Pending Title

Poltergeists, Questions, and a Dream

The sun was shining brightly upon a renowned school in the city. Birds were chirping. Cats and dogs were chasing each other. The local janitor was cleaning the stairs that led to the main building of the school, and students were busy walking, talking, and chatting towards the stairs.

“Huh? You haven’t heard about it yet? It’s been occurring rather lately,” a girl with shoulder length light brown hair, chestnut eyes, and a warm smile said in mild shock to a girl with a serious look, loose black hair and calculating eyes.

The light brown haired girl was about to speak once more but the school bell rang, signaling the start of homeroom period. All of the students hurriedly walked towards their respective classrooms, hoping they wouldn’t be late.

Late students were really rare in Spirited Wings Academy, but there were just occasional occurrences where students would be delayed and would be considered late. Unfortunately, this is what happened to the previously mentioned students.

“You’re late! Please explain yourselves,” their teacher told them.

The teacher was a woman in her late thirties with graying black hair, black eyes, and spectacles.

The students each took a deep breath and stated their reasons out loud to the teacher. They were later on asked to repeat it to the whole class as a punishment.

The bell rang once more signaling the start of free period, most of the students’ favorite subject, since there was no teacher, and they had the time to do projects and assignments they had missed the day before.

“So what were you saying, Elaine?” the dark haired girl asked the light brown haired girl. They had not finished their conversation when the bell rang.

Elaine, the light brown haired girl, put her bag at the side of her chair and walked over to the black haired girl.

“Well, Mayumi, many students have reported problems about locked items disappearing,” Elaine explained and Mayumi, the black haired girl, widened her eyes a little in surprise.

“You mean to say that items that are locked up disappear and leave no trace whatsoever?” Mayumi asked.

“Yes, that’s mainly the reason why the locker hall is empty nearly all the time. The last case of disappearance was Kiko’s pencil case and notebook. I haven’t asked her yet if she found them,” Elaine said.

Mayumi looked at the window as she pondered. ‘Locked times equal to disappearing, Kiko’s pencil case, lockers,’ Mayumi thought incoherently to herself.

“Hey, Mayumi,” Elaine said, trying to snap Mayumi from her thoughts.

Mayumi shook her head strongly and asked, “Yes?”

Elaine just shook her head and said, “So will you and your club investigate or something?”

“I’ll think about it. I’ll think of the merits I’d be getting,” Mayumi said.

“Merits?” Elaine asked as she tilted her head.

“It’s nothing,” Mayumi replied in a stoic manner and got up.

Elaine continued looking at where Mayumi would be going and saw that she was heading to the boys’ desks.

“Hey, David Olivers,” Mayumi called for a bespectacled boy with black hair and blue eyes with a bored tone.

Elaine shook her head slightly and returned to her seat. Over at Mayumi’s side, Mayumi was discussing some things with David.

“Have you heard the rumor on students losing things that are locked up?” Mayumi asked Oliver.

“So you’re into rumors now, huh? I never knew that the president of our club liked such things. I thought you just liked facts, not fiction. So what did you happen to eat this morning?” David joked a little with her.

“Not funny. It’s just that I want to investigate it; hence, the reason I took the trouble of walking exactly 2.356 meters just to discuss this with you,” Mayumi said seriously, her dark, calculating eyes glaring at him.

“Hey! It’s only a joke. Well anyway, I’m glad you took the trouble to walk those 2.36 meters to talk to me,” he said.

Then Mayumi left with the words, “Discuss. Club. Later.”

Afterwards, the bell rang signaling the start of English period. Most of the students were panicking over the assignments that they did not finish during free period since they were busy talking.

“Alright class, I want you to take out your assignments and each one of you must read it out in front. As for those that haven’t finished theirs or haven’t even started, I want you to state your reason, or reasons, in a coherent essay. I will immediately flunk those essays with only a few sentences,” the teacher instructed.

This teacher was rather young and a favorite of most students and an enemy of the delinquents.

“Let’s start reading from the left,” the teacher said while pointing at a girl named Kiko.

Kiko stood up and walked over to the platform and began reciting.

