by John Stone
“Mr. Keaton! Mr. Keaton! Wake up.” Emily whispered near him, but he didn’t respond at all. Instead, he kept his head bowed down. Emily noticed that there was a pool of water near where he was sitting, which must have dripped from his wet clothes.
“Are you feeling sick, Mr. Keaton?” Emily was obviously worried.
He looked up feebly and she sighed in relief.
“Are you all right, Mr. Keaton? I was worried for a second, and I couldn’t hear you breathe. It’s great to see you are fine.” Emily was obviously relieved and didn’t hide it.
“I am all right, but this is not why you called me here, is it?” he said angrily.
“No, Mr. Keaton. It is not why I asked you here. Something is not right here and neither will it be unless you intervene. We need your help, Mr. Keaton, and you cannot take the library down,” Emily stated.
“Who is it along with you that need my help?”
“It is your sister, Mr. Keaton. She is here and she seeks your help, too. All I am asking you is not to take this library down or move it away. Please at least consider what I am telling you,” Emily begged him now.
“What has this got to do anything with the library? Yes, there is a talk about moving the library and refurbishing the place, but what connection does my sister have in this? Why are you bringing her here in all this murk? She is gone and she is not coming back,” Mr. Keaton said in a dejected manner.
“Mr. Keaton, what prompted you to change your name in the first place? You were a student in this college, and I am confident that I saw your picture. You went by the same name, too, but then you changed it. Why?”
“Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“I need to know, so please answer me … please.”
“How did you know all of this? Just tell me how?”
“I know that your name is Gregory and that your sister went by the name Rosemary. Both of you were students here and …” Emily waited and took in a large breath before completing her sentence, “…she unfortunately died here, and she is still here. All she wants, Mr. Keaton, is to be close to you as much as possible, so that when you come here to read a book or reminisce about your time together, then she can stand in one corner and see you. All this is possible, because the library is here. Her soul is stuck here, Mr. Keaton, and she can’t travel outside, even if she wanted to. But there are evil forces outside and it needs to be stopped. She is someone trying to stop it, and you, Mr. Keaton, unknowingly are triggering it,” Emily said all she knew in one breath.
Mr. Keaton just kept looking at her without saying a thing. Then, he closed his eyes very slowly and remained still. Emily was getting impatient, but she had to provide enough time to Mr. Keaton. He let out a long, deep exhalation and Emily prepared herself for his reply.
“And you believe all of this … I mean the story. Name the book that inspired this madness,” he said nonchalantly.
“What are you saying, Mr. Keaton? Do you believe that I actually made this all up? But what could possibly be my motivation? I know what it feels like to lose someone and all I want for you is to be close to your sister. I didn’t believe any of this until I saw her with my own eyes. Now I can’t deny that. Tell me, Mr. Keaton, how did I know your real name then,” Emily asked?
“Yes, I did change my name and you did say that you saw my picture. I changed it, because I didn’t want anyone or anything to remind me of Rosemary. It brought back memories for me, and I suffered greatly due to that. I promised to protect my baby sister, but I couldn’t and it was horrid that she had to die. I couldn’t save her and I have myself to blame. I was being too careless,” he lamented.
“Is that why you wanted to prevent Grace from looking into the past year books? I particularly saw two copies missing. I didn’t think anything at first, but I know a case when I see one,” Emily asked back.
“Yes, I had a hunch that Grace was looking into things and that brought back bad memories for me. I was scared, frightened and hurt. I was upset, too. I noticed that in class, she didn’t pay attention, but then you didn’t either. I heard that she inquired about my whereabouts and wanted to know where I was from. Now that infuriated me, so I asked her to stay away from it. Then one day, I was in the library going through some books and there she was looking at the year books. I confronted her directly, but she denied it outright. She said she was looking for someone she knew. Now, I couldn’t contradict her.” Mr. Keaton laid out the facts in detail. “I warned her not to pry and I left it at that. Mr. Mitchell probably saw us having the argument; you can ask him if you want. However, I didn’t see her again. Why is she not attending class,” he asked?
