Five

I stared ahead of me, my eyes fixated on the silhouette of a woman—well, not so much of a
silhouette as a ghost. She was just standing there, every few seconds shifting ever so slightly to
let me know she was very much real. I turned around, gripping for the door handle, but the door
just wouldn’t open.

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, jerking when I felt the tips of her fingers on my shoulder. “Get
away from me! Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?”

She continued to look at me without responding, so I ran forward at her, trying to grab at her
hair, her clothes, her arm, anything, but my hands went directly through her and slammed into
the shelves. I recoiled, feeling blood running down my knuckles, and sank down on the floor,
broken.

I heard the patter of footsteps walking on the booth floor and tried to scramble away from her,
but her fingers dug into my shoulder, pushing me down on the floor. “Stay,” she hissed.

“How come you can touch me? Please, just leave me alone,” I mumbled. “Please.” Her
breathing was raspy as she sat by my side, and each time I tried to push myself off the floor, her
fingers once again forced my back down.

“Raveena, are you in there?” Kendall’s voice came in from outside the door, a sweet relief. She
seemed to be waiting outside, and before I could tell her to come in, she asked me to open the
door. “I’ve been painting, so my hands are kind of dirty, so I’ll use the sink in the booth before
checking out the equipment, but the sink downstairs was occupied.”

Every one of her sentences seemed to warrant an extra explanation on her part, but I ignored it
and called out, “Yeah, I’m in here. I’m coming.” This time, when I got up to open the door, the
ghost woman didn’t push me back down. “The spotlight doesn’t seem to be moving. I don’t know
if there’s some sort of lock, but it won’t move. Also, the buttons were going off erratically earlier.”
Kendall walked in with her hands and sweatshirt covered with splatters of green paint.

“Oh, that’s happened before. Last year, when I was doing my first few tech rounds, my mentor
was telling me about the lack of funding that goes in here. Granted, our spotlight booth is
extremely functional in comparison to that of other schools, but it’s also getting old, so the lights
and gears don’t always work too well. The buttons still work, though. It’s just the lights under
them. And, well, I’ll just show you how to fix the spotlight.”

She walked over and fiddled with some of the parts of the spotlight before she pushed it. “See,
it’s back to normal.”

I laughed a little and said, “Thank you. Sorry for the false alarm, I suppose.”

Kendall smiled, and then the smile faltered as she asked, “Hey, are you okay? You look kind of
nervous or upset. I know we’ve only known each other for, like, thirty minutes, but you don’t look
like you did earlier.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “Don’t worry about me.”

She gasped, looking at my hand. “Raveena! Your knuckles are bleeding!”

“Oh, I just dropped something on my hand.” I grabbed a bandage from the first-aid kit in the
room and plastered it over my knuckles, exaggerating the motions for Kendall.

Kendall pushed a curl behind her ear before shaking her head and muttering, “You should really
go to the nurse’s office to get that checked out.” I gasped as the ghost woman appeared behind
Kendall, a hand running over Kendall’s head. “What?” Kendall asked, looking behind her.

The ghost woman smiled, taunting me, and I stuttered, “N-nothing. I just thought I saw
something. Go back to painting the drawer or whatever it was. I’m fine.”

She headed out the door, bouncing on each step, and I turned back to the woman. She had a
smile on her face that seemed to taunt me. Wary of whatever it was between us, I took a
tentative step forward and whispered, “Don’t hurt me,” and then another step, and another, and
another. By then, I was in front of the glass window and looked down to see Bailey still doing her
audition.

She was singing her final audition song, one that I had heard many nights in a row playing
quietly from her phone speaker as she listened to the words, the notes, the rhythm. I began to
hum along with the song, knowing the melody by heart, in an attempt to calm myself down. I
flinched as I heard a hoarse buzz from beside me. The ghost woman was humming along, too.

Even after I stopped humming, the woman continued, her eyes now fixated on Bailey’s figure on
the stage. When I headed towards the door of the booth, she no longer barred me from exiting
but stepped to the side. Despite the paleness of her silhouette, I could tell she was smirking.

