by John Stone
“I’ll wait here for you to wake up,” Jamie announced quietly.
Then she started to clean up the mess that lay in front of her. She looked at the cracked mirror and traced her hand over it. She winced at the faint images that crossed her mind. Whom did she see? Jamie asked herself, not knowing the answer. The books lay strewn around and she started picking them up one by one. And then she came across the one that was lying in front of the doused candle. Jamie picked it up to read through the pages. She eventually found the passage which mentioned the spell to call on spirits of the dearly departed. She went through a few lines, but then closed it without looking any further. She hated the sight of those books.
“What purpose do they have? I wish they were never sent to Emily to begin with,” Jamie kept mumbling to herself.
By the time she was finished cleaning up, it was already 6:00 p.m. Emily was fast asleep, oblivious to the happenings around her. Jamie woke her up slowly, but the tiredness was still in her face. Despite calling a few times, Emily didn’t wake up. Her breathing was rapid and she seemed to be in pain. Jamie couldn’t figure out the source and she began to worry all over again.
“Emily, wake up! It’s time for us to go. Mia asked us to meet her. We can’t be late.”
Jamie kept calling Emily. She woke up a couple of minutes later. Her eyes dark and an obvious streak of fatigue burdened her features. Although she had slept for nearly two hours, she still looked exhausted.
“Come on, we need to go. Get a sweater and we’ll get going.” Jamie rushed off to her own room and then the two girls journeyed to where they were supposed to meet Mia.
Mia was waiting for them and looked at her watch while they approached. “You guys are late, now come on hurry up. I have things to tell you guys.” Mia grabbed Jamie’s hand and dragged them towards the back door.
“Are you taking us back in that room,” Jamie asked? “We are not going back there. You don’t even know what happened to Emily, and this morning…”
Emily grabbed hold of Jamie’s hand and didn’t let her finish what she was saying. Jamie took the hint and merely followed Mia to where she was taking them. She made up her mind that if it was the dreadful necromancy room, then she would protest.
“Hurry up you two! It’s getting late,” Mia urged.
“We’re moving as fast as we can,” Jamie told her. “Emily is unwell. Where are you taking us,” Jamie asked for the second time?
“Just come with me. I am taking you both to my room. I have something to tell you,” Mia insisted and Jamie didn’t protest anymore.
Mia’s room was lightly lit with books and candles strewn around. Emily noticed that among them were two of her books that she had carried to the horrific room the previous night, but she didn’t mention them. Jamie and Emily stood at the door and observed each little detail. They were skeptical and weren't too sure of what their action should be.
“Come on in. You two don’t suppose that I’ll eat you up, do you,” Mia mocked?
They tiptoed inside the room, but made no attempt to sit down.
“What do you have to tell us? Hurry up, because we can’t waste our time anymore on this. We have been in enough trouble already and it is very exhausting,” Jamie said in an irritated manner.
“You are extremely impatient, Jamie, and you are not letting me speak. What I’m about to say is an important matter, and you two must listen very carefully, so…” Mia couldn’t finish her sentence because Jamie interrupted her again.
“I’m impatient,” balked Jamie? “So why shouldn’t I be? Do you even know what we went through the past couple of days? And especially Emily, look at her first, then pass your ill-founded judgments. Stop with your storytelling and tell me what you know!” Jamie practically screamed at Mia.
“There’s no point in shouting at me. I’m only telling you what I know, and that is the truth,’’ Mia plainly stated.
“And what is your motivation behind that?” Jamie questioned Mia.
“I have no other motivation other than to help you, so listen to me, or else you are on your own,” Mia said one last time.
Emily, who was watching this conversation take place from the far corner of the room, obviously didn’t like what she saw at all. “Stop it, both of you, stop arguing. It’s not doing any of us any good. This is Mia’s room,” she said to Jamie, “so show some respect. Now Mia, tell me what you know,” she said.