“I am Kimiko Futawakari, an exchange student from Japan. I am 13 years old and I am studying here in this academy to improve my English…”

And so Kiko continued reading and afterwards, the student sitting to her right recited his and so did his classmate beside him. After 10 minutes, it was already Mayumi’s turn. She stood up and approached the platform, bearing no emotion on her face. She wasn’t even the least nervous.

“I am Mayumi Davis. I am 13 years old. I was born in Akita, Okinawa, Japan on January 14, 1994, to Mai Davis and Oliver Davis. I came here to Rose Valley City when I was 4 years old and that explains why I am fluent in English. I am the only child, and presently I live in #4 Hedgegrow Lane, Uptown Valley District, Rose Valley City. Before we transferred, I lived in the 3rd Floor of an apartment complex in Akita, Okinawa. My religion is Roman Catholic. My friends are Kimiko Futawakari, Elaine Tonnere, David Olivers, and a lot more. I enjoy reading and challenging myself. I have a pet cat and her name is Bibi. I don’t have any specific hobbies since I enjoy lots of things. Most of my favorite books are on mystery, horror, and fiction. My goal in life is to discover something really rare or to be a professor like my grandparents. That’s all about me. Thank you.”

Mayumi bowed and handed her neatly written manuscript to her teacher. Then she returned to her seat as the next student went to the front.

The reading continued until the bell rang and the teacher announced, “Those that were unable to recite, you will recite tomorrow.”

The day continued in its regular tempo, the bell ringing, the teachers talking, the passing of assignments and punishments given to the delinquents. As the day came to a close, Mayumi gathered her club members.

“What are you doing here, Elaine?” she asked when she saw that Elaine had not yet left the classroom.

“I was hoping you’d let me join your club,” Elaine replied nervously, bowing her head.

“Of course, you’re free to join,” Mayumi replied.

The group of students sat on random seats and formed them into a circle. Then they began discussing about investigations to be done.

“It is already known that locked up things would disappear without a trace and would not be found,” David started.

“Perhaps we could use a dummy, like crumpled paper, and put it in an empty locker and see if it disappears?” Elaine suggested.

“Good idea,” Rick, a member with blonde hair, complimented.

“Let’s try it,” Mayumi said after a little thinking.

“Ahehe, thanks for accepting my suggestion, Mayumi!” Elaine said cheerfully.

And so they crumpled up a piece of paper with the words ‘TESTING A’ and put it inside a clean and empty locker and locked it up. They left it there and continued to leave for home.

On the train, Elaine talked to Mayumi about what could be causing the disappearing phenomena. Even Mayumi didn’t know. When Mayumi’s stop came, the two classmates bade each other farewell.

At the train station, Mayumi took a taxi over to her house.

“Number 4, Hedgegrow Lane, Uptown District, please,” she told the driver.

There were lots of cars on the road, but there was no traffic. As the ride kept going, she could see trees, and every once in a while, she would close her eyes when she spotted a single lighted house in a dead end nearby. There were many beautiful houses in their district and since it was nearly 6pm, there were also many people heading for home. Either they walked and basked in the light of the sunset or rode home on their expensive looking cars. At last, she arrived at her house. She paid the taxi, gathered her belongings, and entered her house.

Here house was a simple white one with black bars on the third and second floor. It was one of those houses that gave a modern feel. It had nice, big clear glass windows, and sliding glass doors with curtains. The yard was painted green with grass and there was a grand fountain in the center of the yard. There were even foldable chairs at the side and a swing in the corner.

Mayumi walked on the stone path which led to the main door. She fumbled in her bag to find the key and unlock the door.

“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Mayumi called and headed past the white sofas and shelves until she reached the stairs.

Upon reaching her room, she unloaded her things and began reading. After a few minutes or so, she began doing her homework.

Minutes passed and she was finally done. She headed out to the library and began reading books about the supernatural. Her eyes widened when she reached the part on poltergeists.

