by John Stone
The moment she asked the question, she knew it didn’t sound right. It wouldn’t take Keisha much time to realize that there was a connection between both incidents. Keisha was about to say something when there was a loud knock on the door. They both looked at each other understandably and knew who it was. Keisha went to open the door.
Predictably, it was Denise at the door. She didn’t look surprised upon seeing Emily sitting inside her room and greeted both girls. Then she went inside her room without saying anything else. Emily wondered if Keisha would ask Denise about her newfound friendship with Mia, or her interest in evoking spirits and souls, but Keisha didn’t say a thing. Perhaps she stored it away for some other time.
Keisha turned back to Emily and asked, “You were saying something?”
“Never mind,” Emily said and attempted to leave the room.
Keisha tried to stop her, but eventually let her go. The night was still young when Emily entered her room, dragging the set of freshly arrived books behind her. They were stacked along with the other books in the corner, the sight of which only added to her misery. She cringed at the sight of them and turned her face away. Emily debated whether or not to look into the new box, but couldn’t figure out why the books were sent to her in the first place.
For now, there was nothing she could do. Emily checked her phone to see if Grace had called, but the screen was blank. Grace’s reluctance to call, even after two days, saddened Emily deeply. She gulped it down and called her instead. The response she got was similar to that of the other day. The line was not reachable and the connection was cut off soon after. She couldn’t contact Grace, and that was slowly starting to sink in. Emily contemplated if calling her family was a good idea, but then Grace would get into trouble if her family was unaware of her absence. Waiting for Grace to call her back was the only option left for her.
What do I do with these books?
The anxiety within Emily was genuine. Sitting alone in the glum environment of the room gave her some ideas, but a thousand random things ran through her mind. She decided to ignore them. She rummaged through the new books that were dropped at her door steps, but there was nothing extraordinary about them. Yet, there was one book that stood out from the rest. It was addressed to R. Keaton.
These books must belong to her, Emily assumed, but why are they delivered at my doorstop?
Something was not right and the nagging feeling kept lingering in her head. There was no way to get rid of them, other than to find out the truth that lay behind the anonymous sender of the books. Emily pulled out a notepad and decided to approach the situation from a systematic standpoint. She listed a few people she wanted to question about Mr. Gallagher, and with that thought in mind she went to bed.
Am I about to expose some big secret revelation coming or am I just making a mountain out of a molehill?
The next day she met Mrs. Skinner, who was the assistant dean. She was a middle-aged woman, strict and disciplined. She was a dedicated administrator and mostly kept track of anything that went on within the university campus. She had a fair amount of knowledge of university staff and every rule in the book. Emily was confident that Mrs. Skinner could provide her with some answers.
Approaching Mrs. Skinner wasn’t easy. She had an aura about her which made her unapproachable, and then asking about another teacher seemed like a mammoth task. But it was to be done and delaying it would only make things worse. Mrs. Skinner was not in her office when Emily arrived at the administration building. She was disappointed and decided to wait outside her office. She sat down on the brown sofa and her eyes rested on the cream walls that surrounded the waiting area. There were pictures lined up neatly of several faces: some known, others unknown to her. Some were grainy and hard for her to see. She didn’t pay any attention to those, but when her eyes fell on a particular batch of students, Emily was sure that she had seen someone’s face before.
She got up and walked up to the wall, and then strained her eyes to confirm what she believed she saw. Standing among a group of young men and women, in the last row in the furthest corner there was a lanky man with round-rimmed glasses. He had side swept hair and a faint smile plastered on his face. Emily was sure she had seen that smile before, a smile like that belonged to only one person. It was quite familiar because the man on the portrait was Mr. Gallagher in his early twenties. The batch was mentioned and identified on the bottom left corner of the picture. The picture had already turned a faint shade of yellow, reminiscent of the age it was taken.
Emily was both amazed and surprised that Mr. Gallagher was one of the students in the university. It was indeed strange that he never talked about it or ever mentioned it before. There was no reason for him to hide the fact. Mr. Gallagher was known to share his stories, his experiences and other aspects of his life with students. Yet the thought occurred to Emily that although there were numerous things he did mention, Mr. Gallagher never bothered to mention where he graduated.
“He was a student of this institution!” Emily exclaimed.
She stood there examining the picture to see if there was anyone else she could recognize. There were several faces she thought she knew, but could not place them.
Who were they and why did their faces remind me of people I’ve met before? “This cannot be,” she said aloud. Just then, Mrs. Skinner came back just in time to break-up Emily’s thoughts.
“What can I do for you?” Mrs. Skinner said a bit harshly.
“Hello, Mrs. Skinner,” Emily said shyly. “It’d be better if we speak in private.”
Mrs. Skinner seemed to be in foul mood. Emily contemplated if it was the right time to indulge her in the conversation. Mrs. Skinner didn’t look up from her desk and ignored Emily’s presence in the room. The young girl waited a couple of minutes, but then finally asked something which she didn’t intend to.
“Mrs. Skinner, do you know about any rumors that surround the fourth floor library?”
