Nevermore

Chapter 16

I S A A C

The Sunday service started every week at eight o'clock, and there was a forty-five minutes' walk from the front gates of the Berrington University to the double doors of the church.

    Every time Isaac used to walk through those doors, a sense of calm welcomed him home. But ever since the death of Nancy Green, all the peace seemed to have been banished from his scarred soul, and not even God could help him conquer his old nightmares this time.

    Almost every night Isaac woke up with a start, sweat running down his forehead and the air hardly reaching his lungs.

    It was Billy again. He had begun to haunt Isaac, both in dream and in consciousness.

    Every time Isaac closed his eyes, he would see Billy again. He would see heaving rivers and oceans, with a small boat gushing against the wild and merciless waters. He would hear the screams, louder and louder each time.

    The voices only ceased whenever he was in church, listening to the peaceful sound of the hymns. Today was just the same. Near the end of the service, everyone was asked to stand to their feet to sing the psalms.

    But just then, Isaac stopped singing when he suddenly felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, Isaac became even more surprised when he saw that Nicholas, Shawn, Luca, and Arthur were all standing there on the row behind him, pretending to be reading the psalms.

   "What are you lot doing here?" Isaac whispered at them with wide eyes, still in shock.

    "We need to speak with you," Nicholas said quietly, looking extremely distressed. "It's urgent."

    Seeing the old lady beside him give them a glare, Isaac said, "We'll talk after the service," before returning to his psalms.

    "It can't wait that long," Arthur said slightly louder, which caused the lady to give them another warning look.

    "Shush!" Isaac said without even turning his head this time, though he couldn't help but wonder why they'd come all this way to speak with him.

What could've been so important that even Arthur had come to the church?

    "Isaac, this is important," Luca said in a carefully quiet tone.

    "Later!" Isaac hissed at them.

    Shawn let out a frustrated huff before suddenly blurting out, "Nancy Green was murdered."

    "WHAT?" Isaac bellowed uncontrollably as he gaped back at them in terror, causing a few heads to turn at his direction.

    After sending the people around him an apologetic look, Isaac finally placed his psalm paper down on the chair and quietly followed the four boys out of the church.

***

"Where are we even going?" Isaac asked them with the frustration building up in him when he saw that they weren't headed for the West Residency Hall, back at Berrington. To his surprise, they were leading him into the girls' dormitory building.

    "Almost there," Nicholas said as they sneaked inside the building, watching out for any sign of Mrs. Hester. No boys were allowed at this part of the building. They stopped when they reached a certain door.