Twin Dangers (5 page)

Chapter 10

“Shhhh!” Ophelia said for the fifteenth time.

The girls crammed up against one another, one after another, by the library door at the end of the third-floor hallway. Sophie could hardly tell where her body parts ended and someone else's began.

They stuck together because at nighttime, Dario Quincy Academy was no pleasure cruise.

At midnight, when they were sure Bert was finished with his third-floor maintenance tasks, the girls had met at the library entrance and stopped just inside the door.

Kayley said, again, “I just want to put it out there, one more time, that
I hate the library
!” She had had an unfortunate run-in with an evil book earlier in the school year.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ophelia said. “I think the coast is clear. Kayley, where did you say that back room was?”

Kayley groaned. “You guys, I cannot express enough what a bad idea this is.”

“This is different, Kayley,” Madeline said. “We're with you now. We'll look after each other.”

But one glance at Kayley's face and Sophie knew she wasn't convinced. Kayley set her mouth in a grim line and raised her finger to a dark area behind the main stacks. “This way.”

Sophie felt a shudder go through Emma, who was pressed tightly at her shoulder. Sophie squeezed her sister's hand.

The five girls crept as quietly as they could across the dark tile floor, each of them waving her flashlight beams up ahead. The area Kayley had pointed to looked like the mouth of a giant monster. Sophie understood why Kayley didn't want to go back there.

Once they were closer, Sophie could actually
feel
the place. The room felt heavy and oppressive, and she was convinced that something was going to jump out at her at any moment. A small light shone from a window high above, but all it did was shed light on the thickest bunch of cobwebs Sophie had ever seen. The musty smell was almost overpowering.

This time Emma squeezed her hand.

When Ophelia spoke, her voice was subdued. “OK, Kayley. Props to you. How did you ever come here by yourself at night?”

Kayley said, “I know, right?”

With the squaring of her shoulders, Ophelia said, “Onward troops. The sooner we find something, the sooner we can leave.” She swung her light at the bookshelves, and the five of them walked into the back room.

“Everybody take a stack,” Ophelia said.

Sophie gathered her courage. It was just a library. What harm could books cause?

She chose the second stack from the back. She said to Emma, “Search on the other side of my stacks so we can keep in contact.”

The girls fell silent as they looked, which only made the library creepier. Skittering noises sounded here and there, and Sophie kept shining her flashlight at the floor, convinced she was going to see a rat. Or something worse.

Wind whistled through the high window above. It seemed to whirl and eddy around the stacks, bringing goose bumps to Sophie's arms. She heard creaks and groans, and at one time, she swore she could hear a sinister laugh. She heard Kayley gasp too and wondered if Kayley had heard the same thing.

“What is it we're looking for again?” whispered Emma.

“I don't know,” Ophelia said. “A history of things that happened at Dario Quincy?”

A voice from nowhere and everywhere made Sophie drop her flashlight.

“Well. I'm not sure you want to know, girls.”

Every one of the girls shrieked. They ran out of the stacks and toward the library exit so fast that legs tangled with legs, and all five of them landed in a pile on the floor.

A light flicked on. A lamp from a reading table not far away.

Geraldine, the librarian, stood in front of them, laughing hysterically.

Ophelia was the first to get up. She brushed herself off, glaring at Geraldine.

Geraldine held her stomach and put a hand up. “I'm so sorry, girls. That was better than a Three Stooges routine. Now why is it you girls are back here? And past curfew?”

Sophie's stomach dropped. Being caught sneaking around after lights-out could mean suspension or even expulsion. The girls always seemed to be in trouble with Madame. This would not be good.

Geraldine waved her hand. “Ah, hell. There are worse things than sneaking off to the library for some books in the middle of the night.”

Sophie felt her shoulders climb down from her ears. Everyone around her began to relax too.

“Just curious, though, what are you doing here? What are you looking for in this godforsaken back room?” Geraldine squinted at Kayley. “You aren't looking for that one book you borrowed before …?”

“Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no,” Kayley said.

Geraldine looked confused and shrugged. “Is there anything I can help with? I forgot my phone here today, so I came back to get it. But while I'm here, I can always do my job.”

“We're looking for legends and stuff,” Emma said. “About Dario Quincy.”

Geraldine eyed Kayley. “Another school project?”

Kayley looked down at the ground and shook her head.

“This one is a little more … personal,” Ophelia said. “We're just interested.”

Geraldine exhaled and pulled out her desk chair. “‘Just interested' in the middle of the night, huh? Well, I do know a ton about this building and its history. Why don't you tell me what you're looking for, and I can tell you what I know.”

The girls looked at one another. Sophie wondered if they should tell Geraldine the rest.

Sophie made the decision for the others: “Well, we're looking for any legends of a ghost. A jealous ghost that is out to kill.”

