Buried Within II: Buried Without (Lockwood & Co Fanfic)

Suspicions

"Nobody from the school noticed I stayed behind, but then again, nobody apparently thought to warn my predecessor the library, at the very least, is haunted," Lindsey thought to himself as he sat behind the front desk in the middle of the circle created from the iron chain.

As such, no one came around to stop him from confirming his suspicions, suspicions for which he preferred not to have confirmation.

"After all. The headmaster is placing not only the staff but also the students in danger, but it's a wonder nobody reported this school since The Problem started. However, the ghosts that haunt the school may belong to individuals who passed away after The Problem started."

His fingers drummed against his leg as he sat on the ground cross-legged, not bothering to pick up any of the books to read, waiting for a reaction to happen, hoping he'd not walked into the worst-case scenario as he didn't hold any way of dealing with the situation, unlike the paranormal investigators that the school should have called in to take care of the matter.

"Obviously, the staff is expendable, or he considers it our fault for not being done with our work before lights go out and curfew starts," Lindsey said, waiting for the hour when ghosts started appearing to occur. "Of course, I wonder if it ever occurred to him that some of the students would be thinking of sneaking into the school after hours, given they'd have to first face the ghosts outside of the school even to get here, but then, some teenagers just don't know how to practice common sense, or they want to rebel against their parents."

A sigh escaped.

"Goodness knows I understand rebelling against parents, although I've reasons for not wanting to deal with them, to cut them out of my life," Lindsey said aloud, knowing the ghosts wouldn't repeat what he said. "These kids just like being in power."

As if on cue, a thud resulting from something movie echoed through the almost empty library, indicating the start of the haunting hour. Slowly, Lindsey stood, watching, yet not daring to step outside the iron chain. He folded his arms and waited for something else to occur. When another thud occurred, he couldn't see what was going on.

"The libraries are too big to observe from just this one spot," he thought, taking a deep breath. "Hadn't thought of that when I decided to stay the night, but leaving the circle of protection isn't an option either, so I have to wait and see instead."

Wait, he did, eventually resulting in seeing a few of the books come off the shelves and a few of the chairs move, but then—

He ducked, a chair flying across the room, kneeling in the circle, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. They've got at least one type two here, thus making the school a definite danger for the students if they wander in here."

Taking a deep breath, he settled back down into a sitting position, hearing more clattering, glad he'd taken the time to form the temporary solution of an iron chain area to sit in to prevent himself from becoming ghost-touched. Lindsey tapped his fingers, allowing himself to nod off slightly, yet never completely fall asleep knowing the danger around him. Eventually, the sounds stopped, and light started through the windows up above.

Standing up and taking a deep breath, Lindsey rubbed his neck, taking in the ghostly activity from the night before. "Well, what next?"

He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, mouth pressed together, and then he sat by the desk, still waiting for whatever might come next.

A door opened, and a teacher, a different female teacher than the day before, stepped in. However, as Lindsey watched, they started setting the library straight. He leaned back, crossing his arms, clearing his throat, making her realize he was there, but the look on her face made him suspect she found his presence off-putting. "What are you doing?"

"I—you're here already? I didn't suspect..."

"Shouldn't straightening the library up be the librarian's job?"

"Well, I mean..." The teacher took a deep breath, then said, "As you can see, our students..."

"I know it wasn't the students." Lindsey leaned over, grabbing the end of the iron chain and lifting it so she could see. "I stayed the night to confirm my suspicions, but why, honestly, would any of the students risk going out after curfew when everyone knows just how dangerous that is these days?"

"Yes, well," the teacher glanced away.

"The headmaster seems keen on hiding this from the newer staff, doesn't he?"

"Well, the school is only open during the day, so it's not as if it's really a problem," she said, looking away. "I mean, we've all learned to get our work completed before curfew."

"Because of the problem caused by The Problem?" Lindsey asked, running fingers through his brown hair and taking a deep breath.

"I mean, we're expected to be efficient, and we're not allowed to take the work home, given the level of prestige many of the parents of our students hold."

"Ah," Lindsey said. "Yet the headmaster doesn't think that level of prestige is enough for their children to attend a ghost-free school?"

"Oh! If the parents found out!" The teacher shook her head. "If the parents found out there was ever a ghost here, they'd never let their children attend, even if an agency successfully removed the ghost."

Lindsey sighed, then motioned to the disaster from the night before. "Care to help me clear this mess up?"

"Certainly, but let's make it quick. I've my own work to do. Nobody likes taking one of the cleanup shifts."

"So this isn't the only haunted place at the school?"

"I never said," the woman shook her head. "The less you know, the better."

Lindsey sighed, shaking his head as he started pulling chairs and tables back and placing books back on the shelf, but when he finished, he headed to the headmaster's office, knocking on the door.

"Come in." The headmaster startled, sitting up straight. "Wait. You aren't going to quit as well, are you?"

"I need the job," Lindsey said, slightly hissing.

"I don't like your tone. Are you threatening me? Because as I see it, if you need the job, I hold the cards."

"Yes. Because goodness knows I don't have the ability to approach DEPRAC about unreported ghosts at the school."

"I'd fire you."

"I'm sure DEPRAC would love to hear that, as threatening to fire someone for whistle-blowing on unreported ghosts at their job site is against the law, as you know."

"If the parents find out..."

"Oh. I'm quite sure they'll love having one of their children ghost-touched because they've decided to sneak into the school late at night."

"The curfew is in place. They won't."

Lindsey glared at the man. "And what if they know one of their fellow classmates has a Talent, and they're foolish enough to think that is enough to protect them?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Something I overheard yesterday, and the real reason I stayed the night to confirm my suspicions." Lindsey nodded his head. "Do you really..."

"I'm sure one of my other staff members," the headmaster said. "My more loyal staff members..."

"Who are so loyal they're afraid of being fired?" Lindsey shook his head. "Perhaps they did hear something, but why? Why would they, when they're busy doing their jobs and teaching the students." He took a deep breath. "Either you report to DEPRAC and get the agencies involved, or I do. What do you think looks better for you and the school?" And then, "A dead student or students because they sneaked in at night—that's not the story you want, so?"

The headmaster took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll call DEPRAC."