Thank you so far for the encouraging reviews. The next few chapters will mainly focus on Alice, Bella and the ghosts, so I have changed the two main characters until the rest of the 'Cullen's' are introduced. I hope the way I am writing isn't confusing anyone, there are several things that I have to keep to myself so that the mystery isn't solved too soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review.
At the moment my favorite song is Say Goodnight by Bullet For My Valentine. It also fits perfectly for this chapter, a modern song for Hayden to Ava.
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My mind tells my feet where to go, but if they didn't Alice would know. Once again I wonder how she knows so much; are there other things that I have been doing all wrong? All that I know is instinct, like an invisible handbook of right and wrong. I know that once as spirit or a ghost asks for help you never refuse them, that it is the most important rule. Helping a spirit or a ghost usually involves doing a little research, like finding out what happened to one of their relatives, for example. Then when they feel satisfied with what they left behind all I have to do is touch them and close my eyes. I think back to all the wandering souls that used to roam the ancient halls of The Allison Kendrick School for girls, was there something more I could have done for them?
"Bella look!", Alice's says in a excited voice but she keeps her voice low out of respect.
We are outside of the classroom with the greenhouse that leads into the garden, the small crowd assembled outside parts for us when they notice that we are here. If there were any doubts from anyone in the school that Alice befriended me by accident, they are gone. She made sure that everyone knows that we are a team now and I know that it's only a matter of time before the walls that I had up are broken down to let her friendship in. We reach the doorway to the greenhouse and step inside.
"This is the work of a stage two spirit at least. Do you think she was angry?", Alice whispers as she looks around in awe.
I sift my left hand through the smooth dark ashes that cover almost every surface, "Notice how everything else in intact? The wooden benches and the metal watering cans? Even the glass is untouched".
She nods, "Extreme heat was definitely used by the looks of the ashes, but it's strange that nothing else was destroyed, only the flowers and plants. She can't have this much control over her supernatural abilities yet, it's not possible", she says as more of a statement. We both knew that something awaited us, coming here, but not something quite like this. This is just the start of other, more ominous acts for reasons that we do not know yet. It's obvious that she is not violent, or attention seeking though. The dreary light coming through the glass gives the room a sick, grey light.
"This wasn't done because she wanted it to be seen, like one of Edmund's pranks, it's a Sunday morning", I point out.
"I agree, whatever reason she had, it has to do strictly with why she has come back".
I go over to the far side of the room when a patch of color catches my eye. I kneel down and pick up a single red rose, partially buried in the ashes that cover the floor, "Then I think this had to be an act of...sadness".
Alice nods and turns to me, "I don't think Ms. Felch will agree that she means no harm though. What are we going to do?".
"Wait until she officially asks us for help, that's all we can do". And although we know she needs help we are bound by invisible ties, not to directly interfere unless she tells us we can.
When we turn to leave, there someone is blocking the doorway.
"Oh Ava...What have you done?".
It's Hayden. Even I have rarely been close enough to speak to him; everything that I know about him has been relayed to me by Edmund or Chris. He rarely ever makes himself visible, and when he does he never notices who is around him; he has always been here but he has always been in the background. He suddenly makes eye contact with me and I freeze; a dozen emotions swirl around my mind: including guilt, anger, remorse, and bitterness. The most crippling emotion is the agony though, and I know that whatever happened to Hayden was truly horrifying.
He continues to look at me intently and I feel I need to say something even though the pain I am experiencing from him is almost overwhelming, "My name is Isabella. This is Alice. We are Mediums".
He however, doesn't say anything and I get the strange sensation that he can't believe what he is seeing. When he finally breaks the silence his face lights up with a small smile and I am struck by how handsome he must have been in life, with his dark blond hair, blue eyes and fit figure, "Forgive me Isabella, you just remind me of someone. Her beauty will always be timeless but you look very similar to her".
"Do you mean Ava?", Alice gratefully speaks up.
"Yes", he nods sadly and the small smile from before fades away, "I can feel that she is here but I cannot reach her". His focus changes and the pain I feel slowly ebbs away. I lean on a nearby work bench for support.
"You mean like a barrier?, she says again, "She cannot come near you and you cannot go close to her?". His focus does not seem to effect her.
He doesn't reply right way, "Yes. I almost wish things were as they were before, it's torture having her so close but so far".
"Do you want us to help? Is there something you want us to find out for you?", I venture to say.
His focus returns to me but this time the dull look in his eyes is replaced with fiery anger, "No. I already know everything I need to know and it cannot and never will be set right", his voice takes on a second edge near the end and Alice and I automatically take a step back, out of respect.
"That may be the case but we think Ava came back for a reason, perhaps she came back to help you move on?", Alice says calmly but is met with a reaction that is anything but calm.
"Stay away from her! Stay away from Ava! If you value your lives you will not mettle in this matter!", then he suddenly disappears, leaving a feeling of menace hanging in the air.
"If only we could bring them together, then Ava could speak to him", I say.
"You heard his warning, but if Ava asks us we are bound to help and he won't like that", Alice says uneasily.
"I don't see a way out of that, so for now we will just wait to see what Ava decides".
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Late that night it occurs to Alice and I that we weren't exactly forbidden to speak to Edmund, and since Chris hasn't made an another appearance this seems like the only chance we have to find out any bit of information we can.
"Is there a specific place where we can find him?", she asks me.
"The closed east wing of the school has always been were I find him. If he appears though we have to be prepared for the other two, and I don't think Hayden will be very happy".
"True, but it's a risk I think we need to take. Do you have a key?".
"Yes", I jump off my bed, lift up the edge of my area rug and slip my finger under a groove in the closest floorboard to the edge, when I have my secret compartment open she comes over.
"That's so cool, I wish I had one of those in my room", she laughs. Because of her late registration she was only able to get one of the shared rooms, and those ones have been renovated so something like this would probably not be accessible.
I laugh with her, "It comes in handy when they do monthly room checks. If you have anything that they would confiscate you can put it in here, it will be safe".
"I think I will take you up on that offer. There is a reason why this is my fourth boarding school", she laughs sweetly and I can't imagine what trouble she could have gotten into.
I take out the ancient east wing key and two flashlights. Midnight stares at me from her window seat as intently as Hayden did this morning and it unnerves me. She must know I am going on another one of my late night trips, this time to the forbidden part of the school.
I go over and stroke her, "Everything will be alright Midnight, it's not like I am alone this time", she purrs and seems content with that.
"Your so lucky you get to have a cat", she says whistfully,"I don't think my roommate would like it very much if I got one".
"You don't have one at home?".
"No. My brother is at college and my Dad works a lot, so she would be pretty lonely".
"Well Midnight won't mind the extra love", I say as I toss her one of the flashlights and she laughs, "I think it's late enough, hopefully Edmund will be able to give is some real answers"
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