Cloud Gazer

Chapter 12 - St. Margaret's

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Heart pounding in her chest, Elise stood quickly and turned to face the noticeboard, searching for any other information of the Senowitz, checking the door periodically for anyone coming. She looks back at the clock. Two minutes.

Her eyes scanned a disorganised board with little information it had to give back, pins clipped schedules and meetings but nothing of value to Elise. Her eyes retuned to the mess she has created on the ground, wondering if she had missed Senowitz's book, that perhaps it was hiding in plain sight with all the answers that Elise needs, to add something more to Olive's late name, more to that 'Deceased' status, that maybe this book will show that Olive died for something bigger than herself.

Before her search could continue, Elise heard a dreaded sound. Click-click, click-clack, the fast paced steps made their way quick to the office, the clicks of heels becoming louder which each stride.

Elise shoved the receipt in her pinafore pocket, residing with the empty 'DIVAVOLDE' bottle, and before she knew it, the office door was swung open revealing a wide-eyed Mrs. Apan and a confused Ms. Ruben.

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"What on earth has happened here?!" Mrs Apan screamed, her voice penetrating the walls of the small office, with Elise feeling as though the ground below shook when she spoke.

Elise, once in control of the situation, felt timid and helpless. In the game of chess, Elise had been demoted to a pawn, standing against a strong, aggressive queen. Elise had no moves.

"Get here now!" said Mrs Apan as she stormed over grabbing Elise's forearm, dragging her out the office and into the corridor where all the students were peering out from the projection room, her pinafore jingling with Nurse Deborah's keys.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Mrs Apan was seething, her teeth barred and ready to attack, her hand remained tightly wound around Elise's arm.

"I-I was" Elise failed to catch a single sentence, mumbling and stuttering to come up with a valid reason for herself to be in Nurse Deborah's office.

Mrs. Apan rolled her eyes at Elise's incompetence and turned to speak to Ms. Ruben, "Get one of the students here" she ordered, and Ms. Ruben obeyed.

In the moments Ms. Ruben made her way to the projection room, the students quickly returned to their seats, as though they were unaware of the commotion outside. Mrs. Apan's eyes were fixed on Elise, she wondered if Mrs. Apan will ever break one day and become worse than she had ever seen her.

Ms. Ruben returned with a small blonde-haired girl with two tight braids laid against her chest in a pinafore two sizes too large for her. Elise recognised this girl as Elizabeth. Mrs. Apan voiced her frustration.

"Why would you bring her?" she said scornfully,  analysing the small frame of Elizabeth. Mrs. Apan proceeded to check her watch, knowing this heated exchange is taking unnecessary time out of her day. Mrs. Apan rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, squatting to Elizabeth's level to speak to her with a firm and false tenderness. "Elizabeth, take Elise to St. Margaret's room. Return back in five minutes, okay?"

Elizabeth seemed shocked but nodded quickly to appease Mrs. Apan. Before Elise and Elizabeth left, Mrs. Apan smiled told Elise to "Enjoy" with a sinister smile, swishing her body around and listening to the click-clack of her feels as she returned to the projection room. Elise and Elizabeth made their way to St. Margaret's room in silence.

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St. Margaret's room was only used on the rarest of occasions. The girls spread rumours that it was haunted, in an attempt to scare the younger students, which seemed to work as Elizabeth walked with a certain tightness and fear in her eyes. The room sat in a ordinary corridor with the same beige door expect with the name in-scripted on the frame. From what Elise could remember, the room is dull, a small window, damp on the ceiling which to the ground, white mould and single bed frame, no mattress.

Each step Elise took, the pill bottle rattled, a noise which rung in her eyes. She could feel the receipt moving in her pinafore pocket, bouncing around with each step. Elise followed Elizabeth in silence, but after a corridor or two, the positions changed with Elise as the leader and Elizabeth as the follower.

Elise emerged two corridors, one left, one right. The left was the way to St. Margaret's room, which had no known date of when she would return to the bedroom, or if she ever would. The left way would lead to the dinning room, the bedroom and eventually, the main doors to exit. Elise took the right corridor and Elizabeth followed.

Elise began walking faster, until Elizabeth was running to keep up with her before stopping in her tracks.

"This isn't the way" she said, eyes to the ground.

"Yes it is" Elise lied unconvincingly.

"Mrs. Apan said I have to take you to St. Margaret's" Elizabeth replied, her eyes on Elise know, her body turned around indicating the route she wishes to take.

Elise's considered what to do in this moment, she could run, run to the main doors, to the town, to the library but she knew Elizabeth would run back to Mrs. Apan and tell her everything, giving her a fate worse than nights in St. Margaret's room.

"I have something I have to do" Elise said after a small moment of silence.

"No" Elizabeth replied, with a backbone Elise was unaware she had.

"Please" Elise begged. "It's important."

Elizabeth stared back, unblinking.

"You can come with me." Elise said smiling, hoping this will convince her, but Elizabeth seemed betrayed by the insinuation of breaking the rules of Sagemore.

"No, no, we're going to St. Margaret's!" Elizabeth said through gritted teeth, her small hands grabbing Elise's arm, pressing on the red mark left by Mrs. Apan, stinging Elise when Elizabeth grabbed her.

"Don't touch me!" Elise yelled, pushing Elizabeth hard to the ground, her braids flinging back and her small body landing with a dull thud. Elise was shocked by her reaction, the anger and aggression that was quickly conjured, but she remained intimidating to Elizabeth.

"I'm going, if you say anything, I'm going to shove you in St. Margaret's room and lock you in there. If you don't want to be locked in a room with a ghost, you won't tell anyone. Okay?"

Elizabeth nodded quickly in fear, Elise, in a position of power, felt terrible in this moment. Elizabeth looked even smaller on the ground, the clothing swallowing her and her large naive eyes staring back at Elise with true terror. Elise felt like it was a rite of passage, that each of the young, new girls must fear the older ones, it shocked Elise how much easily she became the one to fear, despite the threat was the juvenile.

Leaving Elizabeth behind Elise she turned around and made her way quickly to the town centre, the sole of her leather shoes wearing down with each stride.

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