Hailey

Hailey sat back, heavily, onto her chair. She was quite tired, to say the least, and very angry; she needed to go through the events once more, find out what she believed and what she did not.

James' midnight rampage had left them all fully awake, though deprived of sleep, and with a certain curiosity concerning the cause of his shouting. Hailey had went over to him, talked to him, and heard - as an answer - that James had seen an eye staring back at him through a hole in the wall. She had just nodded, left, as if to forget about it right then, but it bothered her to no end. James was an insomniac in the making: he saw things that were not really there, waking the whole household up in the process. In all likelihood it was just a bad dream, though it was odd. And he had complained about the noises earlier, too.

In any case, James had done things for the Orphanage. He was one of the valuable few who took care of the orphans. And although he was a tomboy, the real James wouldn't do things like that. Then again, he hadn't been himself since the storm broke. It was either that or James was about to fly off the handle. She had already talked to the others: they all thought that James was dangerous. Going ballistic. Arthur even went as far as suggesting that they should restrain him somehow, or at least keep watch on him. Not that he couldn't do anything unnoticed in the relatively small space they were all cramped in, of course, but someone to put him down if need be.

Then again, why were they worried? Why was she worried? In all likeliness it had been a nightmare, although a vivid one, but nothing to fear nonetheless. Was there something so authentic in James' behavior that they were all convinced, deep down in their hearts, though outwardly denying it? James told her he could prove it, of course. Next night, by the eastern wall of the storeroom. Then you'd start to hear the noises. And then you could look through the little hole. What bothered Hailey, though, was what stood beyond that hole. Was it some sort of a room? Could they maybe widen the hole somehow, to get some proper light in there? A hand touched her shoulder. She turned to look. It was Henry.

"What you thinking about?" he said, as if just wanting to have some idle chitchat.

"What James said, right?"

Hailey wanted to say yes.

"No."

Henry looked at her, unbelieving. His jaw clenched stubbornly.

"Do what needs to be done, really. But James's going nuts. Do you really believe in ghosts? Could you?"

"No, I don't believe in them. But if I look through that hole and tell him there's nothing in there, maybe he'll come back around."

"Maybe."

Henry made to leave, but Hailey pulled him back.

"Watch him until nightfall, please."

Henry's jaw relaxed a little, and he smiled.

"Alright."

The rest of the day went in relative peace. Arthur and James played chess for the whole day with Henry acting as the referee, while Hailey and Anna took turns as well. Everyone knew how to play the game by now: it was the only sort of entertainment they had down there, so they spent most of their days playing, playing and playing. Though none were near decent at it, it was an intriguing game. The only downside was that it was very exhausting. Food was consumed perhaps too carelessly. It continued until nightfall when James left the table, off to brood in some dark corner, and Henry left for sleep. Another hour, and Arthur and Anna went to sleep as well. Hailey and James alone were left awake.

"So why do you want to do this alone like this?" Hailey asked, when they were sitting close by the hole.

"If you see it, you'll believe it. And the others trust you." James sounded frightful.

"And you're sure you weren't dreaming, right?"

"Yes! Don't doubt my word. You'll see, trust me. You'll see all right."

She gulped and turned to look at the hole. Suddenly James clutched her forearm.

"Hear it? It's going again. It began just now."

Hailey looked at James, feeling odd. She didn't hear anything else than James' frantic breathing.

"I don't hear anything."

"Look through the hole, then." He seemed too scared to do it himself.

"Alright."

She looked. There was only darkness on the other side, and she couldn't make any details out.

"Get me light. A candle does just fine. Shame we don't have a flashlight."

James gave her a small candle, half-melted from use. She put it as close to the hole as she could, with still being able to look through, but most of the light was wasted on the hole's faces. The little light that emerged on the other side revealed a plain stone floor, old for sure, but nothing spectacular otherwise.

"There's nothing there. You're seeing things, aren't you?" But as she had finished saying it, it was as though she could hear a small rustle through the hole. She looked back, hesitant, and was about to look again, until she realized that it could've just been the wind. Better leave it at that.

She stood up dizzily. James looked confused, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. It was like he knew what Hailey had heard. "Get some sleep" she said, feigning warmth, and the words hung heavily in the air as she left for bed. After some time, she heard James moving for sleep as well. When she was about to fall asleep, she heard the footsteps again. Heavy footsteps, heralding something. She opened her eyes. Someone loomed over her, clutching a knife on his left hand, and his face was shrouded by darkness. She screamed and curled up into a ball, awaiting a strike, but when she opened her eyes she could only see a weaponless James squatting beside her, looking at her with worry in his eyes.

"Did you hold the knife?" she asked frantically, pushing herself away from him.

"A knife? What are you talking about?" He looked genuinely surprised, perhaps even a little frightened. That was when Henry arrived.

"What happened?" Henry said, looking at James with open annoyance.

"And James, I really am sorry, but what are you doing here?"

"I heard her shriek, so I ran over as quickly as I could. I couldn't sleep at all.. when I heard her shout, I came as quickly as possible." He turned to Hailey.

"What did you see?" His voice was frightened, true, but Hailey thought she could hear interest in it as well.

"I saw someone with a knife over my bed, that's what I saw."

"And now he's gone?"

James realized that they both were staring at him.

Author's Note

Well, lots of stuff happening right now.

Reviews

[Nienor Niniel]

Now...will they all begin to turn against each other until everyone's dead, or will they unite and battle whatever maliciousness is behind these events?