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

by John Stone

  “The dreams will keep coming, and they will not go away until it drives you insane. You will lose your peace and sanity,” the apparition told her. “All things are related. Do as I say and things will go back to the way they were. I will make a promise to you, but then you have to promise me, too.”

  The sheer certainty by which the ghostly spirit spoke these words terrified Emily to the core. It cemented the fact that what it claimed to be was real. Days had passed, and Emily didn’t sleep one night without being woken up due to the horrible nightmares. The fatigue was showing. It slowed her down and she did want a little peace in her life.

  The green eyes never left her; it could see through her soul and judged her every move. It could read the voice in her mind and Emily saw no escape from it. It was hard for her to figure out if she was being threatened or offered help, and the only thing she could do was to take up the offer and agree to the bargain. So for one last time, Emily closed her eyes to silence the voice in her head. Either the ghost would set her free or bring her down forever from where there was no escape.

  “There is nothing that you can do now. Submit and I will set you free. There is something that you want to know ... what is it? Don’t hesitate to tell me,” the voice spoke in Emily’s head again.

  “I didn’t seek you, but there was someone else. The old lady librarian, she helped me before with a book, and the other time, she tried to reach out for me, but I was too frightened and I reacted by losing my senses. She was here before, but now I don’t see her. I need to know what she has to do with any of these things that are happening with me,” Emily spoke her mind.

  “Your questions will be answered, but you need to believe in me first. We can’t work without the trust. So are you willing to trust me, because I will help you if you are willing to help me in return?”

  Emily nodded back, and then the voices spoke in her head, “Go and tell your friend to leave and not to come back until you tell her to. Don’t contact anyone, not even your other friend, Grace. I know for a fact that she is not here and out there looking for something, but trust me, it won’t do you any good. So listen to whatever I am saying and it will lead you towards the path where you will find peace and sanity. So go on now and do as I say.”

  There was no strength left in Emily to question the voice. So, she got up from the bench like a robot and walked out to the hallway where Jamie was waiting for her patiently. She was in a daze, a trance that was induced by the green-eyed wraith.

  “Jamie, you must go.”

  Emily found her voice again, but she felt that she was being controlled by someone else. She had no strength to challenge it. Jamie looked towards Emily in surprise, shocked to see her talking in a mechanical voice. And the things she was saying didn’t make any sense. Jamie had no time to react before Emily spoke again.

  “Go back now, because I don’t need you here. Don’t question my motives, and if you want to know anything, wait for me back in the room. I will come back and speak to you soon.”

  Jamie expected a different reaction from Emily and hoped to hear a different story. Yet something else was happening, something that she didn’t expect nor understand. Therefore, detecting something was amiss, Jamie decided to go and observe from the side of the hall.

  “Fine, I will leave if you want me to, but Emily, please don’t believe everything you see or things that people say to you. Judge on your own before doing something,” she advised.

  Emily didn’t pay attention to what her friend said. “I am capable of handling things on my own. It will be better if you look out for yourself.” With that, Emily turned back and headed towards the library. A faint part of Emily nagged on some unidentifiable feeling. Something inside of her told her that she was being controlled, that she was being dragged into this against her own will, but she was handicapped and was incapable of any reaction. When she got back to the criminology section, the green-eyed woman was already waiting there.

  “So you did as I told you,” she spoke to Emily’s mind. “I am impressed, but now you will have to do some other things that I ask you to do.” The voice never stopped speaking. Emily shook her head twice to shrug it off, but the voice didn't change. “What you are trying to do will not work. I will not leave unless you do what I ask. So, obey me while you can.”

  “Whatever you say,” Emily obediently answered back.

  “Then you need to go and find Mr. Gallagher for me and then ask him about his sister. Get all the information you can out of him, and if he questions you back, then make up an excuse about why you need to know. Only then, come back here, but remember the promise. If anyone asks you about this, you can’t say anything. Break the promise, and you will be in trouble. Am I clear,” the figure in front of her questioned firmly?

