#Dahlia twisting the knife (axe) just a little bit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

korra-the-red-lion · 3 years

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Unnatural Affairs. Chapter 6: Decision.

(Ally)

Monday, 5:30pm.

I sat at the library table, sitting with Michael and Mags. We had to work on a group project for our Drama/English class, and we were lucky enough to choose our own partners. Michael was an obvious pick since we became fast friends, and Mags and I got along really well.

Mags reached into the chip bag and pulled a decent handful. “Does anyone else hate this project?” they asked as they shoved chips in their mouth.

I nodded as Michael tilted his head back with a groan. “It’s like Kinkly just wants everyone to love drama as much as he does, but we don’t,” said Michael.

The project we were working on is out of three options, and we decided to go for option #2, which was take a scene and adapt it. After that, we had to do an analyse as to why we picked the scene we did and what it meant. We hadn’t even picked a scene yet as all the drama books sat opened around us as we read through them. Some of them were just so boring.

I reached over and grabbed a few fries out of the McDonald’s bag. We just bought a bunch of food and forced ourselves to work through this until we at least had something we could work with.

“I just don’t get why he couldn’t at least pick something more interesting,” said Mags as they picked up our copy of Miss Julie, “or at least recent.”

“Now, Mags, don’t be ridiculous,” tsked Michael. “It’s not good if it was written before 1990, and even that’s pushing it.”

We laughed at that as I reached for Medea. “Maybe we could do something different with it, though. Like, what if we genderbend a character or something? I know it might change how the scene is portrayed, but at least it won’t be incredibly cishet and male.” I gave Michael an apologetic smile, who just shrugged.

“Don’t forget white,” he added mildly, batting his eyelashes at me. I snorted, he got me there.

“Not a terrible idea, Holland,” said Mags appreciatively. “I mean, it is one of the only ideas we’ve had so far, though.”

The misery that just blew through the group was nearly palpable. It was clear that we weren’t getting anywhere. And to top it off, we all hated this class and the project. Motivation was at an all time low.

“Maybe we should take a break,” I suggested. When the others agreed, I got up to use the washroom. As I was walking towards it, I could hear the sounds of sirens. Yokeville was a small town, so the sounds of sirens were a little uncommon. Still, sirens were just a part of daily living. It wasn’t until I was walking back that I could see the flashing lights.

Confused yet intrigued, I headed to the little café in the library, where there were massive windows that you could see a good portion of the campus from. The lights were flashing through, and a few students had wandered over to see what was going on like I did.

There was an ambulance and a couple of police cars parked in front of the Athletic Centre. Huh, I wondered why that was. Obviously, someone must have called 9-1-1, but the question was why?

That question was answered quickly as all of our phones went off with an alarm all at once. My heart raced a little as I read that they may be a dangerous individual on campus and that we were to remain where we were. The library staff raced to lock the door and told us to get away from the windows.

I went back to our table. Michael looked over at me and gently took my hand when he saw it trembling. “Hey, we’re okay.”

“But someone else might not be,” I whispered.

He had nothing to say then. We sat in a tense quiet. Students around us where texting and calling their parents to let them know what was going on. I thought about doing the same but thought I should maybe wait until we had more information. I didn’t want my mom to worry.

I could feel my chest constricting a little as the tension settled in. My stomach twisted into a knot as I settled against Michael, taking comfort in his presence. Mags reached over and squeezed my hands, and I gave them a grateful smile.

I wasn’t sure how long it had been since we locked the doors, as we decided to watch Pitch Perfect on Netflix to pass the time, but all of sudden there was a thumping that caused a panicked whisper to spread throughout the library. The elderly lady who worked behind the desk cautiously approached, holding up the fire axe as her weapon of choice. It turned out one of the officers was knocking, and she let him in.

She told us all after that we were going to be escorted back to our residences, and that situation had been dealt with. What gave me the most anxiety about this whole thing was that they didn’t tell us what happened. We saw EMS, and the police had been looking for a dangerous individual. Was someone hurt? Who was this person? I couldn’t help but look towards the Athletic Centre as I walked back to my residence.

I wondered if Lyn was okay…

XXX

Classes were cancelled for the week.

An email was sent out explaining that some deranged sociopath had broken into the Athletic Centre and attacked one of the swimmers, but they had been apprehended by the RCMP. I had sent a panicked text to Lyn, and felt my chest loosen when she responded back saying she was okay, but only a little.

Someone had still been attacked. My stomach wouldn’t settle, however. I’m not sure what it was, but I felt like something wasn’t sitting right with this whole thing.