Emily listened to everything, and then said, “Grace left for her hometown. Last I heard, she sprained her leg and won’t be coming back for a few more weeks. However, I am really sorry on her behalf. I didn’t know about any of this and she was only concerned about me and my welfare. So she must have overstepped her boundaries. I cannot blame her completely, because after all she is my friend.”
“You seem to believe in things too easily, Emily, so be careful.”
“I know what I am doing. So please don’t worry about me, Mr. Keaton. However, you don’t seem to believe me completely as of now. What can I do to make you believe me?” Emily voice reeked of desperation.
“What can I say, Emily? Where is Rosemary then? Why can’t I see her like you said?” Mr. Keaton said with watery eyes.
Emily looked around her, but Rosemary was not around. I am not giving up now, Emily said to herself. I brought him here, just like you said. So, now it’s your turn, Rose.
“She will be here. Just have some faith in me, Mr. Keaton.”
Emily closed her eyes, clasped her hands, pressed her lips and started chanting the prayer. Hopefully, it was for the last time. She kept telling herself that after all this, her problems would be over, because the storm will pass and brighter days are on the horizon. She started humming slowly and gently at first and made sure her voice didn’t come out too loud. She concentrated really hard. When her eyes grew heavy and she felt dizzy, she knew it was coming. Emily opened her eyes wide and she realized that Rosemary was standing right there beside her.
“You’re here, Rosemary. Look, I got your brother for you and now all our problems will be solved. We can and most definitely will save this library, right,” Emily asked the ghostly vision?
Rosemary kept looking at her with sad and demure eyes and said, “I don’t think he can see me or feel my presence, Emily. You have to try harder.”
Emily started chanting the spells again and again and repeated them continuously until none of them made any sense. Her eyes and ears began to get warmer and her nerves were on fire. The chill behind her neck forced her to bow down her neck and Emily gave in to the sensation. She opened her eyes moments later to see the reaction of Mr. Keaton, but yet there was no sign of recognition on his face.
“Mr. Keaton, can you see your sister now,” Emily asked hopefully?
“I am having a hard time believing that you are into this sort of thing. A student of logic and reasoning, yet you believe in these things,” he stated questionably. “What is this?”
“She is right here by my side. Can’t you see her,” Emily asked?
Then, she turned her face, looked at Rosemary and asked her as well, “You said these spells would work. What about it then? Why can’t he see you?”
However, before Rosemary could answer anything back, Mr. Keaton banged the table and got up from his chair. He said with clenched teeth, “Stop it, Emily, and get over with this now! There is only so much a person can take. I am going and I don’t want to see you indulging in this kind of activity anymore. You are one of the brightest students in my class, Emily, so I will try not to remember this incident. Just go back to your theories and books...they suit you better”.
Emily looked over at Rosemary and she had her eyes cast down. “It’s all over, now I can’t do anything anymore,” she said.
> “There is something you can do, you must know a way,” Emily pleaded.
Rosemary looked up feebly, and then said in an almost inaudible tone, “There is a way, but I don’t think you will agree to it.” She appeared to be weeping. “It is also very selfish of me to ask you as well.”
“No, trust me. I will do anything you ask of me, if that is what it will take for us to solve the problem finally.”
“I am going, Emily, and I suggest that you come with me, too,” Mr. Keaton urged from the side.
“No wait, I can’t do this,” Emily begged him. Then, she searched for the green-eyed wraith. “Please, Rosemary, what do you want me to do … just tell me and I will, now, please,” Emily sobbed.
“All right then, be careful what you wish for, Emily. I will tell you. My soul will replace yours and that means you will be here like I am now without a physical form and I will take on your physical form to convince Gregory. He will be able to see you by the spells I know,” Rosemary suggested calmly. “It’s called possession.”
Emily was shocked to hear it, and for a whole minute she sat there saying absolutely nothing. “What are you suggesting? That is crazy and impossible. How can I let you do that?” she asked.
