2 Whispering (12 page)

Well, that was a good sign. Paris couldn’t be too mad if she was standing up for me.

“I can’t believe you,” Laura muttered. “This is just unbelievable.”

I saw that she wiped a few hurried tears from her eyes before she stormed out of the room – leaving the door open behind her as she fled into the hallway.

“Why is she so upset?” Paris rounded on me.

“She has a crush on Mark,” Zach said as he started walking from the room, too.

“I bet in ancient Greece he could have had them both at the same time,” I said in my snarkiest tone.

“Thanks for a great night,” he shot back sarcastically as he disappeared behind Laura.

“She likes Mark?” Paris looked confused.

I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I lied. “I can’t possibly keep up on who likes who anymore. It’s too convoluted.”

Mark was now at the open door, too. “I think I should just go.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Paris agreed.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Fine.”

Mark couldn’t get out of the room fast enough. I think he expected Paris and I were about to throw down or something.

For her part, Michelle was still sitting on the floor and watching the television. “Are you guys ready for the next movie or what?”

Good grief.

The next few weeks – yes weeks – were interesting, to say the least. Paris eventually forgave me, but she brought up my loose lips every chance she got. So, she didn’t really forgive me, but she was at least making an effort to pretend she had.

Brittany’s sorority efforts were still going strong. She was spending more time with her pledge class than us – and I didn’t really mind the fact that my face time with her was drastically reduced. It was actually kind of a relief. Brittany was only in the room to sleep and study – and most of her studying was now being done at the library with her pledge sisters.

“If you study together you learn together,” Brittany informed me.

“That would make sense,” I agreed. “The two seem to go hand in hand.”

Laura had been mostly standoffish over the intervening weeks. She was friendly in class but she didn’t go out of her way to engage with me outside of class. I thought about asking her how things were going with the monster club – where she stood with them, at least – but I couldn’t figure out a way to broach the subject.

I had visited Lisa several more times but she was so intense about the things that had changed with the world today – she’d been venturing out from her second floor perch more and more often – that I felt the need to cut our visiting sessions down to once a week. She didn’t seem to notice. She was more aware of time passing, but she didn’t exactly keep track of my schedule. I wasn’t overtly offended that I wasn’t a high priority to her. If the scenarios were reversed, I figured I’d feel the same way.

It was near the end of February one Monday when Zach and Mark joined Paris and me as we trekked to our daily classes. Mark and Paris were going strong at this point, and Paris didn’t seem to care who knew about them anymore. She had told me in private that she was sure Mike knew because of Laura’s brother, Vance. I had no idea if that was true or not but I was desperate to keep on Paris’ good side so I just nodded and agreed with her.

Zach didn’t seem to hold a grudge against me. He flirted whenever we were in the same room together. For my part, I let him. Okay, I might have flirted back a bit – but it wasn’t really an active effort.

I hadn’t seen Rafael since the night he had walked me to my dorm so I didn’t have any more information on the disappearances from the 1970s. I suppose I could have did some research on my own but, quite frankly, that didn’t sound like a lot of fun. It wasn’t like Lisa was a big problem right now. She seemed to be enjoying her excursions out into the “real world” and that wasn’t propelling me to help her move on any time soon.

As for Aric, I had run into him a few more times. The last time had been at the University Center and he’d had a tall, willowy blonde hanging off him at the time. When I caught his gaze I did what anyone in my situation would have done. I shot him the finger and stormed out. Okay, most people wouldn’t have done that – only really immature people. I’m aware of my social limitations.

When I got back to the room, Paris told me Aric had called for me. I didn’t call him back.

That was two weeks ago. I hadn’t thought of him since. Okay, I hadn’t thought of him more than once a day since. Maybe twice.

“Midterms are coming up,” Mark said as we walked to class. It was still cold but it was nowhere near as frigid as it had been.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I only have midterms in math and psychology, though. So that’s not too bad.”

“I’ve got like four of them,” Mark lamented.

I glanced at Zach to see what he would say. He didn’t talk about his classes very often. “How about you?”

“Oh, I have like three,” Zach said dismissively. For a second, though, I couldn’t help but think he had made the number up. I brushed the thought away quickly. That would be a stupid thing to lie about.

When we got to the building, everyone separated. My first two classes went on without incident. Math was as boring as ever and we were now reading Stephen King’s
Carrie
in my horror lit class.

