Chapter 4

The library was as silent as a grave yard, and a pin drop would be as loud as a siren blasting through a megaphone on a police vehicle or an ambulance. Arlene peered at Derek from her table as she waited for him to respond to the text she sent. Derek looked at his phone when he got a notification, then he shifted his gaze to Arlene, and then turned back to face his book. It became avid to Arlene that Derek wouldn’t reply any of her texts so she stood up and walked over to where he was seated.

Even when she got to his table, Derek kept mute like she wasn’t seated in front of him.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me because of yesterday?” She asked whispering.

Derek just looked up for a moment and continued with his book, and then he replied saying.

“What do you want Arlene, can’t you see I’m busy with my assignment?”

Arlene rolled her eye and muttered the word sorry to him, and he replied by saying he couldn’t hear her clearly.

“Look I said I’m sorry already, I know I made a mistake yesterday, I’m really sorry,” Arlene said in a louder tone which caught the attention of the librarian.

The old lady at the counter shouted at them on top of her voice and promised to take away their library pass for a week if they disturbed the peace of the library again. Derek huffed silently at Arlene after the warning from the librarian.

“I’m only accepting your apology because I can’t live for a week without the library,” he said.

Arlene rolled her eye and took a deep breath before saying what she was there for.

“And I have proof I wasn’t dreaming, everything seems surreal,”

“There was someone there with me in the boy’s dresser,” she said to him pulling out the piece of clothing she caught from the strange girl’s cloak.

She placed it in front of him asking for an explanation or answer, also hoping he believed in her and didn’t think she was crazy. Derek took the piece of clothe from her and examined it, he perceived it like a search dog sniffing for clues.

“Hmm, I’ve never heard of something like this,” he said rubbing his chin.

Derek kept looking at the material, he flipped it over countless times but he couldn’t find anything because the piece was too small to make any sense. He went ahead to ask for a clearer description of the girl, at least that would help him do some researches.

“Is there any other abnormal thing you’ve noticed lately?” Derek asked her.

Arlene thought of the weird dreams she had been having for a while, but she didn’t see how they were correlated because, her dreams were basically about her evil mother. It was probably post traumatic stress disorder from everything she suffered in the hands of her mum, coupled with her father’s death, so she shrugged it off and said no.

While Arlene was describing the girl, Derek was scribbling something in his notebook, and when she was done, he turned over what he had to her. It a drawing of what she had been describing, and when he asked her if the picture he painted was correct, she nodded in affirmation.

“Well, I don’t think I have come across her in any of my books. I’ve helped a lot of people master and get rid of their spirit friends because I recognise them, but this one is beyond me,” he replied and Arlene’s face fell in disappointment.

“But not to worry, I will probably come up with something before the weekend runs out,” he added and her face got lit up immediately.

Arlene squealed with joy, she stood up with her bag slouched on her shoulder and attempted to hug Derek when she heard the librarian cough from her cabinet.

“No PDA in the library please,” she said, and Arlene smiled shyly then she waved at Derek before walking towards the exit.

When Arlene got outside the library, she heaved a sigh of relieve. Even though she still had a lot to deal with, someone believed her without thinking she was cursed or possessed. Her phone buzzed while she walked to the hostel, she wanted to ignore it because she no one ever called except her annoying aunt, but then it got too much so she had to check who was calling. To her utmost surprise it wasn’t her aunt, it was Faith Tono, the girl she borrowed her History note. When she picked the call, Faith started apologizing for not returning it earlier, she said she was out of town for days, and then she asked Arlene to come over to her apartment which was off camp to pick up the note book after offering to pay her transport fare.

Arlene didn’t like the idea of leaving the school premises alone because she wasn’t familiar with it yet, the school premises itself was humongous and scary, talk more of the whole city. But then she had no choice because the assignment was due in two days, and she had been trying to reach Faith for a while but her number was always not available. She couldn’t let this opportunity slide because Faith called by herself and who knows when next she would get to see her. Arlene made a u-turn in front of the hostel gate and headed for the main gates that lead outside school.