Going against my better judgement, I left my dorm in the afternoon. Sarah had gone home for the week, seeing as we had no classes, and her parents were very worried. Mine were too, but I told them I was okay to stay here. Something in my gut told me I needed to stay. I walked down the concrete path that led to the Athletic Centre and stared at it from afar.

There was something off. The whole energy surrounding the place seemed…dark. I took my glasses off and played with the arm between my fingers. Why would anyone attack someone in a locker room? It seemed so random. Not that a madman with a knife ever made sense, but this was especially strange. You could have gone anywhere on campus or in town, so why there?

Then my mind went back to the blood shower incident and I felt my heart drop in my stomach. If something bizarre already happened there once, who was to say it couldn’t happen again? Maybe it wasn’t a person attacking a student, but a spirit? But wait, they claimed that they arrested someone. But was that the truth?

Without realizing, I found myself standing in front of the building. It was locked down for the day as the RCMP continued with their investigation. I felt the urge to go inside and see the locker room myself spike, but I fought it. If I couldn’t get answers here, maybe I could somewhere else.

I took a photo with my phone before I left. I wanted to make sure I had a picture of it now and later to see if there was a difference in the energy. Maybe I was just tired, but it looked different today than it had previously.

Before I headed to my next destination, I fired off a text to Michael asking him to meet me. I know he wasn’t going to be happy about it, but I felt like I needed the support. Ignoring the voice in my head that sounded suspiciously like my dad, I headed towards the tree and looked up at the branches.

Sure enough, she was there. She was still fuzzy and hard to make out. Her attention seemed to be focused somewhere else, as it took me a few times to get her attention.

“Ah, look who decided to return,” she cooed as she floated down. The usual crushing sensation filled my body as she got closer.

“I did,” I said trying to sound more confidant that I felt. “I have questions.”

She cocked her head and raised a lazy eyebrow. “Oh, do you now? Whatever could you want?”

Before I said anything, Michael nervously approached me. “Uh, you said you wanted to meet here?” he asked, eyeing the tree.

I swallowed hard. “Yeah, I need the support. I’m talking to a ghost and I don’t like doing it alone.”

Michael paled as he looked between me and the tree. I know he can sense something was there, but he couldn’t see it. I held my breath, ready for him to think of me as a freak and leave. But, he just nodded slowly, his eyes slightly wide in fear. “Okay, okay, yea. We’re totally talking about you not telling me about the whole ‘talking to ghosts’ thing after this though.”

“Deal.” I turn my attention back to the ghost, who was watching with boredom.

“Remembered I was here, did you?”

I winced. “Sorry. I won’t let it happen again. I just wanted to start off with your name. I don’t think I should be calling you tree ghost forever.”

I think that might have caught her by surprise. She twirled her hair around her fingers and stared at me in thoughtful silence. I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead as I waited for her to answer. Sometimes they got offended if you asked, as it served as a reminder of a time when they were alive.

Finally, she graced me with a small smile. “Dahlia Cressman. I believe you are the first person to ask me that in a long while, human.”

I smiled back. “Most people don’t talk to dead people, Dahlia.”

She clasped her hands behind her back and gave a small nod of her head. “I suppose not. Well, ask your questions then…after you introduce yourself, that is.”

This is where it gets a little sticky. A ghost knowing your name was something that could be very dangerous. My dad always told me that if a ghost knew your name, they could steal your soul. I wasn’t sure how true it was, but I respected that rule for a long time. However, if I wanted the answers I was looking for, I knew I was going to have to take some risks.

Sucking in a tense breath, I nodded and said, “Ally.”

It was a bit of cheat. I didn’t give her my full name, nor did I give her my maiden name. I still didn’t know if I could trust her fully yet.

However, it seemed to satisfy her. “Ally,” she rolled it around her tongue. “I like it.”

I fought the urge to shudder, only the twitch of my hand gave away my discomfort. Michael slipped his hand over mine, giving me a nervous smile. He looked back in the general direction where Dahlia was, trying his best to look serious.

“Okay, so… you mentioned last time we talked that you might know what was going on with the showers?”

Dahlia sat midair and crossed her legs. “I do, yes. I also recall telling you to research the archives. Did you?”

I blushed in embarrassment. “Not yet, no.”

“It’s been a week, Ally.”

“I’m very aware, yes.”

She smiled amusedly at me. “Yet you didn’t go. Well, I suppose I can tell a little. You met Jamieson, correct?”

“Jamieson?” I inquired, tilting my head in confusion.