“What’s your name?” I asked, hoping to break through to her in some way. When she looked at
me with a bit of confusion, I repeated, “What’s your name? What do people call you?”

She opened her mouth as if she were trying to say something, but nothing came out. When she
closed it and opened it again, the same process was repeated, and I frowned, torn between
curiosity and caution. “I can’t hear you.” She scowled at my response and took two intimidating
strides towards me. I took a step away as she loomed over me. I tried to speak gently, not
wanting to provoke her any further, “I’m sorry. We can try again later, okay?”

By the time I looked back at the stage, Bailey was gone, and this time, a boy was out to do his
audition. It seemed like nearly an hour before auditions were over. The entire time, I was able to
see tech people moving items, painting props, and maneuvering the levers at the side of the
stage. The ghost woman seemed to flicker out of existence for a while, but I could feel her
presence around me. Cold drafts of wind tugged at my hair, and there was the slight, almost
noiseless patter of dainty footsteps. I tried to ignore them to the best of my ability and focus on
the auditions as I silently prayed for her to go away.

Finally, once singing auditions stopped, the entire group of people came out and started
demonstrating dances, this time in the entire group rather than separately. Knowing what school
plays were like, I had expected at least a few horrid performers, but Corvus truly was a school of
the arts; each and every performer gave their all, from songs to dances to monologues. In a
way, it made me proud to wear my Corvus sweatshirt.

By the end of the dance, I was no longer shaking from my fear of the ghost woman, but I still
remained alert for any sign of her silhouette.

My phone chimed, and I pulled it out of my back pocket, looking at the notification.

Kendall: Come down, auditions are over and Alex wants to have a tech discussion. Don’t worry,
you’re not late, I just know it’s coming.

Raveena: Got it.

I headed for the door, trying to sneak out before she noticed me when the faded outline of the
woman appeared again. The moment my hand touched the door, she turned and came after
me, her steps looking more like a semblance of a glide. I waited for her, seeing if she would pull
me back or throw me down, do something to stop me from leaving the booth, but all she did was
wait for me to crack the door open.

As soon as I stepped outside, I started a brisk walk down the carpeted ramp, hoping to outrun
the ghost woman. She didn’t try to keep up with me but lingered a few feet away. She was a
dark speck in the corner of my eye that always vanished when I turned to examine her closely.

I headed backstage to meet with Alexander, Kendall, and the rest of the tech crew, extremely
conscious of her heavy breathing by my ear. I could only make out small features of hers, but
despite her constant presence, no one else seemed to notice her. Why can’t they see her? Why
can’t they know what’s happening? Why me?

My stream of questions was interrupted by Alexander walking into the room, his white-blonde
hair streaked messily across his forehead, a few streaks covered in red paint. As we were still
waiting on two more group members, he was waiting patiently and having a quiet conversation
with Kendall. When the final two members came, apologizing for their tardiness, he turned to the
group to begin speaking.

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat before continuing, “Thank you all for coming today. The tech crew
is immensely crucial to the production of the musical, so without all of you, the musical will not
be able to go on.

“That being said, while today we were focused on specific jobs that you will be doing during the
musical, there is something else we have to do: props. At our next tech meeting, we will be
working on picking out the right props for the time periods presented in the musical, arranging
them in groups for organizational purposes when it comes to which acts and scenes they are
needed in, and painting props. The last is the most crucial, so please come in proper clothing.

“Oh, one last thing. We will be receiving our tech sweatshirts at some point in the next few
weeks. I’ll send you all an email with an order form link so you can pick your size and color. You
are all excused. Thank you for joining the tech team!”
After Alexander’s final words, Kendall came over to me, seeming to be waiting for me to go to
dinner. “Hey, can we wait for my friend? She was auditioning and said she would meet me here
so that we could go to dinner together.”

“Sure,” said Kendall with a grin. “So, what are your impressions of doing spotlight?”

Repressing the nagging thought that perhaps the booth was what brought the ghost woman to
me, I responded, “It’s fun. It feels like I have complete control of the stage, like I’m the most
important person there.”

