Books of the Dead

by Morris Fenris

  “You are too trusting, Merly. Make sure that never pulls you down,” Natalie mumbled.

  “Come on and stop lagging behind ... hurry up!” Merly called again.

  The dark green stairs stopped at the fourth floor. There at the end of the staircase stood a black wooden door. It was locked. The key was with Camille. “Let’s wait here, and she will come,” Merly said and stood afar from the door remembering Camille’s warning, but Natalie was not deterred.

  “Why can’t we touch this? Is there an evil spell over this? Who even believes these anymore? I am sure all of these are a hoax! What Mr. Stevenson said, and what Camille is saying ... I don’t believe any of it,” she said.

  “Natalie, do you even realize that you are going back and forth about this. One minute you are excited that the lore about the library ghost is true, and the next second you think this is a hoax. Don’t do this. You promised me that we are in this together and…” there was something else that Merly wanted to say, but Camille’s presence cut her off.

  “It won’t work if you don’t believe,” Camille claimed.

  “What?” the girls said together. Camille’s sudden presence had alarmed them.

  “I will tell you later. Here is the key,” Camille’s slyly said and showed them a medium-sized brown rusted key and put it in the lock to open the door to the room that the girls wanted to see so much. Merly’s heart raced as did Natalie’s with fear and anticipation, but they said nothing ... their expressions said it all.

  “What is so special about the door? Why did you ask us not to touch it?” Natalie asked as soon as Camille put the key in the lock. Camille didn’t answer and went inside first, Merly followed second and the last to enter was Natalie. Camille settled herself on a dirty looking couch that was aligned at the end of the room. The girls took time to look around the room, and Camille gave them that time and didn’t disturb them while their eyes were journeying through the room.

  There were several pictures of ghosts, more like apparitions, and newspaper cuttings pinned on the walled along with broken shards of mirror and some full-size aligned against the wall. “Are these even real? What do you guys even do here?” Natalie wanted to know.

  “Don’t you know what we do here? You know it and that is why you are here,” Camille replied back while still sitting lazily on the couch.

  “All this went on and we had no idea about it. What else don’t we know?” Merly asked in bewilderment.

  “Many things among others, but I wonder why Natalie had no idea about these. From what I heard, she liked stories that navigate the wall of the university, and yet you didn’t know that there was a back room in here where we practiced things?” Camille joked.

  Natalie returned a look of disgust and annoyance, but decided not to say anything, “Now tell us already what we need to do,” she said without delaying it further. Natalie seemed to not like the place too much and wanted to get out of there.

  “What is the hurry, you just arrived here. In the phone conversation, it all sounded so desperate and I thought it was someone you needed to see tonight,” Camille said.

  “It is true, I do need to see someone, but before you do anything, I just want to know how these things work. And how safe are they? I want to make sure that Natalie isn’t harmed. I want you to answer me these questions first.” Merly was clear in laying down what she needed and wanted to cover all grounds before going about it. She wanted to plan her every move so that nothing goes wrong or so she hopes what she didn’t realize was that the best laid plans can go astray sometimes.

  “So many conditions … you are asking too much, Merly. Moreover, if this is a one time thing for you, then why are you scared? Look around because this has never bored me and it wouldn’t bore you either. Take your time and tell me what you need to know, and I will offer you my help,” Camille said very calmly.

  Merly tried to relax herself as she didn’t want Camille to see her despair. “I don’t know if this a one time thing, I find all of these quite intriguing, and I just wanted to make sure that I enjoyed it, and that includes Natalie being safe, because she is here for me.”

  “I cannot promise anything. You two came here at your own risk. To be truthful, I am doing this for the books, so tell me who do you want to call? I will help you with this, so come and sit here.” Camille directed them towards the chair.

  Natalie and Merly looked at each other for quite some time and it was as if they exchanged words between them, like they warned each other to be careful. The girls sat down on the floor without saying anything and kept holding each others hands. Camille joined them too then said, “Now the process depends on who you want to call. There are evil spirits, and it is better to steer clear of them unless you do want to call them, but then there are spells for someone whom you miss and they work differently, so it up to you. Let’s begin.”

  “What do we do now?” Natalie whispered from the side. Merly replied, “We wait for her to begin and see whatever she needs to do.”

  “Mirrors,” Camille spoke out in a deep voice, “... are like portals to the spirit world. You can use mirrors as a medium to summon spirits and souls from other realms and dimensions, and basically what you need to do is focus your energy and concentrate and think of that one person. Then you can call on the entities from the other realm and beyond. They can see spirits, all the evil ones or the kinder ones, but they see it. So be careful what you wish for.”

  “I know what I want,” Merly assured Camille.

  “But how do we know which spirits are evil and the one’s that won’t harm us?” Natalie asked.

  “You can never be sure and anything can happen, but that is the chance one must take and that is the thrill of it all!” Camille answered excitedly.

  Seek the thrill yourself, all we want are answers, Merly heard Natalie say in a low voice. Natalie seemed to have an unsettling feeling in her. She looked over to Merly, who closed her eyes and made her face look serious. Natalie followed by closing her eyes.

