The Secret Door

 

Enter At Your Own Risk

 

Graduation day is fast approaching, and finally Van will be free from the stresses of high school life. For one thing, there is nothing romantic about studying in Lister’s Academy. It’s a daily torture where they are made to follow stupid school rules and endure ill-tempered teachers. For another, the place crawls with haughty school-mates, and who knows if they really learned anything useful. In fact, in his stay here his Math never improved at all.

“And I should be given a medal for surviving an encounter with bullies,” Van boasted to his friends as they take a walk in the school ground one morning. Van pulled out a mirror and checks himself. And staring back from the mirror is a skinny boy with shadowy eyes, pale face and long fringes.

“Did it occur to you that it’s you who have a problem?” His friend, a short haired girl in track suit said. She vividly recalls how Van chased-off a gang of bullies with a box cutter.

“Hah! So being different is a problem now Al,” Van answered. And instead of a reply, Van received a slap to the face.

“It’s Alice!” His friend shrieked.

“Then start acting like a girl for crying out loud,” Van chuckled.

“You two will make a good couple you know,” a boy behind them laughed. He had a wide frame and short, spiky hair. Though burly, he had a lively and friendly face.

“You bet Don,” said another girl tagging behind them. Unlike Alice, she had long black hair and a pale face.

“Ha, Ha, Ha, very funny Cara,” Van replied sarcastically while Alice cover her face so no one will see her blush.

“So, got any plans after high school,” Don said animatedly. And as the others share their ideas on what they will be taking in college, Van saw something very out of place in the vast school ground.

“That’s strange,” he said to himself. This school is very strict when it comes to proper clothing, but sitting on a bench at the shade of a tree is a girl wearing a flowing black gown. Now what is she thinking of? Any minute now and the school official will pick her up for not wearing uniform. Out of curiosity, he left his unsuspecting friends to investigate.

Once or twice Van nearly slipped. The school ground is now hard and bumpy and the grasses are dried. When he first came here, the school ground was green with grasses and he is not sure how it ended up like this. Then after nearly stepping on a dead toad, Van stops just a few paces from the girl. He tries to act casual, so he will not be accused of spying. Up close, the girl looks weirder. The black gown she wears made her looked like a Gothic fan. She had a simple, but pretty face, olive skin and a long wavy hair. She is holding something in her hand, something grey and fluffy.

“A pigeon,” Van whispered. And indeed it’s a pigeon, and the girl seems to be talking to it.

“No way,” Van thought. Birds can’t talk. Maybe the pigeon is the girl’s pet, it’s just normal for pet owners to talk to their animals. And the pigeon turns its head towards Van before perching itself on the girl’s shoulder to whisper something.

“It can’t be,” Van muttered after watching how the bird behaves, “the pigeon could really talk!”

The bird then flutters away as the girl leaves her bench. But before walking away she catches Van’s eyes and smile.

“Is she making me follow her?” He thought while watching the girl. And he did follow her, feeling that this is the most reasonable thing to do. Van starts to feel stupid, but he observes how the people around seems to be oblivious to the strangely dressed girl among them, as if she’s invisible.

“What if I’m the only one that could see her,” he thought and his hair begins to stand.

And after a few minute or so, the girl stops. She turns to Van and disappears right before his eyes.

“No way,” Van exclaimed. He stared absentminded at the spot where the girl disappeared. There is a mix of fear and panic boiling inside him. He wants to scream but his throat becomes dry, he wants to run but his legs are now numb.

“Time to go back,” he said to himself when he finally found the courage. He is not sure if his friends will believe him if he tells them his story of a disappearing girl in black. But more importantly where the heck is he now? He was following the girl absentmindedly; hence he had no idea where he ended. But he seems to be in a dimly lit and dirty hallway. There is no light there as the lamps are either missing or broken. The only lights here are the sun-light coming from a series of open windows in his left.

“I never been here before,” he thought, which is pretty much the truth. In his stay here in the Lister’s Academy, he never had the chance to visit the rest of the school. As a lowly student, they are only allowed to go to the library, classrooms or the school canteen for a reason they didn’t know. When they are caught loitering in any forbidden places, they will be facing a week-long detention, or worst expulsion. And before the security officials find him here, Van whirls around for a way back. The atmosphere here is getting creepy, and the silence is not reassuring. He remembered the girl, and he tries hard not to think of what other horrors he will find here. At each step a cloud of dust rises from the dirty floor. He had to walk low, for the ceiling is covered with cobwebs. Obviously no one had visited this lonely hallway for years.

“What is that,” he said to himself sounding alarmed. As he was about to approach the windows to check the view outside (so he will know where he is), Van heard a strange disturbance coming from the darkened end of the hallway. He thought of rats, but rodents don’t produce low moaning sounds. Though afraid and cautious, Van’s curiosity gets the best of him. Quietly he inches his way towards the end of the hallway. The deeper he went, the darker it gets for the line of window ends here. The dust underneath is now so thick it’s like walking in a sandy field.

And now he is here. In the end of the hallway framed by layers of cobwebs is a bare looking door with an ornate knob. Now what could be behind the mysterious door? Could be a cupboard where brooms are kept, or an old classroom. Van touches the dirty knob, and he felt a strange sensation. And his touch seems to disturb what lurks behind the door, for the strange moaning sound goes stronger. In fact it now resembles the whistle of the wind. Van could also hear scuttling sounds, like the stepping of feet.

“There is something in there,” Van thought. There is only one way to find out. Van grabs the knob to open the door.

“HEY YOU, WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE!”

Van whirled around and saw the angry face of the school security glaring at him. And without a word, he grabs Van by the arm and drags him away.

“Great!” Van thought. Thanks to his curiosity to his surroundings, he became careless and broke an important school rule: Don’t go to places you shouldn’t go. Van gave the mysterious hallway a one last glimpse while pondering about the hours he will be spending in the Principal’s office.