  Emily nodded and went on her way out of the library. Once out of the library, Emily cooled herself down and kneeled outside the library door. She rested there for a while, going over what just happened. It felt like a nightmare that had unfortunately come true.

  Who was I talking to just then? Someone is controlling my mind. What do I do?

  Emily desperately looked to the sky, but out of fear and frustration covered up her eyes. Then, she remembered that she had a task at hand and quickly set out to find Mr. Gallagher. Luckily, she didn’t have to make much of an effort as she caught sight of him going towards a classroom. He primarily worked in the Fletcher building so Emily found him in just a few minutes. Emily thanked her lucky stars and called out to him.

  “Mr. Gallagher! Mr. Gallagher! Please wait, I have something that I wanted to talk to you about,” she said upon finally catching up with him.

  “You want to talk about something now? But I had your class this morning and you weren’t there. You didn’t attend the lectures, did you,” Mr. Gallagher asked sternly?

  Emily bowed down her head in shame. “I am extremely sorry, professor, but I was busy with something and I got delayed so…”

  “Oh, yes, this thing that you had was so very important that you couldn’t even attend an important class. So, now you come running to me for the notes. Emily, don’t think that I haven’t noticed your reluctance over the last couple of days. As a teacher, I despise this kind of behavior. So, come back in your next class and I will see what I can do.”

  Mr. Gallagher was angry and didn’t hesitate to show it. Emily was dumfounded for a minute and forgot what she was going to say. However, when she saw him walking away, she raced towards him to let him know her actual purpose of calling him.

  “Professor, this is about your sister,” was all Emily said.

  Then, Mr. Gallagher stopped dead in his tracks. He looked back at her with fiery eyes and obvious anger. “Emily, you are overstepping your limit. What are you trying to imply here? What about my sister? I don’t want to talk about this, so good day!” Mr. Gallagher sounded furious and he stormed out of the corridor. However, Emily didn’t give up; she followed Mr. Gallagher along his footsteps.

  “Mr. Gallagher, you need to wait. There is something very important that I need to ask you. Wait please!” Emily kept on calling to him until he eventually stopped.

  “What do you need, Emily? I just said that there is nothing that I want to talk to you about. Why are you bothering me with your questions? Leave now… just go!”

  By this time, Mr. Gallagher looked furious. Emily contemplated if she should go on with her mission, but right then, the voice in her head spoke again. She felt a stinging sensation behind her eyes, and she knew that she was being watched. Emily didn’t stop and asked instead, “Mr. Gallagher, you do have a sister don’t you? And I am here to talk about her.”

  His eyes grew red in anger and his facial features turned twisted. He looked sternly at her, and then he gritted his teeth. “How dare you? I don’t have a sister. I had one, but she is dead, and if this is your idea of joke, then you are in for trouble. I will personally make sure that this reaches the heads and you are punished accordingly.” Mr. Gallagher was fumin
g with sheer anger.

  However that didn’t seem to bother Emily, and she ignored the warnings, “What is her name? And how did she die,” she asked?

  There was a clear look of disbelief in his eyes, as Emily was clearly ignoring what he said to her and questioned him instead. As there was nothing else that he could say further, Mr. Gallagher stomped off away from her. Emily for a second was left speechless, as she couldn’t understand the reason behind Mr. Gallagher’s anger at the mere mention of his sister.

  People die, she thought, but why did he get angry over that? So did anything bad happen to her? I must find out.

  Mr. Gallagher was already gone. Emily felt a twinge of worry creep over her. If she failed in this mission, she didn’t know what would happen to her.

  “What should I do now? Whom should I ask for help? I cannot ask for anyone’s help.” Emily went back and forth saying this to herself. She promised that she would not tell a soul and feared the disaster she might face upon breaching it. “No, I cannot tell anyone, not even when Grace comes back. I… I…I must go and ask Mr. Gallagher again, but where will I find him? Where? Oh, he must be in his quarters, I must ask him.” Emily uttered the lines in frenzy and went to seek Mr. Gallagher in a hurry. Emily was sure that she would find Mr. Gallagher in his quarters and she wasn’t mistaken. She found him walking quickly towards the entrance of his cottage.

