Books of the Dead
Page 20
“It is about the girl with the green eyes that you often speak to. I heard that she is always around here, but she never speaks to anyone. You are the only one she ever talks to, and you are not very pleased about it,” Merly stated very casually.
Mr. Stevenson’s discomfort was showing. “Who told you about this? Where … where did you learn this from?” he stumbled while asking the question.
Natalie was sitting down quietly listing to the conversation, and she wondered why Merly was asking questions about the green-eyed girl or how the girl was significant in the current situation. Merly didn’t directly answer Mr. Stevenson’s question, “So it is true, isn’t it? Tell me it is?” Mr. Stevenson’s silence condemned him.
“When was the first time you saw her?” Merly questioned.
Mr. Stevenson very slowly and quietly replied, “It was many years ago. I was working late and there weren’t many students here, just a couple of them, and there she was sitting in the criminology section, alone and without a smile. There was one single book lying in front of her. She was not turning the pages, not even looking at it, so I went over to ask if she was all right. The girl gave me a cold look, but I didn’t back away, but she didn’t speak to me at all, avoided all my questions and sat there silently as if no one was there and that was it.”
“But you kept seeing her, and she spoke to you later on, right?” Merly was going in the right direction as the answer from Mr. Stevenson kept pouring out.
“Yes, yes, that is true, she spoke to me later on and then she never stopped talking,” Mr. Stevenson said and there was lament in his tone, and it was like he regretted ever going to speak with the girl.
“There is still something else you want to tell us, don’t you, Mr. Stevenson? Something about the girl that no one knows except you.”
“How do you know these things?” Mr. Stevenson seemed perplexed.
Merly took in a deep breath and said, “I know this, because I saw her and she spoke with me, too.” A reaction from Mr. Stevenson was inevitable and he didn’t disappoint her.
“What are you saying Merly? Is that’s why you fainted the other day?” He sounded bewildered and haunted.
“No, not exactly, but it was also not the first time that I saw her. I saw her once before, a couple of days back and she didn’t speak to me then, and then I don’t know what changed. She spoke to me yesterday and I freaked out. There was the same dead and cold look in her eyes that you speak of, but that is not what caused me to faint,” Merly waited to seek a reaction from Mr. Stevenson.
“So, what was the reason?” he asked.
“The girl is not human,” Merly said in return.
Natalie was mildly shocked, and Mr. Stevenson didn’t expect her to be so upfront about it. She asked the question so directly and he took a moment to answer it. “Can you be a little quiet about it?”
“Mr. Stevenson, you can tell it in front of Natalie. She is my friend and is also helping me to get out of this situation, so it is important for both of us to know this.” Merly tried to sound as firm as she could.
“I am afraid she is not human. She is not human.” Mr. Stevenson didn’t look at Merly’s face the whole time while he spoke, and there were visible lines of tension across his face, and he failed to hide them.
“Mr. Stevenson, you need to relax. We just want to know a few things and then we will be on our way. So can you tell us what you mean by she is not human?” Merly made sure he was relaxed. Mr. Stevenson was not at ease, and she didn’t want to be the cause of it.
“I mean she is not human ... she is ghost and lives here. It is all true. There is a ghost here in the library. She talks to me, and tells me things. She might even be here now listening to what we are saying. Why, Merly? Why did you ask me this?” Mr. Stevenson was speaking frantically and his hands were shaking while he spoke.
Instinctively, both Merly and Natalie looked back and to their sides when Mr. Stevenson mentioned that the ghost of the green-eyed girl might still be there. Natalie was particularly concerned, and she didn’t like what she heard for Merly. There was no looking back, because she had to know the answer to her questions.
“But there is something else that I also need to know, and that is there is not just one of them. There are two of them, isn’t there, Mr. Stevenson?” Merly asked.
“What do you want to know now? I already told you what I know,” Mr. Stevenson said.
“But you never answered me what I asked you. Are there two of them?” Merly’s question was firm.
“Please, Mr. Stevenson, we are running out of time. You need to tell us fast before your assistant arrives.” it was Natalie who was running out of patience, and Merly dreaded the answer. Mr. Stevenson refused to speak up.
“I don’t know if there are two, but … but I heard there are,” Mr. Stevenson clearly fumbled on his ways to the answer.
“And have you seen it?” Natalie questioned even before Mr. Stevenson completed what he was saying.
“Do you mean her?” he asked.
“That means the story of the old librarian ghost is true. You have seen her, the one before you. She lurks here and that student saw it, too. The student must have seen the green-eyed ghost as well, and that is why he reacted the way he did, but what I fail to understand is that after all these years, you never bothered to tell anyone about this. You just kept it yourself. Why, Mr. Stevenson? Was it due to fear? Or are there any other secrets?” Natalie was unstoppable. She was saying one thing after the other, and no matter how hard Merly tried to stop her from speaking, she couldn’t.
“You know something, Mr. Stevenson, this was the first rumor that I heard upon my visit here. I didn’t believe it at first, but I have to say it is one of the most popular stories around here. There is a also a saying that…” Merly pinched Natalie hard to stop her from speaking anymore. Natalie stopped realizing that she was speaking out of turn.
