TWO HISTORY INSIDERS #2
Personally, Jack’s a catch. He’s good-looking, tall, and friendly.
He has a mop of wavy hair that could rival Timothée Chalamet’s.
I’d label him as a speek – a geek who’s into sports.
He plays football and occasionally drags me to badminton at the weekends, if he can pry himself away from his gaming sessions.
Recently back from a family holiday in Lanzarote, he’s got a tan, giving him a bit of a Jacob Elordi lying-on-a-deckchair vibe. Unfortunately for Jack, Lily prefers organised and dependable guys. Jack is only dependable to his computer.
As Jack takes a bite of his burger, Lily holds out her napkin to catch the ketchup falling out the other side.
‘Thanks,’ he says, while trying to retrieve a piece of falling lettuce from the corner of his mouth.
‘So, Jack, what is SNT saying about Katie?’ I ask.
SNT being Student News Team, which Jack constantly reminds us he is a member of, and he can’t shut up about how great the snacks provided in the newsroom are.
That was the only thing that might have convinced me to join, to be honest. He tried to persuade Lily and me to join when we started in September, but Lily had already signed up to student council and history club, and for me the thought of anything extra involving college is dire.
‘Not much really. The English block’s vending machine being iron-fisted yesterday is still prime spot on the blog.’ Jack winks. ‘How is the hand by the way?’
I hold up my part-bandaged hand. I haven’t given it much thought today. I guess my mind has been elsewhere. ‘It’s fine.’
Lily tries to hide a smirk.
‘Anyway,’ Jack continues, still half-chewing, ‘Katie’s mum and dad haven’t seen her for over a week, and she hasn’t been to any of her classes for days.’
A week may seem a long time, but for Sarumbourne that’s nothing. People go missing here a lot, which I’ve always found weird, because our crime rate is actually pretty low according to my mum, who watches the local news religiously. I expect for the police this is just another day.
‘She was definitely in our film studies class last week,’ Jack continues, a mouth full of burger bun. ‘I only remember because she practically broke Mr Hurley’s door when she randomly left early.’
‘She broke a door?’ says Lily.
‘Yep. You got to appreciate a strong woman,’ Jack replies, before glugging a mouthful of Coke.
Lily rolls her eyes.
‘I don’t remember that,’ I say.
‘You were late that day, mate,’ says Jack.
‘What a surprise.’ Lily glares at me.
‘It was hella weird,’ Jack begins, screwing up his burger wrapper.
‘It was during Mr Hurley’s discussion about the film Casablanca .
Katie looked as though she was nodding off, which isn’t any real surprise.
Five more minutes of Mr Hurley talking about Ingrid Bergman’s wardrobe, I’d have been in snoozeland too. ’
‘Jack, get to the point,’ says Lily, clearly just as impatient as me.
‘Well there’s not much more to it. Katie gets up, grabs her belongings, and takes off.’
‘You said she broke a door?’ I ask.
‘Oh yeah, well you know what Mr Hurley’s door is like. Stiff as anything. She struggled with it. Mr Hurley offered to help her but by the time he got to her she’d yanked it free. I mean, it practically came off in her hand.’
‘And she didn’t say anything?’ Lily says.
Jack shakes his head.
Why would Katie just get up and leave without saying anything? And so keen to get out she broke the door. Maybe she was having some weird Peter Parker moment? Of course she wasn’t. It seems entirely bizarre, but then again, so is the connection between my dream and her disappearance.
‘Liam thinks he saw Katie die in his dream last night,’ says Lily.
‘Wait, seriously?’ says Jack.
I tap my phone. I’m late for my next class.
‘I need to get to catering,’ I say, slinging my bag over my shoulder. ‘Jack, Lily will catch you up. We’ll chat more about this later.’
I turn to walk away.
‘Liam! Wait… don’t forget Insiders later. In the library. You promised!’ Lily calls after me.
Damn, she remembered.
History Insiders is something I’ve managed to avoid since starting college.
Club activities aren’t really my thing, especially when they fall on a Friday, and involve history, but Lily has been relentless in her efforts to persuade me to join.
