Intrinsical - Lani Woodland [12]
“Because it’s haunted,” she answered simply.
A sickening image of students trapped in the water, pounding on the floor above them, flashed before my eyes. I could feel the blood drain from my face and a chill run down my spine. Ghost stories sounded fine at home, coming from my family, but standing here in this freezing, dark room it was terrifying.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have shown any interest whatsoever, because it only seemed to encourage Cherie more, and her voice raced to share her wealth of knowledge. “There are several accounts of people who have seen wet footprints all around the pool, even though the pool had been empty at the time. And here’s the best part; there have been accounts of the footprints even being seen in our room!”
Oh crap! Instantly the hair on the back of my neck stood up as images of the footprints on our dorm floor played in my mind. I broke out in a cold sweat. “Footprints?”
She nodded with a smile. “Yes.”
I gulped hard. Trying to be casual I confessed, “I saw some footprints after my shower last night.”
Cherie’s lips pouted and she straightened her shoulders. “That isn’t possible. I haven’t felt any ghostly activity in our room.”
It was hard to stifle the laugh forming inside me. Cherie had no paranormal radar whatsoever, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her. Not ready to delve into the awakening of my ghost-seeing abilities, I decided to calmly shift the conversation. “Cherie, why would the footprints be in our room?” In the back of my head I remembered how Cherie had specifically requested it.
Her smile vanished and she blinked at me with an all too-innocent blank face. “What was that?”
“Why are there ghosts’ footprints in our room?”
“Um . . . because it’s where two of the students lived. Pendrell legend suggests they went back to their room after the accident, not knowing they had died.” Even as she told me her dark tale, her eyes danced in anticipation; I could practically feel the excitement growing inside her.
I looked at Cherie aghast. “Cherie, why would you actually choose to live in, not visit, but live in a haunted room where a confused ghost might put us in danger. I know Vovó warned you they can be the most dangerous.”
Cherie looked absolutely crestfallen. Worse— she looked hurt. I still thought that I was right, but I felt a twinge of guilt at having hurt my friend. But after seeing Brent attacked and having a ghost in my room, Vovó’s warnings all seemed a lot more important now.
We stared at each other for a moment, not sure what to say. Eventually Cherie shrugged. “I hadn’t really thought of it that way,” she said. “Sorry. I mean, I’ve never been successful before so I didn’t even think about the fact it could be dangerous. I just— ”
I interrupted her, trying to repair some of the damage I had done. “No, you’re right,” I lied. “It’ll probably all turn out to be smoke and mirrors like every other place you’ve investigated.”
“Exactly.” Cherie smiled wide and I could tell our small spat was mended. Our fights never lasted long because we couldn’t stand being mad at each other.
My next question slipped out against my better judgment. “Did you ever read anything about a black mist on campus?” I held my breath, waiting for the answer.
Cherie cocked her head, thinking. “No. Why?”
I exhaled slowly. “No reason.”
Cherie raised her eyebrow but then looked at her watch and cursed quietly to herself. “We’re going to be late,” she said, grabbing my hand and dragging me back toward the window. We climbed back down the tree, Cherie complaining to me the whole way about not having enough time to see everything she had wanted to see. Personally, I couldn’t relate; I had seen enough.
It was a relief to be out in the fresh air again, walking among the birch trees, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. Still, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t forget the unsettling feeling of the room and a foreboding feeling that everything that