Chapter Two
“Hey Savanah!” A voice broke my concentration, and I exhaled with a stutter. “You ok?” The super tall guy from my Western Civilization class stood like everything was completely normal.
I glanced back up at the window, and back to him. “Um, yeah. Just thought I saw something.”
Tyler smiled shaking his head. “Yeah, they say this building is haunted.” He kicked a leaf, “I’m not convinced it isn’t just kids screwing around this time of year.”
I nervously laughed, “Not a believer, huh?”
“Hell no! This isn’t any more haunted than my hometown!” He rocked back on his heels, “Which is not, FYI.” He looked up again at the house, “What about you? Do you believe in that crap?”
My eyes followed his, “Umm, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s completely crazy.” glancing down, desperate for a subject change, “Where you headed?”
“Oh, just hitting the gym. I’m meeting Bryce there. You?”
“Walking to the grocery store. Gonna Netflix it tonight.”
He raised his brows, “Sounds good. Anyone I know?”
I blushed deeply, “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m gonna just hang in my room and binge on junk food and chick flicks.”
His smile curled a bit, accenting his dimples. “You get bored, The Sigs are having a little get together. You should come by.”
I smiled again, “Yeah, I’ll think about it.”
“Cool. Catch ya later?”
“Maybe.” I watched him walk away. Timidly I glanced back up to the window, silently praying it would be empty.
My prayer was answered.
Leaving the grocery store, I turned toward the edge of campus and decided on another route back. Afterall, why did I need to question if the window was empty again?
Now that I had the room all to myself, I couldn’t find anything to watch to let my brain simply chill. Curiosity continued to tug at the back corner of my mind. Why was I seeing the image in the window? And more importantly, why could I see anything at all?
It started right after mom died, right after moving to Albion. We drove past the abandoned college, The Normal College--as if a place that haunted could ever have been normal. I saw people around campus and for the longest time, and just assumed people lived someplace on campus. Someone actually living, not someone who passed away years before. Not someone who had left this earth.
I asked my grandparents and neither of them seemed to understand the degree of weird the place brought up for me. I felt it every time we went close. Like a magnet pulling me in. A tractor beam of energy pulling at my mind.
Sleep was the worst. The older I got, the worse it became. It expanded from just the college to other historical places in town. Now, not only did students from an abandoned college plague my waking hours, cowboys and outlaws came a calling as the sun fell.
At first, I considered I was simply crazy. I hadn’t heard of anyone else seeing people who were not there, hearing voices of long-gone community members. I also feared if people knew what I was experiencing, I’d be sent away, alone, and never be able to have a normal life.
My grandparents were incredibly loving, caring for me as if I were the most precious thing in the world, and the last thing I wanted was to lose that.
To save my sanity, I began to research things. My town had a library, but barely. Thankfully, it had computers to search on.
Many sites were jokes, but a few helped me take back at least a sliver of my life. The biggest thing was for it to go away. I wished for nothing more than to just be normal.
I learned to push them from my mind. I simply pretended I didn’t see them. Didn’t hear them. Eventually, it did slow to a dull buzz constantly filling my ears. I learned to work around it and ignore it in most normal situations.
And then we went on a road trip. Just to Salt Lake, not a long journey, but I clearly remembered the feeling of stillness that filled my mind. We got out of the car and silence greeted me. Nothing. No voices, no images, just–normal.
I was fourteen. It was the most glorious five days I’d ever experienced since moving to Albion. Five days of totally silent bliss.
I hoped when we returned that the chaos would be gone, but to my dismay everything had waited patiently for me to come back.
I spent four more years ignoring and suffering through the continued buzz of everyday existence.
During those four years, I formulated a plan, I saved, and I worked. I studied and counted down the days until I would be free. Blissful silence was all I longed for.
As I drove away towards my future, I heard nothing. It was if the voices couldn’t run as fast as my truck was driving. I imagined them giving up in my rearview as I continued forward to my new future.
Since stepping foot on campus, the blissful silence I longed for was forever present. I’d escaped.
But then Blachley Hall entered my world. That window, that little face. Not the buzz, but definitely a presence. No longer was I alone. No longer was I normal.
Returning from my reverie, I stared at the screen unaware of what was playing or when it started. Restlessly, I clicked off the TV. The “chill” plan was a no-go. Sighing heavily, I changed into a cuter top, brushed my hair, and put on some mascara. Apparently, I was going to a party.
Chapter Three
The
