He glared at us. George, and I glared right back. Lockwood, did the exact opposite, and practically radiated goodwill.
"What are you doing up here at this time of night?" He asked sternly.
"Oh just showing Lucy around." He said, and gestured at me, "We were doing it earlier, but then the bell rang, of course we have to make sure that she can get to her first classes tomorrow." Rotwell did not look convinced,
"Then why are you up here?" I stepped forward,
"I was curious sir," I said as pleasantly as I could manage, "I asked to see what was up here." He scowled,
"Come to my office, we'll work it out there." With that, he spun on his heel, and marched off. George, and I had to jog to keep up, Lockwood just had to walk a little faster. I still felt shaky, but more or less back to normal. I no longer heard any whispers, and maybe I imagined it, but the shadows seemed to part for Rotwell, letting him (and us) through.
He ushered us into a small room, not unlike Miss Fittes office. The main difference was the fact that it was not books the filled the shelves, but jars. I peered at one as I passed it, it had what looked like a knife in it. I sat down in a chair, and waited for Rotwell to settle himself opposite us.
"It's time to discuss punishment," He said, "you have a few options. You can have detention, clean the cafeteria, mop the gym, or do yard work. Any preferences?" Lockwood looked at us, and then shook his head.
"No, Sir."
"Now, Lockwood, Cubbins, you get an extra half hour of punishment, no matter what I give to you. Carlyle, since you're new, for now you're off the hook." I smirked slightly, and I think he saw it because then he said, "But don't let this happen again. After all, you wouldn't want to go back home would you?"
The smile slid off my face, and I shook my head. He looked at me for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose, and waved a hand.
"Dismissed, I'll send someone to tell you your punishment later." I stood up, and moved towards the door, feeling endlessly relieved. "Wait a moment, Carlyle." I halted, and turned back around.
"What as the name of the teacher? The one driving the bus?"
"Jacobs." I said. "Why?"
"No reason, good night."
"Good night, Sir."
The door shut behind me as I left. Lockwood, and George were waiting for me.
"What was that about?" The latter asked.
"Nothing. What do we do now?"
"Wait for our punishment." Lockwood said cheerily,
"I meant about the thing in the tower." I reminded him.
"Oh yes, let's discuss it tomorrow, I don't know about you, but I'm rather tired." He yawned, as if to prove his point. I didn't want to wait, I wanted to find out what happened now. But I was tired, so I agreed, if somewhat reluctantly.
"Good idea." George murmured. "I think I need to look into this tower room a little more." Lockwood nodded enthusiastically,
"Yes! And of course, we have to get lots of sleep for Lucy's first day tomorrow!" I was faintly surprised to realize he was right, it was my first full day here tomorrow. I had felt so at home with Lockwood, and George I forgotten.
"Oh. Yeah." I said grimly, "That'll be so much fun." Lockwood patted my shoulder,
"Oh buck up, it can't be that bad can it?"
It could, and I would soon find that out firsthand.
My first day of school started to the clanging of a bell. I rolled over in bed, and put the pillow over my ears. Eventually I forced myself out of bed, wincing when my feet hit the cold floor. I got dressed in one of seven identical uniforms, and brushed my hair, and teeth. On the way out I grabbed my blazer, and shoved my schedule into one of its pockets.
I figured breakfast was in the cafeteria, so I wandered around until I found the doors Kipps had led me to the previous night. I heard voices coming from inside, so I opened them. I had been correct in my assumption. I got in line, and received two pancakes from a stern looking woman with flyaway gray hair. At the end of the queue I snatched an orange, then tried to find Lockwood, and George.
They were sitting where they had been the evening before. George had two medium sized books at his elbow. I made my way over to them.
"Really?" Lockwood was saying, "I don't know, that seems a little far fetched. Oh, hi Luce!"
"Hi." I said, and sat down, "What are you talking about?" Lockwood took a bite of pancake, and gestured towards George, who set down his water.
"I was reading up on the tower." He said, and patted the books with a syrupy hand. "And I think the school is haunted." I rolled my eyes,
"Really." I said drily, "Haunted."
"Yes!" He cried emphatically, "Remember how we could barely see it? And how cold it was up there?" Now that I thought about it, it had been pretty cold. "Also the fingers, remember? The kid who died up there, Victor Chen, he was missing two fingers!" I remembered the fingers all right, he had a point there.
"Well…" I started, "What if the thing we saw wasn't a person? It could've been something else."
"Oh it was definitely a person." Said Lockwood, "He was practically glowing too. And remember the effect it had on you?" I thought back to the hopeless I had felt that night, and suppressed a shudder.
"I remember." I said, and started on my hotcakes.
"And how he jumped out the window, but there was nothing on the ground when we left." George continued, "I looked, no broken body, nothing."
"Okay." I said, "If possibly, hypothetically speaking, it was a ghost, what do we do about it?" George held up a chubby finger,
"I looked that up too!" He said, and pointed at the book underneath the heavier tome. "Iron. Or silver, lavender should work too."
"I still don't think it's a ghost." I said, "But if it is then what do we do about it? Whatever it was, it was obviously dangerous."
"Well we have to get rid of it of course!" Lockwood cried, and downed the last of his breakfast. "You better eat that orange soon, Lucy, the bell's going to ring any second." True to his word, the Bell rang, and the room began to empty. I shoved the orange into my pocket, and stood up. We threw our trash away, and left the cafeteria. George was lugging the books around, and had to adjust them them every thirty seconds. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had homeroom with them, so I just followed them. They past a drafty hallway into an old classroom. It looked like your typical classroom, desks, front whiteboard, windows. Lockwood told me where to sit, then sat down next to me. George sat on his other side.
A few minutes later a teacher walked in. He stood at the front of the room and took role. When my name was called there was an awkward moment when everybody looked at me with no small amount of confusion. I put on a bored face, and said 'here' as sullenly as possible. The teacher introduced himself as Mr. Barnes, and began talking about some school event next week.
His speech was interrupted by the bell. I gathered my stuff, and waited for the others. Lockwood, was done first, he waited for George with me,
"I have science next, it's the other way." He explained, "I'll see you at lunch!" and then he was off, striding down the corridor with confidence I only wished I had.
I wandered down the hall, while waiting for George. I ended up next to the drafty door we had passed to get to homeroom. I opened it, and peeked inside.
It was a small broom closet, bland, and unnoticeable. It was lined with shelves, and there was a broom propped up in one corner. Before I got a good look George announced his presence by stomping down the hall like bigfoot come to life. I shut the door, and went up to him.
"So," I said, "you really think this school is haunted?" He frowned,
"You know, I'm not sure. Everything I've read matches up, I was up til two last night researching, and visitors were the only thing that fit the description. I think we should conduct an experiment to find out whether I'm right, or not."
"Visitor? And what kind of experiment?"
"Visitor is another word for ghost. I think we should go back up to the tower room, but with something iron, or silver on us, and see if we experience the same phenomenon."
"Reasonable." I agreed, "Now where in the world are we?"
