Books of the Dead

by Morris Fenris

  The known ambiance of her room made her feel uncomfortable, the walls felt as if they were closing in on her, but who could she tell about her anguish? Suddenly, she turned her head and saw her phone ringing, her mother’s face appeared on the phone.

  “Mother!” Merly said after picking up the phone. Merly’s mother sounded worried. Merly knew she was aware of her psychological issues and was constantly concerned about her. Her mother asked her a few questions wanting to know what prompted her daughter to be so distraught only three days after the university reopened.

  Merly didn’t want to make her more anxious and burden her with more problems. “It’s just a cold, Mother. I am all right.” Her mother sounded unconvinced

  “But why were you sobbing? I heard you clearly. Please tell me if anything is wrong,” she pleaded.

  For a moment, Merly wanted to tell her mother everything, but stopped. “Mother, believe me, I was out the other day in the park, so I must have caught a cold. Even Zoë, the girl in the next room, was down for a whole week, too. Mother, I will be fine, I promise. Just take care of Father for me,” Merly said in an assuring manner.

  Merly’s mother gave some air kisses over the phone. If anything, her mother was probably more anxious. She said she would pray for her daughter to be okay.

  The conversation with her mother made Merly a little more comfortable, but still felt a little feverish and decided to get up and take the medicine. That moment, she heard three knocks on the door and Merly dragged herself towards the door. It was Zoë. Merly looked a little surprised. Someone was with Zoë.

  “How are you feeling now?” Zoë asked.

  Merly didn’t reply, but asked instead, “Who is this?” pointing towards the girl standing beside Zoe.

  “Oh, this is Camille, the girl I told you about this morning. She is Kelly’s friend and I told her about your books and she wants to look at them. Would you mind if we joined you?”

  Merly wasn’t feeling too good, but couldn’t turn away her friends, so she invited them in. Merly never remembered seeing Camille before. She noticed that Camille was a girl in her twenties and was wearing a smart brown jacket with fitted jeans. She had a deep cut on her forehead, but it seemed old. She also noticed that the pinky finger on the girl’s left arm was bandaged. “Are you hurt?” Merly asked.

  Camille only returned a smile, but didn’t say anything.

  “Merly, just show her the books,” Zoë urged.

  “Okay, come this way.” Merly led them to where the books were sitting. Both Zoë and Camille went towards the books and started flipping through them. However, Merly hid the book that contained the photograph.

  Merly saw them say something to each other, but did not want to pry and simply waited for them to finish what they were looking at. Camille turned every book that was present there, as did Zoë. They took time to go through the pages of all the books sitting there and even checked on the inside of the box.

  “Are you looking for anything in particular?” Merly asked.

  Both Zoë and Camille turned back at her, and then looked at each other and together replied “No.”

  “Zoë, I never knew you took interest in these things. You never told us,” Merly said. She was unaware of this side of her friend. Then she guessed she was unaware of a lot of things lately.

  “I was just curious,” Zoe said meekly. “These kinds of things are quite intriguing though, don’t you think?”

  Merly was not sure what to believe anymore, “I don’t know. I haven’t looked through them yet.” She lied and felt an awkward silence loom over the place.

  “There is no harm in checking them out once. Why don’t you come over here? There are many things that are unknown to us and might be true. What will it harm you to go through them once?”

  Merly was sure that she had heard that same thing two days ago. “I am not sure about this.” Merly was apprehensive.

  “Come on, these kinds of things are fun on spooky nights.” Zoë laughed and teased Merly, which prompted her to join them.

  They sat together and Camille started explaining certain things to both of them. To Merly, they sounded believable. At times, Camille said certain things that were hard for her to believe, but to Merly, it did not seem that Camille was lying.

  Merly studied criminology, hence she had heard and learned about incredulous things about the way people behave and circumstances, but what Zoë was saying was new to her. Merly had never heard of things like that, and it astonished her that there were things that people were capable of.

  “Oh, do they?” Merly asked a bit surprised to something that Camille said.

