Death and the Girl

Halloween was upon us and on the Wednesday before, my lectures for the next two days were cancelled. Turned out that Janice, our lecturer had come down with severe gastro-enteritis. Good news for students. Bad news for Janice. I was content to ignore everyone and finish an essay.

On Thursday, I wanted to venture to the cafe and grab some coffee, but decided not to when I spied Collette with Hunter. I couldn't avoid them forever so I did go out. Bad decision. I had gotten to the cafe and ordered my drink when someone tapped on my shoulder.

I turned round and was face-to-face with Hunter. I shuffled nervously. How bad would this go? Where was Collette?

"We need to talk." He said, and I thought about running.

I nodded and followed him to a booth. I sat opposite him and tried not to look at him. My eyes did glance at him as he typed something on his phone. His eyes were hazel. A month or so ago I would have savoured that information and dreamed of looking into them. Now I felt nothing. Not a twinge of the crush I'd had before. I barely noticed that Hunter had stopped typing and was looking at me.

"Collette told me that you'd both fallen out." He stated, very matter-of-factly.

"Y-yes, we did." I replied.

"Look, I get it. You like me and you're jealous," He said, and I felt my face literally pale. "But it's not Collette's fault."

Was he seriously saying this? He'd cheated on his girlfriend. Then he and Collette had kept it from everyone, only allowing Liam to find out, but not to tell a soul. I narrowed my eyes. Had I seriously liked Hunter? It struck me that I barely knew him all this time. Had he always been so conceited?

"Actually, I don't like you anymore," I said, not really looking at him. "Collette betrayed me by not confiding in me and you hurt Victoria."

"Yeah right. I always saw you looking at me like a love-sick idiot," He snapped. "And Victoria's not innocent."

I could well believe Victoria wasn't innocent, but did she deserve what he'd done? No way, she didn't. He was just trying to justify it to himself.

"You're not the person I thought you were. I also have a boyfriend." I replied, glancing away.

"A boyfriend? You?" Hunter scoffed.

Turning my gaze back to him, I parted my lips to speak, but no words would come out. Was I seriously going to allow him to speak to me like that? I guessed I was and I slumped a little.

"You know what, I suggest you stay away from Collette and from me," Hunter continued. "Stalker."

I winced at his tone. I had never stalked him. Never tried to over-step my boundaries. I wouldn't have dared. I looked at the table and my eyes burned. A hand landed on my shoulder and I jumped. I looked to Hunter and his face had paled considerably.

"And I suggest you apologise." Chris, my eyes lifted and I saw him next to me.

His dark eyes were locked on Hunter. He was wearing casual clothes again, looking human. How did he find me? Hunter must have put the puzzle pieces together and stood up, maybe intending to continue the fight, but backing up when he saw that Chris was taller. Instead, he backed up and turned, briskly walking away.

"Pathetic," Chris murmured, sitting opposite me. "Your friend, Victoria told me you were here."

"O-oh, right. Sorry about that." I whispered.

"Don't apologise when it's not your fault." Chris smiled, reaching towards me, tucking some hair behind my ear.

"Well, I am sorry you had to see that." I replied, looking into his eyes briefly.

"Was he the one that cheated on Victoria." He asked.

I nodded, "He didn't believe you were my boyfriend. Sometimes, I can't believe it either."

"I wish you wouldn't call me your boyfriend. It sounds like we're both teenagers." Chris chuckled.

"Well, you could do with losing a few hundred years, like just shave them away." I laughed.

"Thanks for making me sound old. It really endears me to you, Junko." Chris replied, raising a brow at me.

Yeah, well he made me sound like a teenager when I was twenty-one. I was a fully grown adult. And he was an 800-something demon.

"Whoever does your surgery does it so well." I blurted out. Yeah, that was dumb.

I found my self running out the shop. He gave chase and managed to catch me, grabbing me round the waist and spinning me slightly till we both laughed. The bracelet on his arm beeped and we both stopped. Chris let go and pressed one of the panels.

"Sorry, just me." Tris' voice said.

"Hey Tris." Chris said, grabbing me before I could sneak off.

I shrieked and heard Tris laugh a little. I stopped and listened as she spoke. Something about a new mission tomorrow. At St. Catherine's Institute. I knew that place. It was the private school on the edge of town.

"Junko, you should go." Tris said.

"Yeah, sure let me just ask the old ball and chain." I joked, shrieking again when Chris tickled my side.

"Send me the details and I'll review it," Chris said, narrowing his eyes at me when I pouted. "And then I'll decide if it's safe for Junko."

"Will do." Tris replied.