“The bastard in the bookstore?”

The image of the smarmy ghost with the mean smirk popped in my head. I frowned and nodded, “Right, him.”

“He and I are not the only spirits left on this God forsaken campus,” said Dahlia. She twirled her hair around her finger, looking thoughtful. “I am not sure about the exact amount, unfortunately. I do know, however, that there is a spirit roaming around that sports building. The one where all the ruckus was last night.”

Oh. Shit. That explains the blood showers…and maybe the attack last night. Vengeful ghosts were a thing, right? This time, I couldn’t supress the shudder as my blood ran cold. Nothing good ever came from an angry spirit. Or at least that’s what the movies taught me.

“Does this news surprise you, Ally?” asked Dahlia.

I swallowed thickly and gave a small nod. “Most places don’t have a ton of restless souls unless there’s a reason. Jamieson…I’m not sure whether he died from suicide or murder. You look as if you were murdered. And if there is at least one other ghost lingering around, does that mean they were murdered too?”

The smile Dahlia gave me was not pleasant at all. “Possibly. Some do stick around if they have lingering regrets. Suicide could potentially lead to that. Or an accidental death, such as overdosing or whatever. Who’s to say we all haven’t been murdered?”

Michael was shaking beside me, from the stress of her presence or something else, I wasn’t sure. I slipped my hand out of his and pulled out my notebook, quickly jotting some things down. I didn’t want to forget anything important here.

I chewed the end of my pen in thought. “Dahlia,” I looked up at her, “are you able to leave this area?”

She tilted her head to the side. “I believe so,” she said slowly, “but I would have to return here eventually. This is where I died, so my attachment is here.”

I paused to take in this information. That means that Jamieson died somewhere around that bookstore, maybe the roof of the Student Centre. If that’s the case… if there is a ghost in the women’s locker room, that means they died there. I would have to investigate the area if I wanted to be sure, though.

“Anything else?”

“I’m guessing you won’t just tell me who is haunting the locker room?” I smiled weakly.

Dahlia looked down at me in puzzled silence before breaking out in a devilish grin. “Where’s the fun in that, Ally? Besides, it is not my story to tell. If you want to know what is going on, you need to research it. I could only push you in the right direction.”

“It was worth a shot,” I said with a shrug.

Her laughter echoed in my head. “I suppose it was. Goodbye, Ally. This time, check the archives.”

“Bye, Dahlia.” I watched her disappear, the overwhelming sensation of being crushed leaving my body. I heard Michael take a deep breath as I did.

We sat there silently for a couple of minutes before I grabbed my stuff. I didn’t want to be here much longer, and Michael was happy to follow. We managed to make it halfway to meal hall before he stopped and dry heaved into a bush.

I rubbed his back as he heaved. There wasn’t a lot I could do for him except give him some water and wait for his recovery. I’m used to it now, but the presence of a ghost like that can be a lot to take in. To be honest, Dahlia’s power surprised me. She must have a large lingering resentment to remain as strong as she was.

He sat down and dropped his head between his knees as he regained some composure. I sat down next him and handed over my water. He took it gratefully and sipped slowly. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on top of them, waiting for him to be ready.

“Ally,” he croaked. He cleared his throat and took another sip of water before trying again. “Ally, what was that?”

“My life,” I said quietly. “I’ve been dealing with stuff like that my whole life.”

He stared at me blankly before shaking his head. “I can’t even imagine. I mean, I can sense the energy…but actually talking to them? I felt like I couldn’t breathe!”

“I guess you get used to it,” I chuckled weakly.

“How did you do it alone?”

Those words hurt. I did it alone because I had no other choice. I had to because my dad refused to help me. My mom thought it would just be better if I ignored it. I just ignored the feelings I had because they refused to acknowledge what made me who I was. I felt my eyes stinging but I held my tears back, looking up at the cloudy sky.

“I didn’t have a choice. Either I let them take over my life or I just…” I shrugged, not really sure what to say.

Michael reached over and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Okay, well…fuck that. I’m not letting you do that alone ever again! I couldn’t hear the whole conversation, but you mentioned murder way too many times for my liking. So…what happened?”

I couldn’t tell Michael how much his words meant to me, but I gave him a hug, hoping it gave the same message. I pulled away, wiping at my eyes before grabbing my notebook out of my bag and showing him what I wrote down.

It didn’t occur to me until later that Dahlia seemed more visible by the end of our conversation.

XXX

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

I frowned, mulling over my feelings. “I feel like it’s the right thing to do.”

“Okay, just making sure,” said Michael as he rubbed the back of his head.