It was read: ‘Poltergeists are determined by the Tizzana’s criteria. Tizzana’s criteria was formulated by E. Tizzana, a French police officer, who made a classification of poltergeists. There are nine criteria which include objects vibrating, doors opening and closing, noises and knocking. Disappearance may be caused by the powerful kind of poltergeist. They are usually…’

‘Disappearances of objects?’ she thought. ‘This must be the problem.’

The next day, the Investigation Club gathered early that morning to discuss things.

“I managed to read something related to the case. Briefly stated, it says that poltergeists can cause disappearances. Why don’t we check our experiment?” Mayumi told the group.

“Great work, Mayumi!” Elaine congratulated.

The group got up and headed for the locker hall. As expected, it was empty. They opened the locker that held the crumpled paper inside. Elaine was the first to look in, for she was the one who suggested the plan. Much to her surprise, the crumpled paper was gone.

“Okay guys, as Mayumi pointed out, this could be caused by poltergeists,” Elaine said as the rest of the group looked inside the locker.

“You’re right,” Wilson, a guy with red hair said.

The group headed back to the classroom and waited for the class to start.

Classes did start and when they finally ended, the students were buried under piles of homework and projects.

“Oh my…! There’s so much to do that we can’t investigate!” Elaine whined.

“I think it’s best to postpone the investigation as we tackle these truckloads of homework,” David said, in a thinking stance.

The rest of the group nodded except for Mayumi, and they headed home.

Two weeks passed, and the Investigation Club finally finished all their projects. They all returned to have a meeting in their classroom that afternoon.

“At least I found a reason to finish those projects,” Elaine proudly stated with her head held up high.

“It’s better to finish them now anyway,” Rick said somewhat in a timid manner.

“Shall we begin the meeting?” Mayumi asked the group.

They all nodded and proceeded with the meeting.

“We begin investigation this week. I suggest that Rick and Elaine should warn people not to lock things up at school. Who knows what would happen if a person disappeared,” David said, implying the fact that people must be more cautious.

Mayumi just nodded silently.

“Mayumi? What’s wrong?” Elaine asked.

“Hm? Nothing,” Mayumi replied, shaking her head.

“It’s better if we start investigating now. SWA is a huge academy, and it will take a long time if we don’t start looking now,” David said, he was now drawing a map of the school on the board.

When he was finished, he crossed out the areas that they had already checked.

It was then when Mayumi spoke once more, “I think that David, you should check the 1st Floor.”

As she said that, she encircled the map of the first floor.

“Elaine and I shall check this floor and the third floor,” she continued. “And Rick, you should check the auditorium and Wilson will check the canteen and other areas with you.”

As soon as the orders were said, each member saluted, saying, “Yes, ma’am!”

“Very well, let’s get the flashlights that we’ve stored in the janitor’s closet,” David said.

The whole group then walked out of the room and headed for the janitor’s closet. The janitor’s closet was a small two by two room that housed the brooms, mops, and cleaning equipment as well as some things secretly stored by the students there. They each took a flashlight and headed to look in their respective areas. It would be dark soon.

“Listen. I have one last order. If you happen to find where the things ended up, head to the main stairs, and wait for us. If you don’t see anything in your area, go to the stairs as well. Good luck and take care,” Mayumi said.

They all headed in their own directions, with their flashlights shining in the hallways.

“M-Mayumi?” Elaine asked as she held Mayumi’s arm tightly.

“I’m going to fall if you keep clutching my arm like that,” Mayumi said.

“But it’s dark and I’m scared,” Elaine whined like a little girl that was frightened by her surroundings.

Mayumi didn’t listen and told Elaine, “Wait here. I’ll check the 3rd Floor. You may continue checking this floor if you want.”

Then before Elaine could refuse, Mayumi left. Elaine could see the light ascending the stairs.

She just sat there on the cold floor, peering into the darkness.

“Now, now, Elaine, now’s not the time to be-,” she started telling herself but stopped when she felt a gust of wind hit her in the face.

“What was that?” she asked herself. Then she suddenly regretted not joining the club sooner for she had not a flashlight with her.

Then the wind came again. It caused her to shiver and crawl towards the wall but she couldn’t. She sat rooted on that spot with her hands on the suddenly frozen cold floor. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak nor shout. She was helpless, and she couldn’t do anything for herself. Finally, she was able to faint.

