Whispers in the Dark (10 page)

“And if she keeps doing this, I know it can't end well for her,” Raven admitted.
“I just want her to get the help she needs. I know it sounds crazy.”

I decided to tell Raven what had happened. “No, it doesn't,” I assured her. “I believe
you. I know it's true. Denise showed me surveillance tapes from last year with Jason
and Ashley. I saw Robin touch them, then she
walked off. Then I saw Jason being lifted
up in the air by his neck. And it had to be a spirit!”

“Oh, my God!” Raven said, surprised. “Has anyone else seen it?”

“Just Denise and I,” I told her. “But you're right. We have to see about finding
her some help and some safety. She definitely doesn't need to be around other students,
causing this type of fear. I'll try to figure out what the best solution is for her.”

Raven thought about what I said, then agreed, “Okay. Can I see the tapes?”

Mrs. Ramsey walked in, cutting our conversation short. “Hello. Sorry to keep you
both waiting. Mr. Ramirez, I'll have to speak with you in the morning. I need to
meet with Raven right now.”

“Okay,” I said, getting up out of my seat. “I'll see you in the morning, Raven.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow,” Raven said.

As I walked out of Mrs. Ramsey's office, I turned to the left and jumped. Robin was
standing there. She frowned as she looked at me. She must have been standing there
the whole time.

She turned away and walked out of the front office before I could say anything.

Chapter 8

A
fter I left the school, I went straight to the Tavern to meet Justin and Greedy
for a drink. I explained to Justin everything that had happened. He and Greedy were
both amused by the whole situation, and didn't take anything I was saying seriously.

“I told you those kids were strange at that school,” Justin said, smiling and sipping
his Corona. “They're all like little robots. Little, rich robots who don't smile
or laugh. That's how this one kid who went to that school was, who used to come into
the barbershop. Remember him? He wouldn't smile or laugh. Little robot.”

“I don't care if they're robots or not,” Greedy chimed in. “I still wanna work there.
Speaking of working there, since we're on the subject, when are you gonna give them
my resume?”

“Greedy, I promise I'm working on it,” I assured him. “Just let me figure out one
thing at a time.”

“You know what you should do,” Justin said.

“What's that?” I asked.

“You should take that surveillance tape and send it to those
Ghost Adventure
guys,”
he suggested. “You know, to see if it's really ghosts or not.”

“No. Nope! Don't do it, Adrian,” Greedy disagreed, halfway drunk. “If you do that
and they send it back saying it's real, then you're really going to get caught up
in all this ghost and shadow stuff, and end up just like those guys on
Ghost Adventures
.
You know, always thinking you're hearing noises and seeing things.”

“I thought you liked that show,” I told him.

“I do! I love the show, but I don't want to experience that stuff or hear about it
all the time,” Greedy said.

I laughed at Greedy, then took another sip of beer. Justin and Greedy continued talking
about my situation, but I zoned them out and got lost in my thoughts.

I really hoped my conversation with Raven hadn't upset Robin. I wondered how she
felt, knowing that I saw everything on the surveillance tape. I didn't want her thinking
that she wasn't fit to be at school. Even if maybe she wasn't. I wanted her to be
able to talk to me, to see me as an outlet. That might start helping her.

How could I help her, though? I wasn't sure talking to a school counselor would be
enough. I really needed to talk with Robin's parents first. That's what I'd do.

As I took another sip, I noticed a young woman standing up against the wall by the
pool tables, staring at me. Why was she staring so hard? I looked away, then turned
back to see if she was still looking. She was!

“Hey,” I nudged Justin, keeping my eye on the girl. “Isn't she kinda young to be
in a bar?”

“Who?” Justin asked, looking around.

“Right over there,” I pointed.

As Justin looked, the girl walked away, around the corner.

“Yeah, I guess,” Justin said. “I couldn't really see her, though. Was she giving
you the eye or something?”

“Nah, I don't think so,” I told him. “But she reminded me of someone.”

