by John Stone
An array of emotions passed through Mr. Mitchell’s face. It was as if he wanted to say many things, but couldn’t. He liked Emily, she could tell, and made it evident that he couldn’t refuse her anymore. Jamie saw that it worked.
“But you girls better hurry up, and tell me what you want to know.” Mr. Mitchell told them.
“It is about the girl with the green eyes that you often speak to. I heard that she is always around here, but she never speaks to anyone. You are the only one she ever talks to, and you are not very pleased about it,” Emily stated very casually.
Mr. Mitchell's discomfort was showing. “Who told you about this? Where … where did you learn this from?” he stumbled while asking the question.
Jamie was sitting down quietly listing to the conversation, and she wondered why Emily was asking questions about the green-eyed girl or how the girl was significant in the current situation. Emily didn’t directly answer Mr. Mitchell’s question. “So it is true, isn’t it? Tell me it is?”
Mr. Mitchell’s silence condemned him.
“When was the first time you saw her?” Emily questioned.
Mr. Mitchell very slowly and quietly replied, “It was many years ago. I was working late and there weren’t many students here, just a couple of them, and there she was sitting in the criminology section, alone and without a smile. There was one single book lying in front of her. She was not turning the pages, not even looking at it, so I went over to ask if she was all right. The girl gave me a cold look, but I didn’t back away, but she didn’t speak to me at all, avoided all my questions and sat there silently as if no one was there and that was it.”
“But you kept seeing her, and she spoke to you later on, right?” Emily was going in the right direction as the answer from Mr. Mitchell kept pouring out.
“Yes, yes, that is true. She spoke to me later on and then she never stopped talking,” Mr. Mitchell said. There was a tender sadness in his tone, and it was like he regretted ever going to speak with the girl.
“There is still something else you want to tell us, don't you, Mr. Mitchell? Something about the girl that no one knows except you.”
“How do you know these things?” Mr. Mitchell seemed perplexed.
Emily took in a deep breath and said, “I know this, because I saw her and she spoke with me, too.”
A reaction from Mr. Mitchell was inevitable and he didn’t disappoint her. “What are you saying Emily? Is that’s why you fainted the other day?” He sounded bewildered and haunted.
“No, not exactly, but it was also not the first time that I saw her. I saw her once before, a couple of days back. She didn’t speak to me then, and I don’t know what changed. She spoke to me yesterday and I freaked out. The same dead and cold look was in her eyes, but that is not what caused me to faint,” Emily said, and waited to seek a reaction from Mr. Mitchell.
“So, what was the reason,” he asked?
“The girl is not human,” Emily said in return.
Jamie was mildly shocked. Even Mr. Mitchell didn’t expect her to be so upfront about it. She spoke so directly that he took a moment to answer back.
“Can you be a little quiet about it?”
“Mr. Mitchell, you can speak in front of Jamie. She is my friend and is also helping me to get out of this situation, so it is important for both of us to know.” Emily tried to sound as firm as she could.
“I am afraid she is not human.” Mr. Mitchell didn’t look at Emily’s face the whole time while he spoke, and there were visible lines of tension across his face.
“Mr. Mitchell, you need to relax. We just want to know a few things and then we will be on our way. So, can you tell us what you mean by she is not human?” Emily made sure he was relaxed.
“I mean she is not human ... she is a ghost and lives here. It is all true. There is a ghost here in the library. She talks to me, and tells me things. She might even be here now listening to what we are saying. Why, Emily? Why did you ask me this?” Mr. Mitchell was speaking frantically and his hands were shaking while he spoke.
Instinctively, both Emily and Jamie looked back and to their sides when Mr. Mitchell mentioned that the ghost of the green-eyed girl might still be there. Jamie was particularly concerned, and she didn’t like what she heard for Emily. There was no looking back, because she had to know the answer to her questions.
“But there is something else that I also need to know. There is not just one of them. There are two of them, isn’t there, Mr. Mitchell?” Emily asked.
“What do you want to know now? I already told you what I know,” Mr. Mitchell said.
“But you never answered what I asked you. Are there two of them?” Emily’s question was firm.
“Please, Mr. Mitchell, we are running out of time. You need to tell us fast before your assistant arrives.” it was Jamie who was running out of patience, but Emily dreaded the answer. Mr. Mitchell refused to speak up.
“I don’t know if there are two, but … but I heard there are,” Mr. Mitchell said, clearly fumbling on his ways to the answer.
“And have you seen it?” Jamie questioned even before Mr. Mitchell completed what he was saying.
“Do you mean her?” he asked.
“That means the story of the old librarian ghost is true. You have seen her, the one before you. She lurks here and that student saw it, too. The student must have seen the green-eyed ghost as well, and that is why he reacted the way he did, but what I fail to understand is that after all these years, you never bothered to tell anyone about this. You just kept it yourself. Why, Mr. Mitchell? Was it due to fear? Or are there any other secrets?” Jamie was unstoppable. She was saying one thing after the other, and no matter how hard Emily tried to stop her from speaking, she couldn’t.
“You know something, Mr. Mitchell,” Emily began, “this was the first rumor that I heard upon my visit here. I didn’t believe it at first, but I have to say it is one of the most popular stories around here.
“There is also a saying that…” Emily pinched Jamie hard to stop her from speaking anymore. Jamie stopped, realizing that she was speaking out of turn.
“Please speak a little softer. They might hear you ... please?” Mr. Mitchell frantically requested.