Chapter 11

Sophie expected Geraldine to laugh, but she didn't.

“Oh. You're talking about Millicent.”

“Who is Millicent?” Ophelia said. “What happened?”

“Well,” Geraldine began, sitting back in her chair, “Millicent was a dancer here in the 1920s. The story is, she fell in love with a boy at the same time as her best friend. Back then, remember, boys and girls didn't share this academy—it was strictly for girls. But the Monsieur who was running the place at the time would bring in male dancers for classes sometimes. And that's where Millicent fell in love.”

Sophie could hardly believe it. Maybe Ophelia was right—it was a ghost.

“Let me guess,” Kayley said. “She didn't die of natural causes?”

Geraldine chuckled. “Oh, no. No, no, no. This was one of the worst tragedies in the many years of the Dario Quincy Academy. Millicent was about to declare her love to the boy—I think his name was Thomas—so the story goes, when her best friend beat her to it. Her friend—I forget her name—kissed Thomas on the very night that Millicent was going to make her move.

“Now, keep in mind, Millicent was already a little nuts. Again, so the story goes. She was one of those artists who was maybe a bit over the top, needed emotion to fuel her work?”

Sophie nodded. She knew those dancers. In a small way, she might have been one of them.

Geraldine continued: “But when Millicent found Thomas kissing what's-her-name, she lost it. They were on the third floor, I believe, in what is now the old science room. Back then, though, it was like a parlor room, a place where all the girls would hang out and chat. Millicent found a pair of scissors and stabbed what's-her-name. What
is
her name …?”

Geraldine's thoughts overtook her, but Sophie had stopped paying attention. She was looking at Emma, who had gone completely white.

“Emily!” Geraldine exclaimed triumphantly. “Her name was Emily.”

But the other girls had turned to stare at Emma too.

“Thanks, Geraldine. That's really helpful,” Emma said, her voice shaking.

“Oh, dear. I hope I didn't scare you girls,” Geraldine said, leaning forward. She looked around the room, concerned. “This place can get to you …”

Emma started to regain her color. “No, that was an interesting story. But I think it's about time we went to bed.”

Geraldine winked. “OK. We'll keep this between us then, shall we? You won't be in trouble for being out past curfew, and I won't be in trouble for passing on creepy legends.”

The girls agreed, and Emma began walking out, Sophie close behind. As Sophie prepared to ask what was going on, Emma shook her head. “In your room,” she said. The girls snuck back down the stairs and into Sophie's room.

When Sophie closed the door behind them, Emma collapsed in the chair. She'd gone from shocked to grim.

“Well, it's Millicent all right,” Emma said.

“What convinced you?” Ophelia asked.

“There are some things I haven't told you guys. Like, every time Trey and I are alone, something weird happens. Like, something breaks or noises seem to come from out of nowhere.”

“That's horrible!” Madeline said. “How do we get rid of her?”

“There's more,” Emma continued. “Trey and I always meet in the science room. You know, the room where Millicent went crazy?”

“More like
stabby
,” Kayley said.

Ophelia's eyes started glittering. “Oh, yeah. It's Millicent, all right. And I know just what to do. We use a spirit board, and we make her back off.”

Kayley said, “A spirit board? We don't want to ask her questions. We want her gone! What made you think of a spirit board, anyway? After everything you've been through with ghosts, I'd think the
last
thing you want to do is talk to one.”

“A spirit board is the only thing we can do that will help. I did a lot of research after the whole … incident I had. I never wanted to feel that way again. And damned if I'd let one of my friends go through something like that. So I've been researching ghosts.”

Sophie sat on the bed by her. She recognized that look in Ophelia's eyes. Ophelia was on a mission.

“Almost everything I've researched,” Ophelia said, “says that ghosts stay on the earth to relive things over and over again. Their old lives get mixed up with the living, and they get confused. Maybe this Millicent thinks Trey is like Thomas. You know—two best friends fall for the same guy …”

Had she really brought forth a ghost? Sophie wondered. Just because she'd had a crush?

Ophelia went on: “I think we somehow need to let her know that this isn't Thomas. That this isn't the same thing she went through and that she's not living it through you guys now.”

She looked at Sophie. “We're all going to be involved, but you might have to be the one who asks her to stop. I don't know for sure, but I think this Millicent is living out what happened in her life through you and Emma—which makes you, her, and Emma, Emily. If sites I've been reading are right, we need to talk to her stat. Before this gets any worse.

“This isn't some girl who was sad,” Ophelia continued. “This is a girl who committed murder. She could be really dangerous.”

“I'll do whatever it takes,” Sophie said. “No one is going to hurt Emma. No one.”

Emma smiled through tears in her eyes. “And no one will hurt Sophie.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kayley said, “this is all well and good, but where are we going to get a spirit board?”