Kendall laughed, nodding along. “I had that same feeling my first time. It’s almost like a
mini-high.” She looked behind me, her eyebrows furrowing momentarily before asking, “Is that
the friend you were looking for?”

I turned around, and sure enough, Bailey was standing there. She gave me a hug and
immediately began talking.

“First things first, Luci said she would meet us at the cafeteria. Oh-” she turned around and gave
one of her friends a hug, saying, “See you tomorrow, Paris!” Paris’ hair was a dirty blonde, and
her hair accompanied by her hazel eyes gave her a very glamorous look. Paris returned Bailey’s
hug before going the opposite direction to pick up her bag.

“Anyway, back to Luci,” Bailey said. “I think she’s talking with one of the other cast
members—not that we know who will be picked, but we have a pretty good idea. Anyway, I was
thinking that we should go for a girls’ day out over the weekend, seeing as we have a mini-break
coming up.”

“Sure, but I told Oliver I would do something with him, too. Not quite sure what, but I’m sure it’ll
be an adventure.”

Bailey rolled her eyes mockingly before looking at Kendall and exclaiming, “I am so sorry. I
didn’t even notice you were there. Sometimes I get a little caught up in my own words.” Kendall
gave a small scoff.

I introduced her with a slight smile, “Kendall, this is Bailey Ellis, my roommate and friend. Bailey,
this is Kendall, one of the tech people.”

While Bailey’s facial expression didn’t give anything away other than a smile that wasn’t quite
friendly, Kendall’s face told an entirely different story. “Hello, Bailey.”

“Kendall,” Bailey responded equally coldly.

“Do you two know each other? Is there something I’m missing out on here?” I asked in
confusion.

Kendall’s response was immediate when she said, “Sort of. Same middle school, just a year
apart.” Bailey acknowledged this with a simple “yep.”
Christ, it’s getting awkward in here, I thought. In an attempt to restore the previous mood, I
asked Bailey how her audition went, and she launched into a long explanation of how it went.
“First, I had the singing portion of the audition. You saw that.”

“Next was my monologue, which wasn’t on the big stage. We had to pick from a famous play, so
I chose ‘Space is Nicer than Here’ from ‘Dreams in Captivity.’” She gave a short excerpt from
the monologue, and I noticed that this was the quietest Kendall had been all day. Her eyes when
looking at Bailey weren’t exactly mean, but they certainly conveyed a shared history. “Finally,
the dance. That was fun. I should teach you and Maeve the first dance because it was simple
and super catchy. Anyway, how was tech?”

I cleared my throat and looked at Kendall, prompting her to answer, but she shrugged. I sighed,
“It was pretty fun, other than, um, injuring my hand.” I motioned to the bandage, and Bailey’s
eyes went wide. “Anyway, there wasn’t that much,-”

“What about me?” the woman suddenly hissed in my ear.

I forced myself not to scream and continued shakily as I tried to keep a tremor out of my voice,
“-but I feel like I’m going to like tech.” Kendall showed her first smile since Bailey’s arrival, and
within a few seconds, we were at the door to the cafeteria.

Kendall waved to me, saying, “I’m going to go off to my friends, but I’ll see you tomorrow,
Raveena. Bailey, it was… nice to see you.” She headed off to a table, and I recognized one of
the girls from my math class. Before I could examine the table further, Bailey grabbed my hand
and dragged me to our table. The ghost woman was gone.

“So,” I asked with a glance towards Bailey , “What’s the deal with you and Kendall? I know you
said you went to the same middle school, but there’s got to be something that I’m missing.
There’s no way you two have that much tension from being a year apart.”

Bailey looked at me in a surprised manner, and even I found myself wondering who I was,
asking for gossip.

She cleared her throat, seeming to think about her words, before responding, “Let’s just say we
were never friends and I don’t think there’s much hope for us ever becoming friends. Different
people, different behaviors.” I frowned but nodded, accepting the measly answer.

