discussed their lives and the people in them they left behind.
Bill found out Helen was from a class a few years after his. She had grown to be a middle school science teacher. She was in her thirties and engaged to be married, living a relatively happy life, until one morning she was hit by a car while jogging. Her last memory was of a teenage girl she had never seen before. The girl was bending over Helen crying and repeating that she was sorry.
She told Bill all she knew about being a ghost. Holding back only what she didn’t think she understood enough to put into words and the uncomfortable subject of nighttime. They talked like two people snowed in at an airport trying to pass the time. But suddenly Helen stopped mid-sentence. Bill wondered what had distracted her, but then it was obvious, the room was quite and the shady spot they had been sitting in stretched the whole room.
“It must be four, usually one of the teachers hang out an hour after the kids go. So it should be around four.”
They stood up and walked to the front windows. No children were in view and the late afternoon sun outside was casting long shadows.
“So are you going to tell me now what’s got you so spooked here at night?”
Helen put her hands on the shelf and closed her eyes, “Remember I told you there had been others? One was here when I got here. His name was John and he told me all he knew about this place like I’ve been telling you. He told me sometimes things come at night; things that could move through darkness like they were part of it. He said there was no hiding from them and they had no trouble getting in the classroom. “
“What do these things want when they come?”
Helen pointed around the room. “You have to understand, this, all these are structures in the plane we now exist. She could tell Bill wasn’t following, “You and I aren’t in a school. We can see it but we are not part of that world. We’re in a wilderness and there are predators here.”
“What are you saying, you said we don’t have to eat, why would ..”
“We don’t, but these things eat. They are born here- a natural part of this place. I am sure of it. You need to be alert at night. Listen for a flapping sound. It’s not like wings but more like the sound of a sheet blowing in the wind. If I hear it I’ll warn you. We have to curl up on the floor, like that corner we were at. If we keep our eyes closed and don’t move they will leave us be. But if you look at them or so much as move a leg, they will take you and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Bill didn’t want to take this too seriously, but with everything he’d accepted so far he was trying to keep an open mind.
“Curling into a ball and hoping they go away isn’t a very reassuring plan.”
“It works for me Bill and I have been here a long time. “
“You said there were others. What happened to them? Like that guy that was here when you got here?”
Helen looked at the ground.
“John and I spent years here. He became a dear friend. He was young when he died, barely a man, but he was old beyond his living years here.”
Bill noticed affection in Helen’s voice when she mentioned John’s name.
“He said he was part of the first class here, back when it was a normal school. And he had already been here longer when I got here than I’ve been here even to this day. I could tell it had taken its toll. I loved his little heart but I feared for his sanity. And yes Bill, I do believe we can lose it. One day another little boy appeared, but unlike us he was a real little boy, being only seven when he died. John and I looked after him. He became like our own son, but the nights were too much for him.”
Helen began to cry. Bill tried to touch her to comfort her but she pushed his hand away and continued.
”One night we couldn’t keep him calm anymore and he tried to run while they were standing over us. We heard…oh God Jacob, my Jacob.”
Helen’s sobs
Bill found out Helen was from a class a few years after his. She had grown to be a middle school science teacher. She was in her thirties and engaged to be married, living a relatively happy life, until one morning she was hit by a car while jogging. Her last memory was of a teenage girl she had never seen before. The girl was bending over Helen crying and repeating that she was sorry.
She told Bill all she knew about being a ghost. Holding back only what she didn’t think she understood enough to put into words and the uncomfortable subject of nighttime. They talked like two people snowed in at an airport trying to pass the time. But suddenly Helen stopped mid-sentence. Bill wondered what had distracted her, but then it was obvious, the room was quite and the shady spot they had been sitting in stretched the whole room.
“It must be four, usually one of the teachers hang out an hour after the kids go. So it should be around four.”
They stood up and walked to the front windows. No children were in view and the late afternoon sun outside was casting long shadows.
“So are you going to tell me now what’s got you so spooked here at night?”
Helen put her hands on the shelf and closed her eyes, “Remember I told you there had been others? One was here when I got here. His name was John and he told me all he knew about this place like I’ve been telling you. He told me sometimes things come at night; things that could move through darkness like they were part of it. He said there was no hiding from them and they had no trouble getting in the classroom. “
“What do these things want when they come?”
Helen pointed around the room. “You have to understand, this, all these are structures in the plane we now exist. She could tell Bill wasn’t following, “You and I aren’t in a school. We can see it but we are not part of that world. We’re in a wilderness and there are predators here.”
“What are you saying, you said we don’t have to eat, why would ..”
“We don’t, but these things eat. They are born here- a natural part of this place. I am sure of it. You need to be alert at night. Listen for a flapping sound. It’s not like wings but more like the sound of a sheet blowing in the wind. If I hear it I’ll warn you. We have to curl up on the floor, like that corner we were at. If we keep our eyes closed and don’t move they will leave us be. But if you look at them or so much as move a leg, they will take you and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Bill didn’t want to take this too seriously, but with everything he’d accepted so far he was trying to keep an open mind.
“Curling into a ball and hoping they go away isn’t a very reassuring plan.”
“It works for me Bill and I have been here a long time. “
“You said there were others. What happened to them? Like that guy that was here when you got here?”
Helen looked at the ground.
“John and I spent years here. He became a dear friend. He was young when he died, barely a man, but he was old beyond his living years here.”
Bill noticed affection in Helen’s voice when she mentioned John’s name.
“He said he was part of the first class here, back when it was a normal school. And he had already been here longer when I got here than I’ve been here even to this day. I could tell it had taken its toll. I loved his little heart but I feared for his sanity. And yes Bill, I do believe we can lose it. One day another little boy appeared, but unlike us he was a real little boy, being only seven when he died. John and I looked after him. He became like our own son, but the nights were too much for him.”
Helen began to cry. Bill tried to touch her to comfort her but she pushed his hand away and continued.
”One night we couldn’t keep him calm anymore and he tried to run while they were standing over us. We heard…oh God Jacob, my Jacob.”
Helen’s sobs
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