Books of the Dead

by Morris Fenris

  The corridor to Merly’s room was half-lit. One of the lights flickered, the one that was in front of Merly’s room. It seemed to be malfunctioning. The rest of the lights were on. “What is wrong with the light now?” Natalie commented irritably. “Leave it as it is. I will complain about it tomorrow morning. Let’s go inside quickly,” Merly took Natalie inside.

  “It is so cold today,” Natalie remarked. “Do you care for some coffee? I could do with some, too,” Merly said.

  Merly left her bag on the table and went ahead to prepare the coffee while Natalie relaxed on one of the chairs. She tried to closed her eyes to relax. She curled herself up and drifted off for a few seconds before opening her eyes. “What is that buzzing sound?” she asked. “Oh, Merly, it’s your phone.”

  Merly called from the kitchen, “It is in the front of my bag, please answer it for me, will you? I am getting the coffee.”

  Natalie searched Merly’s bag and took the phone out to see who was calling, “Merly, it’s Sandra, your classmate, I guess. Should I answer it for you?”

  Merly didn’t say anything but came out of her room, “No, I will answer it myself. Give me the phone,” she said. She remembered what happened in the class earlier that day and didn’t want her friend to be concerned for her again. “Sandra, why are you calling me now? Do you need something from me?” she asked.

  “How far you are with the assignment? You didn’t come back to class so I called to find out,” Sandra asked.

  “I was busy, Sandra, I told you that. I couldn’t get back the class, and also, I might not attend tomorrow’s class as well. There are things I need to take care of,” Merly said, but all the while she kept glancing towards Natalie to see her reaction.

  “But, tomorrow we have to…” Sandra was about to say, but Merly didn’t let her.

  “Tomorrow, I cannot attend the class, and you don’t have to tell anyone about this. I will make an excuse, submit the assignment, and maybe the professor will grant me some extra time. I just need some extra time and then I can manage it. Sandra, I know that you are concerned, but don’t be. What I am doing is equally important and this is for myself, so I also ask for a little time from you.”

  “If are so sure about this, then go ahead. I have no right to stop you, and I won’t tell anything to anyone, but … but I hope you can come back soon.” Sandra hung up. The tone of disconnection went on for a few moments, and Merly finally let go of it.

  “It was Sandra. She was talking about an assignment that I have to submit and…” Merly offered an explanation.

  “I know it was Sandra. I said that to you and I heard why she called. But what I don’t understand is why are you offering explanation? Why are you answering anybody who asks you about your actions? You do what you want, Merly. You are doing this for yourself; therefore, you are not answerable to anyone ... just remember that.” Natalie tried to ease some of the awkwardness that the phone call caused.

  “She was just trying to be helpful, but I guess you are right. I am thinking too much about this and probably nobody cares,” Merly said.

  “And even if they do care, just let them. Don’t let that affect you. Now stop thinking too much and hand me the coffee. I am having a nagging headache that Mr. Stevenson gave me. Some day, I will get back at him for good.” Natalie managed to calm Merly down.

  “What do you want me to do?” Merly asked once she was finally settled down.

  “Do you want to do this for sure? Are you confident about this because what Mr. Stevenson asked you to do is not easy? He is asking you to do something that is far from what you believe in, thought and shaped your behavior. You cannot back out once you go that path, so be very sure of what you are getting into Merly. For all I know, there will be nothing but regret later on for you.”

  “I know what I am getting into, but Natalie do I have a choice? Didn’t I come too far along this path? I know what awaits me. Either I will get to know why whatever is happening to me, or this will end in regret, but I am greedy. I need to know and no matter how many times you warn me, I simply cannot back out. Also, I have no one blame, and I am thankful to you for aiding me on this.” Merly was sincere when she expressed her gratitude towards Natalie.

  “If you are so confident about this, then I am with you, and I am with you till we see the end of this.” Natalie placed her hand on top of Merly’s.