“Who will hear us? The ghosts? You mean the ghosts will hear us?” Jamie mocked. She was unable to understand Mr. Mitchell’s hesitation.
Emily constantly urged her from the side to stop and lower her voice but Jamie refused to listen, “Emily, you stop it; you will never get to the truth at the pace at which you are approaching. Just let me ask him the questions. Do you even realize the amount of information we have acquired right now? We cannot let go of this opportunity, so let’s ask him the question without wasting any more time.”
Emily excused them and dragged Jamie to one side where Mr. Mitchell couldn’t hear them. Then, harshly she said, “Jamie, can’t you see what you are doing? You are making him nervous and you are not letting me speak, and you know that. At the pace that you’re going, we will never get to the truth either.”
“Why are you being unreasonable, Emily? I am only trying to help you here, and it is obvious that he is deliberately avoiding our questions. You think that he is nervous, but I think this is all a facade, a pretense to cover up the actual happenings. Who knows if he is not a part of this? What if he is lying and you are the one sitting and suffering? So stop thinking about this so much, and stand up for yourself for once,” Jamie said.
“Will you two stop arguing for a moment and come over here,” Mr. Mitchell called out. The girls were surprised, but obliged to what he said. He continued, “I am not a part of this and I want to get out too, but for now I cannot tell you girls anything.”
“How do we know that you are not hiding anything from us? How much truth is there in what you are saying? After all this I … we doubt that you are even telling us the actual facts. We are so sorry, Mr. Mitchell, but we cannot wait any longer. You need to tell us exactly what is going on. Emily is
in trouble. She fainted yesterday, and we don’t know what might happen again.” Jamie was furious at this stage and nothing Emily said or did could pursue her otherwise.
“Why is there so much commotion? What are these two arguing about, Mr. Mitchell?” the assistant librarian was back and he demanded an explanation. There was nothing for Mr. Mitchell to say, and both Emily and Jamie were reduced to silence.
“They are arguing over a book, silly isn’t it?” Mr. Mitchell made a desperate attempt to cover up the situation, but his words were not convincing enough.
“These two are fighting over a book? What is this book that is so important to both of you?” The assistant librarian turned and faced Emily and then Jamie. He asked them the question individually. Emily kept her head down, but Jamie looked him boldly in the eye.
“We will just leave and come back later. Mr. Mitchell, please keep the book aside for us,” Jamie remarked. Then, she walked out, hoping Mr. Mitchell would be there when they came back. She walked fast and didn’t turn back to see if Emily was following her.
Emily stopped her and shouted, “Why did you do that? I was working on it and you had to ruin everything. Do you think he will even tell us anything after this? You screamed and shouted and even probably scared him. Can’t you see he is going through so much?”
“I cannot go over this again and again. You know what your problem is? It’s that I am trying my best to help you, but you are just refusing to take it. We discussed something last night and you asked something else today, something about the green-eyed girl. Emily, you are only delaying things, but you are too blinded by your confidence and faith to see things for real,” Jamie harshly remarked and didn’t even wait to listen to what Emily had to say.
“Stop right there, Jamie! You just say what you want and you don’t even stop to rethink it. I was going to tell you everything, but out of nowhere you just jumped in. I met the janitor this morning before anyone was there and she was the one who told me about the presence of the green-eyed girl in the library and how Mr. Mitchell is the only one to talk to her. I just realized that I met her the same way Mr. Mitchell met her. There are too many uncanny similarities to ignore. I thought that if Mr. Mitchell saw the green-eyed ghost then he must have seen the librarian, too.” Emily tried hard to convince Jamie.
Jamie seemed to listen carefully to what Emily was saying. “Obviously, something is not right here and we might be overlooking things. Fighting amongst ourselves while someone somewhere is having the cake is not right. We are just going around and around fighting each other. I don’t want to fight you. I want to fight alongside you.”
Emily wanted to believe what Jamie was saying, but her gestures were not convincing. “We have to go back to the library again and talk to Mr. Mitchell, but, Jamie, you have to promise me that you will let me handle things this time. Please don’t say anything that will put him off.”
Jamie agreed. They didn't go back to class, and waited till the assistant librarian left. Mr. Mitchell usually worked past six in the evening, and both girls waited for that moment to get a hold of him. That day, he didn’t go out. They waited outside the library, but there was no sight of him.
“Did he already leave?” Jamie was impatient. “Let’s just wait a little bit longer. He might be working,” Emily pointed out.
“I can’t wait anymore. Let’s just go inside and see, shall we?” Jamie was unable to contain herself.
“I don’t think we should talk here. Someone might see us like someone saw me speaking with Grace’s mother. Either way, there are people who are suspecting of us already and spreading stories. I don’t want this situation to get out of hand,” Emily remarked as she tried hard to control the situation.
“But no one is here,” Jamie said.
“There was no one the last time, too, yet word got around. I don’t want it happening this time.” Jamie couldn’t say anything back to what Emily said.
The assistant librarian went out while the girls were speaking with each other, but he didn’t notice them as he left. Once he was out of sight, the girls made an attempt to go inside the library while making sure no one saw them. Mr. Mitchell was not there and there was the usual quietness in the library.
“He is not here, did he leave?” Jamie began.
“Wait … he must be around here somewhere. We didn’t see him leave; maybe he is around the corner,” Emily indicated.
“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 peo
ple 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.