  “Mr. Gallagher, please one last time, can you listen to what I have to say? You can’t simply negate what I am saying. Why are you reacting in this manner? I need to know that.”

  “What is wrong with you today, Emily? I cannot even fathom that. I am trying to avoid you. However, you seem to completely ignore that. In what language do I have to say it? Go, Emily, please, I don’t want to talk to about my sister,” Mr. Gallagher begged.

  Emily thought she saw tears in his eyes, but he turned his face away when he realized that Emily was looking directly at him. “You are obviously hiding something from me and that is affecting you. I think you should tell me about it,” Emily said in an assuring manner.

  Mr. Gallagher pondered over it for the next few minutes. Then, he asked her to wait for a short time outside. Emily could feel the winter chill, but tried to stay focused. Mr. Gallagher came out after a short while and handed her a picture. Emily kept looking at it with a transfixed gaze.

  “I have seen this picture, Mr. Gallagher, but where did you get it?” She looked up into the face of Mr. Gallagher in a confused manner to look for an answer, but he remained silent. “Professor, who is she? I know her, please you must tell me? Who is this girl,” she asked with more emphasis?

  “She is my sister,” he finally admitted. “Wasn’t it her that you desired to know about?” Mr. Gallagher paused, and then he wiped off one stray tear from his eye.

  He waited for Emily to give an answer. Yet, Emily was completely at a loss of words. She had seen this girl before. The picture meant something, but there were several other missing pieces in the puzzle which didn’t fit. Her mind had a direction of its own, but events were happening too fast for her to unravel the mystery just yet.

  Before she could think about that, Mr. Gallagher said something else to her. “You know her? Where have you seen her,” he asked out of desperation?

  “I…I just know that I have seen her. I can’t tell you anything about this now, Mr. Gallagher,” Emily said while taking a step back. “I can’t tell any of it to you, and I only wanted to confirm this, so…” Emily was cut off in the middle.

  “You can’t just ask me something and turn your back away. Why do you need to know about my sister? What is it about her that’s made you so curious?” Mr. Gallagher showered her with questions.

  “I was not conducting an investigation about her,” Emily corrected. “In fact, I didn’t even know her. I just wanted to know…know if she existed,” Emily spoke out hesitatingly.

  “But you said that you saw the picture, what about it then? Can you deny it?” Mr. Gallagher was not letting her go.

  “Mr. Gallagher, you must let me go. This is not something that I can confide in you. Please you must understand,” Emily begged desperately.

  “And I beg of you, Emily. If you know something, then please don’t hide it from me. You know something and I can see it in your face.”

  Mr. Gallagher was sure that Emily was definitely hiding some grave truth from him. However, Emily had no answer that she could offer him. She turned away her face, looking for a temporary answer that would silence Mr. Gallagher, at least long enough for her to get away. She could think of nothing to put him at peace.

  “Do you care to know how my sister died,” Mr. Gallagher said all of a sudden. It took Emily completely by surprise, as she was not expecting it.

  “What do you mean by this,” she asked while stammering?

  “I asked if you care to know how my sister died and what she meant to me.” But by this time, his voice was eerily calm and composed. There wasn’t the slightest trace of a tremor in his tone. Emily pondered for a moment and weighed if she really wanted to listen to what Mr. Gallagher had to say. However, he didn’t give her any time to react. “She died here,” he said gravely. Then, he took out his napkin to wipe off the tears that were flowing down from his eyes.

  “Are you all right,” Emily asked meekly? “Mr. Gallagher, you don’t seem well. Should I take you inside the room?” Emily was aware of his health and age, and it concerned her beyond reason, but Mr. Gallagher didn’t answer. He leaned towards the door and supported himself against it. “Mr. Gallagher, you don’t need to tell me anything that you don’t want to. This is obviously distressing you and I am sorry that I brought this up. Please, Professor, you must relax or else you will be sick. Please, I beg of you.” Emily went on pleading, but the professor seemed to be deaf towards whatever she was saying.

