CORNFIELD

Shorty quickly run out of the room with salt in hand but the Olive's door opened. Junior Heathers glared at Vee threateningly so I run with Markus to her room. What sort of a boyfriend am I? I'm letting my girlfriend battle a ghost all alone! I closed Olive's door were she was with Markus then I run towards Elise. I managed to lay my hands on her shoulders then junior Heathers appeared right beside me and she tried to push her fingers into my abdomen but they didn't go through and she looked confused.

Shorty threw a handful of salt at the ghost and junior Heathers screamed in pain then disappeared.

"Are you okay?" I asked Elise and she smiled then pushed me away when Markus opened Olive's door.

"Are you all fine?" Elise asked walking towards Olive who was standing behind Markus,"She came for your brother instead because she couldn't get to you. I'll have to salt their room as well."

"Shouldn't we check on the Sr Patronelle?" I asked looking at the stairs,"She was blown away pretty hard."

Elise asked us to stay behind then she went to check on the old woman. She took a while to come back but when she did she looked tired. She still had to do the thing with the salt and when she was done she went to sleep with Olive.

"Good night Vee." I said to Olive then I looked at Elise,"Night Shorty."

Our room felt colder than it was earlier and I tried my best to ignore it. A few minutes went by and the room got even cooler and quieter.

"What did you and Vee talk about?" I asked Markus trying to distract myself but he didn't answer,"Don't ignore me freckle boy."

I turned on my side and saw that Markus was asleep. Oh well....even if he'd been awake he wouldn't have answered because I didn't tell him about my conversation with Elise either. I tossed and turned for a while and fell asleep soon enough. In the morning Markus and I went about our usual morning routine and for the first time since I came her, I felt hungry. It's a pain that they don't give us breakfast and I honestly don't know why I never complained. With Sr Patronelle running the school and crazy about my dimples maybe that could change for a while.

"Am I the only one who's feeling this hungry today?" Markus asked as his stomach grumbled.

"Nope. I was thinking about that too." I said and my stomach growled,"Let's ask Sr Patronelle to include breakfast as well. She's bound to listen, right?"

"If ever in future she asks us for kisses because she's doing us favors then I won't do it." Markus said seriously.

"If she does that I'll push her off some stairs." I said jokingly.

"She's probably injured." Markus pointed out,"Let's visit and then when our stomachs growl again she'll feel pity and immediately ask for the students to be served breakfast."

We shook hands and then headed to the convent in great speed. Then we run into my radiant Elise with Sr Drevin.

"Where to? You should be heading to class." Sr Drevin said.

"Good morning, Sr Drevin. We just wanted to ask after Sr Patronelle." Markus answered.

"Well Mr Dupree, sister was is much better than last night. The only problem is that she has to use a wheelchair for a while and she'll be running the school from the comfort of her room."

"That's terrible. Can we say hi?" I asked hopefully.

"Hello, Mr Rogers." Sr Drevin corrected me but I wanted to annoy her a little.

"Why hello, Sr Drevin. I was wondering if we could say 'Hi' to Sr Patronelle."

She frowned at me and sighed before walking past us.

"Ms Davison, show them to Sr Patronelle's room and make sure they don't make her move too much." Sr Drevin said as she walked.

Elise frowned but she turned around to lead us into the convent. I spotted Olive and I called her over. Elise didn't say anything and continued walking.

"Where are we going?" Olive asked holding my hand.

It reminded me of how we used to walk to school so I smiled then told her we were going to see the old nun. She nodded absentmindedly and when one nun walked past her she followed the lady with her eyes. She squeezed my hand like she was afraid and when I asked what was wrong she said nothing was wrong. I didn't push for an answer because I know Vee will feel bad for not telling me what's on her mind then she'll tell me sooner or later.

The interior of the convent was even more old fashioned than the rest of school. It was like I was back to the fifteenth century. I was surprised that no one questioned why Elise was bringing in a bunch of students and for the most part it was like they couldn't even see us. Elise led us down some stairs and I wondered exactly how an old lady on a wheelchair would be able to come up.

"Why wasn't she given a room on the ground floor?" Markus asked looking around.

"She's praying. Her room is over there." Shorty answered.

Markus nodded and then when we finally reached the door, Elise tapped lightly on the door and Sr Patronelle's gruff voice asked for us to come in. Elise pushed the door open and there was a low creaking sound that turned the atmosphere eerie. The room was dark and dimly lit by burning torches on the walls. It was a pretty much empty room with a few chairs and a lone door with chains keeping it locked. Is this where Vee's tunnel leads? Sr Patronelle was sitting on the floor with her head bowed. She raised her head and turned around to see who had come in and her slightly bruised face lit up upon seeing us. I smiled at her and my stomach growled.

Elise looked at me like she was disgusted with me and then Vee's stomach growled and Markus' followed.

"Haven't you eaten children?" Sr Patronelle asked looking concerned.

"We don't get breakfast." Vee answered pitifully and my eyes locked with Markus.

He winked at me and I winked back. Sr Patronelle tried to get up on her own so Markus and I went to help her up. We got her to sit on the wheelchair and she had to hyperventilate for a while in exhaustion.

"Why don't you get food? Breakfast is one meal that shouldn't be skipped if one desires maximum productivity."

"Yes!" I shouted with Vee and Markus.

"They should not be given food because they'll start feeling sleepy." Elise said right before her own stomach growled and she looked down in embarrassment.

"Well, well Shorty. It seems like your stomach is on our side." I said jokingly.

She looked up at me with a warning in her eyes and in response I winked at her. Sr Patronelle cancelled the morning classes and we had breakfast. It was heavenly. After breakfast Markus asked me to give him some time alone with Vee and I saw an opportune moment to swoop away Shorty.

"Where do you want to take me?" she asked even though she could clearly see that we were headed to the cornfield.

"The cornfield. Since we are a secret then I don't want even the ghosts to know about us."

"Oh...But the commencement of this relationship was in their presence."

"Then they shouldn't know how it's going."

"I see. Maybe we should have a clubhouse in the field for when we go there."

"What happens when it needs to be harvested?" I asked thinking about how disastrous it would be if a clubhouse was to be discovered out here.

"It never is. It's off bounds like the sewing room, for students and stuff."

"But we came here easily. There was no warning sign anywhere."

"The warning sign disappears and reappears when it wants to. I guess the ghosts want some prey."

I stopped walking after she said that and looked around. So if ever I wanted to play. a surprise for Elise I wouldn't be able to do it here.

"What if Vee and freckle boy thought of coming here for a date and all, would they be in danger?" I asked starting to walk again.

"The liquids you consumed will stop that from happening. Don't worry."

"That's nice to hear. Watch your step."

"Oh please. I've come here a thousand times and sometimes even barefoot, you should be the one watching your step."

"I was just trying to be romantic." I said in a low voice,"Then what about the people we'd found here last time?"

"I guess they didn't see the sign either. I gave them an offence."

"It wasn't their fault babe."

Elise looked up at me with wide eyes and I laughed. when we reached the centre of the cornfield we sat down and continued to talk about nothing really but I am certain I know about two percent of her life in this academy...and I like her two percent more than I did last night.