Luci sat down beside Bailey and began talking about the musical, so I turned to Oliver, not
particularly eager to tell him what had been happening to me. Luckily, he immediately stole the
conversation and started talking about Callahan’s class. “I’m starting to think that we should
investigate more into Callahan,” he whispered. “Even though I don’t know who to trust, he
seems like he could know information. The more we dig, the more we understand.”

“Oliver!”

“What?” he responded, exasperated. “It’s simple; we just have to get close enough for him to
spill his knowledge.”
I put my head down on the table and muttered, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” When I
looked up, he was staring out into the distance, his eyes seemingly focused on nothing in
particular. The only things there were trees, birds, and a few students hanging out.

“Raveena?” he asked, his voice small. “I need you to come with me to an event one of my
roommates is hosting. Not roommate, dormmate. I think there’s more to the ghosts than we ever
imagined, and there are a lot more people involved that we realized. If our writing teacher of all
people knows about stuff—and maybe even our math teacher—who knows how many others
students and staff know?”

I sighed and rested my head in my hands. I was so tired of everything happening and just
wanted a normal high school life, from going to the mall with friends on the weekend to
spending endless amounts of time studying in the library. I sure as hell didn’t want to spend my
time studying ghosts.

“Hey, are you going to come?”

“Sure. Whatever.”

He seemed to think for a moment before correcting himself, “Actually, never mind. I just realized
that I value my health, safety, and social standing with the school more than I value a sketchy
guy’s information.” He continued to talk, but I zoned out, not paying attention to anything he was
saying.

I turned to see Bailey talking animatedly to Paris. It occurred to me that, other than seeing her
after rehearsal, I had seen her talking with Bailey after their drama class quite a few times. She
only ever seemed to be interested in talking to Bailey, though. The two were talking cheerfully
about an upcoming school dance or social (with the conversation occasionally veering towards
the highly anticipated end-of-year dance, which wouldn’t be for several months), but when Paris
gave a side glance to us, asking us if we were going, her voice was bored.

Maeve and Luci gave noncommittal answers, and I told her I didn’t have enough time. She
rolled her eyes and muttered, “Of course you don’t have enough time. Don’t you focus on
anything other than grades?” I scoffed but made no retort, simply turning back to the group to
finish my dinner. I had just remembered that I was set to have a call with Mom later.

When Paris left, Bailey turned to me and said, “I’m so sorry, Raveena. That was so mean of
her.”

“It’s fine, Bailey. It doesn’t matter. I’m off to call Mom.” I picked up my tray and gave the group a
nod before heading off.

Since I’d left dinner early, the dorm was empty when I reached. I placed my bag near the foot of
my bed and fell onto the mattress with a sigh of relief. I simply lay there on the blissfully soft
covers for a while in peace before I remembered what I came here for. I rolled over and took my
phone off the bedside table, dialing her number and waiting as it rang.

“Raveena?”
I smiled at hearing her voice and replied, “Hi Mom. Are you free to talk right now?”

“Of course. Is school going well? I hope you’re doing well in your classes.”

I sighed in exasperation, “Yes, Mom, I’m absolutely slaving away here.”

She chuckled and continued with a gentler tone, “And what about you? How do you like it at
Corvus?”

Corvus. My feelings about this school could not be more muddled. There were the eerie
occurrences and the mystery of the ghost woman, but there were also the new friendships I’d
formed here. I smiled at the thought of Bailey, Maeve, and Oliver. The writing classes were also
a unique experience that I couldn’t have gotten elsewhere. At least, not with the same level of
expertise that Mr. Callahan offered.

Instead of all this, I gave a half-smile before realizing she couldn’t see it on the other side of the
phone. “It’s great. I’m still a little homesick, but I’ve made some good friends here.”

As she spoke, I could almost see her raising an eyebrow. “Oh? I’d love to meet them.”

I had to stifle a laugh at the thought of Oliver having to face my mother. She certainly wouldn’t
be as charmed by Oliver’s antics as everyone else. I’m sure she would love Maeve, though.

She added, “To be perfectly honest, the school felt a little disquieting when I dropped you off.”

