Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“No wonder you haven’t been sleeping.”
He gives me a pained look. “That’s not the worst of it. The voice wakes me up, but then for the last two days, there’s been a…a…”
“A what?”
He sighs and runs his hand over his face. “I don’t know. I just don’t. Two nights ago, I heard this sound outside my door. It wasn’t Marie. It was the sound of something heavy dragging itself down the hall. I opened the door, and lo and behold, I saw a trail of blood going down the hallway and a body pulling itself along.”
I gasp, nearly falling backward.
Crane is quick. His long arms shoot around my waist, holding me up. “Perhaps I shouldn’t be scaring my students so that they faint,” he murmurs, and his face has never been so close to mine. I’m shocked by his story, scared, and yet my eyes are sweeping over his features, noting all the little things I didn’t notice at a distance, such as the scar at the end of his left brow or the slightly crooked tip of his nose. I definitely didn’t notice the mahogany brown that’s flecked in with the grey of his iris that gives his eyes such warmth and depth.
“No,” I squeak, conscious of how close my mouth is to his. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
His eyes drop to my lips for a moment, and then he frowns. “Good.”
He pulls back and straightens me up, his arms dropping away, distance coming between us.
“Tell me more,” I say quickly before he has a chance to change his mind.
He thinks that over and then nods at the buildings. “I will, but only if I can walk you back inside. I’m afraid it’s getting a little chilly out, and you don’t have a coat.”
I want to tell him that I’m always hot since I’m always wearing so many layers, but I just nod, and we walk away from the shore.
“Not to mention that lake makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes,” he adds. I glance at it over my shoulder, at the darkness. I have to agree with him. “The energy is palpable.”
“Strange energy,” I say, nodding.
“Too fitting for a ghost story,” he says.
“So what happened?” I prod, our feet on the gravel path again. “You saw the body. Was it a woman? A man?”
“A woman in a nightgown. Always crawling around the corner.” He makes a face at that, and I suppress another shudder. “And yet I could never catch up with her. Finally, I saw her go inside my room, but when I went in after her, she was gone. And the blood, which had been very real on the floor, was all gone. The only tangible thing that was left behind was a row of lit candles on my windowsill and a dead snake on my desk, stabbed with sewing needles. Someone had written Welcome to Sleepy Hollow. May you never leave in blood.”
“My goodness,” I say through a gasp. “That’s…that’s…”
“Cruel? Horrifying? Diabolical?” he provides. “I thought so too. But when I brought it up with Sister Sophie, she passed it off as a prank. Some students are illusionists, especially second years, and it’s not uncommon to haze the new teachers.”
“But the woman in the hallway,” I point out. “The blood.”
“The blood disappeared,” he says, “so that points to illusion.”
“But you don’t believe that.”
He gives me a curious look. “No. You’re right. I don’t believe that. Especially as it happened again last night. I woke up to hear Marie’s voice, her…laugh,” a dark look comes over his eyes, “then I heard the…body. As it went down the hall. But this time, I didn’t want to invite trouble. I stayed in my room with the door locked and waited for the sound to disappear. It took a while, sounded like it was going up and down the hallway for hours, but I refused to open the door. Still barely slept after that.”
We stop in front of the building where his class is. “I’m afraid this is where we’ll be parting ways today,” he says with a slight bow.
“You can’t leave me now,” I protest. I reach out and grab the collar of his coat. “I want to know more.”
“And I have papers to grade,” he says, eying my hand until I let go of him. “But I promise if it happens again, I’ll let you know.” He swallows and looks around the grounds. “I have to admit it’s nice to be able to tell this to someone who doesn’t dismiss the whole thing.” His gaze comes back to me, this time with intensity. “You’re nothing like the rest of your family, are you?”
“I hope not,” I find myself admitting.
He gives me a knowing smile. “Take care, Kat.”
Then he turns and walks off, and I know there is so much more he’s not telling me.