  “Why? You don’t believe me?” Camille asked with confidence. “I will make an offer for you to consider. Now if you lend me some of these books, then I can show you how these things work.” Camille waited for Merly to answer.

  “Hey, Nora is not here and you are brooding here alone. It will be fun. Let’s go!” Zoe persisted.

  Merly was amazed at every step. This girl, who stayed just across the hall, took interest in spirits and invocation … who would have known? Merly thought if someone was like that, then it must have been Kelly. She needed to rethink it.

  Zoë must have sensed about the things going through Merly’s mind, and so she got up and walked up to where she was sitting and whispered slowly so that Camille couldn’t her. “Camille, she is amazing, isn’t she? I met her through Kelly and I kind of got hooked on this, but it is all for fun.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us that yesterday? And you sensed how tense we were.” Merly said.

  Zoë paused then said “Weren’t you more concerned about your books on criminology? And if there was someone in your room when you were away, I couldn’t help you with that, so I didn’t mention anything about these books or else it would have come off as insensitive.” She went on to say, “Merly, don’t worry. I’ll ask Kelly when she is back. Meanwhile, I’ll take these books and return them to you tomorrow. Is that all right with you?”

  “Do you know when she’ll come back?” Merly inquired.

  “Soon, just have patience.” Zoë left the room with Camille.

  It was only three days and Merly felt irritated that she missed her classes for the day. I need to get better for tomorrow, this cannot go on. Merly needed to take the medicine and she needed to think straight. She walked towards where she kept the medicine. Nora had given her one the other night, and Merly knew it was there, but couldn’t find any even though she looked hard for it.

  Nora must have taken those with her, now I have to get some for myself again. Merly got up, pulled on her coat and went out.

  She walked all the way to the pharmacy, and asked for her regular medicine. A familiar voice behind her startled her and she turned around to see that it was Mr. Summers standing behind her.

  “Merly, are you sick?” he asked.

  “Yes, Professor’’ she replied, but avoided going into the details.

  “Is it fever, sore throat and dizziness?” Mr. Summers asked her calmly.

  How were people seeing through her lately, Merly wondered.

  “How did you know, Professor?” Merly asked. She was genuinely confused.

  “I know, girl. I am aware of ...” Mr. Summers didn’t say anything further, took a pill for his leg and went along his way.

  Merly saw Mr. Summers walking away and turn right at the corner. Like the librarian, Mr. Stevenson, he used to stay in the university premises, too. No one was aware of his family and it was known around the university that Mr. Summers used to reside alone. The only companions he had were books and his students. Merly thought that he even looked sad at times.

  The pharmacist called Merly’s name twice, and something came to Merly’s mind at that moment. She took the medicine bottle from the pharmacist’s hand, thanked her and ran towards the direction where Mr. Summers went.

  “Mr. Summers! Mr. Summers!” Merly called out as she ran towards him. He stopped, turned around, seeing Merly r
un towards him. She came and stood in front of him looking at him very intently.

  Mr. Summers broke the spell. “Girl, is something the matter?”

  Merly faltered, then asked him, “Do you know someone by the name of…” Merly couldn’t remember if it was R or S, but then settled with S and said, “... by the name of S. Keaton?” She waited for Mr. Summers to answer, but before he would answer, she went on to say, “Professor, you have been in the university for a long time, so I thought you would know if someone by that name was ever here.”

  Mr. Summers didn’t say a thing, nothing crossed across his face, neither his brows moved nor his eyes blinked. He stood there transfixed, or so Merly thought.

  “Did I say anything wrong?” Merly asked.

  Mr. Summers looked at her with soft thoughtful eyes, then blinked twice before saying, “S. Keaton? I am afraid I don’t recognize the name. But why do you ask?”

  Merly wondered what she would say next. Will it be appropriate to tell him about the picture or should I make up something else, she asked herself. Mr. Summers stood there waiting for an answer.