  A cold winter wind blew in from the open window of Merly’s room and it brought along with it unknown thoughts and feelings. Merly shivered. In the last week, she had come a long way, she had become a mere shadow of her former self. Merly didn’t ponder over the thought even when it crossed her mind once. The cold wind settled on her skin and she got up to close the window panes. Not only did that stop the wind from coming, but delayed the unsettling thought as well.

  “Then let’s go and ask someone who could help us, but we have to be careful. The person needs to be someone who we can trust and won’t tell on us. It would do us more harm than good if word got around. So, do you know someone like that?” Natalie implored.

  “I know of someone; however, I am not entirely sure if she is the right person to ask for help or if we can trust her completely,” Merly said.

  “Who are you referring to? Do I know her?”

  “I am talking about Zoë and Kelly’s friend, Camille. She was here the other day looking for the books, and I learned that she took interest in these matters. I could ask her, but I am having doubts. What should we do?” Merly was doubtful and Natalie wasn’t too sure of the suggestion.

  “You want to ask her, but that way, Kelly and Zoë would know and already they know so much. I don’t think she is a reliable person or if I could trust her. Don’t you know of anybody else?”

  “If anyone should know about such a person, then it should be you. I don’t know of anyone else, and I just came to know Camille just a few days back. We have to take this chance. She is our only hope to get through this.” Merly saw no other way out and wanted to stick with Camille. At least she was known to Camille, and they could always ask her to keep it a secret.

  “How do we get to her without drawing attention, because she will tell.” Natalie was still not convinced.

  “I will talk to her. I am in a way sure that she won’t let me down ... you didn’t let me down,” Merly assured Natalie.

  “But that’s tomorrow, we can’t call her now. Wouldn’t it be better if we approach her in a round-about way? If we ask her about ghosts and spirits, and then we can say that want to see it happening, too,” Natalie suggested.

  Merly contemplated about the pros and cons of the idea and a smile formed on her face, then she said, “It is not a bad idea. Maybe we can pull this off without her suspecting anything. We need to be careful and more convincing. She saw those books in here and we will pretend that they have sparked our interest and we want to be a part of it.”

  “She would most likely tell us stuff, because I have a feeling that she wants more of her people to be involved with the crazy obsession she has. We can then learn from her about how these things works. We can prepare ourselves and be safe. There is no point in getting into unnecessary trouble. I don’t really trust Mr. Stevenson, who knows what his intentions are? But Camille must know her stuff; she must have done this before. Let’s ask her.” Merly thought that Natalie’s voice faltered.

  “You don’t have to be in this if you don’t want to,” she said.

  “What do you mean? Of course, I want to be in this, and I said I will see this through the end. What made you doubt me?” Natalie asked.

  “If you are scared, then I can do this on my own. Your voice faltered and if I am not mistaken, this is indeed a perilous path. I am sad that I dragged you into this, but you can walk out anytime you want and I won’t say anything.” Merly didn’t want to hold Natalie back, so she tried for the last time to let her go.

  However, Natalie was adamant, “It’s just the cold, so I shivered. Moreover, do you believe that I am scared of thi
ngs? I was the one who urged you to go ahead with this; you just take care of yourself, because I can handle myself. In fact, I am so pumped up right now that I want to call Camille and invite over, but things don’t work that way. We will need a bigger and proper place with the right ambiance and your room, unfortunately, does not satisfy any of those categories.” Natalie seemed to try to shrug off the fear that Merly clearly heard in her voice.

  “You seem to know an awful lot about how to summon a spirit,” Merly jokingly said.

  “It’s called common sense. You can’t call a spirit in this room, because it for relaxing and learning, not to interview them.”

  “You are so funny when you are angry. I was just joking with you, and moreover, we must take this interview seriously. Once we hear them or see them, we must ask all the questions before they leave. I don’t really want to be a bad interviewer, so I must prepare the questions then,” Merly suggested and there was a tone of banter in her suggestion.