Mrs. Skinner was taken aback by the question and clearly looked offended. “Is this question relevant and what makes you think I’m supposed to answer that to you?” she asked.
Emily knew she had to make up something very quickly or else she wouldn’t be able to get an answer from her at all. Emily needed to think up something quickly. Then, a brilliant idea came to mind that would ease her purpose and make her efforts justifiable.
“I am writing a story,” she said.
“A story,” Mrs. Skinner questioned, looking unconvinced. “And what purpose does the fourth floor library rumor serve to your story?” she added.
“It’s a ghost story,” Emily said in a heartbeat, and then went on to ask, “So there are rumors and they are true?” Emily felt more confident now. She was sure this rouse would work.
“You’re asking me questions like I’m one of the criminals. You know, there is a better way of asking these questions.”
Emily could see that Mrs. Skinner was displeased by her interference at such a busy point in her day. Maybe this was not the right time to ask her the question, she thought, but what Mrs. Skinner said next changed her opinion.
“Well, I am only telling you this because you want to write a story, and as a writer myself, I know one needs inspiration and interesting tales to flare up the imagination. I always encourage my students to take up creative tasks. So what I am about to tell you is a rumor, but others claim it is true. They say that there is a ghost and it can be seen in the fourth floor library of the Fletcher building during this time of the year.”
“This time of the year?” Emily asked the question with a hint of doubt in her voice.
“Yes, some say that they have seen the ghost around this time. Now, I haven’t seen it myself and don’t want to anytime soon. I hear that the ghost can be seen in all her beauty and fierceness if you’re lucky.”
“It’s a female spirit?” Emily asked. She didn’t know about this part, although she was well aware of the ghost rumors in the library. “And who do they sa
y the ghost is? Or is it related to somebody?” she asked.
At first, Mrs. Skinner didn’t answer back, but kept quiet. After several moments had passed, she answered, “I have heard it is a female ghost, but I don’t know the answer to your second question.”
Then the assistant dean stopped abruptly. Emily figured that there was nothing more Mrs. Skinner was going to tell her. The administrator’s patience had run out and Emily saw her looking at her watch frequently. She thanked the assistant dean, and then gathered her belongings. Just as she was about to leave, she was called back by Mrs. Skinner.
Mrs. Skinner looked at her and in a not-so-friendly tone said, “You belong to this university, and so whatever you write be careful. I don’t want the reputation of the institution to plummet”.
Emily nodded and thanked Mrs. Skinner several more times. Then she left the administration building. This was not the information Emily was after and she wasn’t sure how this story would help her. Ghost stories were lurking all around and Emily was never bothered by them. So this information didn’t shake her. However, what concerned her most was that there was something connected to the library. It wasn’t the ghost or Mr. Mitchell that she cared about, it was the fact that all the information she gathered led to the library. Some of the talk of ghosts seemed extreme, but it was in the middle to which the facts revolved. Emily was sure of it. She had to find the connection and there were others she needed to ask. She headed across campus to question some students who had their ear to university gossip.
Jamie was known to be a gossip monger. She was a junior to Emily and kept up with all sorts of news that went around in the university. It was a known fact within the campus that nothing was ever hidden from her. Emily thought she might hold some more information that would surely help her. Jamie wasn’t her friend though and Emily didn’t know where to find her. She asked Sarah and Nicholas if they had any idea of where to find her, but they didn't. Another student named Mira directed her to the second floor balcony where she said she saw Jamie on her way up.
Emily raced down, hoping she would still be there, and she was, standing at the edge of the balcony and talking on the phone. Emily called to her from behind, but she didn’t respond and went on talking on the phone. So she called Jamie again, and this time she got her attention. Jamie turned back around and had a look of annoyance on her face, as if she didn’t want to be bothered.
“Yes? Do I know you?” she asked.
Emily was unfazed by the initial harsh attitude. “Can I talk to you?” she asked.
“You are already doing it,” Jamie said in a mocking tone.
“I wanted to ask you something, and it’s because you keep up with all the things that go on in the campus.” Emily said in a tone as not to offend Jamie.
Jamie didn’t look impressed, but decided to reply to Emily anyway. “What do you want to know?” she asked. She couldn’t resist gossip.
“Nothing much,” Emily said slyly, “but do you know of any teacher who is associated with the fourth floor library?” she asked.
“Any teacher?” Jamie quoted back. “I know a ghost lives there,” she casually said.
“I know ….heard that, but that is not what I want to know,” Emily said.
“So, what do you want to know?” Jamie asked again.
“I want to know if there is anyone in the university, teacher, student, staff or anyone who has a secret associated with the library.” Emily tried to frame her statement differently, without giving away the fact that she wanted to know something about Mr. Gallagher.
“That is a strange way of putting it,” Jamie said, but didn’t answer the question she was asked.
“Do you know anything?” Emily asked, this time losing a bit of her patience.
“You are asking me if one of the teachers from this university has got anything to do with the fourth floor library,” she said.
“Yes, I am exactly asking you that,” Emily replied sarcastically.
“They all use it for the books,” Jamie said in a teasing manner.