  “No, I meant I was reading a book and …” Merly didn’t know how to complete her sentence. “… I mean, a magazine and there I saw this person working here, well, never mind, Mr. Summers,” she finally said.

  “If you say so.” Mr. Summers laughed a little and walked away. Merly couldn’t understand what it was about Mr. Summers that made Merly go and ask him the question, and she felt he avoided the question on purpose. She sighed and then decided to go back her own way. Near the building, she saw someone coming towards her. She looked closely and saw it was Kelly.

  She is back, Merly thought. Then Nora must be back, too, but it is not even a day. This time she was confused and decided to ask Kelly if there was something that she knew.

  “Kelly, where were you since yesterday?”

  “Oh!” Kelly said and gave a smile. “My, cousin is in town and I was out to meet her, but why do you seem worried.”

  Merly gathered herself; she wanted to ask her about Camille and Zoë, but said instead, “Oh, It’s nothing. I wanted to ask you a few things. Please meet me when you are free.” They then walked back towards their dorm.

  Nora was still not back and Merly wasn’t feeling too well either, but she decided against going back to bed. The evening was still young, and it was time she cleared her doubts with Kelly. No one answered the door when Merly knocked the first time; she decided to turn away when Kelly opened it.

  “Are you busy?” Merly asked.

  “No, come in,” Kelly said.

  “Is Zoë in?” Merly wanted to know.

  “No, she was not here when I came in. She must be out. Do you need to talk to her?” Kelly asked.

  “No, I want to talk to you” Merly said and was a bit relieved that Zoë was out.

  “Two days ago, Zoë told us that you went out several times and came back a couple of times to get your things, so did you happen to see someone get into our room while we were not here?” Merly hoped that she’d finally get an answer.

  “Do you mean someone other than you and Nora?” Kelly questioned.

  “Yes, so did you see anyone?”

  “Let me think.” Kelly thought for a while, then said, “Yes, in fact I did. I saw someone enter your room, but I thought it must have been you or Nora. I didn’t pay attention, and when I came back for the second time, I saw Nora going out.” Kelly stopped, but then said, “She even greeted me on her way out.”

  Merly kept quiet for some time. Now who would she believe? She remembered clearly what Nora told her the other day that she didn’t get back to the dorm. So was Kelly lying to her, but then why would she? Kelly was nice to them all the time.

  Merly knew Nora and she would never take anything without telling her. Nora even asked for a pen before borrowing it, so it was unlikely for her to take those books. No, none of it made sense.

  Merly excused herself and went out. She went inside her room and sat quietly on the chair. Numerous things crossed her mind from why to when. She tracked back her memory. On the days the books went missing, Nora was sitting by her side. Nora laughed and went outside with a friend. Then Merly recalled that Nora was not in the class for some time and neither was Jesse.

  Merly took her phone and dialed Jesse’s number. It rang a few times before she answered.

  “Hello, Jesse. Is it a good time to call you?” Merly asked.

  “Yes, talk to me.”

  “Two days ago, you and Nora went out of the class at noon. Can you tell me if she went back to the dorm?”

  “Yes, I did go out with Nora, but she went towards the library, and when I asked her if she’ll be coming back, Nora said it will take her a while in the library. She said something about checking a few books, but I don’t remember that clearly.”

  “She went to the library? But she was there when I looked back. Did she say anything about going to the dorm?”

  “No, she never mentioned anything like that; she just went inside the library.”

  Merly hung up. She couldn’t connect the time when Nora went to the library or when she went to the dorm, or why she lied about it. There was something about the books or Nora visiting the library that didn’t seem right.

  She could wait for Nora to come back or find out by going to the library and look for the answers herself. That night was no different than any other, and while sleep eluded her, various images of the library and nameless faces that silently read pages crowded her brain. Now if there was something about the library, Merly was determined to find out.

  Chapter 2

  After four days, Nora was still not back. Merly didn’t let her mind linger on that. After all, Nora left without telling her, and then like Kelly, she could be visiting one of her cousins or relatives too.

