Saithilien

Chapter 5 - The "Help Me" Ghost

Students started to crowd the dining hall for breakfast, and the newspaper box emptied so fast as students got one for themselves. The culprit of the mysterious disappearances in a shopping center in Erantha confessed, Harris Vadne, the chief investigator of the town, is the master of it. The women were rescued from the center's basement, wherein the owner's son kept the ladies, then he was sent to a psychiatric hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Russo were also charged with k********g and the center's now owned by the Monarchs. 

Katsuro almost crumpled the sides of the newspaper, while reading the article. "Mr. Vadne got all the credits for solving the case. He didn't even mention Monique!." Katsuro exclaimed in annoyance.

"Just let him be Kaya. I don't need recognition. I just want to help." Monique said and started to cringe at herself. Navya and Katsuro slightly glanced at each other, their eyes widened a bit. Then Navya cleared her throat.

"I think that the chief investigator loves fame. He seemed photogenic in that picture." Navya pointed at the newspaper. Suddenly Penelope Vadne entered the hall, and some students approached and congratulated her on her father's achievement. Oh, that's right. Navya realized that Penelope is the chief's daughter. She and Penelope are in the same class, that's why she's very familiar with Penelope's last name. The warning bell signaled the start of classes. Navya left the hall first, for her class is farther than Monique and Katsuro.

Heading to their first-class Monique was still bothered by Penelope. The Vadnes seemed odd and had suspicious actions towards us. Errr... This is giving me a headache. Some group of students gathered in the garden caught their attention. A trembling girl cried as the students threw papers at her and called her names. Sheez, I can't believe that bullying also exists in this world. Monique thought and sighed.

Katsuro approached the crowd, and eventually, the bullies left. Katsuro stroked the girl's uniform, to get rid of the dirt, then he held the girl's hand and helped her to stand. Kasey Woods blushed as she looked up to her knight in shining armor. Monique can't handle their sweetness and approached them. Her jealousy lessened her feeling of sympathy towards Kasey. This is so annoying. Monique pouted at them.

"The bullying started just last Saturday afternoon. I can't think of any reason why." Kasey said in grief. Monique and Katsuro sat on a bench with Kasey near the pond.

"It broke my heart, but this won't stop me from attending school. I swear." Kasey added while wiping her tears with a handkerchief given by Monique.

The clock tower rang and the afternoon classes have ended. Monique and Katsuro proceeded to the students' lounge to meet with Navya.

"I bought these." Monique pulled three tickets from her pocket and gave it to Navya and Katsuro.

"Cirque de Laviche." Katsuro read the text on the upper part of the ticket.

"What kind of face is that, Kaya?" Monique pouted at Katsuro, as he gave Monique a blank face.

"So, you're really planning to go to that town," Katsuro sighed.

"Yes. I can't wait." Monique smiled in excitement.

"The performance or Filerethea?" Katsuro smirked.

"What are you guys talking about?" Navya’s confused.

"You'll see." Monique squeezed Navya's cheeks.

"No! You should give this to me on the day of our departure. My excitement will prevent me from coming again. Huhu," Navya pouted. All the students from the surrounding tables were shocked by Navya and started to give them a weird look.

Meanwhile, Ms. Fouche, together with Vera and Talya, went to the storage room behind the library building to store some old books. Ms. Fouche unlocked the door chain then a pitch-black basement. They slowly went down, and Ms. Fouche instructed them where the old books should be placed. As they went deeper into the dark, a feeling of eeriness plunged them.

Help me......

Help me.......

A creaking voice whispered at them, then immediately goosebumps ran all over their bodies. The whispering creepy voice kept on getting louder and louder.

Help me........

Help me......

Fear came in. Due to too much panic they quickly dropped the things and hurriedly ran to get out. Outside, Ms. Fouche immediately locked the door chain.

"That's the creepiest thing I've encountered in my entire life!" Vera exclaimed while panting.

"Ms. Fouche, you didn't tell us about a ghost in there. I absolutely can't sleep during the night." Talya sighed.

"I'm sorry, but I've never encountered such a thing before. That's so strange." Ms. Fouche wondered and said worriedly. As the sun was finally setting, soft knocks from inside of the storage room echoed outside. In deep fear, the three screamed and quickly ran away.

The WLA meeting room was filled with a deafening silence. The members were staring at each other awkwardly, waiting for Juliana to report something. A Zel, huh, I've never met one in this world except for myself. Juliana thought while staring at a milk lollipop she's holding. She then suddenly stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going, Juliana?" The US Pres. asked.

"Paris is calling me." Juliana looked back then smiled.

"I can help you with that." The French President said confidently.

"It's a personal business. I'll be back soon." Juliana waved her right hand and left the room.

