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Part IV: Ghosts of the Past
"I give up," Anne followed him, "I just...I give up."
They stepped out into the forecourt of St. George Prep, great brick-and-ivy castle thrust up against the night sky.
"Fancy place," said Tony.
"And you're sure Jason Murray is here?"
"Positively positive, mah-damn," Dr. Galdamez assured the nun, stroking his chin. "My urges never lie." He stepped forward and knocked the door with his cane so as not to dirty his gloved hands (they were fine silk, of course) and called, "Hail! We come to see a friend! May we come in?"
There was no response.
"Rhetoric is of no use," he finally admitted. "But this is no job for brawn, neither. We must use the power of...BELIEF." The doctor turned to the younger woman. "Take my hand, shay-ree, and believe with me. Recall why you are on this quest of yours, and believe. Our senses shall align and be so unstoppable, the cosmic guardians cannot question our will!"
Jamie looked at the strange man's hand, before she finally took it.
Dr. Galdamez closed his eyes and muttered inaudible Latin once he took her hand, his head tingling with supernatural sensations. He was getting a feeling, a sense, an...urge.
"The door is not the way," he said at last, opening his eyes and letting go. "For if we want to find Jason, we must sneak in as he did many a night in his youth." Dr. Galdamez raised his cane, pointing to the dilapidated part of the school. "The East Wing!"
Thunder clapped.
"Are you kidding me?" demanded Anne, "Break into the school? This is the property of the Archdiocese. If we're caught, we might as well have been charged with murder."
"About that..." began Tony, only for Anne to fix him with an icy glare.
"In for a penny, in for a pound," Jamie whispered.
"What the..." Dr. Galdamez paused, closed his eyes, rubbed his temples, got a sense, opened his eyes and snapped his fingers. "...ex-con said! Y'all want answers, y'all gotta trespass into parts unknown." Continuing on his way, the doctor explained, "Jason and his friends were always up to shenanigans in the school gym hours before the school day commenced. That gym is in the East Wing, which hasn't been maintained by the school since..." He puckered his lips and reflected for a moment. "...1988. A coincidence, perhaps? There are few that I know of but I remain open-minded." Stopping before the wing, he gestured, "There! Through that basement window! See how it creaks and moans? Jarred loose from many a time ruffians such as Jason snuck through!"
He waited expectantly. "Well? I can't get this suit dirty in the mud. It is of rare material. Go inside and open that door..." Dr. Galdamez pointed to a fire exit above-right to basement window. "...and then I will join you and lead the way once more."
Anne looked very much like she wanted to protest, but Tony shrugged, "I mean...after everything else, right? Screw the Archdickdisease."
"Archdiocease."
"Whatever," Tony got down on hands and knees, "If you bitches don't follow me, I will haunt you."
He vanished through the window.
Tony dropped himself down into the shadows, waving a hand about in front of his face to clear the dust away.
"Well?" he called back up.
***
Anne turned to Jamie, "It wouldn't be very big sisterly of me to suggest you go first, would it?"
"Anne, it's no problem if I go first," said Jamie, following Tony in.
Anne wasted no time lowering herself in after.
"I'm getting really sick of spooky church places," observed Tony.
"Well, this one isn't going bankrupt," pointed out Anne flatly, looking around at the hulking shadowy forms in the darkness, "I wonder..."
A great clarion of noise echoed through the room. Anne stifled a scream behind her hand, "Tony!"
"Sorry!" he stepped away from the lump of junk he'd walked into, "It's...it's drums."
"Band room," Anne sighed, "Lovely. We'd better hope that door isn't alarmed."
"Are you ok?" asked Jamie.
"Oh, fine..." Tony brushed himself off, "No gypsy ghost yet."
"Odd nickname," muttered Anne, peering through the glass pane of the door, "For the late 80s, that is."
"What, were you there?"
Anne narrowed her eyes at him, "Yes. I was about three."
