thing. I find all of these mysteries quite intriguing now. I just wanted to make sure that I enjoyed it, and that includes Jamie being safe, because she is here for me.”