She heaved a huge sigh of regret, she hoped not to be disappointed more because she didn’t know what exactly Faith had in store for her. At this point in her life, with all the things happening she had to be on guard, but then her grades mattered to her. She flagged down the first tricycle she saw on her way, and she chattered it, the ride cost about fifty Niagua dollars to get to Faith’s hostel. She painfully squeezed out fifty dollars and handed it over to the driver, she regretted telling Faith not to bother about the transport. Even though her father left a lot of money in her name,and the court at Soughtinham made sure her African relatives didn’t tamper with it, she still had to be careful spending her money. That was where she paid her school fees from and took care of her other needs, because she never got a dime from her relatives.

The ride to Faith’s place was very bumpy due to the roads, it got to a point when she almost fell out the tricycle and the driver laughed, jokingly teasing her. Minutes later the driver stopped in front of a brownish three storey building deep inside a strange dusty road, the lodge looked beautiful from the outside but then Arlene couldn’t imagine having to walk through the dusty road everyday to get to school. The school hostel was very comfortable and neat, plus you could stay a lone if you didn’t want a roommate.

Arlene pulled out her phone from her bag and called Faith, good thing she picked up immediately. Faith walked out to the balcony on the last floor and waved to Arlene who was still inside the tricycle. Arlene thanked the driver for being patient, and then she came down from the tricycle carefully picking her steps on the dusty path, till she got to inside the compound of the hostel. The compound of the hostel wasn’t large, the gate was very close to the door, and there were about two cars parked inside the compound.

Arlene walked into the building and straight to the last floor, and to faith’s room. Before she could knock, Faith opened the door and pulled her in. The apartment reeked of weed and alcohol which Arlene found nauseating, she put her hand across her nose to prevent herself from inhaling more. Faith offered Arlene a seat, which she wanted to reject due to the impression already created in her mind, but then Faith said she forgot her bag at her friends place. Arlene shrugged and took a seat while waiting for Faith’s friend to arrive with her note.

Faith noticed Arlene wasn’t comfortable with the bottles littered everywhere and the pack of weed left on the floor. She quickly put them away in her bedroom and returned with a bottle of air freshener and sprayed it all over the room. The smell got worse for a while but then it stopped, and all Arlene could perceive was the sweet scent of the air freshener piercing through her nostrils. Faith disappeared into her bedroom, and Arlene was left to explore the parlour which she was left in. The room was exquisite and everything from the couch to the large flat screen that almost covered the wall seemed very expensive. Arlene couldn’t help but wonder how much they cost, if she ever tried to live like Faith she would probably empty her father’s account before she is done with school.

Arlene was still checking out the apartment when the door swung open and two girls walked in. One put one a crop top and a very tight skirt that revealed her thighs, her butt was barely covered. The other had a low waist jean and a crop too. Arlene looked at them wondering why they were all dressed, they were supposed to drop a note book, but they dresses like they had a high class party to attend.

Faith walked out from her bedroom immediately and they both screamed in delight, hugging each other. After their little meets and greet, Faith turned to Arlene and handed her note book over. Arlene thanked Faith for returning her note book, and made to leave but she was stopped by Faith who offered to at least give her a lift. As usual she was hesitant but then Faith had her way of convincing her otherwise, so Arlene lay back till they were ready to leave.Arlene was quiet throughout the drive, because she found the conversations Faith and her friends had awkward. She sat at the back with Faith, while her other friends were in front, with one of them driving.

Arlene started getting worried because she was still outside and the sun had already set and the clouds were slowly getting dark. As soon as she caught a glimpse of the school building, she felt relieved, she couldn’t wait to get inside school, take a hot shower and lie down all covered in her blanket. Plus she had recently purchased a novel she couldn’t wait to read. ‘Mafia Princess’ by Chuka Sandra, also known as The Lunar Writer. But then something happened, Faith’s friend wheeled the car to the junction just before the school, and Arlene got alarmed.