  It is said that time eases pain. Just over one night, Merly seemed to have relaxed a bit. Sure, she was still worried about the missing books, her friend lying and her recurring nightmares, but those cannot control her life, she thought.

  Merly sat down for breakfast and remembered in the midst of everything, she forgot to ask Kelly about her friend, Camille, or Zoë’s new found interest in unearthly stuff. But first things first, she wanted to head to the library to ask Mr. Stevenson about Nora and her presence in there a few days ago. Though he was old, he would surely remember. Then she could always ask the library regulars, she thought.

  Walking to her classroom, Merly felt no difference. There was the usual hubbub all around, the known faces, the recognized gestures, they were all there. One of her classmates called out to her from the corner, “Hey, Merly, what is with you? Why didn’t you come yesterday?”

  Merly cited her health for her absence and didn’t indulge her friend with any more of an answer. After sitting in her seat, Merly looked over to where her friend used to sit and then sighed reluctantly waiting for the first teacher to arrive. However, the students didn’t have to wait long, Kirk came and informed them that Mr. Summers had taken leave for the day and was not coming. Merly knew it was the perfect opportunity for her to be at the library and find some answers that would provide some solace to her discomfort.

  As she expected, there were indeed the library regulars, lost in the pages of the books that lay in front of them. A few people looked up when Merly pushed open the door and entered. She directly went to where Mr. Stevenson was sitting going through an old magazine, and he immediately looked up when Merly stepped in front of him. A faint smile appeared on his face which reminded Merly that the librarian was indeed fond of her.

  Merly greeted him and asked him how he was doing.

  “A little cold, dear. Two days and I’ll be fine,” and he coughed a little after replying. Merly wondered why everyone was catching the flu though it wasn’t the season.

  She however didn’t delay the conversation with meaningless chit-chat. She knew that she had answers to fetch and so she asked him the question directly. “Mr. Stevenson, sir, do
you recognize my friend, Nora?”

  “Nora? Dear, you must have a lot of friends, which one do you mean?” he asked. “Oh! Wait ... I understand, you mean the girl from your class with specs and red curly hair, who always ties her hair up. Isn’t it? I saw you talking to her a couple of times. It must be her.”

  “Mr. Stevenson that is not my friend, Nora that is Sarah, my classmate. I am referring to the tall, round-faced girl with long sleek hair. Wait, let me show you a picture.” Merly took out her phone to aid Mr. Stevenson.

  He took time to look at the image, then made a gesture which confirmed that he did recognize the girl. “I remember her; she was with you here the other day. What about her?” he said.

  “Mr. Stevenson, she was not only here with me the other day, she came alone, too, the day before yesterday and was supposed to borrow some books. Do you remember?”

  “Merly, there are numerous students and teachers who come here every day. Do you suppose I remember each and every one when they come in? Sure, I keep the records, but most read them here while others borrow them. Do I need to look at everyone as if they are a criminal?” Mr. Stevenson sounded a bit irritated.

  “Sir, are you offended?” she asked before thinking that she hardly said anything to him to be offended about. “Sir, I really need to know. Do you remember anything? Any piece of information can help.’’

  “Merly, you seem to have too much on your plate lately. Don’t take what you can’t handle,” he warned.

  Merly didn’t look pleased by what she heard Mr. Stevenson say. She said with determination, “I know what I am asking for, so please tell me. I know that you know something, Sir, so please tell me.”

  Mr. Stevenson nodded his head and Merly thought for a second that he was going to say something, but instead said something else. He clicked on his computer and then opened the register. Then told Merly without looking at her, “Yes, I can see she was here, two days ago. She came here at noon. It was exactly 12:00 noon. She asked me for a book on criminology and I informed her that it was there.” He paused and it seemed that he was thinking of something else. Then he went on to say, “Nora, your friend, came up to me and asked, ‘If there was a book or any source through which she can find someone who was a student at the university or worked here?’ I asked her to check a few books in Section D. She remained there for some time and then came up again to tell me not to say that she was there, as she didn’t want to be disturbed.”