I pursed my lips as I asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well Raveena, architecturally, it looked like a Victorian boarding school where a girl probably
died in a tragic accident centuries ago and still haunts its halls.”

I forced a laugh and tried not to think about how close she probably was to the truth. The
memory of the ghost woman digging her nails into my skin flashed in my mind and I winced. My
phone pinged as the screen lit up and a notification popped up: Writing class in five minutes.

I frowned at having to cut my call short and said, “I’m sorry—I think I have to get to writing class
now. Could I call you later?”

She responded quickly, “Sure, don’t be late. Eat and sleep on time. Stay safe. Don’t
procrastinate…”

I questioned amusedly, “Any other reminders?”

She laughed and added, “Of course, I love you.”

I grinned as I replied, “I love you too. Bye.”

“Bye, Raveena.”

I ended the call with a click and swung my bag over my shoulder as I hurried to writing class.
Six
I heard a crinkle as I flipped to the next page of the science textbook, humming quietly to a song
that had been stuck in my head nearly all day. Each time I looked up to get a better view of what
was happening around me, I noticed the trees with browning leaves in the background, most
surrounded by groups of friends hanging out. This time, I saw a girl and a boy throwing around a
ball. I sighed, pettily thinking about how so many others were having a fun day while I was stuck
studying for a science test, of all things.

Abruptly, the ghost woman popped up, and I bit back a yell. Despite the number of times she
had appeared out of nowhere recently, I still couldn’t stop the chills that ran through me every
single time. “Please go,” I whispered. As if she’s going to leave just because you ask her to, I
thought.

My bag strap tugged on my chair, and I thought it was the woman, but instead, someone sat
down next to me. I saw Oliver there with Maeve, and when I looked back at the woman, she
wasn’t there anymore. “Can we sit here?” asked Maeve, and I rolled my eyes while making a
grand gesture of welcome to the two of them.

I asked Maeve, “Where’s Bailey?”

Maeve thought for a moment, pulling her hair back and showing off the embroidered school logo
on her uniform cardigan. Finally, she responded, “She’s probably practicing lines with Paris. Not
for the musical, but for some other assignment she has.” I nodded and turned to Oliver, who
seemed to be busy fiddling around with something inside his bag.

“You okay?” I enquired, only receiving a nod for an answer. I put a hand to my face and exhaled
deeply, muttering, “Well, back to work.” I felt a clap on my shoulders and saw Maeve standing
behind me as she announced she was off to find a book. A second clap on my shoulder, this
one more painful as the nails dug into my skin, revealed the woman for a second more before
she disappeared again.

I picked up my pencil and began writing down notes again.

Oliver seemed to be contemplating something as his eyebrows furrowed. After a few seconds,
he said, “Ms. Lennox was talking to me after class again, and—don’t worry, it’s not about my
grade this time—she mentioned something along the lines of, ‘Be careful where you go.
Consequences will follow your actions.’ And if that weren’t strange enough, she has a novel
about Corvus’ history just lying on her desk! What should we do?”

I finished my current thought in my notebook before giving him an exasperated look. “Oliver,
Can we please just stop for now? I’m not in the mood to discuss whatever weird conspiracy you
have going on.” I thought about the ghost woman before adding, “It’s already been a bad day.”

He mumbled, “Later, then,” and sat down across from me, taking out our English book. Maeve
came back quickly, taking her seat next to me quietly.
—

The door to my room was shut as Bailey, Maeve, and I lay on our respective beds, trying to rest
after a long day. While Bailey was listening to music, Maeve was reading, and I took out my
phone, my brain suddenly focused on Oliver’s comments about Lennox earlier. He had no
evidence against her, seeing as everything she said could be taken in another way, but just that
was enough to bring doubt to me. No, I can’t doubt her. She’s one of the best teachers.

I went to the school website and began scrolling through names, trying to find Ms. Lennox’s. My
thumb hovered over her name for a few seconds before I pressed down.

The screen that popped up next was covered in aesthetically pleasing flowers, which seemed
like something Ms. Lennox would choose to decorate her website. I erased the details from my
mind and read the paragraph in front of me.