“Please speak a little softer. They might hear you ... please?” Mr. Stevenson frantically requested.
“Who will hear us? The ghosts? You mean the ghosts will hear us?” Natalie mocked. She was unable to understand Mr. Stevenson’s hesitation.
Merly constantly urged her from the side to stop and lower her voice but Natalie refused to listen, “Merly, you stop it, you will never get to the truth at the pace at which you are approaching. Just let me ask him the questions. Do you even realize the amount of information we have acquired right now? We cannot let go of this opportunity, so let us ask him the question without wasting any more time.”
Merly excused them and dragged Natalie to one side where Mr. Stevenson couldn’t hear them, and then harshly said, “Natalie, can’t you see what you are doing? You are making him nervous and you are not letting me speak or say anything that would make him help us with the answers, and you know what, at the pace that you are approaching, we will never get to the truth either.”
“Why are you being unreasonable, Merly? I am only trying to help you here, and it is obvious that he is deliberately avoiding our questions. You think that he is nervous, but I think this is all a facade, a pretense to cover up the actual happenings. Who knows if he is not a part of this? What if he is lying and you are the one sitting and suffering? So stop thinking about this so much, and stand up for yourself once,” Natalie said.
“Will you two stop arguing for a moments, and come over here” Mr. Stevenson called out and the girls obliged to what he said, he continued “I am not a part of this and I want to get out too, but for now I cannot tell you girls anything.”
“How do we know that you are not hiding anything from us? How much truth is there in what you are saying? After all this I … we doubt that you are even telling us the actual facts. We are so sorry, Mr. Stevenson, but we cannot wait any longer. You need to tell us exactly what is going on. Merly is in trouble. She fainted yesterday, and we don’t know what might happen again.” Natalie was furious at this stage and nothing Merly said or did could pursue her otherwise.
“They are arguing over a book, silly isn’t it?” Mr. Stevenson made a desperate attempt to cover up the situation, but his words were not convincing enough.
“These two are fighting over a book? What is this book that is so important to both of you?” the assistant librarian turned and faced Merly and then Natalie and asked them the question individually. Merly kept her head down, but Natalie didn’t like the man playing the role of Mr. Stevenson.
“We will just leave and we will come back later. Mr. Stevenson, please keep the book aside for us,” Natalie remarked, then without looking anywhere, she walked out hoping Mr. Stevenson would be there when they came back. Natalie didn’t look back. She walked fast and didn’t turn back to see if Merly was following her.
Merly stopped her and shouted, “Why did you do that? I was working on it and you had to ruin everything. Do you think he will even tell us anything after this? You screamed and shouted and even probably scared him. Can’t you see he is going through so much?”
“I cannot go over this again and again; you know what your problem is? It is that I am trying my best to help you, but you are just refusing to take it, we discussed something last night and you ask something else, something about the green-eyed girl. Merly, you are only delaying things, but you are too blinded by your confidence and faith to see things for real,” Natalie harshly remarked and didn’t even wait to listen to what Merly had to say.
“Stop right there, Natalie! You just say what you want and you don’t even stop to rethink it. I was going to tell you everything, but out of no where you just jumped in. I met the janitor this morning before anyone was there and she was one who told me about the presence of the green-eyed girl in the library and how Mr. Stevenson is the only one to talk to her. I just realized that I met her the same way Mr. Stevenson met her. There are more than one uncanny similarity to ignore and then I thought if Mr. Stevenson saw the green-eyed ghost then he must have seen the librarian, too.” Merly tried hard to convince Natalie.
Natalie seemed to listen carefully to what Merly was saying. “Obviously, something is not right here and we might be overlooking things. Fighting amongst ourselves while someone somewhere is having the cake is not right. We are just going around and around fighting each other. I don’t want to fight you. I want to fight alongside you.”
Merly wanted to believe what Natalie was saying, but her gestures were not convincing. “We have to go back to the library again and talk to Mr. Stevenson, but, Natalie, you have to promise me that you will let me handle things this time. Please don’t say anything that will put him off.” Natalie agreed.
They didn’t go back to the class, and waited till the assistant librarian left. Mr. Stevenson usually worked around past six in the evening, and both girls waited for that moment to get a hold of him. That day, he didn’t go out. They waited outside the library, but there was no sight of him.
“Did he already leave?” Natalie was impatient. “Let’s just wait a little bit longer. He might be working,” Merly pointed out.
“I can’t wait anymore. Let’s just go inside and see, shall we?” Natalie was unable to contain herself.
“I don’t think we should talk here. Someone might see us like the one who saw me speaking with Nora’s mother, either way, there are people who are suspecting us already and spreading stories and I don’t want this situation to get out of hand,” Merly remarked as she tried hard to control the situation.
“But no one is here,” Natalie said.
“There was no one the last time, too, yet word got around, and I don’t want it happening this time.” Natalie couldn’t say anything back to what Merly said.
The assistant librarian went out while the girls were speaking with each other, but he didn’t notice them as he left. Once he was out of sight, the girls made an attempt to go inside the library while making sure no one saw them. Mr. Stevenson was not there and there was the usual quietness in the library.
