The elements of school

Chapter 8 The room of souls

Alice stayed fixed on the floor for a moment or two. She was still holding her arms out in front of her as of to do a push up however this time it was to stop her face being bashed up. Her arms began to shake rapidly beneath her as if her bones had broken apart and were being shaken like a maraca.
Eventually she fell to the floor falling face first onto the cold glass beneath her. Strangely this felt like a rude awakening for Alice as if everything had been so surreal but now she felt as it was all true. Alice cried a little, being hit was never nice but now she felt more alone than ever as if no one was going to help her.

Alice stood up still trying to fight her dream she didn't want it to be real and if it was she at least wanted Lia or Harry or someone their. But in this moment she was alone without a single person able to find her.

Feebly Alice stood up she turned around hoping if she could find a door then this dream simply wouldn't happen. For a moment Alice saw a door way it was a dark luminous blue, Alice crawled hopelessly towards the door. She was unable to walk still most people by now could do a healing spell but Alice couldn't which meant she never went to practise with her friends or had any fun at all really. Alice had spent most evenings in the library, the dorm or the herbology classroom but only when Harry would do so which was on Wednesday's.

Alice reached the door but she was too late. The door seemed to disappear into silvery dust and the wall seemed untouched. Alice stood by the wall and cried and cried and cried. All hope was lost now what was she supposed to do, death was certain now. What was do you do before you die? Alice thought of all the things she'd never done, never had a partner, never learnt any of those spells, never knew of her father was alive or dead. This seemed to hit the hardest she didn't care if she had never loved anyone, she didn't care if she hadn't learnt a few stupid spells or even if she didn't belong here or if everyone at this school thought she was a kidnapper.

She felt as if she'd was about to take away her fathers chance to redeem himself. She began to imagine him at her grave,it was the dead of winter the snow had painted over her stone grave and made the once crisp, vibrant grass as sad and cold her here in the ground. The church bells began to ring in the distance each chime seemed to be a slap in the face. Her fathers shaking hands lay lilies beside the marble before breaking down into another painful crying fit knowing he would never be able to redeem himself now.
This vision seemed to make the thought of death even more fearful. Her father would never know, in fact the last person to see her would be Hugo? Alice put her head in her hands and wept even harder. She felt as if everything had gone wrong and nothing had ever really been good.

She heard a sweet piano playing
" come to gloat" she yelled, the piano seemed to be playing her end as if it too knew this was to be her last hour.
"The bluebird sings a merry tune while the crow comes to sing the end, Oh the birds song is one of many emotions"

"Shut up!" Alice yelled her head still her lap

"Would thought you'd like that song, seeing as I am the soul you called" a voice came.

Alice didn't recognise it at first, it was a female voice young perhaps but that was all she could work out.
Alice raised her head, in the corner of the room a girl was sat playing the piano. Alice had played a little of the piano in her youth, her father used to teach her on Sunday's they'd sit for hours at that piano learning little nursery rhymes but the tune the girl had just played was Alice's last tune on the piano. The piano was taken away when they were kicked out. Alice had woken up early that morning, her childhood home now covered in labels and filled with boxes. Alice walked over to the piano, they'd labelled it and wrapped it in bubble wrap. Alice took the bubble wrap of carefully and sat down of the bubble wrapped seat and played the tune.

"The crawdads will sing of a mother's love but chaffinch will sings on a winters morning of the tragic death of a loved one, the robin will sing of a children's joy while they sing about their praises but the crowd will sit at the top of the tower waiting the queens beheading. Oh the song song of the birds, the song of the birds the love each one of them shared"
Alice tearfully joined in
"For I shall love thee till the end of my days for as long as I am their"

"You really loved that one" the girl said floating over towards Alice.

"What would it matter to you" Alice said avoiding eye contact with the spectre

"Well I am your best friend" the girl said standing over Alice. Alice rose to look up at the figure, the spectre couldn't possibly be real, could it?

"Aya, no you can't possibly be" Alice said shaking

"Not exactly, the actual Aya is" the figure seem to drift for a moment as if not really one place nor another. The ghost came back to the room

"I can't find her, but you need me, why?"

"I don't need you"

"Really?, you've thought of me a lot not perhaps a loving way more a, a lost way"
Alice swallowed hard

"Look I'm leaving unless your actually going to help me"

"I can only help you, when you help yourself"

" what the fuck does that even mean"

"Don't know, you should find out"

"Well let me leave and I will"

"You must be found, if your wanted otherwise you will be consumed"

Alice almost fell to the floor with shock. She walked over to one of the corner walls and wept and wept and wept.

Meanwhile Lia had looking for Alice for a while now. Hugo had been doing the same, the pair were running round the school and eventually they found each other
"Have you seen Alice?" They said in unison

"She flew into a room and I've lost I've looked in all the rooms but she's not their"

" the room of souls, you dingbat"

"Oh" Hugo said

"Look I'll go" Lia said dumping her books onto Hugo before pelting down to the room of souls. She found the spot on the wall. Their wasn't a door to this room, it's the room of souls people can't just put it on a map. Lia found the hand on the wall, Lia put her hand into the wall the stone shrunk down to her palm size and filled with the blue ice she'd seen in the bowl a few weeks ago.
The door opened letting her through to the room. Alice was in the corner having given up all hope feeling her death was immanent.

"Alice! Alice! It's okay, it's okay"

"Lia? Oh Lia I love you, thank you" Alice said hugging her tightly