As always, the stairs were dark despite the daylight. This time, I took a moment to cast a protection spell around myself. On the exterior, I look perfectly calm and collected. Deep down, though, I felt like I was going to explode. I didn't know what I was expecting to find. I just hoped that whatever I end up finding wouldn't turn me into one of the dead bodies in my dream.
I took a step and realized that my legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself to continue moving. I'm sure all my fear would be for nothing. I'm sure it was just a stupid dream. There would be no mangled dead body to be found on the stairway, or in the music room. Everything is fine.
For a moment, I caught the same scent I did the first time I used the shortcut. At first, I thought that it was just how old woods smelled like, but the scent grew stronger the higher I went up the stairs. The scent distracted me so much it almost overwhelmed me. It was probably why I didn't notice that someone was sitting on the steps until I tripped onto them.
"Oh my god!" I yelped as I landed on top of them.
The boy caught me and grunted. "Close, but no. I'm not God. Just Kenji."
I awkwardly stood up. The nervousness I felt earlier evaporated and was replaced by embarrassment. The boy, Kenji, shot me a grin, laughing at my expression.
"You're as red as a tomato." He pointed at my cheek. "How do you get so red like that?"
His statement increased my embarrassment and I gaped before replying, "It's not my fault that my cheeks respond that way to being embarrassed!"
He laughed. "Don't be mad! It's cute."
That was not helpful at all. I grew redder and mumbled something along the lines of whatever, jerk.
"You were the one who tripped and fell on top of me," he reminded, still laughing, "where were you going anyway? I rarely see anyone use this route."
"Just the music studios," I answered, anxiety made its way back to me as I remembered my original plan.
I might have imagined it, but for a second, I thought I saw Kenji's expression turned into one of sorrow, as if he was remembering something. It was gone as early as it surfaced that I wasn't sure it happened at all. He was back to all smiles and grins in no time. He stood up from where he was sitting and gestured for me to continue upstairs.
"Okay, I won't be in your way." He smiled at me. "See you around, Aya."
I nodded and made my way up. A few steps later I looked back to find that he was already gone, along with the scent that overwhelmed me earlier. Only then did I realize that I never told him my name.
***
The encounter left me cold with dread. I rationalized that I must have said my name to him, but forgot. His disappearance could easily be explained by him leaving the shortcut as soon as I walked up. Besides, I was able to touch him. I shouldn't be able to touch ghosts, right?
I rubbed my arms where he held me as I fell and immediately pulled away in reflex when I felt static electricity. How did that happen? The same thing happened on the first day of school when someone bumped my shoulder. But I was not wearing my uniform in this moment. Was I just that sensitive to statics?
This time, when I arrived on the fourth floor, I did not hear any music. It was silent, quiet. On a weekend like this, it's normal for this place to be empty. Especially since it was Sunday noon. I could guess that most of the students were probably doing their assignments on last minute, or maybe hungover from yesterday night's drinking.
As far as I can see, there was nothing out of the ordinary as I stood there in the middle of the hallway. I wondered if I just wasted my time coming here. But then, I remembered meeting Kenji and something gnawed at my mind. I was forgetting something. It was there for me to grasp, if only I could reach it.
The answer did not come to me, but someone did. I felt a tap on my shoulder and almost fainted from the surprise. I turned around, expecting to see Baekhyun, but it wasn't him at all. A huge part of me was relieved, but the tiny bit was disappointed.
"What are you doing here on a Sunday?" Harry inquired, head tilting in a questioning way.
"Oh, I just... I was supposed to meet someone here," I lied, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt, "but I think they might have forgotten."
Harry patted my back and smiled reassuringly. "Your boyfriend? He might have an assignment due so he forgets. It happens."
I nodded awkwardly, not knowing if I should correct him or not. But then again, what would I say if I denied it and he asked who I was actually meeting? I decided to just go along with his assumptions.
"I'm going to the music room to throw out some old things we no longer need." He began walking towards the choir studio. "If you join me, I could show you that choir yearbook we told you about."
I thought for a moment. Why the hell not? I already came all the way here. It would be such a waste of my time to just go back to my room. At the very least, I could be productive. And also, maybe I could ask Harry about Baekhyun. I know Ayn said that no one knew anyone named Baekhyun, but maybe he was just a really closed off guy. I mean, he did hide and then locked the door when I accidentally barged in. Maybe he was just really, really shy?
I agreed to accompany Harry. Once inside the studio, I stared at the piano, remembering the image from my dream. Was it that piano that was covered in blood?
Harry snapped me out of my thoughts when he handed me the yearbooks. "These are the yearbooks we keep, it's fun to see the older members' activities back in the days. Sometimes we like to invite them during our events and this is where we find their contacts."
"You keep yearbooks all the way back to the beginning of the school, right?" I asked, flipping through the first of the yearbooks as Harry sorted out some old items from the shelves.
"Yeah, feel free to look through them," he replied.
I nodded and flipped the pages. The more recent yearbooks weren't as interesting as I expected. I skipped to the yearbooks from the late 1900s. I was surprised to find that there were a lot of international students even then. I saw that the uniform I wear nowadays were the same as it was back then. I then scanned through the faces captured in the photos.
I stopped when I saw a familiar face. I rubbed my eyes, thinking I might have been sleepy and was mistaken. But the face stayed the same. I checked the name below the photography but found that the words were faded and unreadable. However, there was no mistaking the features.
It was Baekhyun.
YOU ARE READING
Halls of Splintered Souls (Wandering Souls #1)
ParanormalAya and her twin sister are conjurors, a race of sorcerers. This year, they are entering their first year at Arce Umbra, the academy of magic only for the most respected conjuror family in the world. Apart from their abilities, nothing is supposed t...