Project: Cecil Town

Chapter 7

Dennis used his flashlight to see into the dark room. Outside, it sounds like a tornado was starting to form. Jill and Reggie tried to force the door open. They grunted as they pushed. "You cannot come out trespassers. Not until you learn your lesson and until I finished cleaning this entire floor." A ghostly voice said from outside of the archive room. Sonny opened the only name labeled file drawer. The name of the file drawer was Hank, and the rest of the name label was blotted out. There was only one file in this file drawer. It held new white papers, almost as if they were never touched for a long time. The file was taken out of the drawer. "Guys, I found something." Sonny revealed. Bert took a look through the other drawers of the file cabinet. There were no files in the rest of the drawers. The only other thing that was in the file drawers was a little bit of dust or a clean empty space. Suddenly, there was the sound of another door slamming.

Sonny opened the file folder and read what the papers said. "Jill, Bert, Zoey, Reggie, come here." Dennis spoke as they were surprised of what they read. The rest of the group start to read the file themselves. "These files talk about the meeting of a secret society in the town hall. And it looks like my great grandfather took part in these meetings." Sonny contended while the other kids read away. "I wonder what these meetings were all about." Bert wondered. Dennis held out the file folder in front of them while they read it. The next page was even more surprising. There was a page in the file folder that talked about the use of a powerful spell. "I wonder what kind of magic that the meeting was using." Reggie pondered. "I think it's scary magic. I mean the whole town is abandoned. I think this powerful spell might have something to do with it." Jill said as the whistling winds started to get louder. It was now giving off a high-pitched shriek. Dennis and his friends closed the file folder and covered their ears. The door to the archive room was getting knocked on from the outside. Dennis, Reggie, Jill, Bert, Sonny, and Zoey cannot hear each other over the loud pitch shriek. "That will teach you to come to Cecil Town. This town must have been forgotten. So, its best that you leave now and forget that this town ever existed." A ghostly whispered telepathically in the minds of Dennis and his friends. The high-pitched shrieking sound instantly left the room. The door to the archive room was now opened slightly. Bert opened the door. The dust that was on the whole floor was gone. It was as if somebody cleaned it all up while they were locked in the archive room. The sunlight poured into the second floor. No dust was left on the tables or chairs. The group came out of the archive room except for Dennis. He still tried to figure out who left that flashlight on in the archive room. Then he saw a man in a long-sleeved shirt and vest on top. His face looked as if he was angry and grouchy at the same time. Dennis stared at him in horror as his face had an aura of white light surrounding him. His face turned into a head of a skeleton. Then it changed back in a split second. "Leave now!" He said talking calmly at the beginning but then raise his voice in another split second.

Dennis screamed and ran out of the archive room. His friends were looking at books that were on the shelves. The ghostly librarian came out of the archive room. He made the books that were on the shelves come to life and they attacked Dennis and his friends. Zoey grabbed a book from the shelf and held it against her chest. It tried to fight back. Dennis and his friends ran to the stairwell. All of them except Zoey was screaming. "Give me that book." The librarian demanded angrily. He floated quickly towards Zoey. "Hey nerd!" Bert shouted to the librarian. "You did not do a good job. Look, there's some dust still on the windowsill of that window." He pointed out. "How dare you call me that!" The ghost shouted as he disappeared into thin air. Jill and Sonny were nearly at the bottom of the stairs. Bert was being pulled off the ground. "Oh no! What's going on?" He asked as he found himself floating over the part of the flight of stairs that were closest to the first floor. "This will teach you a lesson in manners." The ghostly voice whispered into his ear, as Bert started to fall. Dennis ran into the stairwell to catch him. He ended up being caught by Sonny and Jill. Reggie and Zoey ran down the flight of stairs. There was the same shrieking noise that started again. Dennis looked behind him and saw that the there was a storm of dust that was forming on the second floor again. The air became difficult to breathe in. Dennis nearly lost his balance as he went down the stairs to the first floor. Bert helped Jill get up and the rest of the group of kids ran out of the building. Zoey still hanged on to the book she took from the shelf. Dennis helped Reggie and Zoey as the three of them pushed the door to the outside open. It was closed when the adults and the kids went inside the library. "What in the world is going on here!?" Zoey and Jill's Mom questioned as she emerged from the first floor. The door to the abandoned public library was forced open. The adults all held their hands against their ears and ran outside. Mr. Binge was the last person out of the library. The shrieking noise was getting loud. Then the windows of the second floor burst themselves open. Shards of glass landed on the street and even in the campfire circle. The group stayed next to the front door while they waited for the shards of glass to finish falling. The shards littered the camp site and street nearby.