I was looking forward to my current events class until I walked into the door and saw Sam Blake standing at the podium. You’ve got to be kidding me. I considered turning around and skipping class, but since Blake had already seen me I didn’t want to seem weak. Instead, I strode purposely to my seat and slid in behind the desk next to Matilda.

“He’s a lot hotter than Professor Livingston, huh?” Matilda giggled next to me.

“I like Professor Livingston better,” I grumbled.

“Why? Professor Blake was a great professor last semester.”

“I just like Professor Livingston better,” I said carefully. I had to remind myself that Matlida wasn’t privy to the private side of Professor Blake.

Class went by relatively quickly, even if Professor Blake was a lot more boring than Professor Livingston. When class was over, I gathered my belongings and made a move to leave the classroom but I was stilled by a look from Professor Blake.

“Ms. Lake, I have something to discuss with you if you can stay behind?”

Matilda turned to me with a mischievous grin on her face. “You are so lucky.”

Yeah, that’s just how I felt, lucky.

Once the classroom was empty and Professor Blake had closed the door to lock out prying ears I turned to him expectantly. “What?”

“I don’t want this to turn into a big thing,” he said warily. “However, there are some things going on around here that I thought you should know about.”

“What things?”

“Over the past two months, two girls have gone missing,” Professor Blake started slowly.

“Gone missing? Are we sure they didn’t just drop out?”

“Not one hundred percent, no,” Professor Blake nodded. “They could have dropped out. From what I’ve been able to ascertain, though, they were both good students. And, if they did drop out, they did it and left all of their belongings behind.”

Yeah, that didn’t sound like dropping out to me either. “When did they disappear?”

“One in January and one about two weeks ago.” Professor Blake perched on the corner of his desk and regarded me seriously as I mulled the information over.

“Why haven’t we heard anything about this?”

“I’m telling you now.”

“That’s not what I mean,” I said. “Why hasn’t campus security done anything about this? I mean, how did the girls disappear?”

“From what I can gather, they were both walking back to their dorms alone at night when it happened.”

“And that’s not a red flag to anyone?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“How did you find out?”

“I have friends in high places.” Professor Blake looked proud of that information.

“And these friends don’t think other girls should be made aware of the situation?”

“I don’t think they want to create a panic.”

“No, they don’t want to be known as the kidnap and rape school,” I corrected him.

“Who said anything about rape?”

“Two young women are abducted and go missing and your mind doesn’t immediately go to rape?”

“Not until you mentioned it.”

What a liar. “What is campus security saying? Do they have any leads?”

“No.”

“Nothing? Not one little clue?”

“Not that I’ve been made aware of.”

“Could you just not be in the loop?”

“It’s a possibility,” Professor Blake acknowledged. “I just don’t know.”

We were quiet for a second and then something occurred to me. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I thought you should know. You’re a young girl walking on this campus.”

“You’re not telling all the other young women on this campus, though,” I pointed out.

“I don’t think causing a panic or igniting the gossip stream is a good way to go,” Professor Blake explained. I didn’t believe him for a second, though.

“No, you’re trying to find out what I think about all this.”

“Maybe. What
do
you think?”

“I don’t know what to think,” I said honestly. “You don’t have a lot to go on.”

“What if I told you that this wasn’t the first time this has happened at Covenant College?” Professor Blake’s question was slow and deliberate. He was watching me for my reaction. I don’t know what he expected, but I don’t think my reaction was what he hoped for.

“You mean more people disappeared last semester?”

Professor Blake sighed. “No, not that recently.”

“When?”

“It was back in the 1970s.”

“1975?” I asked suddenly.

Professor Blake narrowed his eyes suddenly. “How did you know that?”

I ignored the question. “Was one of the girls who disappeared named Lisa Hawkins?”

“It was,” Professor Blake said. “Why? What do you know about Lisa?”

She’s a ghost haunting Barnes Hall. “Nothing,” I lied. “It’s just a story I heard someone talking about, how she disappeared from Barnes Hall back in the day.”

“Who was talking about that?”

“I have a class in Barnes Hall. Someone brought it up when we were talking about how creepy the building is.” I can lie when I have to.

“Oh,” Professor Blake seemed to believe my misdirection. “The important thing is that Lisa Hawkins wasn’t the only one to disappear in 1975.”

“How many others?”

“There were five total.”

“And no bodies were ever found for any of them?”

“No.”

“And two people have gone missing in the same fashion this year?”

“Yes.”

“How can we be sure the crimes are connected?”

