Haunting Winds

Chapter 7

"I'm sorry for what I said, Penny," said Robert.

Penny merely pursed her lips and nodded, holding back tears. David walked away towards the classroom doors. He looked up to see the room number and saw it was room 401. "Come on. Let's try downstairs again," he said.

They all went downstairs to the third floor and felt hopeful with the result. They observed the room numbers and saw they were on the third floor. They walked faster downstairs, this time feeling even more hopeful until they saw the sign. The room number said 401 again. Blood rushed to Allan's head. He sat down at the end of the hallway by the window where the others joined him. They were all so tired and sleepy not even fear could keep them awake. Penny did her best to stay awake but was starting to nod off.

"It's okay, Penny. You go to sleep. We'll keep watch," David said.

Sleep took her almost immediately. She dreamed she was back home as a child playing in an apartment hallway. Her friends were with her playing Chinese garter. She repeatedly jumped perfectly synchronized with her friend. She finished the routine and landed with both feet on the garter. She looked up and found herself alone. The sound of little children playing faded and was replaced by a woman sobbing. The walls opened up and she found herself inside her home; the woman's sobbing grew louder. She walked to the end of a hallway and saw a woman crying in the kitchen.

"Mom?" She asked fidgeting her fingers, but the woman did not respond and kept crying. Penny felt something metallic touch her head. She turned around and saw nothing. She called out to her mom again. "Mom, why are you crying?" Her mother violently jerked her head towards Penny in violent anguish. Penny was taken aback. She felt a metal wire touch her again and then scratched her.

Her mother looked into her eyes. Smeared mascara around her eyes made her eyes look sunk. "You," her mother said. Penny could still feel the metal wire scratching at the back of her head. "You. You. You," her mother kept repeating as she stood up and walked towards her. Her mother screamed just as the door closed leaving Penny alone again. The scratching metal was gone and Penny could now hear her mother laughing from the other room. She opened her mother's room and saw her laughing with a man. She had her arms around his shoulders and they were both smiling.

"I am so glad you're here," her mother said. "I am so happy we're past that problem. You don't have to worry about that again."

Penny smiled at how happy her mother was. She continued to watch her with a warm feeling in her heart.

"Please don't ever leave again," her mother continued. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. I already took care of it," Penny saw tears in her mother's eyes and her heart sank again. She started feeling the metal poking and scratching at her head again as her mother turned to her. "No, why did you make him leave?" Her mother said, blood staining through her gown and running down her legs. The scratching intensified until she could feel blood run down her head. "I shouldn't have had you. I shouldn't have let you live."

Penny woke up screaming and crying. David and Robert woke up with a kick. They ran to her side to comfort her. "Penny, Penny, it's me. It's okay. We're here," Robert said grabbing her by the arms.

Penny continued crying but soon calmed down. David looked around to see if they were being watched. Both ends of the hallway were empty and silent save for the echo of Penny's crying. Penny finally gathered herself and the two asked what happened. She shook her head and wiped away her tears. Robert looked at David and Allan and saw Allan was still deep in his sleep. He had slept through all the commotion unfazed by reality in his own dream.

Allan groped blindly in the dark and felt a doorknob. He turned it and opened the door slowly. He saw his old room before his family moved for him to study in Kings and Saints High School. He had been staying there for years with his uncle who took him in so he could live near the school. He entered his room and sat on his bed. His room was small, basically a broom closet with a bed in it with only a small window and an old electric fan to provide ventilation.