Whispers

Chapter 2

The plane smelt of old people, baby powder and Jeremy's horrid cologne. I sat in the center of the plane by the window and I was doing my best not to fall asleep. I didn't want to have an episode while in the company of other people, they might land and have me go home. Ever since Jeremy showed me pictures of the mansion, I couldn't stop thinking that what I was seeing in my dreams was real. In my head I felt that it couldn't be real, but in my heart, deep down to the pit of my stomach, I felt that my dreams were too real, too lively, to be just dreams.

"Don't let me fall asleep," I told Jeremy before we sat down. I look at him now and see him fast asleep, slightly drooling as leaned his head on his neck pillow. "Such help you are," I grumbled.

"I'm surprised to see you still awake," Mrs. Richards said from behind me. "You're friend there must be comfy."

"Apparently," I chuckled. "Mrs. Richards, this place we're staying in, what do you know about it?"

"It was built in the eighteen hundreds, the owner mysteriously vanished and the next owners started building onto it until it became the mansion that it is. It's been in my husband's family ever since." Mrs. Richards leaned over the seat and looked down at me. She spoke in a quiet voice as if she would wake the heavy sleeper next to me. "The staff say it's haunted. If you capture a ghost on camera then I'll put a hundred on your test. You've been distracted lately and you got an eighty on my test. That's not like you."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Richards. Stuff has been going on at home and I haven't been sleeping."

"Don't worry. I'm sure things will settle down. Maybe you can relax on this trip, hang out in the library like you usually do." Mrs. Richards smiled and chuckled at me when I frowned. "I'm serious about the ghost photo. I have yet to capture a picture when I come here. If you can then I will be greatful."

"I will do my best."

No matter how stern Mrs. Richards is in class, you can sometimes catching her laughing with the teachers. She's only acted stern with us because she knew most kids our age can't behave. She has a kind heart and I would prefer talking to her over the shrink I have any day. At least Mrs. Richards won't offer some bullshit excuse and say things like "You're mind is trying to cope."

I shuffled through my music and tried to relax. I even closed my eyes but jerked awake when I started to fall asleep. The smell of Mrs. Richard's perfume wafted over me like a silk sheet, gardenias. The smell was comforting, lulling me into the black of sleep.

"Time to wake up," Jeremy said in my ear and pulled me from a comfortable sleep.

I opened my eyes and shook my head, yawned. I looked and realized we had landed, everybody besides Mrs. Richards was getting up and grabbing their bags. I stretched and grabbed my backpack from between my legs, pulling it onto my lap. Relief swept over me as I noticed no horrible dreams disturbed me.

The weather outside was chilly as the sun touched the peaks of the mountains. I pulled my leather jacket closer and followed Mrs. Richards to the bus that waited in the pick up lane. She checked to make sure the bus was for our class before waving everybody in. She told me to sit up front because she wanted to talk with me, which I thought was strange but I agreed and told Jeremy to sit behind me.

"Jeremy, could you listen to your music please?" Mrs. Richards asked politely before sitting down after counting the amount of students. He nodded and put his headphones in, turning it up to where we could slightly hear the rap and techno music. Mrs. Richards put her bag on the floor in front of her and turned to me. "Michael, your mother called me before we boarded and told me to keep an eye on you. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"I wish she wouldn't over react," I mumbled. "No, I'll be fine. I'm not going to start any trouble, if that's what you think. She's just worried."

"Does she have a reason to be worried?"

"I really don't want to talk about this right now," I smile apologetically.

"I'm here if you need to talk."

The gravel driveway to the mansion crunched under the bus tires. The dark sky was lit by tiny stars and a half moon, casting a shadow over the mansion. The two towers of either side of the mansion cast elongated shadows over the parkinglot. The entire place felt eerie and unnerving.

"Grab your bags and follow me," Mrs. Richards ordered as the bus came to a stop. A man came out and greeted us all as we piled off of the bus.

"Welcome to Grigori Mansion, we booked the entire second and third floor for you all. Mrs. Richards, a pleasure to have you back."

As we walked up the steps my breath caught in my throat as a blast of cool air coursed through me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and goosebumps covered my body. I looked around to see if anybody else felt that strange wind. Nobody else seemed to be effected so I kept walking.

The inside of the mansion was just as beautiful, yet just as sinister, as the outside. Hardwood floor was covered with red carpet, red and purple curtains hung in the windows and vases of fake lilies sat under every painting. The chandelier sparkled under its lighting and had a warmer glow to the chilling room.

Jeremy and I shared a conjoined room that was split by a bathroom. The bathroom was obviously built in when the mansion was being built. Jeremy's room looked as though it could have been a little boy's room. Mine was larger but I couldn't get a feel for it, like there was no true connection and the room shouldn't be there.

"What do I do if you get those weird dreams?" Jeremy stepped into my room with just a towel around his lower regions. He was rubbing his head with a second towel and looking at me with brotherly concern.

"Just don't get an adult. I don't want to get sent home, not that I know this place is real." I pulled off my hoodie that I had on under my jacket and set it on the chair by the bed.

"Let's see how this night goes," Jeremy chuckled. "Why do you think we got one of the five rooms on this floor that have single beds? You'd think they'd have more than one person in a room."

"I don't know. Maybe because we have very little students. This isn't a very large hotel either, which makes it weirder. Probably because Mrs. Richard's husband owns it."

"Her husband owns it?" Jeremy looked at me with disbelief as I pulled off my Merciless shirt.

"Yeah. She told me while we were on the plane." I changed into pajama bottoms and sat on the bed, staring at the tattoo on my rib in the mirror. It was a very symbolic tattoo that my mother allowed me to get when my sister died, a blue monarch butterfly.

"Get some sleep. I'm right here if you need me."