  You really think this is easy? You are making fun, but there is one thing I know, Merly, the path is darker than it seems, so be very careful about what you do or say.” Natalie’s voice was stern and Merly felt that Natalie didn’t take the joke lightly.

  “I am not thinking about anything, now can we look at those books that I received. Maybe we will find something in them that will escalate our process of finding out things. Let me bring them to you. Wait here.” Merly didn’t want to upset Natalie anymore and went on to bring the books to her. They were heavier than Merly had imagined, and she handed one over to Natalie and took one herself, keeping the rest on the table top. “What’s in these books? They are so heavy,” Merly said.

  “Are they building an army? How many ghosts are we supposed to call? Or how do we know which is the right method?’’ Natalie seconded Merly’s opinion.

  They flipped through the pages. The books were old and discolored.“How old are these books?” the girls said in chorus.

  “There is no publication date in here, but they are old. Look, pages 13-18 are missing. What if the answers were in these pages?” Merly pointed out.

  “We have to keep looking, and I never knew that these were even possible. Here, look at what is written in these pages.” Natalie showed her a few paragraphs that pointed out how to bring back the spirits of a loved one. “Do you want to call or bring back someone you loved and who isn’t there anymore? We can do that for the starter. Is there anyone, Merly?” Natalie asked without knowing that she touched a nerve.

  Merly was almost tempted and vulnerable to say the name. Emotions surged upwards and she pressed her lips. Merly was emotionally stable and never liked displaying them. “Who would I want to call? There is no one like that.” Merly ignored what Natalie was saying and didn’t look her in the face.

  Natalie didn’t pay attention to Merly’s discomfort either, “I thought it would help if we just called a friendly spirit instead of an angry one. They might not be very pleased.” Natalie winked at Merly who was having a hard time participating in the conversation.

  The tables had turned. Moments earlier, she was accusing Natalie of being scared, but now she was not very sure herself.

  “Loosen up, Merly, we are not calling anyone tonight, at least not in here,” Natalie said when she realized that Merly was not speaking anymore.

  “It’s nothing, and I am not thinking about that,” Merly lied

  “What are you possibly thinking about now? Merly are you even reading what’s in the book?” Natalie seemed surprised that Merly was not paying her enough attention.

  “I want to contact Camille now; we can’t push this any further,” Merly said abruptly.

  “What prompted you all of a sudden? And you want to call her now? She will definitely suspect,” Natalie tried to reason her out of the decision.

  “Yes, now since it’s not even that late. I can’t sleep at night with this burden on my back. This has gone too far and I need to put an end to this. Now please get me the phone. I will call her myself.” Merly was determined. Natalie handed her the phone.

  Merly dialed the number and Camille picked up the phone right after one ring. “Camille, I want to see you. Could you come over to my place now?” Merly questioned keeping her voice stable as much as possible.

  “You want to see me now? What is this about?” Camille questioned.

  Merly could hear several voices over the telephone, but chose to ignore them. “Yes, I want to see you, if that is not a problem, and it is about those books.”

  Natalie stood there paying close attention to the conversation and saw that Merly didn’t go about the books in a roundabout way. She asked too directly. “I am just curious about them, and you know a thing or two about them. You know what these books are about and I do want to call someone, whom I loved very much and respected, so can you come and see me now?” Merly waited for a response from Camille.

  “Yes, I can do that, but I want something in return. Can you give the books to me?” Camille asked.

  “You can have all of them for all I care, just come and see me now. I am in my room, and Camille, I would prefer if you could keep this a secret between us and the books will be yours.”

  Merly disconnected the phone when Camille agreed to meet with her.

  “That was way too straight forward. Hopefully, it will work. So you do want to call on some one whom you love. Who is it, Merly? Do I know that person?” Natalie couldn’t control her curiosity and asked the moment Merly disconnected the phone.

  “I lied to Camille ... there is no one that I want to call. I said that, because I wanted to sound casual and not to arouse her suspicion. I was convincing, even you believed me. She is on her way up here.” Merly lied about her lying and went back to the book.