“First, I know you lied because something else happened in that room the other day. There was someone whom you wanted to see badly, wasn't there, Emily? I know the effects when you call on someone for a particular purpose, and it was someone whom you loved. I knew the moment it happened and so the ambiance became so conflicted. It was supposed to be a different method and a different spell, but you lied to me, and that was your first mistake. What you saw was real. There were spirits there, but I couldn’t figure out why there was more than one. Even I don’t know how that’s possible? What else did you say, Emily? What other trick did you do?” She waited for a moment, but then urgently continued on. “Now, don’t hide anything from me. Tell me everything that you know,” Mia demanded.
“We came here to seek answers,” Jamie butted in, “not satisfy your curiosity. If you have nothing concrete to say, then it’s better for us to leave. Do you want us to leave,” Jamie threatened Mia?
“Can't you remain quiet sometimes,” Mia asked her? “And why did you even participate in this business? This has got nothing to do with you,” Mia lashed back.
Emily wasn’t surprised that her lies came to light. In fact, she hoped they would so that she had less to explain. “Yes, you are right,” Emily told Mia, “I lied to you, but I had no other choice. I didn’t want the word getting around. I don’t want anyone to label me as some kind of psychopath, and this situation is delicate. I had to be more cautious. Plus, Jamie was there, and I had to look out for her safety, as well. But tell me more about what you know,” Emily said.
Mia wasn’t someone who let go of things easily and this time was no different. She fired questions one after the other at Emily, and she was compelled to answer all of them. Jamie tried to intervene once or twice, but Mia hushed her up every time. The conversation dragged along, and Emily was losing all her footing. She answered some questions and tried to avoid the rest. She could clearly understand that Mia’s intentions were to purge Emily of every tidbit of information before divulging anything else herself. It bugged her that Emily knew something that she didn’t, that she was able to perform something that she had been trying for so long, yet she had failed.
“What did you do last night,” Mia asked her again? “Which book did you study from? Was it one of those books that were in your room? Emily, you are not this goodie-two-shoes person you portray to be... you are one of us,’’ Mia continued saying, and that pushed Emily over the edge.
She stood up and flipped her hair over. “What are you trying to prove by this? Why did you even call us here? I’m leaving,” Emily said before Mia could even answer. She and Jamie both started to move towards the door.
Finally, Mia decided to give away what she knew. “This has got something to do with the library, doesn't it,” Mia questioned?
“I don’t know if this has got anything to do with the library,” Emily lied, but there were fragments of truth in her answer, too. The incidents in the library were genuine, but Emily had no idea how that fit into the story.
“How many more times will you lie before you come up with the truth, Emily?” it was apparent that Mia didn’t like the answer Emily provided. Thus, she reacted sharply towards it. “All right, go on denying or hiding the truth from me,” she continued, “but let me warn you, it will do you no real good. This has something to do with the library, a spirit formed there and it's letting its presence be known. There was a library pass from our university lying around in the room. I saw it while you girls were still there, but I didn’t think that it was worthy enough to mention, but there was somethin
g odd about the piece of paper. It dated back to the 1960’s and the old torn piece of paper had someone's name stamped on it, which I couldn’t tell immediately, but you guys might if I showed them to you. Wait here and I’ll bring out the paper.”
Mia went to get the paper. Emily and Jamie stared at each other with raised eyebrows and tried to retain their composure. Mia came back to the room and handed it over to Emily with a knowing smile. Jamie and Emily both looked at the piece of paper in awe. They couldn’t hide their amazement and surprise. The girls recognized the name. They clearly knew what it meant.
“Look at this, Jamie! How is this even possible?”
“I have no idea. Now where do we start looking,” Jamie asked?
“What is it? Is there something that I don’t know,” Mia questioned?
“No, there is nothing that we can tell you,” Jamie told her with a straight face. “We are just as surprised as you are regarding this thing.” Jamie tried to act convincing, but it wasn’t working.
