The Tale of the Ghost Eyes Chapter 118 The Red Hair Elastic (2)

She only shook her head. "That's not an ending." I thought and frowned.

"They probably kept the dorm empty for a while though, right?" I pushed further.

She misinterpreted my face and scowled back at me. "Don't look at me like that Gossip Boy! I told you what I heard. I don't know every slight detail about the school!" She pushed her plate towards me as if she'd stand and march away.

"See if I ever have breakfast with you again." She said coldly.

"Hey wait!" I said. My head was reeling. I couldn't let her leave mad at me. I mean I was having breakfast with two of the most beautiful girls in our class after all. I gave her my best grin and apologized. "I didn't mean to offend you. Thank you for telling me."

She turned her nose up and walked away, leaving me with her tray of half eaten breakfast and my orange juice full of her discarded eggs. My smile stuck as I watched her go.

She found me later that evening in the library. I was studying my history book with all the focus of an earthworm when she slapped her palms on the table, making me jump in fright.

"So now you know the story, why don't you go in there and check?" Her eyes sparkled in the dimly lit library.

"The dorm?" I asked.

"Duh," She said, "The door's always locked, but you can probably jimmy the window open. You're pretty slim. I bet you'd squeeze right in."

I played it out in my head. The window was obscured by newspaper that looked older than the incident, so I had no way of knowing what's inside. Plus I never discerned whether there actually was a spirit in there or not. If there was, it could be dangerous.

"I'll think about it." I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me and smiled, sweeping her hair over her shoulder before walking away.

That night I left the library much later than intended. I couldn't focus for the life of me and ended up looking for the school's history in the rows and rows of shelves. After finding nothing of import, I finally packed my things in my bag, being careful about placing my books on either side of the Peach Blossom Mirror.

I walked out of the library quietly. Something felt wrong about breaking the silence that fell in the night. As I approached the door a whisper of a breeze pushed past me.

"Inside the library?" I thought, turning to look. A shadow flickered behind a bookshelf across the wide entrance hall.

"Who's there?" I asked the night, not raising my voice above a whisper. The voice that came back was paper thin and pitched like it hadn't been used in years.

"Would you like to buy a hairband…?"

I sucked in a breath and turned away from the voice, pushing the library door open and moving into the night as fast as I could. I speed walked down the sidewalk, shooting glances over my shoulder as I went. The voice didn't follow, but something did. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up like something was right behind me. I reached the east dorm in a sprinting walk with a hummingbird's resting heart rate. Sweat poured down my neck and my hands had sought out the Peach Blossom Mirror on their own volition. In the blink of an eye I was standing outside the locked dorm, pulling in air and trying not to faint.

"They're red hairbands…" The voice came again, echoing in the hall from every direction at once.

I turned from the dorm and dashed to my room, moving as silently as possible. I dropped my bag and searched through the drawer beside my bed. Pulling out a soul suppressing amulet, I turned just in time to see a shadow pass between the hallway light and my dark dorm room. I swallowed far too loudly.

"Who's there?" I called. My voice quavered.

"What?" Replied a sleepy voice.

"Gao Xinying? Is that you?" I asked.

"Can't a guy go to the bathroom without an interrogation?" He asked, stepping into my doorway and blocking out the hallway light. "What do you want?"

"Nothing." I said, gaining control over my voice again. "I'll come with you…I need to… brush my teeth anyway." I quickly rummaged on the table to find my toothbrush. The amulet fell seamlessly into my pocket when I picked up my toothpaste.

We stepped out of my dorm and I was assaulted by the void of Yang air. I could almost taste the Yin presence with us. My free hand absently rose and gripped the jade around my neck.

We went into the bathroom down the hall. My head swiveled in search of whatever was sucking the Yang air from the area.

"The hell are you looking for?" Gao Xinying asked through a yawn.

I just shook my head and began brushing my teeth.

I found it when we left the bathroom. A row of wet footprints led from the door down the hall. "Oh no…" I said, looking down at the floor.

Gao Xinying scowled at me. "What are you getting at? Don't try to scare me man, it's been a long day."

"You don't see them?" I asked, pointing at the footsteps leading away from us. He rubbed his eyes and squinted down at the floor.

"So what?" He shrugged, "Somebody took a shower and then walked to their room. Stupid fool didn't wear shower shoes though. Nasty."

"Do you want to check it out with me?" I asked, not looking away from the trail.

"Are you crazy? They're just wet footprints!"

Something in the back of my head told me not to do this alone, so I did the only thing I could think of. "What are you chicken? Afraid you'll see a ghost?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow and daring him to refuse the challenge.

"Oh screw you." He said, "There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Then come check this out with me. Oh wait!" I said, slapping him on the shoulder like we'd made weekend plans. I rushed to my room and grabbed the mirror.

"What's that for?" He asked when I returned.

"It's magic." I said and winked at him.

We followed the footprints down the hall. Each step sent a shock up my nerves and tightened my muscles. Gao Xinying walked silently behind me, rolling his eyes as we went.

The trail led to the stairs and then turned around before going into the locked dorm. They disappeared right at the door. Gao Xinying released a very loud gasp and clapped a hand to his mouth. His eyes bulged from his head. Without warning he turned and ran down the hallway, his pajama pants flapping as he went. Panic overwhelmed me. I looked at the door, looked at my mirror, looked at the retreating Gao Xinying, and then took off after him. He reached his door and fumbled it open, turning on the lights as he entered and waking his up roommate. I did the same. The other boys yelled their dismay, but got out of bed when we asked them to.

"You have to see this!" I yelled.

"Come look!" Gao Xinying told his roommate. The four of us appeared in our doorways and looked down into the deserted hallway.

The footprints were gone.

"Come on." I said, and motioned for the other three to follow me. We crept down the hallway to the locked door again.

We got to the end in a bedraggled parade and came to a halt in front of the locked door. I turned to say something when footsteps, heavy ones, rang up the stairwell behind us.

"Who's there? No boys are to be in the hallway after hours!"

"The super!" My roommate hissed. The four of us turned as one and rushed back to our rooms. I closed the door behind me as silently as possible, turned off the light switch, and dove into my bed. My heart was dancing a tango in my chest and for some ungodly reason I was grinning like an idiot.

"What was that all about?" My roommate whispered in the dark. I could hear a smile in his tone as well.

"I'll tell you in the morning." I whispered back. We listened to the supervisor's footsteps move up and down the hall.

The next day I decided to carry the Peach Blossom Mirror with me wherever I went. "There's something in our dormitory," I told my roommate, "Something foul."

He snorted at me and pointed to the mirror. "What's that gonna do? Help it put on its makeup?"

I raised a finger in salute to his remark and zipped my bag closed over the mirror.

"It's protection." I told him.

Days passed without any sound or sign of a spirit though. Others in my class quickly picked up on the mirror in my backpack and began to tease me. Even You Xiaoqing jumped on the band wagon and nicknamed me Fake Boy, "The one so obsessed with his looks he'd never be a man." She taunted.

I gave her a look and nodded at the mirror in my bag to try to tell her it was a tool, but she didn't get it. She didn't even bother to listen when I pulled her aside later.

Xiong Ying did the same thing. I was at a loss to explain. I couldn't exactly go around telling everyone that I had a powerful Taoist artifact now could I?

A few days into it the taunting was worth it, and carrying the mirror was justified. I walked onto the second floor landing after lunch and stopped dead in my tracks. Sitting on the floor in the center of the hallway was a small red circle with a bowknot daintily adhered to one side.

"The red hairband…"

Chapter end