Ghost: Books of the Dead - Fantasy Best Seller and Supernatural Teen Book: (Ghost, Occult, Supernatural, Occult and Supernatural) (33 page)

She tried to figure out what she saw back in the room, but all she remembered was the hot breath behind her neck. She shivered in fear again, got up from the bed and paced around the room. The darkness scared her and she switched on the light to rid herself of the dark wickedness that lurked in the room.

Soon, it was morning, just as Jamie was closing her eyes for sleep. She drifted occasionally, but felt restless. She looked tired, pale and particularly unhealthy. Jamie looked for Emily, but she was not around anywhere. She called out a couple of times, but she didn’t get an answer. She walked up to the sitting area and found Emily reading from one of the books that were stacked in front of her. Jamie went ahead and snatched the book from her hand.

“What are you doing? I asked you not to go through these books. Why don’t you listen to me? Are you trying to call on a spirit here in your room? Or don’t you remember what happened to you the other night?’’

Jamie was gasping for air at the horror of what was happening in front of her eyes. Emily seemed unfazed. She seemed much better than last night, and an eerie confidence overtook her features. It reminded Jamie of the way Mr. Mitchell looked in the library.

“I am all right,” Emily assured her. “You know that I have to do this again, not here, but somewhere else and there is no point in pushing it aside. There was someone in the room last night and I have to know who it was. Was it someone I am looking for or was it someone who is troubling me for so long? Who was it? This is worrying me, Jamie, and who would understand, if not you?”

There was genuine agony in Emily’s eyes. She tried to look reckless and strong, but her eyes were tired and sad from sleeplessness, from thinking too much and from everything she had gone through the past few days. There were fleeting moments when Jamie felt anger and hurt over Emily’s changing attitude, but she quickly reasoned with herself. The act of looking at Emily’s eyes made Jamie feel even sadder. She sat down beside her friend and placed her hand on top of Emily’s. No words were exchanged between them, but they knew what they wanted to say to each other. Emily seemed to appreciate the new found friendship and she closed her eyes to show that.

“Thank you” was all Emily could say.

“Get up now, we got work to do.” Jamie pulled Emily up.

“You don’t look too well either. Where are you heading?” Emily pulled back but Jamie was still holding onto her hands.

“Mr. Mitchell has some questions to answer and I am not leaving him alone until he does. Why is everyone acting so mysterious? I need to know or it will kill me. Oh, and one more thing, don’t do anything while I am gone.” Jamie gave a little wink and went out of Emily’s room.

Emily sat there by herself, not moving. The pages that lay open in front of her were inviting and she couldn’t resist turning the pages. Greed consumed her and she turned one page after another, forgetting Jamie’s warnings. There were pages after pages of images and drawings and paragraphs about ways people can call on spirits.

“I can do this on my own,” Emily told herself. “I have to do this on my own. I must do this on my own.”

First, she tried to motivate herself, and from there she gained a greater conviction. Although she wasn’t that strong yet, she tried to focus all of her energy on the texts. Yet, she was confused as to which one to follow.

Then, a paragraph about a broken mirror caught her eye. She felt intrigued by it and started reading. The lines brought her closer to her answers, and the thought alone frightened her, but she went on anyway. There were conflicting thoughts that circled her head but she pressed on anyway. She wanted to try them, but then Jamie’s warning pricked her constantly.

What do I do?

Her eyes fell on the mirror that was hanging in her room. She slowly walked up to it and stood there looking into her own blank impression. She looked behind her and there was nothing there. The mirror showed only her reflection staring blankly back at it. The bright sun rays penetrated her room and reflected on the same mirror and the lights bothered her. Emily went back to pull the draped closed. One by one, Emily closed all the windows and pulled the curtains so that no external light would enter. When the room was perfectly dark with only one light switched on, she searched for five candles, lit them and switched off the remaining light. The stage was set and there was nothing that could stop her from beginning the ceremony. It was the process through which all her questions would be answered.

Emily slowly started to chant the prayers that were written in the yellow pages. The monotonous and rhythmic tones were starting to make her dizzy. Even her hands were cold. The candle lights flickered on and then she took the name of the one person that mattered to her.

“Mrs. Hampton,” she whispered.

