by James Dawson
‘Yep. I’m not gonna sit around waiting to turn to dust or whatever. You know, it’s really obvious now that Sadie knew there was something going on. You saw how crummy she looked yesterday.’
Naya didn’t disagree but she did stop filing. ‘How are you gonna get out? You need written permission to leave the grounds on a weekday.’
Bobbie shrugged. ‘I don’t care. The worst Price can do is expel me. If we don’t figure out what this is all about … well, it’ll be much worse.’
The right corner of Naya’s mouth curled upwards. ‘You know what, Bobbie Rowe? I kinda like this new empowered espionage thing. It’s very sexy.’
Bobbie laughed. ‘And I think you’ve been in an all-girls’ school too long.’ She took her wash-bag off the peg on the back of the door. ‘I’m gonna use the bathroom while it’s busy. That place is freaking me out.’
‘Good call.’
At this time of the evening, it was normal for there to be a queue and today was no different. The sombre mood had even infected the halls of Brontë House. Although there were two shower cubicles in the bathroom, there were also two girls waiting outside the door, slouched against opposite sides of the corridor like bookends. Perfect. She wouldn’t have to use the shower alone.
The girls in line, two Lowers, muttered about rumours that some escaped bearded lunatic had got into the building and abducted Sadie. Being older and wiser, Bobbie reassured them that wasn’t the case, but neglected to mention the fact that she seriously thought a ghost might have something to do with the disappearance. After a ten-minute wait, a girl in a matching towel-dress/towel-turban combo declared the shower was free.
Once in the bathroom, Bobbie peeled off her dressing gown and stepped into the shower block. When her neighbour got shampoo in her eye and swore loudly, Bobbie couldn’t help but be comforted. For the first time in six years, she was thrilled to be showering alongside her fellow classmates.
Bobbie relaxed. She remembered a time before Piper’s Hall when she’d spent many evenings alone with the nanny while her mum was working. She’d only ever been able to sleep peacefully once she heard her mum get home. This was the same; with the girl in the next cubicle she could unwind. She washed her hair and even conditioned it for the suggested five minutes before rinsing. The tense, uptight nerves in her shoulders clicked as they loosened.
It was only when she turned the shower off she realised there was no longer any noise coming from the next stall. The other girl must have finished and slipped quietly out of the room while she was daydreaming under the jet. Bobbie braced herself and refused to be deterred. It was fine. She was in a brightly lit bathroom surrounded by dozens of other girls. Nothing could possibly happen.
Drip, drip, drip.
She’d heard that noise before. The thick, echoing drops that sounded like they were nowhere but everywhere at the same time. Bobbie towelled herself off as quickly as possible, avoiding the long mirror. It was steamed up and she didn’t want to see what was in it. She remembered the way the reflection had stretched back like a black tunnel.
Drip, drip, drip.
The lights flickered, buzzing and dimming. They stuttered, almost going out. Bobbie slipped on the wet tiles, reaching for her dressing gown in haste. She wanted out of this room. Tying it at the waist, she reached for the door.
Drip, drip, drip.
She froze. The thin plastic curtain was pulled across the right-hand cubicle, but it wasn’t empty. Although the shower was off, a silhouette stood behind the curtain. Arms hung at her side, her head tilted slightly to her left, lank hair hanging over her shoulders.
Drip, drip, drip.
‘Hello? Penelope, is that you?’ Bobbie’s throat was tight. The silhouette didn’t answer – didn’t even move.
A voice raged in her head: Get out! Run! But her feet moved towards the shower stall. Bobbie had had enough of peekaboo with the mysterious figure. ‘What do you want?’ Bobbie’s voice was the thinnest of whispers. ‘Mary?’ She reached a damp, trembling hand towards the shower curtain.
Behind her, the door slammed shut, sealing her in.
Chapter 10
The Intruder
Bobbie had spent her whole life sneering at girls who screamed, but it turned out she’d just never had a reason to do so. She screamed. Again. Although, at least this time she screamed a swear word rather than just whimpering – a fraction tougher. She twisted around just in time to see a familiar figure pull the door shut and slide the lock in place. ‘What the … ?’
Caine leaned back against the door, out of breath. ‘Man, that was intense.’