Emilia Lennox is a mathematics teacher at the Corvus Institution of the Arts, and she has been
teaching at the school for nearly ten years. Having grown up near the school, she always knew
that she was going to attend it, but she followed the paths of her ancestors by teaching there as
well. Some notable ancestors of hers include Maci Hodgekins and Robert Fernandez, both of
whom helped cound Corvus. She currently works as a teacher of mathematics but has worked
in science, language, and history in previous years.

Ancestors at Corvus? I hated that the thought crossed my mind, but it occurred to me that
perhaps she knew about the ghosts because she was related to them. I pushed all thoughts of
my mind, wanting to cleanse her of any suspicion. She wasn’t a daughter of ghosts. What she
was was a good math teacher.

I was brought out of my musing as I felt a sharp sting on my cheek and instinctively put my hand
to my face, feeling the slightest graze of a butterfly wing on my hand. “Jesus,” I muttered.
“These things might be pretty, but they’re so annoying.”

Bailey looked up from her bed, taking out an earbud and asking, “What did you say?”

I shook my head and responded, “Nothing. I just saw one of the black and gold butterflies, and
I’m pretty sure it bit me, but it doesn’t hurt.”

Bailey’s eyes immediately widened, and she said in a panicked voice, “It bit you?” I nodded, and
she whispered, “Oh no, oh no, oh no.” Suddenly fearful, I asked her what was wrong, but she
refused to say anymore and instead muttered, “I have to go. I, uh, I don’t feel too well.”

As soon as she left the room, I muttered, “Afraid of butterflies? That’s new.”

I plugged my phone in and lay down on my pillow, taking a deep breath in and then releasing it.
The day was finally almost over, and at least most of my work was finished. As I started to drift
off to sleep, I may have been imagining it, but I could have sworn that I felt my mattress sink
lower and heard the ghostly breath of the woman by me.

—
When I woke up, the sun was not yet shining in the sky, and the clock read 5:49 AM. Jesus, I
thought, climbing out of bed as carefully as I could as to not wake Maeve and Bailey up. My
arms ached as I pushed my hair back into a rough ponytail, but I paid little attention and instead
went to take a quick shower. As soon as the water began to run, I looked down at my bare arms
and let out a yelp.

My wrists were covered in bruises, and the closer I examined them, the more it seemed like they
were in the shape of… fingers? I wrapped one hand around the other wrist, and sure enough,
my fingers, although larger than those that formed the bruises, made the same shape.

Hearing a growl from behind me, I jumped and backed up, hitting my head on the wall, but saw
no one. Despite the lack of appearance, I could sense that the woman was in here with me. The
entire time I showered, I kept my eyes open, scared that closing them would result in something
terrible happening.

“Oh no,” I whispered as I dried myself. “How am I going to make sure no one sees these?” The
bruises stood out on my skin, giving a red and purple tint to my wrist. Not only were they
noticeable but my uniform cardigan’s sleeves wouldn’t be nearly long enough to cover them.

One of these days, my teachers or classmates would be concerned for my wellbeing,

considering my new markings and the fact that my knuckles were still scraped from my first
encounter with the woman.

As there was still quite some time before breakfast, I took my phone and decided to go out for a
run. By the end, I was so tired that I sank down to the ground, resting my head in my hands.
The throbbing pain reminded me of my arms, and I tried to hold back tears of frustration and
anxiety. “What do you want from me?” I called out as I sat down by a tree. “You never tell me
anything, but you insist on tormenting me. What do I need to do to make it stop?” My voice,
though shaky, was loud, but the woman did not appear.

Once the sun was up, I headed to the cafeteria for breakfast, careful to hide my bruises as I met
up with Bailey and Maeve. Hands behind my back, I obscured my wrists from them, keeping up
the ruse until long after they had left the cafeteria.

The day passed smoothly, and my arms remained hidden behind my back or crossed in front of
my chest whenever anyone came over to me. My wrists ached, begging to be treated or at least
held in normal positions, but I couldn’t afford whatever suspicion would arise if anyone saw.
Even Oliver.