Mia had already caught on to the fact that Emily was lying. “You don’t sound persuasive enough, and I saw the look that you gave each other. So, I’ll ask you one final time, what is it?” Mia tried harder.
Both the girls got up without saying a thing and completely ignored what Mia said. Then before going out, Emily said in a polite manner, “This is obviously something that I have to take care of myself. You cannot help me with this anymore and I don’t expect it either. Don’t expect an answer from me because I can’t tell you anything.”
Emily closed the door behind her and left, but she could hear Mia shouting their names in agony. In hindsight, she probably should have satiated Mia’s curiosity. At least it would have kept her out of the way while she and Jamie explored this latest piece of information. Now, Mia would never stop pursing them.
“What triggered all this,” Jamie asked innocently?
“I think it’s me, it must be me. I started all this and now I have to put an end to it before more people are driven to madness. I can’t let that happen. I can’t push more people into trouble. I still have no clue if Grace’s okay or why she refused to contact me. How many days has it been, Jamie? Or Mr. Mitchell, who confessed and then denied everything afterwards, and now Mia has gone mad with this necromancy power. This isn’t right and it must stop,” Emily said firmly!
“Do you want to contact Grace one more time,” Jamie asked earnestly?
“What is the point? I know she has the answers, but what if she refuses to talk to me? What then?”
Emily expressed what she felt inside and Jamie couldn’t deny the truth of her words. It was true that things were indeed getting out of hand and no matter how sincerely they tried, it seemed like they were traveling round in circles. At least they had the library card, but there was no telling how far it would take them.
“I’ll head to the library. Will you come with me,” Emily asked her friend? She didn’t wait for a response to start walking in the direction of the Fletcher building.
“You want to go now? Because of a piece of paper, are you sure about it? I mean, what if Mia had forged it or something like that. We will never know that,” Jamie said expressing her doubt.
“I don’t believe that she made it. I keep telling you that we have to trust her. Now come with me.” Emily dragged her friend towards the library.
“What will you do there? Mr. Mitchell will deny everything and I told you that before. There's no points…wait,” Jamie called to her as she dragged her feet.
Obviously, Jamie wasn’t sure what to think about it, so she decided to follow Emily. Mr. Mitchell wasn’t present when they entered the library, so they made their way towards the criminology section. The benches were empty and it was a perfect opportunity for them to discuss their situation.
“Why did you drag us here? What will we find here,” Jamie asked?
“I will exorcise the library ghosts here. I need to ask them questions, especially the green-eyed wraith. I’m going to find out who they are and why they’re bothering me,” Emily answered as a matter of fact.
“What are you talking about? Are you crazy or have you finally lost your mind? You want to do this in the library ... in here? We can probably be expelled for that. We absolutely cannot do this here, and I won’t let you.” Jamie reacted very sharply and didn’t try to hide it.
“Are you being selfish? Or are you afraid? If you want to leave, then go. I won’t stop you, but don’t try to stop me from doing this. Don’t stay here with me if you don’t want to, but it has to happen.” Emily dismissed Jamie without thinking twice.
“Emily, don’t you see that you’re driven by madness? You’re no better than Mia. Stop now before it burns you, before it destroys who you are,” Jamie said.
Sadly, Jamie’s concern was unable to touch Emily’s heart. The look of determination in her eyes was unmistakable. Perhaps, it was due to everything she had gone through in the last couple of weeks. Perhaps, she was giving into the madness instead of trying to fight it. Either way, Emily was committed to the dark path and nobody was going to stop her.
Chapter 9
“Leave then,” Emily told her younger counterpart.
The words began to reverberate in Jamie’s head, but she didn’t let the hurt show. She had a bad feeling about it, but she didn’t voice her concern any longer. She could see the level of commitment that Emily had at this point, and it wouldn’t do any good to try and talk some sense into her.
“I’ll be here no matter what,” Jamie said. “Now, what do you plan to do?”
“I’ll do exactly what I did this morning. I know how to do it, and I studied from the book this morning.”
