مدرسه روح زده فصل 02

The haunted School - Chapter 2

I pressed my back tight against the wall. “What are you going to do?” I repeated.

“I’m going to walk home—if you’ll ever let me!” she growled. She spun away, her hands squeezed into big fists.

“I said I was sorry!” I called after her.

She vanished up the stairs without turning back.

Those weird gray eyes stayed in my mind.

I gave her time to leave the building. Then I started up the stairs.

It was a long climb to the top floor. My legs still felt a little shaky from running into that strange girl. And it was kind of eerie, being the only person up here.

My shoes thudded on the hard steps, and the sound thundered in the empty stairwell. The halls stretched out like long, dark tunnels.

I was out of breath when I finally reached the landing on the third floor. I started down the hall, humming to myself. My voice sounded hollow in the empty hall. It echoed off the long row of gray lockers.

I stopped humming as I made my first right turn. I passed an empty teachers’ lounge. A computer lab. Then some rooms that looked empty.

Another right turn took me into a narrow hall with wooden floors that creaked and groaned under my shoes.

I stopped outside the room at the end of the hall. A small hand-lettered sign beside the door read ART ROOM.

I grabbed the doorknob and started to pull open the door.

But I stopped when I heard voices inside the room.

Startled, I gripped the doorknob and listened. I heard a boy and a girl. They were talking softly. I couldn’t make out their words. But the kids sounded like Thalia and Ben.

What are they doing up here? I wondered.

Why did they follow me? How did they get up here before I did?

I pushed open the door and stepped inside. “Hey, guys—” I called. “What’s going on?” My mouth dropped open. The room was empty.

“Hey—” I called. “Are you guys in here?”

No reply.

My eyes darted around the big room. Golden afternoon sunlight poured in through the windows.

The long art tables stood clean and empty. Some clay pots were drying on the window ledge. A mobile made of wire hangers and soup cans hung from the ceiling light.

Weird, I thought, shaking my head. I heard voices in here. I know I did.

Are Thalia and Ben playing a little joke on me? I wondered. Are they hiding up here?

I made my way quickly to the big supply closet and pulled open the door. “Caught you!” I cried.

No. No one in there.

I stared into the dark closet. Am I starting to hear voices? I wondered. Maybe my fall off the ladder was worse than I’d thought!

I reached up and pulled the chain to turn on the closet light. On both sides of me, shelves of art supplies reached to the ceiling. I spotted the red paint we needed and started to slide a few cans off the shelf.

But I stopped when I heard a girl laugh.

Then a boy said something. He sounded excited. He was talking rapidly. But I couldn’t make out the words.

I spun back to the art room. No one there.

“Hey—where are you?” I called.

Silence now.

I pulled a paint can off the shelf and tucked it under my arm. Then I grabbed another can with my free hand.

“Hey—!” I called out when I heard the voices again.

“This isn’t funny!” I cried. “Where are you hiding?”

No reply.

They must be in the next room, I decided. I carried the paint cans out into the art room and set them down on the teacher’s desk. Then I crept into the hall.

I stopped at the next door and poked my head into the room. It was some kind of storage room. Boxes marked fragile were stacked against one wall.

No one there.

I checked the room across the hall. No one there, either.

As I walked back to the art room, I heard the voices again.

The girl was shouting now. And then the boy shouted too.

It sounded as if they were calling for help. But for some reason their voices seemed muffled, kind of far away.

My heart started to beat a little faster. My throat suddenly felt dry.

Who is playing this joke on me? I wondered. Everyone has gone home. The whole building is empty. So who is up here? And why can’t I find them?

“Ben? Thalia?” I shouted. My voice echoed off the long wall of gray lockers. “Are you up here?” Silence.

I took a deep breath and stepped back into the art room. I’m just going to ignore them, I decided.

I hoisted up the two cans of paint and made my way back out into the hall. I glanced quickly both ways, thinking I might see Thalia and Ben.

A shadow leaned out from an open doorway.

I froze and stared.

“Who—who’s there?” I called.