Ghostly Plea

Ashlyn

One week and four days have passed by. Our spring break should officially be over. We should all be back at school almost falling asleep at our desks because we can't wait until summer comes around. But instead of being stuck in school, we are stuck in a haunted mansion. We've been keeping Geoffery happy, we finally met Martha, and Danny's been glued to mine and Bella's hip. A bond formed between Danny and Bella that no one can explain.

We all thought that our parents would come to our rescue when they didn't hear anything from us when two days passed after spring break was supposed to be over. We waited for our parents to come driving through the willow gates with police behind them to rescue us. But how many times do I have to tell myself this isn't a happy story? Exactly fifty. I've kept count. There's not much else to do here except try not to die, look for secrets, and make up games for yourself. When five days passed by and Danny wouldn't leave my side so I could go sleuth on my own, I decided to make up a game.

If you have ever watched the movie "Coraline" then you should remember the part when Coraline's family first get to the house and in order to get her to leave them alone, they send her off to count how many windows, doors, pictures, are in the house. I had Danny do that. It took him some time to understand what I was telling him to do because he was not fully aware of his surroundings. I had to talk to him and play with him to take him out of his grief-stricken state. It worked, and now he knows the truth of why we are all here.

Geoffrey told me not to tell Danny the truth. Maybe not to give him false hope. But when have I ever done what Geoffrey tells me? Danny needed some hope. He needed that faith that he can go to a brighter place to get him out of the stupor he was in. Everyone needs a little hope in their life even if it can be taken away. I knew telling him the truth would motivate me to snoop. Him and I have become quite the duo. When I go and look for secrets, he covers for me. And that is what he's doing for me tonight.

After I slept and walked two nights in a row my friends became more watchful of me at night. The third night they followed me to the maze while I was sleepwalking. The fourth day I slept through the night without a problem, the fifth night the same. I haven't walked in my sleep since. But it doesn't make sense. Why would I walk to the maze two times in a row? It must have some significance. My subconscious mind must be telling me to look in the maze. And that's what I'm going to do.

My friends have stopped keeping an eye on me when I sleep now, so night is the perfect time to do what I need. I silently slip out of the dark room clutching a flashlight from Arthur's suitcase. That kid is always freakishly prepared. Instead of wearing my pajamas to bed I secretly slipped on my pair of black jeans, and black sweatshirt to keep me as hidden as I possibly can. I check to make sure Bella is asleep. Poppy's not in bed, but she's probably talking with Whintle.

I sneakily walk down the stairs and out the back door. Not wanting to use the flashlight yet I walk as fast as I possibly can to the maze, hating the dark. I get to the entrance and turn on the flashlight, hoping the maze walls are tall and thick enough no one can see the light coming through. Now for the hard part, figuring out what I'm looking for, how to get through this maze.

Dark walls of greenery surround me. I start walking, hoping I can find some answers. Soon I'm faced with a fork in the road. Two different paths arch out leading different directions, and I choose the left. As the minutes pass by I start to think it was a bad decision to do this on my own. Maybe I should have brought someone. I continue down the path anyways and take a right.

I take two more rights, and another left, when the hedges start to rustle. To my right the bushes shift like a hand is being dragged through it. Chills overtake me, but I've come this far so I might as well continue. Flashlight in hand I point the yellow light towards the hedges, seeing if I can see anything through the thick thorns. Nothing. It's probably just the wind, I try to convince myself. It's never just the wind. A voice whispers in my mind.