Bobbie turned back to the shower stall, ropes of wet hair swinging about her face. She pulled the curtain to one side. As she’d somehow known it would be, it was totally empty aside from stray hairs and residual soap suds. Her next thought was, Are either or both of my nipples showing? Thankfully they weren’t, but she pulled the robe tighter across her chest. ‘Are you insane? What on earth are you doing?’
The lights hummed and returned to their usual brightness. ‘I had to see you.’ He wore a black hoodie, hood up. He’d planned his break-in carefully, dressing like an urban ninja. ‘I had to see you.’ What was that supposed to mean? This was a lot to take in. Surely not … a feeling somewhere between cartoon butterflies and nauseous panic fizzed in her stomach.
‘Do you have any idea what would happen if you got caught in here with me?’
‘You’d be expelled?’ he shrugged.
‘I didn’t mean Dr Price, I meant Grace. She’d rip my arms off and use them to beat you to death.’ Caine laughed, but stifled it. ‘Caine, what do you want?’
He stiffened, more serious than she’d seen him. ‘Come off it – you were in the graveyard. That was just the start of it. There’s some serious Paranormal Activity crap going down.’
Bobbie’s mouth fell open as a million sentences raced to get out at the same time: he’d seen things too; she’d totally forgotten he was there at all; what had he seen? The tornado in her head stopped because if he was here, saying this, that meant everything was really real. Just like that, the impossible came true. ‘You’ve seen her too.’
He didn’t say anything but he puckered his lips and drew a deep breath in through his nostrils. No words were necessary because his eyes alone said exactly how scared he was. ‘What did we do?’ he finally muttered.
Bloody Mary was real. It was overwhelming. The validation was at once both brilliant and terrifying. There’s no such thing as ghosts. The refrain that had helped her sleep countless times in the past, on nights when the pipes creaked or branches scraped against her window, was now redundant. There was such a thing as ghosts, and they’d both seen her. In that moment, in that bathroom, Bobbie found herself living in a different world – one where fantasy was reality.
‘What? Where?’ She pulled herself together. ‘I’m sorry, I should have been in touch. I … I could have asked Grace for your number.’
‘Yeah.’ Caine gave a wry smirk. ‘That would’ve gone down well.’
Bobbie returned his smile and the mood in the bathroom lightened. ‘God, how did you even get in here? You must have a death wish.’
‘Same way we got in on Saturday. I saw you queuing in the corridor with those other girls and waited until you were alone.’
The secret passage. ‘Well, I respect your kamikaze style, but we cannot be found in a bathroom. Needless to say, questions would be asked. You’ll have to come to my dorm.’
Another semi-smile. ‘Because that’s less dodgy?’
Bobbie raised an eyebrow. ‘Don’t get any ideas.’ As if he would. ‘Naya’s there.’
‘Again … that’s better?’
‘Wash your mind out, young man.’ Bobbie tutted as she opened the door no more than an inch. The corridor looked clear, but a couple of dorm doors stood open. Mrs Craddock’s shrill voice echoed from somewhere in the distance. ‘We’re gonna have to make a run for it. You know I just spent five minutes convincing
some Lowers that our school had impenetrable security and strange men couldn’t get in.’
‘I’m not a strange man.’
‘You are if anyone catches us – got that?’
He chuckled. ‘Got it.’
A girl emerged from her dorm to enter the one next door. Bobbie shut the door at once, giving her a minute to leave the corridor. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Okay.’ Bobbie stuck her head into the corridor. ‘Run.’ She took off, her wash-bag swinging at her side and with Caine on her heels. There were six doors and a bend in the hall to contend with. Her pulse pounded in her skull. She kept her eyes fixed on their destination, not daring to slow for even a second. Almost throwing herself at the door, she pressed down on the handle, tumbling inside.
She hauled Caine across the threshold and, checking no one had seen them, slammed the door shut. It hadn’t occurred to her that Naya could well be naked. As it was, she was clipping her toenails over the waste-paper bin.
At first her face registered shock before changing to one of pure smutface. ‘Roberta Rowe, you little minx.’
Bobbie rolled her eyes. ‘He’s here about the ghost.’