Even though I expected him of all people to realize something was wrong, he seemed to be
enveloped in his thoughts the entire day. In math, he didn’t raise his hand to ask any questions,
though I was positive he was having a difficult time understanding the new concepts, but each
time I asked him if something was wrong, he told me he was fine.

We spent the afternoon in the library, studying for the biology test coming up the following
Monday. The library was a rather peaceful place compared to the rest of campus on a Saturday
afternoon. The only sounds in the huge room were the soft flutter of pages and occasional
shuffle of feet as people moved around. Unfortunately, it was oddly soothing, and I soon found
my eyes sliding across the words without taking in their meaning. After attempting to read the
same page multiple times, I heaved a sigh of defeat and closed the book with a louder thud than
expected. Some of the nearby patrons looked up in my direction, and I flushed in
embarrassment.

Oliver glanced at me then chuckled, “Having some trouble focusing?”

I groaned as I looked at him, “Sadly, yes. This environment is a little too calm for me.”

He shook his head to himself but then handed me the book, “Okay, why don’t you quiz me for a
while then?”

I shrugged as I flipped the book open to the chapter we would be quizzed on, “Sure.”

I quietly dictated the questions, which he swiftly wrote down the answers of in an elegantly tall
but thin handwriting. I set the book down on the table after I read out the tenth and final
question. He tapped his pencil on the table in thought as his eyes narrowed in concentration.
Within a minute, the answer seemed to strike him as his face lit up with understanding and he
started writing again. He took a few minutes to review his answers before handing the “test”
back to me. I consulted the textbook and checked his answers as he waited with growing
restlessness. He softly drummed his fingers on the table as his gaze darted around the library. It
took me ten minutes to check his answers, which were mostly correct but riddled with careless
mistakes. I frowned as I circled spelling errors and corrected the definitions.

He winced at my expression and said, “I was having a little trouble actually retaining the
information I was reading.”

I turned and looked back at him as I questioned, “Then why would you ask me to test you?”

He gestured to my closed book as he replied in a serious tone, “Well, you were clearly on the
verge of falling asleep, and I didn’t want to be kicked out of the library because of you drooling
on these undoubtedly priceless tables.” I was not impressed by his answer and gently whacked
his shoulder with my heavy biology textbook. “Geez Raveena, no need to get violent about it.”

I rolled my eyes then knitted my brows as I realized the cheeky look had been wiped off his face
and he was staring at something near the entrance of the library. Ms. Lennox had signed in at
the front desk and was warmly chatting with the librarian. I turned back to Oliver to ask what was
wrong and was surprised to see him hastily cramming his study materials back into his bag.

“Where are you going in a hurry?”

He mumbled as he swung the bag onto his shoulders, “Some of the guys texted that they
needed me for something. You should keep studying.”

Before I could follow-up with any questions, he had started walking away from me and out of the
library. I watched him leave with troubled thoughts. What did he know about Ms. Lennox that
made him so spooked at the mere sight of her?
I glanced down at my watch. It was 5:47 PM. Maybe, in a way, Oliver rushing away was a good
thing, considering that I was supposed to meet Adrian to work on our writing project at six. His
weird behavior had left me on edge, and all traces of sleepiness had left me by the time Adrian
entered the library with perfect punctuality. I waved at him after he signed in to catch his
attention, and he spotted me. Within a few moments, he’d made his way across the library and
slid into a seat next to me.

He grinned and crossed his arms as he asked, “So, how’s your day been going so far,
Raveena?”

I paused before I responded, “Honestly? It’s been quite strange.”

“How so?”

I shrugged helplessly, “Nothing I can really put my finger on… Some people have just been
acting weird today. Enough about me, though. How was your day?”

He brought out his notebook and a pen as he spoke, “Oh, the usual. Just catching up on
homework. So, how do you think we should start?”

I fell into thought as I brought out my own materials. Callahan had assigned us a project where
we would have to devise a plot for a short film and actually carry it out with the help of the
drama students and a short course on filmmaking. We were to be introduced to our drama class
partners in the next class, but for now, he’d told us to come up with some solid ideas for the
short film’s plot. I clicked my pen and scribbled a quick heading, “Short Film Ideas,” onto the
ruled paper.

