مدرسه روح زده فصل 15

The haunted School - Chapter 15

“Hey—we’ve already scared them. They think we’re a bunch of crazed savages. Don’t try to scare them even more, Mary!” the boy scolded.

“I’m not!” she insisted, crossing her arms over the front of her gray sweater. “I just think they should know the truth. I think—” “The truth?” I interrupted. “What’s going on here? This is a joke—right?” “Yeah. Go ahead. Wipe off the gray powder from your face and tell us it’s a joke,” Ben chimed in.

The girl named Mary bit her bottom lip. I saw a tear form in her left eye. It brimmed over and ran down her gray cheek. “It’s no joke,” she choked out.

“Give us a break!” Ben groaned. “Just make the lights brighter, and—” “That won’t help!” the boy cried angrily.

Mary turned to him. She wiped the tear from her cheek. “I really thought they came to help us,” she said in a quivering voice. “I really thought that finally…” Her voice trailed off.

Another girl put her arm around Mary.

I shut my eyes for a moment. Squinting into the gray was giving me a headache.

“Will someone tell us what is going on?” I heard Ben demand.

I opened my eyes to see all five gray kids moving across the room toward us.

The leader was a little taller than me. He had wavy black hair, and big black eyes that crinkled at the sides. I saw a small gray scar above one eyebrow. He had broad shoulders beneath his gray T-shirt. He was very athletic looking.

The girl beside him was tall and very thin. She had long gray hair that fell straight down her back. She had sad gray eyes.

“I’m Seth,” the boy said. “This is Mary and this is Eloise.” He pointed. “Eddie and Mona.” Ben and I introduced ourselves.

“We didn’t mean to frighten you,” Mary repeated. “But can we touch your colors? We haven’t seen color for so long. We just—” Her voice cracked. She turned away.

“Uh… Ben and I have to get back to the dance,” I told them, eyeing the door. “You see, we’re on the Decorations Committee. And a banner tore. And—” “You can’t get back,” Seth said. His dark eyes narrowed on mine. “Mary told you the truth. You can’t get back.” “That’s stupid,” Ben replied, shaking his head. “We’re in the old building—right? We’ll follow the hall till it leads to the new building. The gym is right downstairs.” Eloise coughed. I realized she was the one I’d heard when the lights were still out. She wiped her nose with a gray tissue. She appeared to have a cold.

“You’re not in the old building,” she said hoarsely.

“Then where are we?” Ben demanded. “The basement?”

The gray kids shook their heads.

“It’s a little hard to explain,” Seth said.

“Well, we’ll find our way back,” I told them, starting for the door. “I mean, the school isn’t that big. We won’t be lost for long.” “You’re not really in the school,” Eloise said, wiping her nose again.

“Excuse me?” Ben cried. “This looks a lot like a classroom to me. See? Desks? Chairs? Chalkboard?” “Let’s go,” I said. I gave him a little push toward the door.

“Sit down,” Seth ordered sharply.

Ben and I were nearly to the classroom door.

“I said sit down,” Seth repeated.

“You’d better listen to him,” the girl named Mona warned.

Seth motioned impatiently to two desks. “Sit.”

I swallowed hard. I felt a chill of fear over my entire body. I didn’t understand what was going on here. And I didn’t really want to understand.

I just wanted to get away from this gray room and these black-and-white kids.

They moved across the room toward us. Their expressions were tense. Seth held his arms stiffly at his sides, as if ready for a fight.

“Sit down, guys,” he insisted.

“Sorry. Some other time,” Ben replied.

He and I both had the same idea in our heads.

We both turned and ran at the same time. We made a mad dash for the classroom door.

I got there first.

I grabbed the door handle. Turned it. And pulled.

“Come on! Come on!” Ben cried frantically.

“It—it won’t open!” I shrieked.

The door was locked.