  ******

  Nothing happened and Natalie couldn’t concentrate, she flipped her eyes open more than once to see if there were any visible changes in the environment. There was nothing so she looked over at Merly and Camille, but they still seemed to be deep in concentration.

  “How long with this thing take before we see some real results, or is this all a hoax?” Natalie called out loud, which broke the concentration of both Merly and Camille.

  Camille opened her eyes and there was anger visible in her dark eyes. Merly wasn’t pleased either, but she didn’t say anything. Camille however didn’t remain silent, “You seem very impatient. If you don’t believe, you are welcome to leave, and no one is here to stop you, but while we are at it, your constant crabbing will not only delay the process, but may cause harm to you … and us,” she warned.

  “You are very good at threatening. I can see that, so this better work for your sake and ours,” Natalie said, as she closed her eyes for the second time.

  ******

  There was a light ruffle sound, but Merly kept her eyes shut tight and her lips pressed. She could hear Camille chant some prayer and she focused on that. There were lines that were intangible to her, but she tried remembering them repeating after Camille. She didn’t move an inch and sat still.

  “Think of someone,” Camille said from the side.

  Merly took in a deep breath. She knew the person she wanted to call, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. “I can’t do it, I cannot do this now!” Merly broke the chain and stood up. Natalie stood up along with her, but kept holding her hand. Camille didn’t show any reaction at first, but then there was an obvious change in expression which the girls expected.

  “Are you giving this up?” Camille asked Merly, but didn’t get an answer immediately.

  “You are the one who wanted to do this, so you cannot back out now. They know you are here and that you want them here. They want to see you as much as you want to see them. I am not lying because
this is the truth. You cannot back off now, you cannot back off now, you cannot back off now … you cannot…” Camille went on chanting the same sentence.

  “Stop it, just stop this! It was a mistake. I made a stupid decision and I cannot go forward with this. There are too many faces. I cannot concentrate. Let me go, Camille!” Merly yelled out.

  “It is too late. You have made your decision. The process has already started, and you cannot simply run away from that, it is not possible.” Camille tried to calm Merly down, but no one was listening to her. “Calm down, Merly, this is doing you more harm than good ... listen to me; come and complete what you started.”

  “Stop it! You stop trying to scare Merly! Stop the magic that you are doing. You try any trick and I will bust this whole racket. Just tell us how to stop it, now!” Natalie screamed out while still holding on to Merly.

  “There is no point yelling at me. I warned you to do this would be at your own risk. Merly should have listened and walked out when she had the opportunity, but did she listen? No. So as her friend, ask her to sit down and complete the chanting. Let that person meet her. So why don’t you..” Camille voice was cut off and hers eyes grew wide. She lost her voice and kept staring in shock at someone who was behind Merly and Natalie.

  ******

  It took some time for Natalie to understand what was happening and she did not notice Camille’s shocked expression. “I don’t believe any of this, and you are doing this on purpose. Just tell us what you want us to do. Why aren’t you saying anything? What is wrong with you?” it was then Natalie realized that they were not the only three people present in the room. She felt a deep hot breath on the back of her and she tried to gulp down her fear. Merly was not moving either, and Natalie saw that her friend was unconscious. “Merly, this is not the time for this.” Her voice shook and she could hardly speak. Natalie judged whether to turn back and see the unknown fear that was right behind her. “This is not about me; this is not my story,” Natalie kept saying to herself, all the while holding Merly tightly.

  A mirror cracked, a gust of wind blew in and doused the lighted candle, and everything became silent and dark. It consumed Natalie and she felt numb. She couldn’t hear anyone else breathe apart from her. A single teardrop escaped her eyes, and she clasped her mouth with the other hand.

  Not knowing what to do anymore, Natalie stood there motionless, like a statue clasping her mouth. Then she saw a light glow in the corner of the room. The force of the light grew stronger until she realized that it was a candle, then two other lit and she didn’t move until she saw the person or thing who was behind it. A wave of relief swept over her when she saw that it was Camille. She looked at ease and composed and Natalie didn’t expect it.

  “Merly is unconscious, so lay her down for awhile, then take her away from here. I will fetch some water,” Camille said and then disappeared again behind the doors.

  Natalie heard the footsteps fade away. She was too shocked and scared to do anything and forgot how to function, but Merly’s body was weighing down on her for she had indeed lost consciousness.

  Natalie dragged her towards the nearest candle and laid her down, then started to shake her in the hopes of waking her up. Merly’s face was red and covered in sweat. For a second, Natalie thought of carrying her friend down, but then she remembered the long, winding and the dark stairs, so discarded the idea as soon as it formed. “Merly, please wake up! We need to get out of here as soon as possible, and we can’t be here. Please wake up already, Merly, please!” Natalie pleaded in a sobbing tone. “Oh! What do I do now?” she said to herself rubbing her forehead, when someone tapped her from behind. She was already in shock and shrieked out loud without even looking who it was behind her.

  “She will be fine. Here, take this glass of water and give her some, and I will help you carry her down. Then, take her quietly down the back door so that no one notices.” Camille was still her calm self and handed the water to Natalie, who took it without questioning her about anything.

