Chapter 18
"Good night," Gloria said, biting her lip, trying to steady her heart. That story was scary, she thought. It was just the story that's making me feel this way.
~*~
The ride to the camp ground was full of old rock songs and goofy sing-alongs. Miranda and Timothy had packed everything, and Midshore was going to meet them there the next day. Everyone had packed everything they thought they'd need for the week, and Maria had packed a ton of books on spiritualism. Everyone had packed at least one book to keep them company, but Maria brought significantly more.
Pulling around the campsite, they saw that the site was truly just a patch of ground in the middle of the woods with woods with a lake and stream nearby. Was that a natural pool and spring over there?
Timothy had been driving the truck that was full of supplies and parked in the lot. They were going to have to pull their supplies to the space. Gloria wasn't looking forward to being grimy, but there was no point in waiting to sweat; they were all going to be dirty by the end of the day.
Alex strode up next to Gloria as she was surveying the area. The tents they had could fit two people, but how they were going to be laid out was up to the students. "Hey," he said softly, looking in the same direction as her. He bent his head towards her so she could hear him a bit easier. "What do you say we share a-"
"Tents will be shared by your roommates!" Miranda called out over the group. "Agree with your roommate as to where you'll be setting up your tent, but know you can move it at any time during the 5 days we're here."
Gloria looked up at Alex. "What were you saying? I didn't hear you."
"Just that we could share- could share cooking duties later. I haven't been on cooking detail with you yet, it could be fun, cooking outdoors. And it seems that the chores are a bit looser than they were back at the house." he stumbled.
"Oh, that sounds fun! I wonder what there's to cook." Gloria said. "I have to go and talk to Aquilla about our tent, talk to you later."
"Yeah," Alex said. "Catch you later,"
Gloria jogged over to Aquilla and Ashton came up beside him. "I thought that was over," he said quietly.
"I don't know if it'll ever be over," Alex said, "And it kills me,"
"It'll never be over with that attitude."
~*~
Deliah rubbed her eyes as the sun came through the class window. Never again would she schedule an 8 am class. Why were these even offered if people hated them so much? /I suppose some people have jobs they have later in the day and are willing to sacrifice sleep to get a degree. Personally, Deliah wasn't there yet. Sleep was still very much necessary.
She took a sip of her coffee, the cheap kind this time. She needed to stay awake and notice if there was anything odd about the interactions between Seneca and Ms. Ainsworth. She didn't know many of the other teachers at the university, but she knew there weren't that many youngish women on the staff.
"I'll be handing back your descriptive papers today, take care to look over the comments I made. Some things can be fixed for returned points," Ms. Ainsworth projected above the din.
She started to walk around and drop off papers. "Good job, Dan! I was really immersed in your description, but the ending felt a bit soft. You can try tidying that up or we can talk about it later if you want to defend it.- Here you go, Alina! Definitely made me believe the house you were describing was real, good for you! I could see it being the introduction to a book or short story for sure.-"
She arrived at Deliah's desk, and Deliah started to be nervous. She hardly even remembered writing this paper, was it any good? "Deliah, your paper was a head scratcher for sure, if you want to look at my notes we can go from there. - Seneca! Great job, I really liked the description of the greenhouse! You had a nearly perfect score!" she touched his shoulder as she passed, and Deliah ran cold. Not only was she not as good as Seneca in this class, but he had the approval of the teacher? Had he slept his way into good grades? She'd heard that some young women slept with their teachers to get ahead in the class or get bonus points so they didn't fail, was Seneca ensuring he'd pass? Was there anything going on, or was there nothing going on?
A constant vigil was important if she was going to crack the case.
~*~
Everyone had set up their tents, and dinner was cleared. Timothy and Miranda were playing a card game near the fire so that they could see. Aquila and Arhun were sitting near each other by the fire, poking the fire and watching the flames. Maria was sitting a ways off with an LED lamp, reading her books by the entrance of her tent. Gloria was roasting a marshmallow at the fire.
Ashton pulled out a paperback book from his jacket pocket. "Why don't we spook this evening up? It is close to Halloween, isn't it? What better time?" he smirked.
"OOoo," Aquilla leaned in. She's been drinking a bit and was overly excited about everything. "Which story? Is it a skin-walker? A Wendigo? The rake?"
"That what?" Ashton looked confused. "Those sound like horrible things. No, we'll be reading from this book here, and none of those things are in there. Only mystery and hair raising chills will follow," he said with added mysticism in his voice.
"It's already chilly out here, so you don't have much to build to," Maria muttered.
"I don't know if this is a good idea," Arhun said as he shifted in his seat. "I don't do well with scary stories, and it's really dark out here..."
Alex came up from behind him and aggressively patted his shoulder, making him jump. "That's ok, squirt, these are just stories, words can't hurt you," he laughed and took his seat.
"Tell that to Maria," Arhun responded, "She reads about spirits and how to get ahold of them all the time. Words have power,"
"Don't worry, this isn't a bad story, I promise," Ashton took his seat by the fire. Miranda and Timothy looked on from their table, a soft look on their faces.