“I knew you wouldn’t agree and that is why I wasn’t suggesting it to you. This is all so futile. I am sorry, Emily,” and with that the image of Rosemary started to fade away.
“No, wait, don’t go, please. If I agree to do this, then will Mr. Keaton believe me?” She asked while controlling her tears.
“Yes, I will just ask him to wait a little longer,” Rosemary urged. “Please, once I convince him, then you can get back your physical form because all I want is this library and to see my older brother and nothing else. I promise that,” Rosemary said.
“Mr. Keaton, please stay for a bit longer,” Emily said. “Please, because this is not over yet. Please, can you do this for me?” It was Emily’s final request.
Then, Emily looked back at Rosemary with hopeful eyes, which conveyed that everything was happening as they wanted it to be. “Let’s do this, Rosemary. It is all you ever wanted,” Emily said with a faint and disappearing smile.
“I will always be grateful to you for this, Emily. This might hurt you a little, but remember, it is your choice. Are you ready?” Rosemary asked the final time.
“Emily, whatever you are doing be careful,” Mr. Keaton warned and turned again toward the exit. “You are talking in thin air and with whom? You are sick, Emily, and I am warning you,” Mr. Keaton yelled from the side.
“I am not sick, Mr. Keaton. I know this is what we both want. This will put an end to my misery, as well. This is the best that I can do right now. You have to trust me,” Emily said and then she rubbed the final tear from her eye.
A faint voice whispered in her ears, “Emily, hold Gregory’s hand and hold the other to mine.”
Rosemary was shining bright and her eyes were emerald. Emily couldn’t bear looking at them. She reached out her hand and clasped Mr. Keaton’s hand and tried placing her other hand on to Rosemary's. Although she didn’t feel anything, Rosemary assured her that she was in fact holding on to her hand tightly. Mr. Keaton surprisingly didn’t protest at all, and he latched on to her hand, as well. Emily heard the force of the prayers hitting her head constantly, the surge of which shook her body, but she didn’t let go of the hands. Her palms started feeling a burning sensation and nausea rose up in her throat. It was a feeling that she never had before and she thought she would faint.
This is what death feels like, I suppose, was one of her last trains of thought.
She couldn’t figure out why when her brain started to think something, the noise of the chanting grew louder. It was as if her mind was fully unleashed and she found an internal reserve of never-ending strength to not give up.
In her last moments of possessing her own physical form, there were several faces that popped up in her mind. First, it was Mr. Mitchell oddly enough. Then, came Grace followed by her parents and Jamie, Sandra, Mrs. Hampton, Denise and Mia at last. Strangely, Mr. Keaton and Rosemary never made an appearance in her mind. There were some shadowy figures trying to cage her consciousness and Emily felt her eyes burning with these horrific images
“Stop,” she cried out! Yet, nothing but a sickening, empty groan escaped from her throat. She was powerless to turn back now. Emily couldn’t even open her eyes no matter how hard she tried. She realized that Mr. Keaton was holding her hand in a tight grip and there was no way that she could break free from it. Then, the shivering began. Physical pain took over her mental agony. She thought she might collapse. Random and incoherent thoughts clouded Emily’s mind. There were so many people and so much to say and even less time.
“This isn’t happening. Is this real? This can’t be real. I was supposed to go to class today. Mrs. Hampton, can you make me a cookie? Grace, please don’t set your alarm at 6:00 a.m., because you are never able to get up on time. Hello, Mr. Mitchell, how are you today? I just came by to have a quick read. Denise, why are you never on time? We were supposed to work on this assignment together. It is due tomorrow. You were supposed to be here on time. Mother, I want to go back home, it is scary in here. Father, we should have never gone to that vacation. Now look what happened. What will we do now? Jamie, why do you always stand by the balcony? Yes, I did promise I will trust you, but this is something that I have to do on my own. Grace, why did you leave without telling me anything? You know I waited for you. I was so worried for you, but I am setting everything right. Yes, yes, I made a new friend. Yes, Jamie is a fine person and I like her immensely. Mother, why didn’t you call me? Mr. Mitchell, I know that you don’t talk on your own. Hey, Sandra, thank you so much for assisting with my assignment the other day, I promise to go back being the student that I used to be. Jamie, I asked you not to follow me, I can take care of my own. I surely can. Grace, Jamie, Mother, Mrs. Hampton, where are you all going? Don’t leave me please, wait, don’t go! Please stay here. I will be coming back. What if I don’t make it? Grace, no, do go wait for me.”