“She wanted answers the first time,” I explained. “It makes sense she would this time.”

“Only if she believes in the supernatural,” Michael countered.

“Only if she believes,” I agreed nervously.

I told Michael that I wanted to bring Lyn in on this, since it concerned her most of all. Both times something happened it affected the swim team. Maybe she would just laugh in my face and not listen to what I had to say, but I had to try. Otherwise, I’ll do it without her. I made my decision. No more ignoring this…whatever this is. I wanted to help after the first incident but chickened out. I’m not doing that again.

We sat nervously at café in the library, waiting for Lyn to show up. I wanted to tell her everything in a more public place, less chance of being overheard but I wasn’t sure where to meet. Michael suggested that we meet here first and pick a place after.

I was tapping my fingers against the table as Michael was staring off as he chewed on his thumbnail. Suddenly he chuckled and shook his head. “Why are we so nervous?”

I gave a small laugh. “Sometimes life is a mystery. I think it probably has something to do with the fact that we have a bunch of restless spirits on this campus and we’re the only two who know anything about it.”

“Makes midterms seem silly now.”

“To be fair, I thought the Psych midterm was challenging,” I huffed, crossing my arms.

Michael laughed again. “Yeah, it was. You should have seen my Finite Math midterm though. I’m pretty sure like everyone left the room crying, the teacher included.”

I cringed. “Me and math do not get along. I’m surprised I even passed math in high school.”

“I was home schooled in high school,” said Michael leaning on the table. “Otousan tutored me through math, which is probably why I understand it pretty well.”

The earlier nerves just disappeared as we chatted. Michael was in the middle of explaining something about his bio lab when Lyn approached our table. She looked exhausted, and the usual brightness of her eyes seemed dimmer. She still smiled when she saw me, but it looked mechanical, like she was going through the motions. She even looked more pale than usual, which was challenging since she was already so pale as it was. Overall, she just looked unwell.

She shoved her hands into the pocket of her hoodie. “Hey, Ally.” She nodded at Michael.

“I’m Michael,” he said, sticking his hand out.

She extracted one hand, shook quickly and said, “Lyn,” before sticking her hand back into the safety of the pocket.

“How are you doing?” I asked tentatively.

Lyn shrugged with a miserable frown on her face. “Fine, I guess. Just got back from the hospital this morning, guess I went into a bit of shock yesterday. Too much shit going on for my brain to process it all, you know?”

“I get that,” I said empathetically. Overwhelming thoughts and emotions causing you to completely spiral out of control? That was so in my ballpark.

“So…” she shifted foot to foot, “what is it you wanted to talk about?”

“Oh, right!” I grabbed my bag and Michael grabbed his stuff. “Let’s go somewhere and sit!”

“Why can’t we sit here?” Lyn questioned.

“Uh, I meant somewhere more public.”

If this confused her further, she didn’t show. Lyn trudged behind us as we walked to the door. Michael asked a good place that would be busyish, and Lyn gave us a couple of suggestions. In the end, we went all the way to the coffee shop downtown. It was called the Main Street Coffee Shop, and there was a good amount of people inside already, most of them students catching up on work. Lyn pointed out a table near the window that was free, and we sat down. I waited until after we ordered before saying anything.

“Lyn, do you remember when the whole shower thing happened, and you asked me if it was a prank?” I asked, trying to keep my tone neutral.

Lyn was staring out the window, chin and mouth cupped her in her hand. Slowly she turned to look at me and nodded.

I swallowed thickly. “Okay…I don’t think it was a prank at all.”

“What do you think it was?” she asked, voice muffled.

Michael gave me an encouraging nod. I took a deep breath and said, “Ghosts. I think an angry spirit did it.”

Lyn gave me the same look she did when I told her the tree gave me bad vibes. It was carefully controlled, as to not give away what she was thinking. The waiter dropped off our drinks and left quickly, maybe sensing the tension and not wanting to be caught up in it.

Finally, there was the tiniest tug at her lip, and she gave one small nod. “Right, explain.”

I released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I took out my notebook and explained everything I could. I told her about Jamieson and Dahlia, and what Dahlia had told me the other day. Michael jumped in a couple of times, explaining how he could feel weird energy from certain places on the campus, the Athletic Centre being one of them. Lyn seemingly took this all-in stride, taking small sips from her hot chocolate as she listened patiently. Maybe I was just hopeful, but it looked as if her eyes lit up as she did. Finally, I finished and sat back a little, suddenly feeling self-conscious. I just told someone I really liked my secret, and I was afraid of how she actually felt about it. What if she was just humouring me? What if she thought I was crazy? My heart picked up pace and my guts squirmed in discomfort.