The next day at the Academy, the ghost in the storage room quickly spread. Students were hesitant to go to the storage room even to the library. For Monique, it's absurd. She doesn't believe in ghosts, but Katsuro and Navya seemed creeped out. Monique laughed at them sarcastically.

"There are no such things as ghosts," Monique blunted.

"That came into my mind, but we are in Saithilien, a known country for ghost stories." Katsuro insisted.

"Only an i***t can think of that," Monique said.

"Uh! I'm not an i***t! I'm just saying." Katsuro bit his ham and cheese bread.

"I didn't say that you're an idiot." Monique was trying to annoy Katsuro.

"It seemed that you're referring to me." Katsuro grunted.

Hooah, there they go again. Navya sighed. After breakfast, the three proceeded to the students' lounge, after learning the suspension of classes for today. They sat on a corner near the window, where they used to be.

"Hey, guys!" Anna Robbins, Daniel Blair, from Australia, and Dara Pha approached them.

"What's up?"

"We have news." Dara said.

"What is it? Another mystery case?" Navya curiously asked.

"Well, not really. We heard from Ms. Fouche that one student ran away." Anna sighed.

"I also heard from some students that she had been enduring bullying a lot lately," Daniel fixed his necktie.

"Oh! What a sad story." Navya said in sadness.

"What's her name again?" Anna turned to Dara.

"Kasey Woods. She's in my class." Suddenly Christiaan Hulleman came and joined the group, together with Freya Selby, Afina Bogoescu, and Hermann Lýðsson. Monique and Katsuro looked at each other in shock. That's strange. Yesterday morning, we just talked to her. She even swore that it will not stop her from attending school. Something's not right here. Monique thought, and suddenly Vera and Talya came.

"Talya, you okay? You seemed tired." Anna poked her.

"Can't sleep last night because of that ghost," Talya explained and dropped her head on the table.

"This world is full of strange things. Gosh, so freaking creepy!" Freya said in fear, while tapping her cheeks.

"How does it feel to encounter a ghost?" Navya teased Vera with her husky voice.

"Oh please! Don't make me remember that time," Vera exclaimed. Navya giggled, then everybody started to laugh. 

Wait! A ghost and a runaway bullied student with no traces, even a letter, there's none. Monique thought, then suddenly stood up. Everyone was shocked and turned to her.

"I- I need to go somewhere." Monique was stammering while thinking of a reason to excuse herself, then she walked towards the lounge door. Navya signaled Katsuro to go after Monique and accompany her. Everybody iwas a bit curious about Monique's actions, but eventually they just ignored them.

"Why did you follow me?" Monique asked, just outside of the students' lounge.

"I wanted to help you, and I'll be bothered if I don't see you." Katsuro scratched his head and was a bit embarrassed. Monique's eyes widened, and her cheeks started to blush.

"You i***t!" Monique grunted at Katsuro to hid her feeling of romantic excitement.

"Wha-?! I'm not an i***t. At least you've got a friend who'll save you when you're in danger." Katsuro pouted and folded his arms.

Monique was flattering excessively, so she walked ahead of Katsuro for him not to notice it. As they exited the building, Katsuro realized that they were heading towards the storage room.

"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this." Katsuro shivered in fear.

"If you're scared, you can leave now. You scaredy-cat!" Monique teased him.

"I'm not scared. I'm just.." Katsuro looked down and sighed.

The wind blew stronger than before, and the surroundings darkened. It seems that rain will be pouring soon.

"Use this." Monique got a hairpin from her hair and gave it to Katsuro. He nodded and started to unlock the door chain using the pin.

"That's surprisingly easy," Katsuro said while handing back the pin to Monique.

"I know it's just easy. My thought is correct." Monique said suspiciously.

"So why didn't you do it yourself?" Katsuro asked and ruined the mood.

"Kaya! Are you here to help? You're so annoying!" Monique exclaimed and started to throw a tantrum.

"I-I'm sorry." Katsuro felt guilty. He then smiled at Monique and tapped her head. Monique started to blush again. Then, an awkward moment.

Back in the students' lounge,

"What's with those two?" Daniel broke the silence.

"Who?" Anna asked.

"You mean Monique and Kaya?" Navya said.

"Yeah, they looked very close," Daniel gasped.

"I envy their friendship. I hope I had a protective and caring friend like Kaya." Vera sighed.

"You always envy everything." Afina folded her arms.

Navya suddenly noticed that Penelope kept on glancing at them like she's looking for someone, and she suddenly remembered Penelope's weird stare to Monique at the dining hall a while ago. Navya started to grow suspicion on her.

Monique turned away from Katsuro and cleared her throat. Drizzles started to pour, heavy rain was coming, Then soft knocks from the storage room caught their attention. Immediately Katsuro opened the door.

"Huh? The knocks seemed real." Katsuro said suspiciously.

I knew it. Monique glared.