“What’s going on?” Arlene asked Faith raising her tone, because she wanted her friends to know they couldn’t just push her about, or force her to do what she didn’t want to.

“Relax, we are just going for a party at a hostel close by,” Faith replied.

“Yeah it’s just a birthday party, not like we are kidnapping you or something,” the girl driving said.

The girl on the passenger’s seat turned back to look at Arlene and then she said

“Plus there will be food, weed, and dr......,” she was about to finish when Arlene cut her short.

“I don’t drink; please I want to go home. If you won’t take me to the school gate please stop the car, let me get down and walk,”

Faith asked her friend Georgia who was driving to turn around and drop Arlene in front of the school. The girls in front sighed and Georgia started off by asking Faith about what they discussed earlier, apparently she was supposed to tell Arlene about their sorority club, even though they had already slipped an invitation letter inside her book.

“Hello, you guys know I’m still in the car and I can hear you right?” Arlene asked.

“You are supposed to hear us,” Georgia said.

They pulled up in front of the school gate, they couldn’t enter because at that time the gate was locked and you’d need a special pass to get inside. Georgia urged Arlene to open up her notebook, she did as she was instructed and she saw an envelope that reeked of perfume and weed, the smell she perceived at Faith’s place when she sprayed the air freshener. She tore open the envelope which was sealed to reveal a folded paper. She unfolded the paper and read through it to the bottom where it was signed with kiss marks from three different lips. Arlene didn’t know how to feel at the moment, she had a lot of problems at hand, Faith wasn’t sorry she didn’t return her note on time and she’d have to hurry the assignment. All she could think was inviting her to her sorority club, it dawned on her that she probably never needed the note. She just wanted to get her attention as the new white pretty girl.

Arlene got out of the car in anger, she slammed the door so hard, not minding if she broke a thing, and then she went ahead to tear the paper she was holding in shreds. After that she threw it inside the car and walked off to the school premises. The security guards at the gate opened the side gate when she approached them and showed her ID. Arlene was so angry, she vowed never to speak to Faith, the gate was a little bit far from that of the hostels, and everywhere was already dark. She’d have to walk down to her hostel in the eerie atmosphere around her. She put on her flash light and walked briskly towards the hostel. Half way there something passed her with the speed of light and when she flashed her torchlight, she saw the door that lead to the school building swing back and forth like someone passed through.

She ignored what happened but then she saw a black clothe in front of her when she made to continue her journey to her hostel. She bent down and picked the cloth, and then opened it up to realize it was a cloak. Arlene’s heart skipped a beat at what she discovered; she turned to face the front door of the school building. Without thinking twice, she started walking towards the door, immediately she got there she pulled it open, and walked into the hallway.

A girl was standing in front at the other end of the hallway that made a T-junction; it was like she was waiting for Arlene to get there. As soon as Arlene took a step forward, the girl went right, and Arlene followed her again like the other day. She kept chasing after her till they got to a corner and the girl stood still because there was no other place to run to. Arlene approached trying to catch her breath from all the running.

“Hey!” Arlene heard someone call out before she could say a thing to the girl.

She turned to see the janitor approaching her with a very bright torchlight that almost got her blind.

“What are you doing here by this time?” he asked again, and Arlene pointed at the girl.

The janitor looked at her like she was crazy because there was no one there, Arlene turned back and discovered the girl was no longer there, and her cloak was gone too. The janitor looked at her for an explanation, so she had to lie that she forgot her note which had an assignment due the next day. She also told him she had been searching for him to pen her classroom, and then he led her to the classroom and unlocked the door for. Arlene just went to her locker and ran her hands through it like she was looking for something, and then after a awhile she told he she had found the note book, and then she made her way to her hostel.