The mirror cracked and she quickly shut her eyes. Then, there was the familiar feeling of the hot breath behind her back and she started to lose her nerve.

“I know who you are, and you are here for me. Didn’t you want to see me, because I wanted to see you for so long? I waited for you, just to catch one glimpse of you. Why did you leave me, Mrs. Hampton? Wasn’t I dear to you? Didn’t you promise that you will protect me and take care of me? I came back from the holiday looking for you, but they didn’t let me see you and…” Emily cried on hysterically and couldn’t speak anymore in between her sobbing. Emily was overcome with grief, fear and sadness. She didn’t dare to open her eyes to see the one she was talking to. Yet, she felt a presence in the room. The hot breath behind her neck continued to grow.

“Mrs. Hampton, I am Emily. Don’t you remember me anymore?” There were more cracks in the mirror and Emily shrieked at the noise. “Please, Mrs. Hampton, don’t hurt me. You were in my dreams every day and I needed to do this for myself.”

Someone placed an icy cold hand on her shoulder, and Emily shivered more. Then, she gathered all the courage she could and slowly turned around to face the owner of that icy grasp. In the semi-darkness, Emily’s eyes burned in terror because it wasn’t Mrs. Hampton who was staring into her eyes, but an apparition of her former self. The shadow didn’t move and gave a dead cold look. It gazed deep into Emily’s eyes as if it was seeing through her soul and Emily couldn’t make out if she was indeed looking at Mrs. Hampton. The terror in Emily’s heart was overcome with pity that she felt for herself. Emily couldn’t stop crying as the things that were happening were too much for her to bear.

“Why are you crying,” a blurry voice asked?

Emily had no strength to answer. The voice asked again, and when Emily didn’t answer anything, the image started to fade. Suddenly, Emily surged forward, finding a last reserve of courage and strength.

“Wait, Mrs. Hampton, don’t go. I just didn’t expect to see you. For so long, I never believed that this was even possible. I am so sorry that I couldn’t protect you. Please Mrs. Hampton, can you forgive me?” Emily sat down on her knees and begged.

“You don’t believe what you see,” the shadow asked?

“But I do believe it. It is you, isn’t it? You are real. This is indeed happening. I didn’t believe before, but now I do.” Emily went on saying in between her sobbing.

“Don’t believe it…” the shadow replied and it vanished in thin air.

“No, don’t go … please, come back, Mrs. Hampton, please come back!” Emily shouted back and tried to reach out for the vanishing shadow, but she was not only too late, but it was impossible.

“Please come back, you cannot leave like this. I want you to answer something for me. Come back!” Emily went on saying, but all her efforts were futile. “This can’t be happening. No, no, I must call her back,” Emily frantically told herself. “What do I do … what do I do now? Oh, this can’t be happening!”

Emily was unstoppable. She couldn’t see or hear anything properly and her head was heavy, but she couldn’t make herself stop. The candles were still burning brightly and Emily started chanting again. Only a knock on the door made her stop. Emily looked towards the door with fierce eyes, but made no attempt whatsoever to open it. The knocks on the door grew louder, but Emily went on chanting. Minutes later, the knocks ceased to exist and there was the sound of keys turning. It was Jamie who pushed the door open and came rushing towards her friend. She slapped her right across the face when Emily didn’t stop. Emily got up and pushed Jamie aside and kept on chanting. She was in an uncontrollable fit.

 “Stop it, stop this madness, Emily! Don’t you realize what you are doing? You are going crazy. I asked you not to do anything.”

Jamie looked to the side in horror and then her eyes fell on the cracked mirror. She felt as if she was too late. Yet, Jamie made a second attempt and didn’t give up, even when Emily hissed at her. She knew that she lacked the strength to stop her, so she ran towards the candle to douse the flames. Emily came towards her to stop her from doing that, but Jamie escaped. She ran towards the window to remove the curtains and pushed open the window to let the light in. Emily was unable to get up and stop Jamie this time. The sunlight proved to be a distraction, and she finally stopped her madness. Jamie stood in one corner and waited for Emily to get up, but she didn’t. So once again Jamie amassed her spirit and went towards Emily to pick her up, but when she turned her over, Emily had already passed out and stopped breathing.