Lyn sat back, her eyes going between the two of us. “Okay, you aren’t messing with me, yeah?”

“I would never,” I said, my voice cracking slightly.

“Me either,” added Michael.

Lyn nodded, her eyes settling on me. “I swear I saw writing on the wall when I was in there. I couldn’t go back to confirm it though. If some dude with a knife wanted to attack a young woman, why bother writing something on the wall? Plus, the wound on-” Lyn’s face’s twisted in pain and she clamped her mouth shut, clearly trying to keep it together.

I reached over and squeezed her hand. “It’s fine, you don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

There was a conflict playing out on Lyn’s face before it finally settled on a flat affect. I haven’t known her long, but I knew that this wasn’t a typical Lyn face. It just didn’t look right on her. I wondered if maybe this was her coping mechanism for negative feelings, but something wriggled in my brain that suggested that there was more to this.

“So, what we know so far is that there are multiple ghosts on the campus,” said Michael as he ticked his fingers off, drawing our attention to him. “One in the big tree, one in the bookstore, and one in the women’s locker room. We have an active scene, so maybe if we go there, I can get a sample to look at in the lab?”

Lyn frowned. “Are you even able to do that?”

Michael shrugged. “I know one of the third year’s personally, he can get us access if I ask nicely.”

“I guess I can look into the archives,” Lyn offered. “I’m used to reading dusty old books anyway. It will be another typical Wednesday night for me.”

“And I can ask around, see what I can learn!” I added, feeling an excited buzz course through my veins.

Lyn gave a small grin. “Do we need some corny team name or something? Ghostbusters? Spirit Fighters?”

“I’m a fan of Super Cool Ghost Hunting Nerd Squad,” said Michael lightly, grinning widely.

“I’m not going by that, Michael.”

“I’m not hearing any better suggestions. Ally?”

I tapped my chin in thought. “I think Spook Searchers has a nice ring to it.”

Lyn chuckled, pushing herself to her feet. I didn’t even notice I was still holding her hand until she did that. I missed the warmth already. “Okay, no name. These all suck way too much. I’m going to head out, got things I need to do. I’ll talk to you later?”

Those last words were directed to me, and I nodded quickly. “Yes, of course.”

She smiled slightly before waving at Michael and walking out, leaving us behind. I sat back in my chair and chewed the end of my pen. Poor thing, it was probably not going to last the week at this rate.

“Whatcha thinking about, Ally?” asked Michael.

I sighed and shook my head. “Honestly, way too much at the moment.”

He poked me in the temple, giving me a lopsided smile. “Take the rest of the day off, Al. Maybe focus on some you time, yeah?”

“I don’t really need a day off,” I said.

“Girl, I feel like your brain is running on 110% all the time,” Michael snorted. “I feel like when you look at someone, you take in every detail and squirrel it away somewhere, in case you need it later. I know you want to solve this thing quickly, but we won’t be able to do it if you’re burnt out.”

I stared at him silently for a couple of seconds. It was funny in a not funny way that someone I’ve only known for a couple of weeks knows me better than most of my friends at high school did. I smiled softly and kissed him on the cheek.

“Michael, you’re a very sweet guy, thank you.”

Michael looked a little embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I try my best. Otousan always told me to treat my friends with the utmost respect.”

“Does that mean dad?” I asked, remembering that he said it earlier too. He nodded as we both slid out of the booth as I said, “Sounds like your dad is a smart and kind man.”

Michael’s eyes shined with admiration. “I hope to be the same kind of man once I become a dad.”

“I think you’re pretty close.”

“Okay, okay! I’m ditching you before you make me all teary eyed, dammit!” Michael waved me a goodbye before dashing off.

I decided I was going to take his advice and take the rest of the day off. I had no classes, so I might as well do something fun. Maybe Mags would be up to hanging out if they weren’t with their other friends.

I pulled my coat close, feeling a sudden chill. I looked around and saw nothing, so it must have just been a gust of wind or something. Maybe Michael was right, my brain was constantly thinking of something. I decided to just be on my way and think nothing of it for once. I was going to be thinking about a ton of things soon enough, it was okay for me to take one night off.

#unnatural affairs #ua #original story #original fiction #ally holland #lyn hart #michael yamamoto #mags richard #dahlia cressman #original content #paranormal #mystery #murder mysteries #romance #sapphic lead #wlw romance #the plot is rolling #ghosts #writing

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