“How about we decide a genre first?”

He clasped his hands together and leaned forward with eagerness, “That sounds good. Let me
just reel off some genres: horror, mystery, adventure, drama, romance, sci-fi, fantasy.”

I jotted down the genre names as he spoke then and then pursed my lips, “Sci-fi and fantasy
seem too complicated for a short film, but if you wanted to, we could try mapping a plot out.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I’m not that interested in sci-fi and fantasy. I think romance and
drama would also call for a longer period of time, right? We only have twenty minutes.”

I nodded in agreement and struck out the last four genres before examining the paper again. “I
think horror and mystery would be pretty interesting to portray through a short film…”

As I trailed off, Adrian added, “And the campus is a pretty good setting for those two genres.”

I gave him a look of mock disapproval, and he grinned knowingly, “You can’t deny that you
agree with me.” I mumbled in acknowledgment and avoided his gaze as a triumphant smile
graced his face. His positivity was infectious, and I soon found my lips curving upwards as well.
He continued as he leaned closer and circled both “horror” and “mystery” with his red pen.
“What about combining the two? Horror mystery?”
I beamed with satisfaction and turned to him, only to see a hauntingly familiar figure. The wide
smile vanished from my face as I continued to stare at the person. The pen in my hand fell to
the floor with a clatter as I saw the ghost woman hovering mere inches behind Adrian. Her
silhouette, which used to be a mere outline, had solidified to a faded white. I wasn’t sure what
that meant for me, but it couldn’t be anything good.

Adrian’s carefree expression morphed to one of concern as he asked, “Raveena, are you
okay?”

Just like that, she was gone within a blink, as if she hadn’t been standing there mere seconds
ago. I forced a smile and looked at him, gulping, “Yeah, I’m good. Could I just take a break to
get some fresh air?”

He said reassuringly, “Of course. Please, go ahead.”

I thanked him and got up to walk out to the library porch area. The door swung closed behind
me when I let out a deep breath. My fingers traced the disturbing bruises on my hands and I
winced at the memory. better? comforting . They were the only evidence I had that I wasn’t
imagining everything that had happened. I wrenched my gaze away from the marks and tried to
focus on my surroundings instead. As the sun dipped lower, the sky transitioned from a clear
blue to a medley of vibrant colors. A cool breeze rustled the shrubbery lining the boundaries of
the library, and I could hear the twittering of birds in the trees. I closed my eyes for a few
moments and slowly took a breath of air. I felt far more relaxed than I was inside the library and
was ready to go back to work.

I opened my eyes as my peaceful musings were interrupted by a familiar voice, “Raveena?”

I turned to see Mr. Callahan standing near the entrance of the library.

“Good evening, Mr. Callahan. Are you here to visit the library as well?”

He replied with a shake of his head, “Not quite, I was actually on my evening walk. Studying
with a friend?”

I smiled at the accurate guess. “Yes, actually, Adrian and I were working on some ideas for the
film project.”

He nodded approvingly, “That’s good. I’ll leave you to it then, Raveena.”

I gave a wave as he made to walk away. He narrowed his eyes as he observed my hand, and I
realized a moment too late that my spectacular bruises were on display. I turned on my heels
with the intention to disappear inside the library, but he called out first, “Raveena, a moment!”

I grimaced and walked back towards him. He waited expectantly, and I raised my hand. Even in
the diminishing sunlight, the bruises were still severe to look at.

Alarm flashed in his eyes, and a silent gasp left his lips at the sight of it. He murmured
something to himself, and I strained to catch his words, but it was in vain.
He then glanced at me with worry and spoke, “Raveena, you have to tell me what happened. I
can only help you if I know what did this to you.”

I shook my head and backed away, “I don’t know, and even if I did, I couldn’t tell you.”

As I walked back into the library, my mind circled on the thought that he had asked “what” gave
me the bruises, not “who.”