**************************

Turned out the job was relatively safe for me. I got a taxi to St.Catherine's the following morning. I gasped when the taxi rounded the corner. The school was massive and the spire pierced the clouds. It looked more church than school. It was a strange mixture of modern and ancient. The two blended in a way that made it uncanny.

I paid the driver and he smiled, wishing me luck. Turned out the school was famous for being strict. I climbed out, dragging my suitcase with me. As I approached I noticed a familiar figure waiting for me.

"Keith?" I smiled, and he looked over, grinning.

Keith was not alone though. There was a girl and another guy. The girl wasn't Stevie. this girl was a few inches taller than me. Her hair was red and in the morning sun orange flecks danced across it. The guy was taller than Keith, maybe not as tall as Chris. His eyes were brown though and his hair was curly and jet black. He looked almost elven.

"Junko, let me introduce you to Hayley," Keith pointed to the girl and she waved. "And Michael."

Michael raised a hand and smiled. Two more members of Chris' team. Hayley seemed a little more open and rushed over, linking her arm with mine.

"Pleased to meet you." She grinned.

We all looked round when we heard heels clacking on the ground. A woman and a man were approaching. The woman was plump and smiling. The man was tall and scowling.

"Welcome, welcome to St. Catherine's Institute," The woman gushed. "I am Helen Carr, the principal. And this is Mr. Johnson, vice principal."

Keith approached and held out a hand. Helen seemed agreeable and even excited. She clearly didn't suit a school this fancy. She shook each of her hands vigorously. Mr. Johnson, however, did not. He continued to look displeased.

"Please follow me." Helen smiled.

We all walked behind her whilst she gave a brief history of the school and its founders. I noticed that Keith had bought equipment, like ghost hunting stuff. We were pretending to be paranormal investigators. How ironic.

Helen welcomed us to her office and motioned for us to take a seat on the sofa. I perched next to Hayley and waited. Mr. Johnson also came in and floated by the door, like some creepy, scowling shadow.

"I suppose I should give you a run down of everything thus far," Helen said, clapping her palms together. "Your boss spoke to me and I relayed information to him. What do you all know?"

"We know you've had some issues with mysterious events around the school." Hayley said.
"That's correct. The events are as follows."

And the list began. Helen filled us in on when it first began. It all happened when a fire started in one of the empty classrooms, then students began seeing things lurking in the hallways. More fires were started, some minor and some that caused injury to people.

"Can you think of anything that may have triggered the events?" Keith asked.

"W-well, actually," Helen sounded nervous.

She rushed to her drawer and fiddled around. I leaned forward, watching her. She walked back, holding a crumpled piece of paper in her hands. My eyes scanned over it. There were symbols on the paper and I frowned.

"A Ouija board?" Michael murmured, his voice was soft.

I glanced at it again and noticed it's layout was indeed like a Ouija board. How could this contribute to what had been happening though?

"A student by the name of Daniel started the trend and students all round the school have been playing it. We've tried to stamp it out, but it's been difficult." Helen said, scrunching the paper up.

"Would it be possible to have a talk with Daniel?" Keith asked, and Helen looked stricken.

"That would be impossible. Daniel Sloan killed himself last week."

I think everyone, except Helen and Mr. Johnson, gasped. He was dead. This boy who had started this whole thing. I glanced at Mr. Johnson to see him simmering in the corner.

"And what do you expect these people to do, Helen?" Mr. Johnson finally snapped.

We all looked at him. He was staring us all down, eyes wild. Helen looked away and sighed. She was clearly at her wits end and this wasn't helping.

"We will get to the bottom of this." Hayley smiled, hoping to lighten the mood.

"I doubt that. And what if another student dies. Have you considered that, Helen? Or are you so caught up in the fun of a ghost hunt?" Mr. Johnson sneered.

"This is hardly fun, Mr. Johnson. My students are in danger and I intend to get to the bottom of it." Helen said, squaring her shoulders.

She sounded way more stern, like the principal she was meant to be. Mr. Johnson sensed this and scowled, turning and leaving. The door slammed and I flinched at the sharp sound.

"Please forgive him. He's worried." Helen said, managing a nervous smile.

"It's fine," Keith replied, waving her off. "We'll go get the equipment."

It was a Friday so classes were still in session. Students were clearly interested and I caught some of them watching us as they passed to and from lessons. We'd get a chance to speak to them soon though as they had classes right up till Saturday. Seemed kinda cruel, having only one day off.

We set up base in an unused classroom. The equipment was all new and shiny. Nothing like the camcorders and cheap EMF meters that Liam had. This was a real ghost hunt. With demons. We'd start interviews tomorrow morning.

Notes