“And then went to make out?” Chloe added.
“I believe so,” Nedra said.
“There was no trace of them,” Chloe said, looking over the notes in the case file.
“Well, we need to get a look at where they were,” Chloe said. “I’ll have to contact the current owner of the school grounds to get permission to investigate the area. Once I’ve done that we can proceed from there.”
“I’d like to come along,” Roxanne said.
“Not a good idea,” Chloe hesitated.
“But I could be of help,” Roxanne insisted.
“I’m not sure.” Chloe was still reluctant.
“What’s it going to be?” Roxanne pressed further.
“You can come with me,” Chloe finally agreed.
They thanked Chloe and…
The sunlight was nearly swept away and darkness poised ready to take its place. Chloe, along with Roxanne slowly drove up the gravel driveway. Both wore more appropriate clothing for their investigation.
Before them loomed a historic monument of faded brick and broken windows. Even in the daylight the main building of JFK Prep struck an eerie chord.
Roxanne couldn’t help but stare at the front of building as they stopped in front of it. She hadn’t even stepped inside as of yet, but felt a great forebodingness about it.
A woman in her late fifties emerged from the black BMW with Illinois plates. She was quite slender, dressed professionally, and her silver hair had nary a strand out of place. She strode with confidence towards Chloe’s car.
Chloe and Roxanne got out and greeted her.
“Georgina Rowlands,” she introduced herself to them. It was as if they should’ve been impressed just by the mere mention of her name. They were not.
“Chloe Hawkins, “Chloe replied. She gestured towards Roxanne, “And this is Roxanne Turner.”
“A pleasure,” Georgina answered.
“Let’s go inside,” Chloe insisted. Just before they were about to head off, Chloe went back in her car and grabbed a couple of flashlights.
As they walked in the direction of the side entrance, Georgian explained, “The investors I represent bought the property in order to fix it up and turn it into a seminary. That was a few years ago and unfortunately progress has been quite slow.”
“Why is that?” Chloe inquired.
“I’ve gone through several contractors, because of,” Georgina paused. She went on, “oh, how shall I put this. It was because of certain incidents happening on the property.”
“What incidents?” Roxanne asked.
“Well,” Georgina answered as they came up to the side door. “Certain unexplained things.”
“Supernatural things?” Chloe surmised.
“So they claim,” Georgina replied.
They stopped in front of the massive wooden door. Georgina used her key to unlock it and soon they were inside. The painting of the woman immediately caught Chloe’s attention. She walked up to it. Chloe ran her fingers ever so gently across it and felt the brush strokes and imperfections of the wall that made up the beautiful painting.
“Do you know who painted it,” Chloe turned and looked at Georgina.
“No,” Georgina answered. “But we made several attempts to cover it up and it just reappears.”
“What do you mean it reappears?” Roxanne asked.
“We’ve painted over it several times,” Georgina was exasperated in her reply. “We even tried paint remover on the damned thing.”
“Paint remover?” Chloe exclaimed. She examined the painting more closely. The brush strokes showed no signs of damage. “It looks untouched.”
“So you wanted to see the dorm rooms,” Georgina said, changing the subject.
“Yes,” Chloe answered.
“They’re this way up the stairs,” Georgina gestured with her hand towards the stairs leading to the second floor. “Please follow me.”
As they ascended the stairs, Roxanne had a strange feeling wash over her. She turned and looked back at the painting, but there was nothing unusual about it. Roxanne shook it off as nothing more than an overactive imagination. She joined the others whom were already at the top of the stairs. Georgina led them down the hallway past a rusted bed frame with a musty smelling mattress that still held the impressions of previous use.
“The kids make out on it,” Georgina explained rather nonchalantly.
“Disgusting,” Roxanne shuddered.
“Here we are,” Georgina announced.
The room was plain looking. The walls were faded and the paint was chipping. There were several cracks in the ceiling that spread across it like spider webs. Only a single window provided very little light into the room. The majority of the panels were boarded up with plywood. A circle of melted candles on the floor reminded Roxanne of a bizarre-looking birthday cake.
“I have to be going,” Georgina glanced at her watch. “I have a meeting this evening with another contractor.” Georgina handed Chloe the keys. “Just lock up when you leave. I’ll pick up the keys from your office tomorrow morning.” She left the two of them alone.
Chloe put the keys in her pocket. Roxanne stood there as Chloe walked around the dorm room checking things out.
“Are you getting anything from the room,” Chloe asked as she paused by the window.
“No,” Roxanne answered. “Why?”
“Why don’t you try in that circle of candles,” Chloe suggested, but first she handed Roxanne a flashlight.
“Alright,” Roxanne said. She walked over to the candles, stepped inside the circle, and sat down on the floor. She set down the flashlight beside her. Roxanne closed her eyes. Chloe shone the light in Roxanne’s direction.
Roxanne breathed rhythmically with each beat of her heart focusing only on that and not anything or any other sounds in the room. At first, the images swirled about in a blur of light and shadows, but soon things came into focus.
Roxanne opened her eyes a few minutes later. Chloe was gone! Roxanne flipped on her flashlight and searched the room. Where could Chloe have gone?
“Just breathe Roxanne,” she told herself. Roxanne drew in a deep breath; exhaling it slowly. As she did this, Roxanne heard voices coming from somewhere down the hallway. This surprised her, since Roxanne thought that they were the only ones in the building. Maybe while she was in her trance, someone else had entered the place and Chloe went to check things out. So Roxanne decided to check things out too. She headed off in the direction of the voices.
She had only gone a short distance down the hallway, when Roxanne stopped outside another of the dorm rooms. She could hear the voice more clearly now. Roxanne turned the door knob and opened the door. There was a boy and girl making out. Embarrassed, Roxanne closed the door. Roxanne suddenly felt chilled; like if someone had put their cold hands up her back. She spun around, casting her light in that direction, but saw nothing! Roxanne mustered up enough courage to continue down the hallway. Roxanne decided she’s gone far enough and was about to turn back when a terrible scream pierced the stillness. She’d barely gotten out of the way when the door flew open and the boy and girl inside rushed out and headed off in the direction of the scream. Roxanne quickly followed. She stopped when they knocked on the door.
“Did you hear it,” the frizzy haired boy asked the one with the earrings.
“Yeah,” he replied. “It sounded like my sister.”
“Come on,” a dark haired girl said.
The four of them ran down the hallway in the direction of the scream. Roxanne turned off her flashlight and followed at a safe distance. When they got there, a girl with short cropped black hair was curled up in a fetal position murmuring incoherently.
“Where’s Chad?” the boy with the earrings asked. She didn’t answer.