Naya looked immediately less interested. ‘Oh.’
‘Yes. Oh is right. Caine … make yourself comfortable.’ He pulled out the desk chair and Bobbie arranged herself as demurely as she could on her bed. In the terrycloth robe there were approximately two positions she could sit in without flashing him. This was far from ideal. She took her glasses from the bedside table and put them on. She really should also do something with her hair before it turned into dreadlocks.
Caine unzipped his hoodie and let it hang over the back of the chair. He wore a white cotton band T-shirt that seemed to know exactly where to cling. In other circumstances, circumstances in which she didn’t feel like her head was exploding, this would have all been pretty sexy. As it was, Caine’s lips, biceps, chest and dimples (although very much in her bedroom) were the least of her worries. On the plus side she didn’t feel awkward and tongue-tied any more. All that shyness seemed so inconsequential now, not to mention immature. ‘So what’s going on?’ he asked.
‘Your guess is as good as mine.’ Bobbie dragged a reluctant brush through her knots. ‘You go first. What did you see?’
‘I only really noticed today. At first I thought I was imagining it – like my eyes were playing tricks on me or something, yeah?’
Naya suddenly looked more concerned now that two people had seen something weird. ‘You’re actually serious? What did you see?’
‘Have you got a mirror? I’ll show you.’
‘Sure.’ Naya climbed off her bed. ‘In the wardrobe.’ She opened the cupboard to reveal the mirror on the inside door. Each room had an identical wardrobe – a bulky wooden unit big enough for the clothing of two or three girls.
‘Come and see.’ Caine crossed the room and Bobbie followed. The three of them were reflected together, just as they had been on Saturday night.
‘What am I looking at?’ Naya appeared unimpressed. Caine angled the door, taking in different views of the room.
‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘Can you open the door a bit?’
‘No! What if someone sees you?’ Bobbie remembered the last girl who’d smuggled a boy into Piper’s Hall. Dr Price had only just stopped short of branding a scarlet letter on the poor girl’s forehead.
‘Just for a second.’
Naya exhaled noisily, but did as told. She held the door open. Now the mirror also held the reflection of the Brontë House corridor. It was gloomy, but their lights cast a sickly pool down the landing. In the mirror, Bobbie could see the last two rooms and the fire escape. ‘There,’ Caine whispered, not moving, the way you do when you don’t want to scare a timid woodland animal. ‘Can you see it?’
‘See what?’
‘Look at the very edge of the mirror. In the corner.’
Bobbie squinted. At first glance there was nothing to see, but then she looked harder. In the darkest recess of the corridor next to the fire escape, as far away as possible, stood the girl. Entirely still, she waited just outside their dorm. The thinnest sliver of light hit her skin. She held her pale hands together in front of her body, her hair once more hanging over her face. Bobbie gasped and whirled around, stumbling into Caine as she did so. The real corridor was deserted. She looked back at the reflection. As if startled, the girl with the black hair inched further into the shadows. ‘Oh God.’
Caine held Bobbie tightly, his warm fingers wrapped around her upper arm. He squeezed her like he needed to be believed. ‘She’s in every mirror. If you look close enough, she’s there.’ His eyes widened. ‘Serious. I can see her on the side of the road in my wing mirrors. She’s in shop windows when you walk past them. She’s everywhere.’
‘Oh God,’ was apparently all Bobbie could say any more. She could taste tears at the back of her throat – not sad tears, scared tears. The girl in the mirror still waited.
‘What do you mean?’ Naya stomped back to the mirror. She angled it inwards, elongating the view down the corridor. Mary, if that’s who she was, shied away from the light, edging into the darkness. Naya dropped the wardrobe door like it was hot. ‘No way! No effing way!’ Naya’s fingers shot into her hair as if she wanted to scratch the image out of her head.
‘Naya, keep it down,’ Bobbie urged, closing the bedroom door.
‘But it’s impossible! How can she be in the mirror but not … ?’ The taller girl tugged her hair off her face, stretching the skin into a mask of alarm. ‘I mean, how? How can it be real?’
Bobbie took her hands and steered Naya towards her bed. If she didn’t calm down Mrs Craddock would be at their door in seconds. Naya’s eyes were wide, darting around, unable to focus.