  Emily started panicking. She looked both ways to see if anyone was coming. Her main intention was to avoid public interest, but the scene that’s Mr. Gallagher was creating was obviously attracting unwanted attention. However, she couldn’t simply turn away and leave. The pressure was too much on her. The photograph, the revelation, Mr. Gallagher’s sudden panic attack all bore down on her. So, she closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them.

  “Mr. Gallagher!” she called out loud. He looked up. “I’m sorry that I can’t tell you why I’m involved in all this. I’m the one who should be asking you the questions. I never wanted to be a part of this, and I am sure something is very wrong here. I have never seen you fumbling, and acting so vulnerable. I merely asked you about your sister. What triggered this?” Emily tried to show a confident facade and pushed the last strand of doubt from her mind. She was in constant dilemma over what she should do. “Mr. Gallagher, answer me, because I will not ask you again.”

  At that moment, Mr. Gallagher seemed stunned at the straight forwardness of Emily. A moment ago she was showing care and concern. “You meant to hear it,” he began, “so then hear it till the end, even if that means the end of me. I don’t know why you are a part of all this, but you were the one who confronted me with this question, so face it!” He shouted back.

  “Mr. Gallagher, I am not here to be a part of all this. I have the answers to what I wanted to know, and therefore, I got to go,” Emily stated very firmly.

  “You cannot simply come in and then ask something and leave,” he said with a wry chuckle. “You … you started this and you must put an end to it as well. So stay here and listen to what I have to say,” he called back to Emily.

  Emily had no desire to stay there and listen to Mr. Gallagher. Therefore, she turned on her heels and walked out of his quarters. Emily then quickened her pace and started walking faster towards her dorm. She heard the faint calling of her name from behind, but she dared not look back. Emily ran as fast her feet took her, and only settled down after entering her room and closing the door behind her.

  “What do I do now? Whom do I call?” Emily frantically started going through her phone,
but calling Grace or Jamie was not an option. “What do I do? Oh, God, what do I do?”

  Emily screamed out. She paced the entire room and freaked out even at the slightest sound that occurred. Perhaps her eyes deliberately went toward the stack of books right in the corner, but then she remembered what had happened the last time. She wound up unconscious. So she shoved the idea out of her mind quickly. Then, the desperation got the better of her. She was frustrated and furious with the mere sight of those books. Hence, she went towards them and threw them aside. “What do I do?” she called out loudly again, but everything in front of her was bleak. The day seemed to drag on too long for her but there was no light that she could see. The light fixtures in her room flickered and Emily shivered at the mere thought of spending the entire day here alone.

  “Maybe I should call Denise and Keisha. They’re there,” she told herself and left her room in a hurry. She went towards the door and right in their room to seek refuge, but a harrowing voice called her back. The green-eyed wraith was watching her every move. Emily slumped back on the floor and the tears knew no bound. “I am going insane, or am I already insane?” Emily slapped herself hard and tried to calm herself down.

  What is wrong with me? Why is this happening to me?

  Sadly, there was no one to answer her. “I have to head back to the library and tell her what I know. I cannot simply be here and not do a thing. She promised me a solution, and she promised that she would help me be free, free from all the torment and agony. I must go,” Emily said out loud, then paused for a couple of minutes before being utterly confused. Then she said, “Am I speaking with myself? Just when did I become like this? I cannot go on…no, I must.”

  Emily was indeed talking to herself. She was split by purpose. One part of her being was rejecting the crazy ideas that her other self was fueling. She kept tormenting herself with conflicting ideas, sometimes to summon the ghost in her room again like the previous time and sometimes to go and confront Mr. Gallagher for the final answer. The rational side of Emily’s mind poked her and urged her to inform someone of the higher authority. Then, she suddenly knew what she had to. She opened her drawer and took out the picture she had and read out the names out loud. “Who are these people? I must know it,” she said, and rushed out of her room.