“He is not here, did he leave?” Natalie began.
“Wait … he must be around here somewhere. We didn’t see him leave; maybe he is around the corner,” Merly indicated.
“Are you looking for Mr. Stevenson?” A young student who was probably younger than both Merly and Natalie was standing right behind them.
“Who are you?” Natalie asked. There was an obvious irritation in her tone.
“I just came here for a book, and I am about to leave, but are you looking for Mr. Stevenson?” he asked again.
“Who else is here?” Natalie asked.
“Natalie why are you being mean to him? He was just trying to help,” Merly intervened.
“He is wasting our time,” Natalie said rudely and obviously intending the boy behind them to hear it clearly.
“I saw him there,” was the boy’s answer. There was no sign of anger or annoyance in his face in spite of Natalie’s mean behavior.
“Where did you see him?” both the girls asked him simultaneously.
“Over there,” he pointed out towards the direction where he saw Mr. Stevenson. “I saw him by the criminology section. He was talking to someone, a student, and he is still there.”
The boy went out quietly without saying anything; Merly turned towards Natalie and urged her to move forward to find Mr. Stevenson. “Go ahead.”
“I am. You’re coming, too.” Natalie once again dragged her friend along with her. The girls saw Mr. Stevenson getting up from one of the benches and coming towards them.
“You girls are already here?” he asked. All of his previous anxiety and tension were gone. He was calm and had an air of confidence about him. Merly found it hard to believe that just a few hours ago, he was shaking and acting out of character. She looked at Natalie and then back at him. Mr. Stevenson didn’t give any attention to their strange looks.
“If you girls want to know something, then follow me to the front desk.”
While Merly was unprepared for such calm and dominant reaction from the rather submissive Mr. Stevenson, Natalie didn’t seem to take it well. She seemed not only surprised, but dumfounded and didn’t know how to react.
The girls followed him and saw that he was already in his seat, noting something down in a diary, and somehow the girls dared not to say anything. They thought he would say something, but he didn’t. After a few moments of silence, Merly said, “Mr. Stevenson, we are here and we want to know what we asked you this morning. We want the answers and you have them.”
“Sure, I have them, but you can have them, too. The answers are with you. Now what I am saying is, if you want the real answers, then ask the right person and they will tell you.” There was a wicked gleam in Mr. Stevenson’s eye, something Merly has never seen before.
“What do you mean, Mr. Stevenson? Who do you want us to ask?” Merly demanded an answer.
“You are being very vague, Mr. Stevenson, and what are you trying to imply?” Natalie barked out.
Mr. Stevenson, however, remained calm. He showed no sign of anger, although he avoided Natalie and her question and she looked like she was not oblivious of the fact. “I meant that I am not the correct person to answer your questions. If you want to know what is going on, then you must ask the one who holds the answer. Because it is for sure that I don’t have the answers that you seek.”
This time Natalie decided not to say anything. It was apparent that Mr. Stevenson was avoiding her, so she let Merly speak. “Mr. Stevenson, no more riddles. Tell us what do we need to do? To whom should we go?”
“Call them, summon them and then ask them why they desire to speak to you of all the people in this university.”
“You want us to speak with the ghost?” the girls asked in chorus.
“If that is what takes to know the answers, but
it all depends on if you are ready to believe them. Believe the fact that it works,” Mr. Stevenson said.
Merly tried to consider what Mr. Stevenson said. She looked at Natalie knowing that they both lived in a different dimension from where these type of things were practiced.
“Are you serious about this? Are you actually asking us to contact spirits? but how are we supposed to do that? We have never practiced this before and it is dangerous,” Merly inquired in disbelief.
“I said what I know, and I cannot divulge anything beyond this. You have the means and know the way. I told you what to do, but how you do it is entirely up to you. No task is easy, but take it if you must. This is my warning to you.” Mr. Stevenson checked his watch.
Natalie and Merly were both at a loss for words to say anything in return. Mr. Stevenson’s words seemed absurd and phony, but Merly couldn’t throw them away completely. “But Mr. Stevenson, I do not believe in ghosts and spirits, and you are asking me to summon one and ask them why they even are bothering me. I don’t believe that is possible for me,” Merly said.
“You don’t have to believe me, I just said what I had to, now the rest you have to decide for yourself. Whether you want to walk that path or not is up to you. Now if you will excuse me, I have to work.” Mr. Stevenson was firm when he gestured them to move out and leave him. The girls once again obediently complied.
They walked out of the library, and Merly had the scenarios running through her head. They found the suggestions bizarre.
“Is that possible? I know there are some people who say that it is possible, but why did he even suggest it to us? He could have told us himself, but instead he directed us towards something that we are not even sure of. Now how do we just go and ask the ghost? The old man has gone completely senile.” Natalie said.
“Don’t say it out so loud, someone might hear us. Was he completely senile? Something was definitely different about him this time. He never spoke with such confidence before, and something changed in him. Just let’s get out of here first. Nora is still not back, so why don’t we head back to my dorm?” Merly suggested.