  Natalie didn’t seem to believe her saying, “We will see.”

  There were three knocks on the door after fifteen minutes passed. Natalie opened the door. It was Camille alone. Natalie urged her to come inside.

  Camille was obviously surprised to see Natalie. Natalie waited for Merly to answer the impending question that Camille was about to ask.

  “You know Natalie, I mean everyone knows her. She is my friend and on this journey with me, so feel free to talk in front of her, too,” Merly insisted.

  “If you are fine with this, then I have nothing to complain about. Now show me those books first,” Camille retorted and decided to ignore Natalie.

  “You need to tell me something first,” Merly haggled.

  “Did you tell about any of this to Zoë or Kelly?”

  “I didn’t, because you asked me not to, and in return, you promised me the books. I am not in elementary school anymore. I know what you meant when you said that you wanted to keep this a secret. Moreover, Zoë and Kelly are out with a friend. I am not telling them; these books are more important to me.” Camille uttered each word specifically so that both Merly and Natalie were convinced.

  “That is good to hear. The books are on the table. Get them for yourself and take a look.” Merly showed her the books once she was convinced.

  Camille hungrily went where the books were stacked and devoured the smell first from the covers and then through the pages. Merly and Natalie both looked on. “These are gold.” Camille turned back and said, “These are worth more than anything. I want them all.” Camille sounded like a lunatic, greedy and there was an eerie gleam in her eyes.

  “You can have them all, but not before you help us.“

  “What do you want me to do?” Camille set aside the books then turned towards them with the question.

  “You know what I want, but I don’t want to do it here,” Merly responded.

  “Both of you need to come with me then, and take the book with the green and the one with the brown cover along with you. We will need them,” Camille stressed and took a book with a red cover with golden lettering on it and went towards the door.

  Natalie and Merly did as they were instructed and both followed Camille. Merly looked at
her watch and it was 9:30 p.m., and she hoped that it was the last time she had to face any more trouble. Tomorrow I will have a better day, and I will have the answers tonight.

  “Merly come on, don’t lag behind. Hurry up!” Natalie called from the front.

  “I was getting the keys. You go ahead.” Merly shook off the last feeling of hesitation off and walked fast to catch up with Natalie and Camille.

  I hope no one sees us tonight, was the last thing that ran through Merly’s head.

  Camille took Merly and Natalie through the back of their dorm and around the second building; they passed the pharmacy along the way and approached the third building when Camille stopped them. “We are here,” she said.

  The three of them entered the building silently. Miss C. Richards was at the desks of the entrance area. She seemed to have dozed off and didn’t see the girls enter. Camille motioned Merly and Natalie to take the back door, which led to a staircase nobody used any longer and led to an abandoned room on the last floor of the building. “I left the door to the staircase open for you. Go quietly and wait for me at the end of the stairs. There is a room at the end that needs a key to open, and I have it in my room. I am going to get the key, so don’t touch the door and don’t make any noise. I will be back in a minute.” Camille pushed them towards the door and left. Merly saw her take the main staircase.

  The girls didn’t wait and made it towards the staircase. They entered through the door and closed it silently behind them and started climbing up the stairs. The night was cold, and the dark, gloomy environment made it even more frigid.

  “Don’t touch the door until I come,” Natalie repeated Camille’s word in a twisted and mocked tone. “Why? What is behind that door? I don’t trust Camille and she made it sound creepier on purpose,” Natalie babbled.

  The staircase seemed unused and abandoned, like there was hardly anybody ever using it, and Merly wondered if they had staircases like that in their building as well for whatever the purpose they were constructed in the first place. Natalie’s constant blabbering disturbed her thought, so she pulled her and said, “Hush now and stop suspecting everyone. Remember, we are the one who asked her for help. She didn’t drag us here; we came on our own will, so be quiet now, and hurry up. We will wait for her upstairs.”