Ophelia smiled slowly. “I thought you'd never ask. I haven't just been researching ghosts. I've been stocking up on ghosty supplies.” She stood up. “Girls, come to my room and check out my new spirit board.”

Chapter 12

“It has to be the third-floor science room?” Emma asked again. “This is where it happened. It's so … creepy.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Exactly. That's why we have to call her from here.”

Emma shivered. “OK, I guess.”

Sophie cleared her throat. “And, well, this is where I first saw you and Trey … It's like Ophelia said: she thinks all our high emotions agitated Millicent's spirit. This room is a double whammy. She killed someone in here, here own life ended here, and then we come along, years and years later and go all … dramatic … Well, I guess we sparked something.”

Emma said quietly, “Yeah, I know. We talked about it. It's just, this is like our own private horror movie. Why can't you ever just ask a ghost to stop being mean from the comfort of your own bed?”

Sophie started to giggle, and the rest of the girls did too. Laughing felt good. Sophie felt some of the tension leave her body.

The five of them approached a table in the center of the room, placing the spirit board in the middle of the table. Just as Ophelia had coached them, each girl placed her fingers on the planchette. Sophie couldn't tell whose hands were shaking the most.

Huge windows lined the far wall, and the trees cast long shadows into the classroom. The full moon didn't help—the light just seemed to twist things around, rather than illuminating anything.

Ophelia lit a candle, and the girls' faces brightened in the warm yellow glow.

“Great. A candle. In a science room. This'll end well,” Kayley murmured.

“Shush,” said Ophelia. “I'm pretty sure the gas in this room's pipes hasn't worked in years.” She rubbed her nose and looked a little uneasy. “I think.”

Kayley groaned.

Ophelia flexed her fingers, hoping all the time she'd spent researching would pay off. “OK, what we need is for you, Sophie, to try to get Millicent to come out. But first, we all need to concentrate and be willing to let a spirit come into our presence. When you feel the time is right, Sophie, you start talking. Emma, you stay between people at all times, yes?”

Everyone nodded her head, and Sophie felt her stomach twist with unease. She wasn't fond of the idea of talking to a ghost, but if it would save her sister …

The five girls lapsed into a thick, restless silence. And then, Sophie started to feel something.

At first, she thought she must just be getting sleepy because of the candlelight and the quiet. But she realized that she was incredibly cold and that her brain felt foggy. She didn't know how, but she understood that Millicent was there.

“Millicent?”

The planchette started to tremble. All the girls looked at one another. Emma's eyes had gotten as big as saucers.

The planchette moved slowly and landed on the
YES
space.

“Is anyone moving this?” Kayley hissed. “Don't lie!”

They shook their heads no, and even Ophelia looked scared. The planchette had moved on its own. Or had been moved by someone other than the girls.

Sophie swallowed. This was real.

She went on: “The person you loved—who was he?”

The planchette moved more quickly, spelling out
T-H-O-M-A-S
. There was no doubt in Sophie's mind now.

Sophie got up the nerve and asked, “Did you kill Emily?”

The planchette shot down to
YES
. All five girls gasped. The force of the movement was scary.

Ophelia whispered, “You're doing great. Now tell her that this isn't the same thing, and she can leave Emma alone.”

Sophie nodded and swallowed again. When she spoke, there was a small break in her voice. “Millicent,” she said, “I know how you feel. I really liked someone too.”

The planchette moved a little bit away and then came back to the word
YES
.

Sophie continued: “I'm so sorry that happened to you. You must have been so hurt and betrayed.”

The planchette circled around
YES
once again.

“I can understand that you'd think this is the same thing happening, but I want to tell you it's not. I am happy for Trey and Emma, and I want them to be happy. Emma is not the same person who betrayed you. I want you to leave Emma alone.”

Sophie expected a big reaction, but nothing happened. All five girls looked at one another. The planchette just felt like a dead, plastic object.

They stood for what seemed like hours, Sophie moving from foot to foot, trying to get feeling back in her legs. But still nothing happened.

“So, did we send her away?” Kayley asked.

Just then, the crash of a hundred glasses breaking sounded through the air. Everybody ducked as glass beakers fell from their shelves at the opposite end of the room.

Though the crashing only lasted for a few seconds, Sophie felt like it lasted for hours. When the last beaker shattered, everyone stood up.

“Is everybody OK?” Madeleine asked, her voice shaky.

Ophelia and Emma said yeah in unison. Sophie nodded too, afraid to speak.

Kayley, leaning on the table, said, “Well, I guess that answers that question. Millicent isn't going anywhere, huh?”

And just as Sophie was going to answer, she heard a groan from the other end of the classroom—a very live, very human groan. Right where the bottles had broken.