She woke up leaning on cold stone. She rubbed her eyes and found out that she was stuck in a random broom closet. Fearing intruders, she locked the door. Unfortunately, it was a very big mistake. Locked things disappear, right?

All of a sudden, she felt like she was being forcefully sucked into another dimension. She tried resisting but the force was too strong. She was pulled in by the force.

As for Mayumi, when she returned to the second floor, she couldn’t find Elaine. She thought that Elaine had left her and headed for the stairs already.

Since the school was an L-shaped one, there had to be a curve in the end before reaching the descending stairs. She sped past the corner but stopped when she saw that there was one door left ajar giving off an eerie feeling and shivers up your spine. It was a nightmare come true.

She slowly walked towards the eerie door but was suddenly pulled in by a mystic force. Then she felt as if something was trying to take over her. She tried resisting, but the force managed to control her. The last thing she remembered was hitting the cold tiled floor.

On David’s side, he headed up the stairs since he heard footsteps, a door opening, a small scream and a ‘thump’ sound. He entered the room that Mayumi previously entered and saw that she was there. She was looking at the wall with her back faced to him.

“Hey, Mayumi,” David said, tapping her on the shoulder.

She looked back at him, gave him a look that the normal Mayumi certainly did not give and hit him behind the neck which made him faint. Then she looked like she was trying to stop something she did not want to do.

“I-I am-m s-sorry,” she tried saying.

The force controlling her made her lock a door and then she fainted.

Only Rick and Wilson made it to the stairs. They were currently waiting at the stairs for the rest of the group.

“They haven’t come yet. What could take them so long?” the redhead questioned.

“Don’t you think it’s getting suspicious? They can’t take that long to check the rooms,” Rick said.

“I have to agree,” Wilson nodded in agreement.

Then Rick got up and said, “Let’s go find them.”

The duo got up and headed inside the building. They checked the first floor but found no one. It was the same on the second and third floor.

“They’re not here. Where could they be?” they asked each other.

They both returned to the second floor and checked the door where David and Mayumi were stuck in. They opened the door and found that no one was there. As they were searching the room, the door silently locked itself. Then the duo felt a strong wind around them and they had shivers going up their spines.

They went to get out but the door was locked and refused to unlock itself.

“We’re doomed!” Wilson exclaimed pessimistically.

It was true. They were then sucked into another dimension. Luckily, the five of them ended up in one place.

“Okay, so where are we?” Elaine asked. She was happy that the dimension was bright and cheery.

The others looked around and saw a huge pile of all the lost things.

“I think that we’re here,” David said in amazement.

“So how do we get those things and ourselves out of here?” Rick asked.

But a sudden booming laugh caused all of them to jump.

“BWOHOHO!” the laugh went. “DO NOT EVEN TRY ESCAPING MY WORLD!”

“Not funny,” Elaine told herself.

“Who said that?” Mayumi demanded.

All of a sudden, a ghost appeared. He was fat, and he had white wispy hair like an old person.

“Listen, we don’t like staying here, and those things you have here aren’t yours,” Elaine shouted courageously.

The ghost sat down on a random cloud floating by.

“But you have to stay,” the ghost stated simply, crossing his arms.

“But we won’t,” Mayumi replied, shooting the poltergeist a look that could kill him if he weren’t dead.

The ghost saw the look which frightened him greatly and said, “Alright, let’s have a deal. You can have all these items here and get out of here if you answer my questions.”

The group nodded to themselves in agreement.

“We’re on,” Wilson said.

“Okay, you are given three chances only. If you get three wrongs, you will all have to stay here! I will give five questions. Answer all correctly and you and these items are free,” the ghost explained.

“Alright, question number one. Apart from 'angry' and 'hungry', what other common English word ends in '-gry'?” the ghost asked.

“Hmm, that’s tricky,” David said.

Elaine and the rest were scratching their heads in confusion. They haven’t discussed that yet in English class so how are they able to know the answer? The probability of getting the answer correct was null unless someone took the opportunity to research or even read about it.

“There’s none,” Mayumi replied with confidence.