  Merly was up after Natalie splashed few droplets of water on her face, but she didn’t say anything. “Merly, can you hear me? Wake up, we need to go.”

  Merly blinked her eyes twice then sat up slowly, her head was throbbing and she clutched it tightly, Natalie noticed that her eyes were gloomy red and two layers of dark circles were under her eyes. Natalie remembered clearly that they were not present when they came here first, but she made sure not to point it out.

  “Get up, Merly. Here … lean over me and I will carry you out,” Natalie insisted and Camille helped her up, too.

  Merly looked feeble and beaten. She couldn’t stand up, but somehow managed to. “I am sorry,’’ she mouthed in a sickened tone.

  “Later,” Natalie insisted.

  The girls climbed down the stairs, but their motion was slowed down as they had to drag down Merly. “Be steady, we are almost there, come on now.” Merly dragged her last few steps out of the building. They were almost out when Camille stopped them, “This is not a hoax and you know it. Merly is not well and I am saying this again, so meet me tomorrow right after the sun sets. I will be waiting right here, bring Merly with you,” and with that she went inside the building.

  “Natalie, did you get those books? Our books were there,’ Merly said in a weak tone, her voice choking, but she wanted to know, so when Natalie didn’t answer, she asked again.

  “I managed to take one with me, the one that I was holding. The other two are still in there, but this is not the time to think about it, we need to get back to our room quickly,” Natalie answered.

  The woman in charge of their building, Mrs. Catalina, was at her desk when the girls entered, and before she would ask anything, Natalie answered, “She fainted again, like she did in the library the other day, and she is very weak, so I am taking her back to her room.” she didn’t wait for Mrs. Catalina to ask any more questions, but they were stopped nonetheless.

  “Wait, I need to see her and I thought she was under medication. Has it gotten worse? Do we need to call the doctor?” She walked towards the girls and Natalie asked Merly to steady herself so that’s Mrs. Catalina won’t suspect anything.

  “She looks horrible, what happened to her? She was fine this morning when I saw her. What were you girls doing outside for so long if she is so ill?” Mrs. Catalina questioned in confusion.

  “We were out working on a project when she fainted … and … I…” Natalie tried reasoning with Mrs. Catalina.

  “I am fine, Mrs. Catalina. I think that I am just stressed. I need to rest for some time and then I will be fine, I promise.” Merly strained her voice to say.

  “Or we should just inform your parents you don’t look just stressed,” Mrs. Catalina didn’t seem to believe Natalie nor Merly.

  “Let me go to my room. I have been up the entire day, it is just the stress,” Merly reasoned again.

  Mrs. Catalina didn’t say anything else. Merly was looking worse every minute, so without any more conversation, she let the girls go and decided to inform Merly’s parents the next day.

  “The keys, Merly, give me the keys.”

  “In my right pocket.” Merly was too weak to even get the keys herself.

  “Wait, don’t fall down now. In a minute, I will put you in bed.” Natalie tried hard to stay steady herself.

  Natalie rushed inside and put Merly quickly in bed. Her body was burning in fever and she couldn’t decide whether to inform a doctor or not.

  “I should call the doctor,” she said to Merly.

  “Please don’t,” Merly pleaded.

  “But you are burning with fever and something might happen, then what will I do? Please understand, Merly, that I am scared.” Natalie didn’t want to listen to Merly’s request.

  “What will I answer them, Natalie, and you know this fever won’t go away just like that. I remember what happened in the room. I not only felt it, but I saw it too, and it touched me. Just let me stay like this for a while. All I need
is to close my eyes. Please don’t leave me tonight,” Merly sobbed in between her words.

  “I will stay tonight, but tomorrow we need to think of something else. We have to meet Camille and get out of this mess, and all of this. Everything is Mr. Stevenson’s fault. He is the one who insisted on you doing this; we should have never trusted him.” Natalie was rightfully stressed and wasn’t feeling so good either herself.

  “This is not the time to blame anyone. I knew what I was getting into, and he was right … the only way to get the answer is to ask them. They were there, only I failed to ask the question,” Merly answered in a slurry tone.

  “You mean that you want to do this again? Merly, you must be right out of your mind. You are not thinking properly. Didn’t you see what happened to you? And you want to do it again? Who knows what might happen if you try for a second time. I cannot let you do this; I am informing the authorities after our meeting with Camille tomorrow.” Natalie was almost shaking at this point.

  “You can’t do this! Please … at least for me, I insist,” Merly requested in the hope that Natalie would listen to her.

  “Rest now, because it all depends upon your health and how you are tomorrow. I will be here tonight, so relax now.”

  ******

  Natalie tried her best to soothe Merly, who closed her eyes against her friend’s shoulder. Merly slept soundly, but Natalie couldn’t sleep a wink. The memories of the previous hours haunted her. She twitched and turned and occasionally touched Merly to see if she was doing all right. The fever considerably went down over the night, but Natalie twisted in discomfort. She tried to figure out what she saw back in the room, but all she remembered was the hot breath behind her neck. She shivered in fear again, got up from the bed and paced around the room. The darkness scared her and she switched on the light to rid of the dark wickedness that lurked in the room.