There was no escape, no serenity, and no other recourse other than submission for Emily. There was only the pit of something unknown widening beneath her. She could only see the darkness, and nothing else. Emily couldn’t identify anything. There wasn’t a single face she could see, but she just heard noises and voices. Everything went blank. It was the darkest color of black that that she had ever seen. It was so black that she could even read her own thoughts.
Emily opened her eyes slowly and looked around. It took her some time to make sense of her surroundings. She felt a heavy sensation on the back of her head and tried soothing it out. The pain was persistent.
“Try to relax, Emily, it will not go out otherwise. Try to stay still for a while. It will go away. Stay still and don’t think about anything.” Emily knew it was Rosemary who was speaking, but the voice was not hers. It sounded oddly similar; it was of someone she had heard before.
“So, it didn’t work, did it?” Emily asked, but got no reply in return.
When the pain eased a little, Emily attained a more relaxing position. She slowly reclined to where she was sitting and remained like that without opening her eyes. Much later, when Emily thought about an hour had passed, she opened her eyes. She felt more relaxed and saw two figures standing over her smiling. It was Mr. Keaton and a mirror image of herself. Finally, the realization dawned on her what had happened.
“Is this true?” she said.
“Every delicious bit of it,” Mr. Keaton said smilingly.
“Are you happy, Mr. Keaton? You do believe me now, don’t you?” Emily asked hopefully or what was left of her.
“I can see you just fine, Emily. I can’t complain, but I didn’t expect that this was how my kid sister looked. I’m happy that it is her and I have you to thank for this. Please accept my sincere gratitude,” Mr. Keaton said, and no matter how sincere it sounded, Emily didn’t feel comforted by it.
Emi
ly looked to her physical form and felt disembodied. It was as if someone else was wearing her skin. “Rosemary, now you can convince your brother not to take the library down. I did it, didn’t I,” Emily asked steadily?
She was happy that she was able to achieve something so incredible. She crossed over to another realm of existence, and all just to help someone. Rosemary looked lovingly at her brother, and then looked back at Emily's spiritual state.
“Yes, I intend to do that,” she told Emily’s ghost, “but then again, I will have the rest of my life to convince him of that.” Her words sounded selfish and rude.
“What are you talking about, Rosemary? I don’t seem to understand,” Emily said in a state of confusion.
“Oh, don’t call me by that name anymore. I will not be known as Rosemary; I will be called Emily. Now, Gregory can always see me in class and not just in the corner of this sick little library,” she said menacingly.
Emily couldn’t believe her ears. “What are you saying, Rosemary? Please don’t scare me. I trust that you won’t. I trusted you and we agreed that we will do this to convince Mr. Keaton. And now this is done, so I need my physical appearance back,” Emily demanded, but her mind said that it was already a lost battle.
“Oh, Emily, don’t be so petty. I just took it from you and you can’t expect it back already. I still have my classes to complete, new friends to make and your dorm room to enjoy. I have all the time in the world.” Rosemary’s tone was cynical and cruel.
“This is not right. I trusted you with my life, Rosemary, and you cannot take it away from me!” Emily begged.
“I just did, Emily, and know that I am truly sorry, but I can't give this back to you,” Rosemary said while pointing to herself.
Then, Mr. Keaton and Rosemary looked at each other and laughed.
“Oh, Sister, I have waited so long for this. You left too early, too soon, and you had so much potential and so much to achieve, but now you can do everything all over again.