"Our story begins at a hotel," Ashton only glanced at the book once in a while, but he didn't really read from the book. He must have the story memorized, Gloria thought. "It's a very popular hotel, for the small town it resides in, so it's usually quite full. On this particular night, a lawyer comes into the hotel looking for a room, hoping to not have to sleep in his car while he's in town.
"The clerk says that they have only one room, but it's haunted. The lawyer is a man of facts and science and doesn't believe in ghosts or hauntings, so he takes the room,"
"Bad choice," Maria comments, listening.
"The lawyer gets up to the room, and looks around his room. He checks the shower for spiders, the bed for bed bugs, and he locks the door for the night, changing into his pajamas and climbing into the clean sheets."
Gloria shivered at the thought of bugs. She always had Seneca take care of the bugs that Taco didn't catch. To remember that they were in the middle of the forest where there were tons of bugs around made her skin crawl. She reached for the bug spray and put more on.
"In the deep of night, the lawyer hears a creaking floor and a voice saying 'I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna eat you!' The lawyer thinks that it must be the neighbor next door until it comes again, clearer than he remembered, over to the left near the wardrobe, away from the door, but certainly in his room. When he looks, he sees no one. Another creak is heard from the same area and the man has lost his wits and runs from the room, grabbing his suitcase he'd left by the door."
Arhun was biting his lip. Aquilla was transfixed, and Maria had put her book down. The only sound to be heard was Miranda placing a card.
"A week goes by, and a plumber needs to stay the night for a plumbers' convention. He scheduled late and all of the rooms are full. All but one. The clerk tells him that the room is empty, but it's reported to be haunted. The plumber has never had a problem he couldn't logic away; noises were made by clogged pipes, creaks were made by flimsy wood being used in construction. Houses and buildings made noise at night as they settled, surely everyone who had stayed here before had been spooked by something that was reasonable.
"The plumber takes the room and checks it out. He makes sure the blinds close well so that no shadows were going to scare him, he checks the shower for dripping to keep him up at night, and he checks under the bed for good measure. He finds it all to a good standard, and he gets ready for bed. As he's drifting off, he hears a squeak of wood, coming from over by the wardrobe. He figures he didn't hear anything, just auditory hallucinations from being close to sleep.
"But then it comes again. There's a shuffling and soft murmuring. The plumber sits up in bed, trying to see anything in the darkness, but he can see nothing. A soft groaning comes from the back end of the room, getting louder. 'I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna eat you!'" Ashton makes his eyes wide as he adds a growl to his voice.
"The plumber, trying to hold onto his wits, calls into the room- 'What's this now? Who's there?' The groaning only gets more erotic and erratic, calling "I'm going to eat you- you're mine!'
"The plumber dashes out of his bed and grabs his bags, deciding he'd rather sleep in his car with the doors locked than sleep in this room."
"They should just check the wardrobe," Arhun says quietly in awe, and Maria nods in agreement. Alex smiles a knowing smile, and Ashton continues.
"The very next week, like clockwork, a magician comes to town. He's been hired by a family friend to perform at a child's birthday party. He's told the room is haunted, and he takes on the challenge. What could go wrong? Smoke and mirrors, that's all ghosts are.
"He heads up to the room, and looks around the edges of the room for pests and wires. Invisible string is nearly impossible to see if you aren't looking for it, and even then when you are. Seeing nothing, he showers, and takes his pajamas out of his bag. He's going to be in town for a few days, so he takes his bag and goes to hang it up in the wardrobe. Hanging your bag is the best way to prevent bedbugs from getting in, he'd heard, and he figured he may as well.
"He opens the wardrobe and shrieks!" Ashton yelled, recoiling like the magician in the story. "Inside he finds... A small child, picking his nose saying, “`I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna eat you!"
Aquilla laughed out loud, being looser due to the drinking. Maria smirked and rolled her eyes, and Arhun jumped a bit at Aquila's outburst of laughter. Alex smiles and shakes his head. Ashton takes a small bow and laughs. "See, I told you, not that scary. No monsters, no ghosts."
"Yeah, yeah, I guess so." Arhun said, a hand on his heart. "I think I'll be going to bed now."
"Same, early morning tomorrow," Alex said, passing behind Gloria as he went, putting his hand on her shoulder as he passed. "See you all then,"
"Good night," Gloria said, biting her lip, trying to steady her heart. That story was scary, she thought. It was just the story that's making me feel this way.
And then they took their paths into their own hands...
^ "you two are good friends! Look at them being good friends!" "They're lesbians, Herold" "Really?!" "No, it's a joke."
^ When there's nothing to do, I will literally throw horse shoes at a peg in the ground. That's how boring camping is.
^ "And then the director said that Arhun was going to like Aquila and not Maria!" Alex and Gloria laughed. "Weren't they wrong!"
^ Always remember to bring your handicrafts. Perfect for camping trips and family gatherings where you just know you'll be sitting in a corner for the whole evening.
^Say what you will about Gloria being huggy, but these hugs don't look that awkward. They look quite nice.
^ Before they went on vacation, a fire started on the lot, and I sent Gloria to turn it into ice since she's the only one who knows that spell, and she caught fire instead! Everyone dutifully ran out to the front of the house, and no one was there to save Gloria! So I sent in Alex to put her out. If I hadn't, Gloria would have died.
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