Chapter 28
Whoooosh. Along with the sound of the wind, the lights on the wall flickered for a moment. At that ominous sign, Anita swallowed hard.
She wanted to turn around, but she couldn’t bring herself to move her head. The moment she looked back, the presence that had existed only in her imagination felt like it might suddenly jump out into reality. Like most frightened people, Anita didn’t hurry her steps. If she admitted to being scared, she felt something terrible might actually happen.
So Anita walked slowly, as if she hadn’t noticed anything.
As she got closer to the library entrance where bright lights shone, her steps gained strength. What had been a gradually speeding walk soon became more like a run. When she reached the entrance and gasped for breath, she realized she had been running full speed.
“You ran?”
“Yeah. I guess I did.”
Arriving at the library with its warm light and two living people, everything felt stable. Instead of going back to the corner where she had been sitting, Anita squeezed herself between Edmund and Rutger. Something in the dark hallway had sent a chill down her spine as if it were sticking to the back of her head. The warm body heat of a living person finally reassured her.
“It’s cramped.”
Rutger grumbled with a voice full of complaints. Earlier, Anita had been uncomfortably wedged between the two, but now she sat perched at the edge of the sofa, so there seemed to be more space — though Anita didn’t have the energy to care about such trivial things.
“Want me to move if it’s cramped?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Thanks to the loud thunderclap that had woken him, Edmund offered help, but Anita firmly refused.
“Wait. I said I’m uncomfortable.”
Ignoring Rutger’s incredulous complaints, Anita opened her book and began reading. But even after a long time, the words didn’t register. She kept staring blankly at the corner of the page where there were no letters, when Rutger spoke.
“I’ve got to go. I have a lecture left.”
As he closed his book and stood up, Anita naturally got up too. She couldn’t concentrate anyway, and didn’t want to walk the hallway alone.
“Why are you getting up?”
“I’m leaving now.”
She never said she was too scared to go alone. Instead, as if that had been her plan all along, she calmly put her book on the cart and walked toward the library exit.
“Will you stay here, senior?”
“Hmm. Probably.”
Edmund was so absorbed in his book it was like he might be pulled inside. Anita decided not to disturb him.
“What are you doing? Let’s go.”
When had Rutger gotten that far ahead? He was already outside the library. Anita hurried to catch up.
The hallway was brighter than before. Probably a temporary outage caused by the storm. Feeling a little relieved, Anita could walk with a calmer attitude than before.
Although it was noon, the sun at its highest, the rain clouds covering it made the outside dim. Glancing outside, Anita noticed Rutger was already far ahead, so she quickened her pace.
Seeing her fidget nervously like a scared person, his eyes narrowed.
“You’ve been acting weird. Are you sick?”
“Huh? No. It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem like nothing to me.”
“……”
“Seriously… what’s wrong?”
Suddenly, all the hallway lights went out. Rutger grumbled irritably, and Anita stood frozen, groping blindly in the darkness.
“Grab my hand.”
Fortunately, Rutger found Anita’s hand at once. Feeling his warmth helped her calm down a bit. Holding his hand tightly, she carefully took one step at a time. Even though all the lights were off, faint light came through the window, so if she concentrated, she could see what was in front of her.
Of course, if she wasn’t careful, she’d easily bump her head against the wall.
Speaking of which, as if the words had summoned it, Anita bumped her head with a thud. Dizzy but holding herself together, she tried to take another step — but her foot naturally got tangled.
“Pfft.”
Hearing laughter nearby, Anita frowned. Was her head bump really that funny?
“Why are you laughing?”
“Not me. Maybe it’s a ghost.”
“Ghost…”
Though she knew perfectly well there was no such thing, her hairs still stood on end.
“How do we get out of here?”
Anita cautiously asked, but he didn’t answer.
“Are you listening?”
Still no response. Anita gently shook the right hand he was holding. When he still didn’t react, a creepy thought popped into her head.
Could it be that he was possessed by a ghost?
Of course, that was impossible, but sometimes imagination runs wild in bad situations, turning worse.
“Rutger?”
“……”
“Are you really Rutger?”
“……”
“Do you remember the name of the puppy I used to have when I was little?”
Anita asked carefully. But again, no answer came for a long time. Goosebumps rose on her hand that he was holding.
“Hmm, was it Eloise?”
His voice, tinged with laughter, suddenly felt chilling. Anita twisted to pull her hand free, but he gripped hers tightly.
“I’m joking. You never had a dog.”
Anita sincerely wanted to kick his shin just once. It was frustrating that the surrounding darkness prevented her.
Clatter!
They both froze at the same time. The noise came from not far away.
“Hey. What do we do? I think it really is a ghost.”
