Behind The Locks || ONC 2024

Chapter 2: The Ghost Behind You

Run. If hypothetically it happened, that would be the first light to glint in her mind.

She was a lady of a strict no-superstition-believe, but how else could a book from a rigid shelf turn itself to the floor?

Twelve Locks Valley had its mysteries. Mysteries that Arielline heed less about ever since she and her family moved into the forlorn town in the countryside.

Furthermore, neither of the villagers were willing to share the backstory of the town. Zack, her brother, had barely any information about its past, despite his utter efforts to consult door to door.

Though Arielline bared in mind that ever since she set foot on the grounds of Twelve Locks Valley, a town that was brimming with a death toll less than a century past, anything could happen, she wanted to think of it as a crooked trick being played by one of her friends. And she could swear it was devoid of any humor.

She took the book and flipped it, reading its description.

One night, a girl named Sophia Grace unleashes ghosts to the world of humans. 

Fridayvill, a town of harmony and love turns into chaos, overflowing with diabolical ghosts. They form an elite army controlled by an imperium ghost, and no one can stop them.

Will Sophia Grace, Dominic Spikes, and Duncan Russ survive in their quest to find a cure for the growing ghost blight?

Reading horror stories was not her MO and certainly not at night, after an enigmatic occurrence.

Viewing an empty slot on the horror section, she restored the book and decided to let that one pass. 

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, instantly after seaming it to its partners, another thud took her by surprise. She quivered, summoning her defense mechanism to stay intact. 

"This is not funny." She swallowed a lump of saliva, "come out now." 

Adrenaline surged across her, switching places with blood. Full body paralysis followed involuntarily. She stood transfixed, silence getting louder. 

Could the library be haunted?

No. No. She braced herself and trusted the slight modicum of hope that it could be one of the few friends she had made. Mirabelle maybe, the melodramatic one, or Dan, Mirabelle’s boyfriend.

"Hello? Mirabelle. Dan. Zack. I know you are behind this. If you show up right now I won't kick your ass." Her words reverberated across empty hallways and struck back unanswered. “Okay, I promise.”

Just like every other attempt, her words went wasted, ricocheting off empty marbled library walls.

She strode for the section as slow as she had done the first time. 

A book laid on the floor, just like the other. 

Front cover up, with a picture of a translucent ball of light hovering above the ground behind a short girl, maybe in her middle teenagehood.

A thick white font shouted out the name of the author, Sedrick Lamar, and its title, Ghost And Humans.

The morbid obsession of ghosts the trickster had was unappealing, if not threatening, and as far as she could tell non of her friends had it.

Despite knowing that, she still wanted to believe that Mirabelle was filming her for another striking Instagram story, and if it was shooting for the star she was going to shoot her with it.

Only when she picked the book up did she notice its agedness. Its color marched the relic remnants of ancient books dashed in the store; white traded to light brown.

Gnawed with both age and rats, its edges were hilly, and rotten in that a mere touch crumbled a substantial piece of its cover.

She bothered less about its stature and restored the ramshackle of a book to the fantasy section.

Two thuds followed in unison.

"Hello, I'm scared as hell. Can you come out now?!" 

Why would anyone answer? 

The Day We Met. The third novel laid on the floor within one of the alleys. Its cover photo resembled that of Ghosts And Humans but instead there was a ghost lurking behind a tree, its pursuit to pounce at the girl jamming in its eyes.

“I don't believe in ghosts, now come out or else I will lock you up in here.”

Lying was also not her forte, the tremble in her tone gave her away.

The Ghost Behind You. She stood next to another book that laid on the floor in the same sinister manner. 

It was followed by a floorboard creaking behind her and shivering coldness resembling that of the North pole dominating. It pricked her skin like sharp nails perpetually jabbing.

The chandelier at the other side of the library died after flickering weakly. Which other time would be perfect for her phone to run out of power? It shut down promptly. 

A sinister fog evaded the floor like a thick cloud had just been downcasted. Wisp after another, it consumed Arielline’s legs till they were no more than a white cloud just like the rest of the floor. 

Her defense mechanism was waiting for just the moment. Her feet jumped into gear drifting her off like an aggressive cheetah. 

To her dismay, the fog followed her like a desert storm. 

The floor became slippery, her heels became heavier, the library became larger, and her muscles became feeble. All odds seemed to be against her. 

As if being chased by a cloud of resonating smoke wasn't enough, a gnarly floorboard tripped her. She scraped her knees first followed by her elbows and face planted herself on the floor.