Whispers

For the past week, I kept hearing whispering voices coming from the hallway at night. I wondered if I was going crazy but Lia kept hearing them too. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't think of any explanation for it. No one else lived here with us unless Levi was hiding people in the attic. Maybe the house was possessed. I laughed at the thought of it, but it still scared me.

I told my mom and Levi about it, one afternoon. My mom was a little concerned, but Levi was calm. He told me that it was just the sound of his air vents.

A part of me wanted to believe him and move on with my life, but I knew it wasn't true. There were actually voices whispering outside my door. I could even make out a few words like: "run, hide, and kill."

Every time I went out into the hall, the voices would stop, and then they would continue once I went back into my room.

I knew Levi was hiding something from us, and my mom was just too blind to see it. I needed to move out of that area.

On Monday morning, we sat at the breakfast table and ate.

"Are you girls ready to go to your new schools?" My mom asked excitedly.

I looked at her with a blank face and didn't respond. I was wondered why my alarm woke me up so early.

Because of everything that was going on, school was the very last thing that was on my mind.

"Well, you both look excited. I can tell you that," she said sarcastically.

Levi got up from the table and put his plate away. He was dressed for work and was ready to leave.

"I know you girls will make lots of friends. Besides, you're going to one of the finest schools in the state. You'll have a great experience there. Anyway, I'm off to work, I'll see you guys tonight."

He kissed my mom, and he patted us on the shoulder. Then he disappeared.

I turned my attention back to mom. "Mom, I'm telling you this house is possessed."

She frowned at me. "Levi said that it was just the air vents, and he would look at it tonight. It's not working the way it usually does. There are plenty of other rooms in the house that you can sleep in, you know."

I sighed. "Do you always have to side with him? He's lying. There are probably people hiding behind the walls in the hallway."

"You need to cut it out with that nonsense, Malaika!" Her face looked very annoyed.

I frowned at her. "Well, I don't know what it actually is, but I know it's not an air vent. I just want to go back home. I'm not comfortable here mom."

"This is your home now. It will take some time, but you will get used to it. Now finish eating. You're going to be late for school." She got up from the table and didn't look back at me.

I didn't know what was wrong with my mom, but every time I would bring up the situation to her, she either wanted to change the subject or make up some excuse for it without even checking it out herself. Just like Levi. I didn't know that being around him could change her so much.

After we ate, we left Levi's possessed house and headed for our new schools. I drove as my mom guided me to the location on the phone.

I dropped Lia off at her new elementary school first. After that, I drove to my school.

Oaks Highschool was the name of it. It was a big preppy private school. This was the first time I had to wear a Uniform. I wore a long sleeved white shirt with a black tie, and a black, white, and blue plaid skirt. I also had on long socks that went up to the knees, and black shoes.

The worst part about this was that it was my Senior year and I am a new student there. I didn't know anyone at this school, and even if I got used to it there, I'd only be staying for one year. Just Great.

"You have a great day sweetie. Tell me everything that happens when you get home." My mom said.

"Yes. Of course." I said with a tired voice.

Then she hung up the phone. I turned around and dragged myself to the front door. There were many students around me. So many different faces. I felt a little nervous, and my stomach began to hurt.

I normally was a very confident and outgoing person. I was even popular at my old school, but that was only because I grew up with those people ever since pre-school. At Oaks, I just felt like the odd one out.

As I looked around, I noticed that everyone had their own little group of friends. I saw people hugging each other and talking about what they did over the summer break. I couldn't let that bother me though. Friends would eventually come.

I walked to the front office to grab a map. The school was so big. It seemed like I was inside a mall.

According to my schedule, I had English for my first-period class. It was all the way in the back of the school, and I only had two minutes left before the bell.

I walked fast down the hallways looking for my room number. The halls were so crowded, and people were rushing in every direction. I even bumped into a few people along the way.

"Hey! Watch it!" A girl yelled at me.

"Sorry!" I yelled back.

