مدرسه روح زده فصل 20

The haunted School - Chapter 20

Ben and I squinted into the fog. We heard shrill voices. And then the thump of footsteps over the grass. But we couldn’t see anyone.

We didn’t know which way to run.

“This way! Over here!” the girl repeated breathlessly to her friend.

“Stop them!” another girl chimed in.

Ben and I spun around. “Who’s there?” I tried to shout. But my voice spilled out weak and frightened. “Who is it?” And then, figures appeared in the swirling fog. Shadowy, gray figures. Running toward us and then stopping just near enough to see through the curtain of gray.

Staring, surprised faces.

Their arms out. Bodies tense. Hair blowing in the circling mist.

I backed up to Ben. We stood back to back, gaping out at them as they formed a tight circle around us.

“They’re—kids!” Ben exclaimed. “More kids!”

Are they the rest of the missing class? I wondered.

“Hey—!” I called to them. “What are you doing out here?” They stared back at us in silence.

The fog billowed and shifted. I saw a short, black-haired girl whispering to a big kid in an old-fashioned-looking black jacket. And then the fog covered them again, and they seemed to vanish before my eyes.

Other kids appeared and disappeared. There must have been about twenty of them.

They spoke softly to one another, gazing out at us, keeping in a tight circle.

“What are you doing out here?” I repeated, trying not to sound as frightened as I felt. “My friend and I—we’re lost. Can you help us?” “You still have color,” a girl murmured.

“Color. Color. Color.” The word was repeated among the circle of gray kids.

“They must be the other kids from the class,” Ben whispered. “The kids Seth and the others warned us about.” Seth’s warning flashed back into my mind: “They’re crazy. They’ve all gone crazy.” “We’re lost!” I cried. “Can you help us?”

They didn’t reply. They whispered excitedly among themselves.

“Turn, turn,” a boy called suddenly. So loud, I jumped back.

“What did you say?” I demanded. “Can you help us?”

“Turn, turn,” a girl repeated.

“We don’t belong here!” Ben cried. “We’re trying to get away from here. But we’re totally lost.” “Turn, turn,” a few voices murmured.

“Please—answer us!” I begged. “Can you help us?”

And then they all chanted, “Turn, turn.” And they began to dance.

Keeping the circle tight, they moved to the right in a rapid rhythm. They raised one leg high, and stepped to the right. Lowered the leg and gave a little kick. Then another high step to the right.

Some kind of weird dance.

“Turn, turn,” they chanted. “Turn, turn.”

“Please—stop!” Ben and I both pleaded. “Why are you doing that? Are you trying to scare us?” “Turn, turn.” The dark, dancing figures moved in and out of the swirling fog.

The fog lifted for a moment, and I saw that they were holding hands as they danced. Holding hands tightly. Keeping the circle closed.

Keeping Ben and me inside.

“Turn, turn,” they chanted. A step, then a kick. “Turn, turn.” “What are they doing?” Ben whispered to me. “Is it a game or something?” I swallowed hard. “I don’t think so,” I replied.

The fog shifted again. It lowered over the grass, then billowed away.

I squinted at the chanting faces as they moved in the circle.

Their expressions were hard.

Their eyes cold.

Cold, unfriendly faces.

“Turn, turn. Turn, turn.”

“Stop it!” I screamed. “Give us a break! What are you doing? Please—somebody explain!” “Turn, turn.” The chant continued. The circle of kids moved to the right. They stared at Ben and me, as if challenging us—as if daring us to stop them.

“Turn, turn.

Turn to gray.

Turn, turn.

Turn to gray!”

The circle spun around us. The kids danced in rhythm in the billowing fog. A steady, frightening rhythm.

So cold… so menacing.

So crazy!

“Turn, turn.

Turn to gray.

Turn, turn.

Turn to gray.”

And suddenly, watching the eerie dance, listening to their machinelike chant, I knew. I knew what they were doing. It was some kind of weird ceremony. They were watching us, holding us there. Holding us there until we were gray like them.