Wilson and Rick had their eyes wide open in shock upon realizing that Mayumi had actually given the right answer without getting a strike.

“Very good! Next question then. Are there any words that rhyme with orange or silver?” the ghost questioned.

“Derange rhymes with orange and salver rhymes with silver!” Elaine said excitedly.

“Wrong. Two chances left,” the ghost said, forming an ‘x’ with his hands.

The Investigation Club minus Mayumi was already trembling in fear and worry when Elaine received a wrong answer.

“There’s none,” Mayumi said once more.

In the background, Elaine, Wilson and Rick were applauding, knowing that Mayumi was going to save them.

“Right you are. Third Question now. What is the fear of Friday the 13th?” the ghost asked once more, staring at Elaine and David with his somewhat frightening bloodshot eyes.

“Trisdekaphobia?” Elaine asked unsurely.

“Wrong. One more chance,” the ghost said, forming an ‘x’ once more with his hands.

The Investigation club minus Mayumi, who was always calm and composed in situations like this, and David, who knew the right answer but Elaine had beat him to it, was once more trembling upon realizing that Elaine was one syllable short and she had ruined one of their chances of escaping alive.

“It’s triskaidekaphobia,” David replied.

“You’re good. Let’s move on to the fourth question. What is a contranym? Give an example of one,” the ghost stated while crossing his arms in pride as if he knew that he was going to beat them this time.

They thought for a while to save their only one chance.

“It’s a word with two opposite meanings. An example of that is cleave,” Rick told the ghost, staring at him in the eye.

The ghost’s eyes widened in surprise and then he replied, “That is correct. On to the last question. What word contains no letter more than once?”

The group was silent until Wilson stepped forward with confidence.

“That would be uncopyrightable,” Wilson said.

“Very good. You will now return to your world and all these things will return to where they disappeared,” the poltergeist said.

“Heh, thank you, Mr. Ghost!” Wilson joked.

Then the Investigation Club was transported back to their school, in their classroom.

It was like they were being caught in a whirlwind, the place where they were recently was like swirling around them really fast and they were being lifted off the ground but it felt as if their feet were still in contact with the ground. When the swirling grew slower, the place they were in became clearer and clearer until they could point out where they were exactly.

They were in their classroom and they were seated on their respective seats. It was somewhat suspicious that how they came from a standing position to a sitting position.

All was silent until Wilson took the initiative to speak.

“What happened? Is everything going to be alright now?” Wilson asked.

“I think so. Come, let’s go home,” Elaine said.

To their surprise, when they went outside, it was only 5pm and even the flashlights they thought they had gotten were in the janitor’s closet.

They were utterly bewildered. They just dismissed all thoughts and went home.

The next day…

“Huh? What’re you talking about? Lost items? You must’ve been dreaming,” Kiko said when Elaine told her about what happened yesterday.

“But it was true! It felt so real!” Elaine pouted.

“Are you sure?” Kiko inquired.

“Yes I am. Even Mayumi was there and Rick, Wilson and David!”

“Ok, sure. How many days do you think have passed when those things got lost and came back?” Kiko questioned.

“It was two weeks! The day when we recited our autobiographies!” Elaine wailed.

“Two weeks? Autobiographies?” Kiko queried with an odd look in her eyes.

“Nevermind, I think I was just dreaming,” Elaine said and walked away and headed for her seat and stayed there.

“So nothing disappeared. I really was dreaming,” Elaine told herself out loud.

Just then, Mayumi walked over to her.

“So, you ready for this afternoon?” she asked.

“For what?” Elaine questioned.

“You wanted to join the club right?” she asked.

“Oh yeah. Sure. I’ll come,” Elaine replied and with that, Mayumi walked away.

xEndx

Author’s Notes:

P: 11-25-07 First draft finished. Carlos helped with the plot. He also helped in character naming. whew I’m glad I finished it.

P: 12-09-07 Revision finished. Corrections added. More descriptions added. No plot changes. Commas added. whew Sort of easy since I just had to add commas. Word count reached 4,098.

P: 03-28-08 Published on Fiction Press.