8 Chapter 8

"There are seventy one people in the building, including you. Right now."

If there really were seventy one people in the building with me, they must've been really, unnaturally good at hiding. I couldn't understand what she was talking about, but I couldn't hold my curiosity back either.

"I have walked through the entire building, there is no way there are seventy one people here." I said.

"True and false, respectively." she answered. "You are not only bad at maths, but you are a very bad observer as well." she added.

"Who are you? Where are my friends?" I started asking questions one after another. I wasn't getting satisfactory answers, but maybe I could learn something in the process.

"Who am I? Oh, my child, you have no idea what is going on..." she replied. "I am... or rather, we are, the true and eternal residents of this place. We've been here for decades, longer than any of you have ever been." she said.

"This building? You are talking as if you were somewhere near here." I said.

"In fact, I am standing right next to you." she said. I reflexively backed away from the phone. "See that old wooden cabinet near you? I'm right there. As a matter of fact, that is my cabinet. If it makes you more comfortable, think of me as that cabinet." she said.

I froze for a minute or so.

"So, you are... like a ghost?"

"If that gives you an idea, yes, I am sort of a ghost; one could say that." she said.

Things all started to make sense now. Pieces of random information I held in my mind started to come together.

"But... I am talking to you through a phone. The receiving end of my call must be somewhere far away." I said, with my renewed curiosity.

"As I can not talk to you directly, a phone serves as a good communication device between our dimensions, or rather, 'different phases of reality' at the same place. That device is pretty easy to manipulate. The phone line isn't working at all, I'm using it as my opportunity to communicate. I was getting tired of replacing your posters all around the building, and you never even read most of the notes I've left." she said.

"What do you want from us? You still didn't tell me where my friends are. Are they okay?" I asked.

"You are a curious little fellow... I'm only trying to help you and your friends. There is no need to worry, you will be with us soon enough." she replied. For some reason, that statement was incredibly worrying.

"What do you mean? Who ARE you?" I asked.

"Calm down, no need to rush anything. I will tell you... We are the community of poor souls who have died in this building." The answer was plain, and it triggered an utterly terrible realization.

"So you... You are 'the curse' of this building! Idil was right after all... Those people were possessed by you!" I said, terrified. It was further worrying to know that the ghost who was talking to me was literally standing next to me. I realized that I shouldn't have said anything provocative, for my own well being.

"'Possessed' is not the right word, 'affected' or 'persuaded' is a better description. We can't possess the physical bodies of living people." she replied, calmly.

"Why are you killing those innocent people?" I asked, with a broken voice. I could be the next one to die.

"You are thinking of us as your enemies, but we are not. We truly want to help you. Think about joining our community, we will lead you to something wonderful."

"What is this... 'community', exactly?" I asked.

"This building has witnessed many terrible things since it was first built. During all the years it served as a prison, many people were subjected to various psychological experiments, some of them lasting for years. Many of those people, 'we', could not make it. Some of us died while being tortured, and some of us commited suicide; hitting their heads on walls, impaling and cutting themselves on barbed wires and sharp iron bars. One day, it was like hell. There was a riot, and many people tried to escape. The guards were heavily outnumbered, so they opened fire on the inmates to repel them. A lot of people dropped dead on the spot. It was a bloodbath, but the riot was controlled. Most of us are these people, including me; but there are some people who died during the school years as well. We have recently welcomed some of your friends into the community."

"Well, what are you doing here? Why does such a community exist?" I asked. Although I was still terrified by the information I got, I had to learn as much as possible. This was the only time I progressed that much into solving the mysteries of the building.

"It is not out of choice. At first, we wanted to get our revenge from those who subjected us to the terrible experiments I mentioned earlier. We wanted to harm them. We were so obsessed we could think of nothing else. Unfortunately, our wishes were never fulfilled, so, in our disappointment, we were trapped here for eternity. After the building was converted into a school, our goals have changed. We wanted to help people. We did, truly want to help people, but we were not powerful enough against you."

"Against... us?"

"Yes, when there are many living people around, we can't be effective. During school hours, the building gets very crowded, so we couldn't find the power to do anything. Only when, many years before, two teachers decided to stay here for a night, without many people accompanying them, we were able to take action."

I remembered that part of the story Mr. Kenan told. She continued talking after a while:

"Originally, they were going to be our... 'envoys' for all the people in the school, but unfortunately, they decided it would be much better to join us sooner, instead of bringing more people with them. We respect their choice, of course. Anyway, after many long years, this is the first time we ever got this chance again. We managed to persuade a few of your friends, and your teacher, Mr. Kenan."

"You know him?" I asked.

"He resisted us strongly when he was alive. Since he joined the community, he tried to persuade us to keep you untouched. He doesn't agree with our view of what is good or bad, but it seems like he cares about you a lot. So, we listened to our new friend; and we did not touch you."

"I had two friends still alive." I said.

"They are still living, just like you are. But consider our offer, if you join us, we can be powerful enough to transform this place into an admirable utopia." she said. Her voice was... dreamy.

"Transform? You are doing the transformations as well?"

"Yes. When there are not many living people around, we can transform this place into whatever we like. If something seems out-of-place in your world, that means there is one of us nearby."

The sheer amount of information I just learned was overwhelming. We were living besides ghosts for so long! I stared at the wooden cabinet for a while, without thinking of any other questions.

"Let me reach my friends." I told her.

"One of them is on the roof right now. But, we didn't have our little talk with the other one yet, so you will only be able to see him later. If you ever need to find me again, this phone will be a useful tool." she said.

Although I knew her understanding of 'helping people' was not the same as ours, I couldn't do anything about it. Yet, it was our teacher Mr. Kenan who protected us, even after his death! Tears formed in my eyes... He was a wonderful person.

"Thank you, Mr. Kenan. I know you can hear me." I said, whispering. "Thank you!.."

I got out of the room, into the hallway. Most of the school was transformed back into it's original shape. I ran to the ladder which lead to the roof, and climbed it. Normally, the roof was locked and it was out of students' reach; but this time, it was unlocked.

I was on the roof. I have never noticed how high the school building really was. The roof was sloped. It wasn't hard to stand on it, but a wrong move could easily bring an end to one's life.

I looked around and saw Idil sitting near the edge. I started walking towards her. She noticed me and looked in my eyes.

"Thank God!" she said, and stood up. "I thought I lost you!" she said. We hugged each other for a long time.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes, I am much better now that you are here." she replied.

"Where is Onur?" I asked her.

"I don't know. He fell downstairs when we were fighting. Instead of chasing him, I ran away and hid here. He couldn't find me since." she told me. "I learned many horrible things about this building. I talked to-"

"Yes, I did too." I interrupted.

"Oh. So, do you... you know..."

"We have to stay together. I will protect you no matter what!" I said.

"That's my promise as well. For a second, I though they might have persuaded you into doing horrible things..."

"Don't worry, I am not throwing away all of the efforts of Mr. Kenan." I replied.

Just then, we heard something. Onur had just climbed the ladder and he was breathing heavily. He stood there, staring us for a long time. Finally, he said something.

"Guys, I have got news..."