The shrieking sound stopped. Bert's dad went back inside of the public library. He came back with and dustpan and a broom. He went to sweep the shards of glass away from the camp site and the road nearby. The shards were piled together next to the side of the public library. The dustpan and broom were put next to stairwell of the public library. The kids came outside feeling happier and calm. "Why was there so much screaming on the second floor?" Sonny's dad grilled, wanting an explanation. "Oh no!" Mr. Binge exclaimed. "Is there something wrong Dad?" Dennis asked. "I forgot to put a gopro camera on you son. Wanted to know what just happened when you guys were on the second floor." "Well, I'm going to prepare supper for tonight" Sonny's dad said as he gathered the few pieces of wood from the tree that was chopped down. Sonny and Zoey put the book and file folder in Mr. Binge's tent. "Did any of you kids see a ghost today?" Bert's dad asked. "Yes, he locked us in the archive room." Jill said as she began to tell the story. While the adults were distracted, Dennis and Sonny looked over the contents of the file folder. The story tells of an attempt to cast the spell in the Cecil Town iron mine. "Should we tell your dad about this?" Sonny asked. "I know that my dad will be very mad when he finds out about how my great grandfather was a part of this secret society." "We should tell the truth to my dad. After all, this file folder contains the information he has been looking for. If we give him the story of why Cecil Town was abandoned, then we could find a way back home." Dennis said. Dennis came out of the tent holding the file folder. "Hey dad!" Dennis shouted. Sonny's dad stared at him with suspicion and fear. "What is it son?" Mr. Binge queried with a stressed-out expression on his face. "We found something in the file room that explains this town's history."

Sonny's dad reached for the folder. The parents except Mr. Binge held him back. "Give me that folder!" Dennis handed the folder to his dad. Mr. Binge opened the file folder. "Leave that information alone!" Sonny's dad screamed as he tried to break free. "What's your problem?!" Reggie's mom asked while holding him back. "This is the information that Mr. Binge is after so that we can all learn what happened to this town." Bert's dad said as he held a firm grip on him. "Dad calm down! We all deserve an explanation!" Sonny said as he emerged from the tent. He was holding something behind his back. "Son, this is none of your business. If we know what that information from that file is then we are all doomed. And what is that you have behind your back?!" Sonny's dad yelled. "Dad take a look at this." Dennis pointed to the part where Sonny's great grandfather was involved in the secret society. Mr. Binge looked at Sonny's dad. "Sonny is right. I think we all deserve an explanation from you sir." He spoke with a stern voice. "Well, I am not talking. You will never know my grandfather's history with that group." Sonny's dad claimed. "Dad calm down, a ghost scared us on that floor. It scared us out of the library. Did you know about great grandfather's secret society?" Sonny asked. His dad would not answer. "We're all stuck here until we figure out what's going on in this ghost town. So, you might as well tell us about this secret society" Mr. Binge said. Sonny's dad felt upset but is beginning to calm down. "Fine. I am sorry Sonny. I did not want to tell you about this. I was scared that somebody would find us." He spoke. "Who would find us? The ghosts?" Sonny questioned. His father shook his head. The rest of the parents let go of him. "I was just a child just like you Sonny. Your grandfather told me about the secret society. He then warned me what they planned on doing, I was scared and afraid. They were planning to..." Before Sonny's dad could say anything else, the ghost of Mayor Harold was hovering above hm. There was a fake grin on his face before he went to possess Sonny's dad's body. The eyes on his face turned into a blank white. "You will never know about the society. I won't allow it." The mayor said while possessing him. "In fact, I'll make sure that the rest of the world will never know about this place." Sonny's dad pointed with his left hand towards the file folder. A bolt of electricity came from his pointer finger.