Tony shrugged, abashed, "So, the ghost kid..."
"Nobody said he was a ghost."
"The kid...you think there's any connection to...You-Know-Who?"
"Who?" Anne opened the door, peering out, "Brandon James?"
"No, Liberace."
Anne rolled her eyes, "There's a security camera at the end of the hall. We have the same kind at St. Mary's. If the light turns red, it's seen you."
The camera pivoted on a slow circle. Anne looked up and down, "Basement stairs are at the end. If we hurry, we can make it."
"Yeah, but..."
"Yes?"
"You know, my Gran must've thought there was a connection, or else why would she care, right?"
"Doesn't this feel like a discussion for another time?"
"It is. Let's move," said Jamie.
"Fine," said Tony, miffed, "Be insufferable."
Anne rolled her eyes, moving at a swift clip along the length of the hallway.
"You really are the most boring person," Tony continued, trotting along on his heels, "What, am I crazy for having questions about anything that happened in the last three hours? But no...'Are we there yet?' 'Let's move!' 'What next?' I swear to...ah!"
"Watch it!" Anne pulled Tony back, "What is it?"
"There...there's somebody watching."
Anne followed his gaze through the great display window and, indeed, saw a strange shillouetted form in the darkness.
"Oh..."
"Oh."
Jamie stopped in her tracks, eyes widening.
"Is that who I think it is?" she whispered.
Tony turned to look at her with great reproach, "Who do you think it is?"
"Don't be foolish," said Anne, "Before the camera pivots, it..."
"What if he follows us?"
"As opposed to..."
"Well we can't just stay here like sitting ducks."
"Fine, ignore my question..."
"The camera..." Anne insisted, but Tony had already thrown open the door to the room in question.
"Alright, queenie, you've had your fun! Why don't you drop the Peeping..."
He flicked on the light switch.
"For heaven's sake!" exclaimed Anne.
"Heh," Tony said flatly, "Red Skeleton."
More like pink skeleton. The model hung from a sort of winch in the corner of the room. Anne looked around, "It's a science lab."
"Of course," said Jamie, barely containing a mildly amused, and very annoyed expression.
"I am sick of.."
Anne pulled Tony down as the camera swept over the lab window.
"Come on. The stairs."
Closing the lights, and door, as they went, they bolted into the stairwell which, from all Anne could see, was not similarly monitored.
"What do you think he's doing here?" asked Tony.
"At this point, I'm not even sure he is. We only have that nutcase's word for it."
"After what we've gone through...he better be here."
"Come," Anne led them along the main hall to the grand doors, "Here's the door."
"You can just open them?" demanded Tony.
"Obviously not. We'd have to disarm the security..." she looked around the foyer, "Well, it's got to be around here somewhere..."
She set about scanning the walls, looking for a dial pad, a panel, anything...
"Um..."
"What?" she turned to Tony, who was craning his neck to peer through the glass panel of the door.
"He's gone."
"What do you mean he's..." Jamie peered over Tony's shoulder, and her jaw dropped.
"Where the hell did he go?!"
"Hello there!"
"MOTHER OF GOD!" screamed Anne.
Struggling to catch her breath, she made out the figure standing in the shadows of the hall, "How the hell did you get in here?"
"While y'all were scurryin' in the dark, I walked 'round that yonder corner outside and found a door. 'Twas unlocked!" Dr. Galdamez clapped his hands. "Come along now! Time is of the essence!"
"I..." Anne trailed off, "You know what, I have had it with..."
"Coming!" Tony sang out, already sashaying after him.
Jamie shook her head, and quietly followed, staying close to Anne.
Dr. Galdamez pressed his hands to his temples, cosmically searching the area. "I'm getting a premonition o'sorts. Yes! From the attic, where they keep their...undesirables. It was formerly a shrine to St. George but has become dilapidated and such over the years. Starting in..." He turned on his heel to face his new posse. "...1988. Would you believe it?"