Asylum (11 page)

            “What
makes you say so?” Chloe asked.

            “Well,
remember,” Sam dropped her voice an octave in an imitation of Seth’s low,
serious tone, “There’s always more to a person than the face they show you!”

            Both
girls erupted into the kind of laughter that only comes from staying up all
night, under a lot of stress.  The kind of laughter when laughing itself seems
funny.  Sam crawled under her mussed up comforter still chuckling.

            “I’m
bushed, Clo,” she said, “Let’s get some sleep.  I can’t believe we’ve got to go
to class in a couple hours.”

            “I
could go.  You know, take notes for both of us and turn our papers in.  You
could skip if you wanted,” Chloe offered nonchalantly.  Sam opened one eye and
studied her suspiciously.

            “
You
are advising I skip class?” she asked.

            “Sure,
I mean…it’s not like it’s a big deal if you miss once in awhile, and
maybe…maybe some time I’ll need you to go and take notes for me,” Chloe
explained.

            “I’m
not buying it,” Sam warned, “I don’t know who you are or what you did with my
roommate, but right now, I’m too tired to care.”

            Sam
closed her eyes and rolled over, as Chloe kicked off her shoes and pulled the
covers down on her bed.

            “Hey
Sam?” she whispered.

            “Mmmmm?”

            “Should
I turn the lights off or leave them on?” she asked.

            “On!”
both girls agreed at once and then laughed.

            Chloe
got under her covers and reached for the alarm clock on the window ledge.  She
set it for 7:30, wincing as she realized how little sleep she would actually
get.  She lay down and stared at the ceiling, hoping that she would be able to
fall asleep, at least, for a little while.

            After
what seemed like only moments later, the buzzer on Chloe’s alarm clock went
off, causing her head to buzz right along with it.  She groaned and shot her
arm out to smash the snooze button violently, but missed.  She slapped the hard
ledge of the window frame instead.  Her hand throbbed as she lifted herself to
reach farther, slapping at the alarm clock angrily, until the snooze was
finally triggered.

            “Sam,”
she croaked.

            Her
only answer was a muffled snort and a long sigh from the other side of the
room.  Her head seemed to weigh a hundred pounds, and the thought of trying to
sit up made it seem heavier yet. Chloe rocked herself forward a few times,
trying to gather the force needed to break the pull of her bed’s gravity, and
with a grunt, heaved herself up.

            She
took a second to get her equilibrium before swinging her feet over the side of
the bed.  She should shower, maybe it would help wake her up, but it seemed as
though that would take an awful lot of effort on her part.  It would be easier
to just put some fresh clothes on, gargle some mouthwash and grab a cup of
coffee on her way out.  She wondered if she should risk waking Sam by turning
the light on, or try to find everything in the dark.  It seemed like there was
just enough light from outside to see her closet and be able-

            “SAM!”
Chloe shrieked, suddenly wide awake.  Across the room Sam gasped and sat bolt
upright in bed as though she had been doused with cold water.

            “WHA?”
she cried.

            “Sam,
did you get up and turn the light off?  Sam, tell me you turned the light
off!”  Chloe’s voice was panicky and high.

            “No!” 
Sam rasped.
            In the dark room, both girls turned to look at each other.

            Sam
screamed.

            Chloe
screamed.

            Sam
took a short breath and screamed again.

            A
loud banging on the wall next to her bed caused Chloe to shriek again and jump
to her feet.

            “Shut-up!”
a muted voice demanded through the wall.

            “Chloe,”
Sam whispered, “go turn the light on.”

            “You
turn it on!” Chloe snapped.

            “Together…alright?
We’ll do it together,” Sam offered.  She threw back her sheets and stumbled out
of bed, reaching with one hand towards Chloe.  The girls clasped hands in the
dark.  Sam’s grip was so tight, Chloe thought her bones might break.

            “On
three,” Sam suggested, “One…two…”

            On
three, both girls raced toward the crack of light shining from under the door. 
Chloe got there first, fumbling wildly against the wall to find the switch. 
She flicked it upward and above them the long florescent bulb flickered and
popped as it warmed up and slowly flooded the room in light.

            Nothing
seemed strange or out of place.  The room appeared perfectly normal.  The two
girls stood with their backs to the door, still holding hands.

            “Sam…please
tell me-” Chloe began.

            “Please
tell you what?  That I actually
did
turn the light off?  That I’m just
trying to scare you?  You think I’d actually do something like that?” Sam
demanded.

            Chloe
hadn’t actually thought that, but she’d hoped for it.  Hoped that it was Sam’s
idea of a joke and that suddenly Sam would laugh and say something like:
you
should have seen the look on your face
or even
got ya! 
Anything
would be better than standing there with that sick feeling of fear.

            “I
didn’t Chloe!  I swear!” Sam cried.

            “I
know, I know…I just…never mind, I gotta get to class,” Chloe said, dropping
Sam’s hand.

            “I’m
coming,” Sam agreed nervously.

            “I
thought-”

            “You
thought what?  That I’m going to stay here?  In this room…by myself?” Sam’s
laugh was a little too high-pitched to be normal.

            “Okay,
get your stuff then,” Chloe said.  Sam raced for the closet, yanking a sweater
and jeans off their hangers, while Chloe stood guard by the light switch.  She
didn’t want to admit it, but she was afraid that if she walked away the light
would snap back off, and then she would probably lose her mind.  Sam grabbed
her book bag and shoes and returned to the door.

            “Okay,
stand right here, don’t move,” Chloe ordered.

            Sam
nodded and stood hugging her clothes and backpack as Chloe raced around
gathering up the same things.