“Do you want me to be here or do you want to do this alone, Emily?”
“I want to do this alone,” she admitted reluctantly. “I’ve put you in enough trouble already. Wait for me and … just wait for me, all right,” Emily said.
Jamie touched her friend’s hand and promised to wait outside. She got up from the benches and calmly headed for the door. She took a seat outside the library and she was actually quite surprised that it was rather empty. There wasn’t the slightest sound or disturbances coming from within, hence, she waited patiently for Emily to call her. Minutes later, she heard faint chanting and the sound of rhythmic prayers. She dared not to look. Jamie went toward the doors to make sure that no one was coming that way. She wanted to be ready to warn Emily if necessary. Standing there alone, Jamie was ready to rush to Emily’s aid, but there was nothing that needed her attention. There were only the occasional chanting sounds which stopped midway through the chorus and they were replaced by hushed whispers and heavy breathing. Jamie thought she heard Emily’s voice, but then the warm sensation of fear blanketed her courage. So she stood transfixed there without moving.
******
Meanwhile in the library, the air had gone cold. There was a faint light that appeared at the beginning of the ceremony, and Emily thought she was imagining things. The fact that this was actually happening to her was something she was having difficulty coping with. She never believed in necromancy and ghosts, yet here she was participating in the dark arts. She closed her eyes tightly and concentrated harder. There were a number of faces that reflected in her mind's eye, but she blinked her eyes tightly shut. When Mrs. Hampton’s face came into her consciousness, Emily stopped chanting. However, Mrs. Hampton’s face was soon replaced by that of the ghastly-faced librarian whom she had seen once before. The shadow-like creature sat in front of her, and Emily struggled to steady her nerves. Although this all seemed unreal, Emily was determined to come out on top.
“You are not Mrs. Hampton, and I knew it the moment that you appeared yesterday. Please tell me why you wanted to see me? Have I done anything to deserve this? Did I make you angry? Please tell me, because I cannot take this anymore. I am scared and I ask for your forgiveness,” the young girl offered the ghost. Emily’s voice was shaky and she was crying. Heavy, wet tears flowed down her face
without stopping, but the shadowy figure in front of her was unmoved by any of her pleadings.
Much later, Emily realized that she was drifting off in a state of drowsiness. In the middle of her haze, she saw that the shadowy figure of the librarian was replaced by a woman in a white dress with green eyes. Emily came back to her senses and stared at the figure in front of her. With complete awe, she instinctively tried to speak. However, just as before, her voice was struck in her throat. Emily tried speaking again, but it didn’t work. Dejectedly, she slumped back in her seat, but kept her eyes on the woman in front of her. She was scared, but her determination was greater. Hence, she didn’t try to get up and run away. She wanted to communicate with the spirit, but words weren’t going to be enough. To her surprise, the figure could read her mind. Emily looked at the figure and the first thing that instantly came to her mind was that she was initially not there. Emily stared at the figure intently and before she could say anything, a voice spoke in her mind.
“I need your help,” the voice said.
A cold sensation passed through Emily. She didn’t say anything, but thought of a response.
What help can I be to you? I am but a mere mortal, and I know nothing about spiritual matters. Why am I chosen?
Emily’s questions were answered. “Because you wanted to see me, that’s why you were chosen. You are the only one who can help me, but I need to know that you believe in me,” the green-eyed figure in front of her asked?
Emily didn’t need to say anything, because the fearful look in her eyes was answer enough.
“Only you can help me, but it should be our secret, our little secret. You have to swear to me that you won't tell anyone anything. The moment you walk out of here, you are bound by secrecy.”
Emily didn’t know what to say. Trusting a stranger was one thing and she hardly did that, but this was something that she was completely unsure of. A spirit or a ghost, Emily was not even sure what to name it. Her uncertainty was clear and her doubts were apparent. Emily couldn’t make up her mind regarding her next move. The shadowy illusion in front of her was able to see that, too.