Christy! I thought. That's who she looked like. It's been years, but the way she
stared at me was the same way Christy would stare. It had to be her. She was short,
with glasses, just like Christy.

“Remember that girl, Christy?” I asked Justin.

“Okay, you've had too much to drink, buddy,” Justin said, pushing my beer away.

“Who's Christy?” Greedy asked.

“Adrian's stalker in high school,” Justin answered, taking another sip of his beer.

“Oh, I don't remember her,” Greedy said.

“Yeah, no one does,” Justin explained. “Adrian kept her a secret, but I'm sure that
wasn't her.”

“How do you know?” I asked. “It could have been. It looked just like her. Like she
didn't age a bit.”

“Adrian, no, it couldn't,” Justin said, looking me straight in my eyes. “Christy
died, our junior year, remember?”

“What!” I exclaimed. “Died?”

“Come on, bruh,” Justin said. “You didn't hear about that?”

“I had no idea!” I told him.

“Yeah, well, I guess a lot of people didn't know,” Justin said. “She was so quiet
in school. I only knew it because I saw it in the newspaper. She died in childbirth.”

My heart sank into my stomach when Justin said that. Instantly, my body temperature
rose. I suddenly felt dizzy, and like I had to throw up. I couldn't have a panic
attack here.

Could that have been why she kept calling that night? That's why she wanted me to
go to the hospital? Did I really just see her here?

“Sad situation, you know?” Justin continued.

I didn't say anything. I started sweating and felt light-headed.

Justin drank his beer, then looked over at me and said again, “Sad situation, you
know?”

“Why didn't you ever tell me that?” I asked.

Justin drank his beer, then looked over at me and said, “I didn't realize it was
her when I first saw it in the paper. She looked different in the picture they had
of her. I meant to tell you, but I forgot, honestly.”

“I've gotta go,” I said. I had to go before they noticed my panic attack.

“Are you okay, man?” Greedy asked.

I walked away from the bar and out the door.

“Adrian!” I heard Justin calling after me.

I went to my car and slammed the door. I closed my eyes tight, then opened my door
to get some air. My heartbeat was rapid. Drinking hadn't helped my situation. I leaned
out the car door and threw up.

“Breathe, Adrian,” I told myself. “Breathe. Calm down. Calm down. Oh, God.”

I threw up some more, then sat in my car for about ten minutes until my attack was
over.

That was why she'd wanted me to come to the hospital that night. The guilt I felt
turned my stomach in such a way that I started to shake uncontrollably.

I had to get out of there before Greedy and Justin saw me like this. I took one last
deep breath, cranked up the car, then drove home.

Everything was silent in the house. Lea was in the bathroom taking a shower. Should
I even bother telling her what happened to Christy? I wondered. Would she even believe
me? Maybe Justin had mixed her up with a different girl. He did say she looked different
in the paper.

I lay in bed, thinking about Christy. That had to have been her at the bar tonight.
It had to be! She'd watched me the same way she did when she would come to my baseball
games.

Boom!

I jumped as I heard a noise coming from downstairs. Was this really happening again?

I got up out of bed and walked to the door. I heard movement downstairs in the kitchen
area. Someone really was down there this time!

I didn't bother telling Lea. I just grabbed the bat that was in the closet, then
slowly walked down the steps.

Wait a minute! I had to be dreaming. This same dream kept happening. But I needed
to see who it was in the kitchen.

I walked down the steps a little faster, and finally reached the last one. I turned
and saw that someone was standing in the middle of the kitchen, but it was dark.

“Adrian,” a female voice calmly called out to me.

I didn't say anything. I stood there waiting to see if she would emerge from the
darkness. She didn't, so I replied, “Who are you?”

“Adrian,” the voice called out to me again.

“What do you want from me?” I asked.

After a long silence, I heard, “Come here.”

“No, you come here,” I responded, trying to make out who it was I was talking to.

“Come here, Adrian,” the voice repeated. “I won't hurt you.”