            “Backpack,”
Sam reminded her as Chloe glanced around holding a pile of clothes.

            Chloe
took a step towards her desk and reached for her backpack when she heard
something that turned her body to ice.  It was so small, so tiny and almost
nonexistent, it may not have been real at all, but it sounded like someone
breathing.  Someone breathing right next to her ear.  Above her, the light
fixture buzzed loudly, flickered twice and with a loud popping sound, went
off.  The room was again darkened to a shade of eerie, early-morning grey.

            Chloe
almost ran Sam over in her haste to open the door, both girls fought wildly to
turn the knob and get to the relative safety of the hallway.  After a great
deal of struggling and squealing, they somehow managed it.  Sam slammed the
door behind them and they both ran as fast as they could for the stairs.

            “Wait! 
Wait a minute!”  Sam called as Chloe began bounding down the steps, taking them
two at a time.

            Chloe
stopped and looked up, half-expecting to see some awful shadow pursuing them.

            Sam
stood at the top of the stairs grasping the handrail.

            “We
got to get dressed,” She reminded Chloe.  They were both still wearing
yesterday’s clothes.

            “Let’s
use the bathroom-- in the other hall,” Chloe decided.

            Sam
nodded fervently.  Neither of them wanted to walk by the door of their room to
get to their bathroom.

            The
girls walked quickly down the opposite hall, which was the mirror image of
theirs, and found the bathroom in the same spot.  They dressed in a shower
stall, waiting until they were back out by the sinks to put their socks and
shoes on.  Chloe wished she had thought to bring her toothbrush.  The inside of
her mouth felt fuzzy and sour.  She could still taste the after burn of redpop
and vodka, and it was making her stomach churn dangerously.

            The
girls stuffed their backpacks to bulging with their dirty clothes and went
downstairs to the dorm cafeteria.  It was early enough that it was mostly empty
and silent except for the gurgling sounds of coffee brewing.  Chloe looked over
the selection of lukewarm scrambled eggs, fried-to-a-crisp hash browns, and
wads of soggy bacon, and felt her stomach heave again.  She opted for a bagel
and a styrofoam cup of coffee and Sam did likewise.

            “I
wish they had a big bowl of mints or something,” Sam said wistfully, “I bet my
breath smells like I’ve been licking the inside of a port-a-potty.”

            Chloe
snickered.  She held her hand in front of her face and breathed into it.

            “It
does,” she agreed.  They both fell quiet.  It seemed unnatural to be laughing
already.  Neither wanted to talk about what had happened.  The sun was rising
through the trees, and the light was coming in through the tall eastern
windows, bringing a sense of safety with it.

            Chloe
and Sam took their coffees and bagels wrapped in napkins out to the bus stop. 
The air was cold and pine-scented, and the rising sun would soon melt the frost
that had formed on the grass over night.   Their breath and coffees steamed as
they waited.  Twice, Chloe glanced over her shoulder towards the window of
their room on the second floor.  It was exactly eight windows over, she was
sure.  She looked quickly, fearful still of what she might see, but each time
she checked, the glass was a perfect mirror of the sky above.

            At
last, the bus rumbled into view, rounding the corner up the road.  It stopped
first in front of Goodman-Harker, although no one was waiting there, and then
roared the short trip to Kirkbride and stopped in front of them. 

            Chloe
held her breath as the oily fumes rolled around her, the clean morning air made
them seem even stronger, and the girls climbed the stairs and threw themselves
down into a couple of hard plastic seats towards the middle.

            “That…was
pretty freaking scary,” Sam said at last.

            “Uh-huh,”
Chloe agreed numbly.

            “Of
course I’m sure Seth can explain it all away as coincidence,” Sam rolled her
eyes.

            “So,
let’s not tell him,” Chloe suggested.

            “We
have to tell him that the light burnt out,” Sam insisted.

            “Okay. 
Then we’ll tell him exactly that.  The light burnt out,” Chloe agreed.

            “A
real ghost,” Sam mused quietly, “I mean, I’ve always heard stories about
haunted houses and stuff, but I never…well, I always thought people were just
full of crap, you know?  But this…this is real, isn’t it?  I mean the stuff
that happened in the bell tower, and then this morning, even if the light just
burnt out all by itself, neither of us turned it off this morning.  It’s just
all too much to be coincidence, right?”

            Chloe
nodded glumly.

            “I
wonder who the ghost is.  Maybe it’s the guy who built the place, and he’s
stuck here, because he never got to finish it.  Or maybe, somebody died when
they had the fire, or maybe it was something more recent, like a student that
died or something.  I wonder what it wants.  Trapped…it said, and it asked for
help, maybe it’s trying to-”

            “I
don’t care!” Chloe insisted, “I don’t want to help it, I don’t want to talk to
it, I don’t want to know anything about it.  I just want it to go away.  It’s
scaring the crap out of me, and just a little while ago, if I remember
correctly, you were pretty scared too!”

            “Yeah,
but-”

            “But
nothing!  I think we should transfer rooms or something, go somewhere else,”
Chloe decided.

            “If
we asked to transfer we might end up in another hall, and then Seth wouldn’t be
your R.A. anymore,” Sam reminded her slyly.

            Chloe
frowned and crossed her arms.  Sam was right.  If she wound up in another hall,
she wouldn’t see Seth anymore, and part of whatever reason he seemed to like
her, might just be her proximity.  If she went somewhere else it would be
pretty easy for him to start talking to another girl.  She shrugged her
shoulders, but didn’t say anything else.  She wasn’t sure what to do.

            “Maybe
if we try to communicate with it-” Sam began.