I looked down at my schedule and noticed that I made it to the right room, just in time.

A teacher was standing at the door, greeting the students as they came in.

"Hello. What's your name?" He asked as I walked up to him.

"I'm Malaika. I'm new to this school."

"Nice to meet you Malaika. Call me Mr. Drake. You'll have a great learning experience in my classroom."

He stepped aside and let me enter the room.

I nervously searched for a seat, but almost all of them were taken. After a minute of looking, I finally found an empty seat in the back corner of the room. Perfect.

I sat down at the desk and prepared myself for class. The room was so loud, I could barely hear myself think.

Suddenly I felt a pair of eyes watching me from the side. I turned to see a boy that was sitting next to me staring at me.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. Although it is a pretty big school. Have I seen you before?" He asked.

"No. I'm new here. I'm Malaika."

He smiled at me. "I'm Trey. So, are you a junior?"

"No, I'm a senior."

"Aww. You only get to spend one year here. Well, maybe it's for the best. This school sucks anyway. Glad you didn't have to suffer the first three years of it."

"Really? The people here seem nice. Well… somewhat nice."

"Eh. Just give it about a few months. You'll start to hate it here. By the way, where are you from?" He said while analyzing me.

"I'm from Louisiana."

"I knew you were from the south. I could tell by your tiny accent with a little southern twang to it."

"Hey. I'm not the one with an accent. You are."

"Oh sure." He laughed.

Trey seemed cool, but I could just tell that he was a privileged rich kid, along with everyone else in the school. Everyone had fancy jewelry, blinged-out phones, and materials. Not to mention the type of cars they had parked in the student parking lot. Good thing we had to wear uniforms because I knew I wasn't going to fit in with their latest fashion.

After the bell rang, the teacher walked in and began his lecture.

I listened to him for half of the class, but then my mind began to wander off.

"Malaika." I heard someone whisper and it distracted me from my daydream.

"Huh? Did you say something?" I asked Trey quietly. He shook his head.

"Malaika." I heard it again.

I knew it wasn't the teacher because he was lecturing. All the other students were facing the front, and Trey was taking his notes.

"Malaika. Malaika. Malaika." Oh no. It was the whispering voices again, but I was as far away from Levi's house as possible. Now I knew that there was something wrong with me.

I tried to stay calm, but the one whisper turned into many whispers, and they kept getting louder. I covered my ears and closed my eyes. My whole body was shaking, and I was sweating. I couldn't take it anymore.

Suddenly I felt someone tap me on my shoulder, and I jumped.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Trey asked.

"Yeah, I just feel a little sick."

I raised my hand in the air, and waited for Mr. Drake to notice.

"Yes, Malaika?"

"May I go to the nurses office?"

He saw me and noticed that I was suddenly sweating.

"Yes, you may."

I quickly got up from my seat. Trey looked at me with concern on his face, but I quickly turned away from him and left the classroom.

The nurse didn't find anything wrong with me. I felt too scared to continue the rest of my day, so I ditched school and waited at Lia's school until it was time to pick her up.

When she got in the car, I immediately began asking her questions.

"Are you sure you heard people whispering in that hallway at the house?"

"Yes. And guess what. I heard it again, this morning when I was in school."

I looked at her with fear.

"You heard it too, didn't you?" She asked.

I nodded in agreement. "This has never happened before."

I drove Lia back to the house and waited in the driveway.

"Levi is not back from work, and Mom is at a Job interview. We should wait here until they get back, before going inside that house." I said.

"Why should we wait on them? They never listen to us anyway. We should go check and see what it is ourselves."

"Are you crazy? Do you want to die? No way am I going in there without Mom. She'll be back soon, so let's just wait."

"You can wait here and be a scaredy-cat, but I'll be the brave one." She took the house key that I had, hopped out of the car, and ran inside.

"Lia! Come back!" I got out and ran after her.

As soon as I went inside, I heard the whispering voices again.

"Lia? Where are you?"

"I'm in the basement. The sound is coming from the basement now."