‘I don’t know,’ said Bobbie. ‘We’ll figure it out … we’re getting closer, remember?’
Naya took a deep breath and held up a well-manicured finger for attention. She seemed to reel in the crazy a little. ‘There is a ghost in the mirror.’ Bobbie nodded. Naya went on, ‘I guess I didn’t really believe it until now. I really thought it was Sadie punking us.’
‘It’s not. It’s all true. She’s watching us.’ Bobbie turned to Caine. Their eyes met and it finally felt like she wasn’t on the life raft alone. ‘It’s like she’s following us.’
Caine’s breath shook. Relief. ‘Least I’m not imagining it. I thought I was legit cracking up.’
Bobbie laughed a feeble, shaky laugh. ‘I wish we were.’
‘What the bloody hell is going on? This ain’t right. Like impossible. I don’t believe in ghosts.’
Bobbie filled Caine in on the limited amount she and Naya had learned that afternoon, which, when recounted, sounded like nothing at all. She finished on telling him about Bridget Horne’s incarceration at the Royal Seahaven.
‘Well, I’m coming with you,’ Caine said after she told him about her plan to visit.
‘You can’t,’ Bobbie said without any reason.
‘Why not? I’ve only got Sports Science on a Tuesday morning. They won’t even know I’ve gone. I can pick you up.’
‘You have your own car?’
‘Yeah – well, I drive my mum’s. Don’t you? I thought you lot was all minted.’
‘Piper’s Hall Ladies are not allowed cars on site,’ Naya said in her crisp mockery of the English accent. She still sat rigidly on the edge of her bed, but the colour had returned to her cheeks.
A plan hatched in Bobbie’s mind. ‘Listen. Naya, if we both sneak out tomorrow we’re more likely to be caught. If I go with Caine you can cover for me if anyone asks. Do you mind?’
‘Do I mind not going to a mental asylum to ask about ghosts? Gee, let me think … ’ She fixed Bobbie in an unimpressed gaze.
‘You’re actually the best.’
‘That doesn’t fix anything though – you still have to break out of this place – and it’s swarming with police.’
‘I’ll thi
nk of something. Caine, can you pick me up from the end of the cliff walk at like nine?’
‘Sure.’
There was a rap on the door and all three froze, staring slack-jawed at the exit. ‘Girls, it’s Mrs Craddock. May I come in?’
Chapter 11
Girl Talk
‘Hide,’ Bobbie breathed. She threw herself at the door. ‘Just a second!’
‘Why?’ The voice on the other side of the door was immediately suspicious. The door handle wavered. Bobbie pressed it shut. ‘Let me in, please.’
‘Get in the wardrobe!’ Naya hissed.
‘No effing way! There’s a mirror in there!’
‘Girls! What’s going on? I’m not in the mood for any shenanigans tonight, I can feel a migraine coming on.’
‘Bobbie’s naked!’ Naya hollered.
‘Oh thanks, Nay.’
‘I’ve seen it all before! Now please let me in.’
‘Caine, you’ll have to – there’s nowhere else,’ Bobbie pleaded in a whisper. Their mattresses were on those blocky bed things, with no room underneath for storage, so the other obvious hiding place wasn’t an option.
He gritted his teeth and a frown furrowed his brow. Muttering an array of expletives he opened the wardrobe and stepped amongst the clutter of shoes. ‘Sorry … ’ Naya sealed him in. Caine screwed his eyes tight shut as darkness engulfed him. Bobbie’s heart went out to him – there was no way she could be in there alone, face-to-face, with her.
Bobbie gave a nod and opened the door. ‘What a lot of nonsense.’ Mrs Craddock blustered into the dorm. ‘Lights out early tonight, ladies. Dr Price’s orders.’ Naya groaned, but she went on. ‘Use the bathroom now, and then you may read, but you must stay in your dorm. Obviously I don’t need to explain why.’
The wardrobe shook slightly. Naya pretended to trip over thin air to bump into it – and it wasn’t nearly as casual as Bobbie would have liked. Craddock didn’t look convinced. Poor Caine – what was going on inside that cupboard? What could he see, his face centimetres from the mirror?