Jamie freaked out as she clutched the motionless body of her friend in her arms. She shook Emily repeatedly to help her up. Emily’s dorm room was littered with broken mirrors and old, dusty sorcery books. It smelled of candle wax and necromancy.

“Please don’t pass out on me, Emily. Wake up please,” Jamie pleaded. “Oh, please, this is not how it was supposed to be? Emily, please breathe. What do I do now? Someone, anyone help me please!”

She sobbed uncontrollably. Her salty tears fell on Emily’s cheek. Then, like a miracle, Emily opened her eyes.

“What happened,” she muttered weakly?

“Oh, you’re awake. I was so scared for a second.”

Jamie felt the life coming back to Emily’s body. She hugged her tight and wept hysterically. She and Emily had recently become close fries, and until this moment, Jamie didn’t realize just how close they had actually become. She genuinely cared about Emily’s wellbeing, and wasn’t about to leave her like this.

“I am fine, but I don’t remember anything. What happened?” She asked while trying to sit up.

“Throw those books away, Emily. They’re evil. Do you even realize what these books are making you become? The chanting, the praying,” she said, her voice trailing off. “I asked you not to. Why did you try to do this on your own,” Jamie questioned?

“Will you accept my apology, Jamie? I’m sorry, but I was tempted to try it. I tried to stay away, but I couldn’t control myself. I wanted to see someone, someone important to me from the past. Then, it worked. I felt the same sensation that I felt yesterday in the room that Mia took us to. When I turned around, I saw her, but then she asked me something. She asked me if I believed she was real. I answered ‘yes’ and then I don’t remember anything after that. What happened when you came in,” Emily asked while panting?

Jamie listened to everything her friend was saying, but all the while she was thinking of how to pull her friend out of this mess. She had gone to the library after she left Emily alone and rushed back with some important news. Yet, she never expected to find her like this.

“Just relax, Emily. Try to get your strength back because I have got some news for you. First, I’ll tell you what I saw.” Jamie paused to take a deep breath. “When I came in here you were still chanting those lines. I tried stopping you, but you pushed me aside. It was like you were possessed.”

“I’m so sorry,” Emily said, propping herself up against the wall.

“I went to see Mr. Mitchell, the librarian, to tell him about what happened yesterday to us. You won’t believe what he said.” Jamie stopped again to catch her breath. Then she said, “He completely denied suggesting that we summon the spirits. I tried to remind him, but he completely pushed me out. The assistant librarian was there and he even prohibited me from going to the library for a week. What did I do wrong? I was just asking him a few questions, and why did he deny everything that he had said? I’m telling you, Emily, something is wrong with him and we better complain.”

“We have nothing against him, Jamie. What will be our reason of accusation? We have no proof that he told us to do this. We did it on our own, and we have to wait because there is nothing we can do now. He has all the rights to deny, because who wants to get in all the trouble? Realize how much news this would cause if these incidents ever get out,” Emily warned her.

“This news should get out,” Jamie batted back. “Look at yourself in the mirror that is if you still have one left, and see what the process had done to you.” Jamie’s tone was sarcastic.

“I don’t blame Mr. Mitchell, not yet at least. We were the ones who went to him asking for help. He tried to give us a plan and it didn’t work for us, but I don’t understand why not. If Mia has been practicing these spells, why hadn’t it affected her, as it did to me? I need to know that,” Emily affirmed. “There is some truth in what Mr. Mitchell told us. Maybe he was just covering his ass when he denied everything that you said. We can’t rule that out, can we?”

Suddenly, Emily jerked and bolted up from the floor. Apparitions began to appear in front of her eyes again. Like shadows peeling away from the walls, they reached out for her. Emily began to act hysterically and threw a fit again. Jamie tried to calm her down, but there was no holding her back. Emily covered her eyes with her hands and didn’t stop shaking her head.

“Emily calm down,” Jamie soothed. “I am here, so relax now. What is happening to you,” Jamie asked? She reached out and held her friend close to her chest.

“Someone is here,” Emily murmured. “I can sense it, but I don’t want to face them. Help me, Jamie, please. Help me out of this,” Emily cried!

“No one is here, Emily, so calm down,” Jamie said.