“We can’t even be sure that these are all crimes,” Professor Blake said pragmatically. “For all we know, these women all just took off.”

Not Lisa Hawkins. “That seems unlikely.”

“It does.”

“You still haven’t told me why you felt the need to tell me?”

“I’m trying to extend an olive branch,” Professor Blake said. His tone was amiable, but there was something else behind his icy blue eyes. He was trying to trap me.

“You just want to know if I am investigating this on my own,” I surmised quickly. “You can rest assured, I didn’t know anything about it until you just told me.”

Professor Blake looked disappointed.

“If I hear anything, though, I’ll let you know.” That was a total lie, but I needed something to help ease me out the door. I wanted to talk to Paris and Mark.

“Oh, okay,” Professor Blake said. “You know, if you wanted, you could come attend some classes and we could all look into this together?” His tone was hopeful.

“Baby steps,” I said smoothly. “Let’s just start with this conversation and leave it at that.”

“Of course,” Professor Blake acquiesced. I could tell he was jarred by my continual avoidance of what he offered, though. To him, he was offering me the world. To me, that world looked really small.

I left the classroom in a hurry. Trouble had found me again, and when I least expected it. Crap.

I met Paris and Mark for dinner that night – and I was relieved they had chosen a table that was relatively far away from the hub of the other students. I dropped my tray on the table dramatically to draw their attention from each other to me. “You’ll never guess what I heard today?”

Paris smiled at my sudden enthusiasm. “Chris Pine is the new Robin?”

“No, it’s bad enough Ben Affleck is going to be the new Batman. That’s going to be a total disaster. This is something else.”

“Kim Kardashian lost her voice and can’t speak anymore?”

“No, but that would be awesome.”

This could go on forever. Mark must have sensed that. “What did you learn today?”

I told Mark and Paris about my conversation with Professor Blake. I didn’t stop to take a bite until I was done and then I practically inhaled two chicken nuggets as I waited for them to digest what I told them.

“Why do we care about this Lisa Hawkins?” Mark asked.

“Because she’s dead,” I informed him.

“And how do we know this?”

“Because she’s haunting Barnes Hall.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve talked to her.”

“You talk to ghosts?” Mark looked surprised. “Does Professor Blake know about this?”

“No, and he better not find out,” I shot a dark look in Mark’s direction.

“She’s not joking,” Paris warned Mark.

“I won’t tell,” he protested, holding up his hands to ward off our stern glares.

“You better not,” Paris said menacingly. I had to hand it to her; she did look fairly terrifying when she wanted to.

“It’s not like he talks to me very often,” Mark said. “Or ever.”

“Do you think the two new disappearances are tied to the old ones?” Paris asked, turning to me seriously.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I think Blake thinks that they are. Has he brought any of this up at your Academy classes?”

“No,” Mark said. “I’m not exactly in the inner loop yet, though.” I couldn’t help but notice he used the word yet. One look at Paris told me she had picked up on that little tidbit, too.

“I would say it’s too much of a coincidence for them not to be related if it weren’t for the fact that it’s been almost forty years since the first disappearances,” Paris said. “The killer would have to be pretty old at this point.”

“Or supernatural,” I supplied.

Paris nodded grimly. “Or supernatural.”

“What are you thinking?” Mark asked. “Do you think a vampire turned them or something?”

That could explain why Rafael had never returned with the information he promised. The facts didn’t add up in that scenario, though. “No, Lisa is dead. I don’t think you turn into a ghost if you’re turned into a vampire.” I was almost ninety-five percent sure that was true. I looked to Paris to see if she agreed.

“Yeah, vampires aren’t ghosts, too.”

“Maybe something went wrong when Lisa was turned?” Mark was playing devil’s advocate.

“Maybe,” I agreed. “That doesn’t feel right, though.”

“Well, we could just ask,” Paris said brightly.

“Who? I don’t exactly have a phone number for . . . anyone who might have the information we need,” I shot a quick look at Mark. I didn’t want to tell him about Rafael.

“Lisa.”

Huh, I hadn’t thought of that. “I guess we could.”

“Let’s go tonight,” Mark said enthusiastically.

“Tonight?” The thought of Barnes Hall during the day was creepy enough. The thought of Barnes Hall at night was downright terrifying.

“No one should be in the building,” Mark pointed out. “Plus, I think it would be pretty cool to meet a ghost.”

