The Blue Girl 5 | lostchronicles

The Blue Girl Cont

The walk to the library didn’t take nearly as long as finding the house had the day before. Mainly because I insisted on using the map.

Walking into the library, a tall, old, sleepy looking building – like everything else in town – we were met with silence. The door didn’t creak, and closed with barely a whisper. There wasn’t anyone sitting at the few tables scattered around nor were there any patrons wandering between the tall shelves crammed with books.

A front desk sat off to the side with a computer, a stack of books, and a bell like they had in hotels.

I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and followed Avalon to the front desk. She dinged the bell a few times quickly and we both leapt back as a loud bang sounded from under the desk, followed by a soft moan.

A moment later, a girl stood up, rubbing her head and adjusting her glasses. She couldn’t have been more than a few years older than us, with messy brown hair that had probably looked better before she hit her head.

“Hey, sorry, I was trying to fix a loose wire on the computer.” She smacked the monitor, which remained blank. “Anyways, what can I help you with?”

“We’re looking for books on ghosts,” Avalon explained.

“Well, we have a few over in the sci-fi section, some in the horror section, and some in the myths and folklore section,” the librarian listed off, staring at the ceiling. “Oh, and you could always check out the museum.”

“The museum?” I asked.

“Yeah, Mr. Freders gives ghost tours over there all the time. It’s a pretty cool place to check out when you’re on vacation,” she told us.

“How did you know we were on vacation?” Avalon asked.

“It’s a pretty small town,” she replied. “Everyone knows everyone here. It’s not hard to spot someone passing through.”

“Oh. So, where would we find the myths and folklore?” Avalon asked.

“Ah, over there in the corner,” the librarian told us, pointing to the far corner. “Looking for anyone in particular?”

“We wanted to learn about the ghost in Fernwood.”

“Ah, the blue girl, already getting into the local legends.” The librarian smiled.

“So, you know about her?” Avalon asked.

“Yeah, most people ‘round here have heard the stories, the blue girl yelling and hissing if you wander around the forest at night. She hasn’t actually hurt anyone, and the last sighting was a few years ago.”

“Lucky us,” I muttered.

“Any reason why she hasn’t shown?” Avalon asked, either not hearing me or ignoring me.

“No one knows. There was a team of ghost hunters here a year back, but they couldn’t track her down, called the whole thing a hoax. I’ve never seen her, and I’ve been to the forest a few times at night, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Alright, thanks for your help,” Avalon said, heading off into the stacks. I thanked the librarian as well, before following my friend.

There was a table and a few chairs huddled in a space in the corner, and I dropped my bag there while Avalon wandered the stacks, pulling out anything that mentioned ghosts.

She dropped them on the table with a loud thud that made me jump, even though I knew it was coming. She shoved a few books my way and I flipped one of them open, skimming the pages for anything relating to a blue ghost.

Three hours of reading endless ghost facts and sketching the tall bookshelves later, Avalon finally closed her last book with a sigh.

“Find anything?” I asked, my eyes still on my page as I finished my drawing.

“Other than what we already knew from the notebook and a dozen different methods on getting rid of ghosts, nothing.” She slouched back in her chair, crossing her arms. “I couldn’t find anything about her other than in locally written books.”

“Well, we know that she has to have been someone local, and that she probably died in a horrible way,” I reminded her. “The reports go back about a century, and for her spirit to last that long in this kind of torment . . .” I trailed off, actually pitying the ghost who had chased us. It wasn’t her fault she had died. Probably.

That didn’t mean I wanted to go hang out with her any time soon.

“But how did she die? Why is she so ticked all the time?”

“I have no clue. Wait, what if we’re looking in the wrong section?” I wondered.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we know she’s been around for about a hundred years, what if we check the local history books, find out when something went horribly, terribly wrong?” I suggested.

“We passed by a bunch of them on the way over here.” Avalon was already on her feet, and heading down the aisle, scanning the books. I shoved my book and pencil into my bag and I ran after her.

By the time I caught up, Avalon was taking books off the shelf to scan for dates, before putting them back.

I followed along, checking the shelf underneath.

We had almost made it to the end of the shelf when I stopped on a book, Misty Crossing Raider Attack of 1902.

“Here, a hundred years ago, more or less.” Avalon darted over to my side, looking at the book over my shoulder.

“There was an attack on the town?”

“Oh my gosh,” I breathed, flipping the page. “All the deaths . . .” An entire page was dedicated to names, each with a date of birth and death. “How could that happen?” I flipped the page again.

“‘In the middle of the night, twenty five bandits came from the forest and attacked the town,’” Avalon read aloud. “‘They struck each house, stealing all valuables and attacking the inhabitants before setting the house on fire. They then

disappeared in the chaos.’ The town must’ve been tiny then.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Well, at least we know how she died.”

“But why her? The bandits killed so many people, why was she the only stuck as a ghost?”

“Dunno, but I intend to find out.”

“Avalon, no.”

“We’re going back tonight. Besides, the librarian said she hasn’t hurt anyone, we’ll be fine.”

“She also said the ghost hadn’t appeared in years. She broke one pattern already. I think it’s a bad idea.”

“Alright, then I’ll go by myself, which leaves me alone in the ghost’s path, and leaves you alone in a creepy old house, which

you won’t do. So we’re going.” She shoved the book back onto the shelf and strode off.

Passing by the front desk, Avalon called out a thanks and good bye to the librarian, and I called out a sorry as she hit her head on the desk again. Must have been a really messed up wire.

I argued with Avalon as we hit up the grocery store and for most of the way back to the house, but she didn’t waver from her plan to go into the forest as soon as the sun started setting.

We were so busy arguing, we clearly didn’t pay enough attention to our surroundings as Avalon unlocked the door.

“Good afternoon girls,” a voice called.

We spun around, spotting an old lady with very large garden shears walking towards us.

“Avalon,” I whispered, grabbing her arm.

“Mrs McKraken?” Avalon called.

“That’s me,” the old lady replied. “You two must be Avalon and Natasha. Mr Cook called me to say you were coming up for the summer.” She stopped in front of us. “Nice to meet you.”

“She’s the grounds keeper,” Avalon told me.

“Been working here for many years. Your cousin is a very nice boy,” she told me.

“I’m Avalon, she’s Natasha,” Avalon corrected.

“Oh, my mistake. Well, I’ve got to get back to that old lilac bush. It’s getting a bit out of control.” With a nod, she turned and made her way towards a purple flowered bush at the edge of the lawn. I let out a breath.

“I thought she was some nut coming to kill us,” I confessed as we went inside.

“You’re scared of a little old lady?” Avalon started laughed.

“You didn’t tell me there was a groundskeeper.”

“I forgot.” She kept laughing.

“You’re a horrible friend. I’m going to tell your cousin what a horrible friend you are.”

“Uh-huh, you’ll have to find somewhere you can actually get a bar on your cell for more than three seconds to talk to anyone. But hey, we get to connect with nature.”

“Nature isn’t a ghost,” I muttered, heading to the kitchen to unpack the groceries.