I thought about it for a minute. I needed to see who this was. Maybe once I saw who
it was, I would stop having this dream.

So I walked slowly toward the kitchen. It was a young girl in the kitchen, holding
something. I squinted hard through the darkness. As I got closer, I recognized who
it was.

Christy!

She was holding a baby in a blanket.

“I won't hurt you, Adrian,” Christy reassured me calmly.

She still looked the way I remembered her.

“Come closer, Adrian,” Christy told me. “I won't hurt you.”

I walked closer toward her, and I said, “What happened? Is this . . . ? Is this your
. . . ?”

“I won't hurt you, Adrian,” Christy repeated.

She started removing the blanket from the baby's face. I leaned over to look at the
baby, and as the blanket pulled away, I noticed that the baby's eyes were completely
black. No white at all.

“But
she
will!” Christy said.

I looked up. Christy's eyes were completely black, with blood coming out of them.

“Noooo!” I cried out, and started backtracking out of the kitchen.

I woke up and realized that I was still lying in bed. Lea was still in the shower.
So that really was Christy. Was it Christy who's been trying to contact me this whole
time through my dreams? Just to tell me that she won't hurt me?

But what did she mean by, “but
she
will”?

Chapter 9

T
he next morning, I arrived at school early to talk to Mrs. Ramsey. I was still bothered
by the dream, yet enthused that it was the end of the week. I really needed some
time to get my thoughts together.

I opened the door to the front office and saw Denise sitting there. She waved and
smiled when she saw me, then said, “You can go on back. She's expecting you.”

“Okay,” I replied. I went to Mrs. Ramsey's door and knocked.

“Come in,” she said. I opened the door. “Have a seat, Mr. Ramirez.”

“All right. How are you doing today?” I asked, sitting down.

“Not too good,” Mrs. Ramsey replied. “I got a voice mail from the parent of one of
your students. Mrs. Fuller, the mother of Dorian Fuller.”

“Yeah, I know Dorian.” I nodded my head.

“I want you to tell me about the dispute that's been going on this week with Dorian
and the twins. And I want to know about the meeting you had on Wednesday with these
three students,” she said. “After I saw Raven and Dorian yelling at each other in
your class on Tuesday, I knew something wasn't right. Then I heard about them getting
ready to fight in the cafeteria. So I want to get to the bottom of things. We will
not tolerate any of that here at this school. I've already spoken with the twins,
but I want to hear your side of what's been going on and what you've done.”

“Well, there was a dispute,” I started telling her.

“A dispute about what?” she asked. “I need for you to be specific, because this is
a serious matter.”

“Oh, I understand it's a serious matter,” I said, defensively. “And I'm trying to
get to the bottom of things, just like you are. Dorian is a very opinionated young
man, and he said he doesn't like the twins.”

“And why is that?” she asked.

“He believes that they were the reason two of his friends aren't here at the school
anymore,” I explained. “I sat the three of them down to work things out, but no one
wanted to talk. The three of them had an opportunity to say what was on their minds,
but they didn't. I was hoping to resolve the issue, but clearly it's something that's
been going on since before I got here.”

“So that was all that happened in that meeting?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

Mrs. Ramsey looked at me for a moment, as if she knew I was holding something back,
then said, “No. There's something else. What are you not telling me?”

I thought for a moment. Did I really want to tell her what Dorian and I saw? Would
she believe me, or would she just brush it off? I'd better just play it safe.

“No, that's it,” I finally said. “I thought it was resolved.”

“Well, I want you to listen to this voice mail that Dorian's mom, Mrs. Fuller, left,”
Mrs. Ramsey said, pressing a button on her office phone.

“Hello, Helen. It's Karen,” a woman's voice said. “I don't know what's going on up
there at that school, but Dorian hasn't been the same for the past two days. He wakes
up screaming in the middle of the night, and he just stares and mumbles to himself
like something has scared the daylights out of him. He's refusing to eat or go anywhere.
Now, if I find out that something has happened to my son at your school, you're going
to have a serious situation on your hands!”