It wasn’t, trust me. Still . . . what else did we have to go on? “Okay. Let’s eat quickly. The sooner this is over, the better.”

Mark looked a little too happy at the prospect. “This is going to be so awesome.”

Paris didn’t look as thrilled.



“I’ve never been here before,” Mark said as he looked up at the dimly lit external walls of Barnes Hall. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s creepy,” Paris countered.

“It’s both,” I said irritably. I had gotten over the beauty of the building weeks ago and I had steeled myself for what was about to happen during the walk over. I just wanted to get it over with now.

I led Paris and Mark into the building. I thought there was a chance that the front door would be locked – but I wasn’t that lucky. Once inside we all just stood there silently for a full minute to see if we could hear anyone else in the building. I realized that we had all been holding our breath when a loud whoosh accompanied all of us exhaling breathlessly.

Paris giggled uncomfortably. “We’re not very good at this.”

“How do you get good at this?” I asked.

“Practice?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to practice this.”

“Neither do I,” Paris muttered.

I directed Paris and Mark to the stairwell and opened the door to usher them in. Paris looked at me incredulously. “You go first,” she hissed.

“I don’t want to go first.”

“Well, I’m not going first,” she replied.

We both turned to Mark expectantly. He sighed and headed up the stairs. When we got to the second floor he turned to me. “Well?”

“Well what? You were very brave.”

Mark frowned. “Where is she?”

“Oh, she’s usually in that classroom over there,” I pointed.

Paris and Mark looked at me and waited. I sighed resolutely. “Oh, come on.”

We entered the classroom. The room was dark, the only light emanating from the moon outside. “Lisa?”

Paris and Mark waited breathlessly.

“Lisa?” I repeated.

“What are you doing here at night?” Lisa materialized next to me suddenly.

“Stop doing that!”

“Sorry. It’s not like I can knock,” Lisa said dismissively.

She had a point.

“Who are your friends?”

“This is Mark and Paris,” I introduced them. Unfortunately, they didn’t appear to be able to see Lisa.

“Is she here?” Paris asked.

“She’s right here,” I pointed to the spot next to me. “Can’t you see her?”

Paris shook her head, disappointed.

“I can’t either,” Mark said.

Great.

“So you brought people to watch you talk to an empty room?” Lisa asked sarcastically.

“I was hoping they would be able to see you,” I explained.

“Well, they can’t.”

“Thanks for the news update.”

“Don’t be mean,” Paris chided me. “She’s dead. You should be nice.”

“I like your friend,” Lisa smiled.

I told Lisa what Professor Blake had told me, carefully watching her translucent face for traces of understanding. I didn’t have to wait long.

“So you think whoever killed me is taking girls now?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

“I don’t know, wouldn’t he be really old?”

“Not if he was supernatural,” I answered.

“Supernatural? Like a vampire.”

“Maybe.”

“Vampires are real!” Lisa squealed. I flinched at her screech – and then I realized that Mark and Paris couldn’t hear her.

“They are. They’re not the only ones either.”

“Werewolves?”

“Yes.”

“Witches?”

I glanced over at Paris quickly. “Yes.”

“Mermaids?”

“Yes . . . well, um, I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“And you think one of these creatures killed me?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I was wondering if you remembered anything else.”

“No. I haven’t really been thinking about it too much, though.”

“How come?”

“Would you want to think about your death?”

She had a point. “Not really. We need to know, though. If someone is killing girls again, we have to try and stop them.”

“Why should I help?” Lisa asked.

“Why wouldn’t you want to help?” I shot back.

“No one helped me,” Lisa pointed out.

“That wasn’t right,” I said calmly. “It’s also not right to ignore this situation.”

Lisa blew out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. I’ll think about it and get back to you.”

Yeah, I’d heard that before. “I’ll be back,” I warned her.

“You always come back,” Lisa said primly. “I told you, I’ll think about it.”

“Fine,” I said resignedly. I turned back to Paris and Mark. “Let’s go.”

“That’s it?” Mark asked.

“What else do you want us to do?”

“I don’t know,” Mark said. “I just thought this was going to be a lot more exciting.”

“Not everything has to be exiting,” I grimaced.

“Yeah, but you just talked to a ghost.”

Whatever. I couldn’t get that excited about it these days. “Let’s get coffee on the way home. That will be exciting.”

Mark and Paris were already in the stairwell.

“Stop whispering about me,” I warned them. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I’m sure it wasn’t very flattering. “I’m so over all the whispering.”