“You know that I didn’t mean that, Jamie. Listen, I am writing a book and the characters are inspired by real life people and events. So please, a little information won’t hurt anybody and I know you know things.” Emily tried to sound convincing as much as possible.
“Is your story based on the library? Or is it about people?” Jamie asked, without giving out what Emily wanted to know.
“Both, now do you know anything?” Emily was losing her cool.
“Am I included in your story?” Jamie was persistent to get her part of the story.
Emily felt like the tables had turned and in place of Jamie, it was she who was answering all the questions. What do I say that would make her answer my questions? Emily thought.
She couldn’t think of anything that would make Jamie answer her questions so Emily came to a dead end. It was more than Emily could take, and she decided it was not worth her time to keep playing Jamie’s game. It was clear that she wasn’t ready to answer any of the real questions without getting some information herself. Emily simply turned back the way she came without saying anything else to Natalie. The junior student sucked her teeth as Emily started walking away. She decided it was time for her to be more careful if she considered getting important information out of someone.
Emily tripped while climbing down the stairs and Jamie used that opportunity to call her back towards the balcony. Emily turned back and she saw Jamie calling her again. She was waving her hand for Emily to come fast.
What’s the use? She thought to herself. She’ll just tease me again.
Emily didn’t pay heed to the fact that Jamie was calling her back so frantically and continued to climb down. She heard a rush of steps behind her. It was Natalie. She pulled Emily’s shoulder back and then turned her around.
She said “I asked you to stop. Didn’t you hear me?”
“I did, but you weren’t saying anything that would help me with my work, so I was on my way.” Emily shrugged Jamie’s hands off her.
“I might be able to help you,” Natalie said. “You see, legend has it that people who see the library ghost at this time of the year have strange dreams first.” Jamie nodded her head afterwards in a way that led Emily to believe that she knew people who had been through a similar situation.
This time of the year, Emily repeated to herself. The words rang in Emily’s head. Oddly, Mrs. Skinner said the same thing, too. “What kind of dreams?” Emily asked, a little unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.
Jamie got closer to her and whispered, “There is this student two years back, I don’t remember the name, but I heard how he had weird dreams of running towards the library through an unending corridor. The door of the library was opened by someone he knew, but who was dead a long time ago.” Jamie stopped and nodded her head, looking for a reaction from Emily. When she didn’t find any, Natalie continued to say, “And shortly after that, he started seeing spirits and ghosts.” Jamie widened her eyes and said, “Spooky, right?”
Emily stood transfixed. This was not what she hoped to hear. In actuality, it was way more than she had bargained for. She was going through the same things, the dream, the hallway, the deceased loved one. Hearing about it from someone else’s perspective absolutely paralyzed her.
“Emily! Emily!” Jamie called. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes, It’s nothing,” Emily assured her. “That’s great news, but Jamie, that is not what I wanted to know. Is there any teacher who has any sort of connection with this?”
“I am not finished,” Natalie said proudly, “and yes there is. I heard Mr. Mitchell saw the ghosts. He has been the librarian for so many years, so he was bound to see them.”
“There is more than one ghost?” Emily asked in disbelief.
“Well, yes. Some say they have seen an old librarian in the history section of the library.”
“The old librarian? Who is he?” Emily questioned.
�
�Who is she,” Natalie corrected. “You don’t know who the old librarian was?” Jamie asked a little surprised.
Emily gestured that she was not aware of what Jamie was talking about. She was finally getting good information and wanted her to continue. She took a few steps closer to Natalie and took on a much friendlier posture.
“There is a story that the old librarian, the one before Mr. Mitchell joined, is still lurking in the library, but …” Jamie contemplated something then said, “It is not just her; there are other spirits that some people claim to have come across.”
Emily was feeling a little dizzy, and didn’t know how this all related to her missing books. Then, there was the matter of her friend going missing and Grace’s encounter with Mr. Gallagher in the library. She was content to hear whatever Natalie could offer for now and piece it all together later.
“Anything about Mr. Gallagher,” Emily pressed?
She had a little more courage now, and frankly because she just had to know.
“You’re asking me about a teacher,” Natalie said, scoffing at the request. “This doesn’t seem to be about a book, now does it?” Jamie looked at Emily sharply.
Of all things, Emily wasn’t going to tell Jamie her motives, not unless she wanted it to be the topic of discussion across the whole campus. She didn’t want people labeling her crazy or stupid. Emily wanted to avoid it at all cost. She didn’t want to indulge Jamie with any further information and insisted that her questions were in fact for the book. Jamie looked at her skeptically, and it was obvious that she didn’t believe what Emily said. So she waited for Emily to answer her question in more detail. Emily weighed out the options. What was more important to her? Indulging Jamie could be a call for trouble, but then again, she needed to know the truth and was fairly confident that Jamie knew something.
Everyone around campus knew about Jamie, her gossipy ways and love for occult culture. Emily thought she could be her ally, and even be of some help to her. Then again, she didn’t want to get someone into trouble nor did she know if the girl was completely trustworthy. Jamie seemed to notice the dilemma on Emily's face, and Emily knew that she had to take a decision fast.