She argues that it will enhance my local history knowledge and help me get on Miss Williams’ good side.
So, I finally caved and promised to attend this week’s meeting.
On the bright side, maybe it will provide a temporary respite from thoughts of Katie.
With classes over for the day, I force myself to the library.
I’ve been inside all of two times since starting college.
I’m not exactly a book guy. But, as libraries go, it’s got grandeur.
Unlike the modernised college areas, the library retains the classic style of the original building.
Stretching behind rows of books, the long room leads to a large oval-shaped counter, opposite a wide staircase ascending to a first-floor balcony.
Two decades ago, the entire library was likely filled with books, but now the first floor doubles as a computer lab, often occupied by Jack, typing away for SNT.
At this hour, it’s empty, closed by three most days to accommodate Mr Berry, the librarian, nearing retirement and preferring shorter working days. Jack mentioned that after-hours clubs require approval from the principal, a favour Lily secured for History Insiders, which she now leads.
I am grabbed from behind and my heart jumps.
‘You’re here!’
I let out a sigh of relief as I turn to face Lily.
‘Shit, Lily.’ ‘Sorry, it was too easy.’
Lily is accompanied by four other students, including Sophia from our history class.
‘Lily finally convinced you to come along then?’ Sophia winks and leads the way up the stairs with the others.
‘I think Sophia likes you,’ Lily says, giggling.
My cheeks flush. ‘She knows she’s barking up the wrong tree, right?’
Lily shrugs, and we continue following the others.
Halfway up the steps, there’s a tug on my sleeve.
‘Smokers’ Clearing,’ Lily says out of nowhere.
‘What?’
‘You said at lunch you saw cigarettes on the ground in your dream, right?’
‘Yeah…’ I pause, realising that I had actually forgotten about the dream for a moment.
‘Craythorn Forest. Students go there to smoke all the time,’ she says.
‘Smokers’ Clearing. Of course!’ It dawns on me.
Smoking is not tolerated on college grounds, which includes much of the land surrounding the college.
However, a few students who smoke sneak into Craythorn Forest during breaks to a spot they’ve nicknamed ‘Smokers’ Clearing’.
I’ve been there once before, not to smoke, because that’s stupid.
It was during my first week at college when I was paired up with a random girl named Kim for a catering class presentation.
Who’d have thought there would be presentations on a catering course? I certainly didn’t when I picked it.
Anyway, our disastrous preparation meeting took place at Smokers’ Clearing, a place frequented by Kim and her goth-styled friends.
‘We should head over there,’ Lily suggests, surprising me with her willingness to entertain my seemingly odd situation. ‘Perhaps it will put your mind at ease if there’s nothing out there.’
She’s right. If I don’t find any signs of what I witnessed in my dream, maybe there’s nothing weird happening to me after all.
‘Cool. We should head there now while it’s still light,’ I propose.
‘Nice try,’ Lily responds with a smirk, turning on the spot and pushing me toward the stairs. ‘You’re doing Insiders first.’
I sigh, realising that I won’t be escaping the club so easily.
Twenty-five minutes into History Insiders and I’m completely unengaged.
Everyone else is diligently working on computers, and Sophia is immersed in a book at the desk closest to me.
Lily has the group researching local folklore, but I can’t seem to shake off my boredom.
Tiredness is taking over me. My eyes are heavy.
I take out my phone for a distraction. I tap on Instagram and search for Katie Ford.
She comes up immediately and I begin flicking through her feed.
The girl has a knack for art, and her grid is filled with numerous drawings that I assume are her creations.
I stumble upon something that sends a shiver down my spine.
A sketch of a familiar figure – the man from my dream, the one who killed Katie.
How is it possible that she managed to draw him?
I scroll through her previous posts, and each one seems to depict haunting scenes: a building on fire, a young man with a blade to his throat.
I flick to the next one and see a sketch of a pair of eyes.
Those eyes. The black pool with yellow lightning striking through them.
‘Hello…’
I blink and look up. It’s Lily.
‘I know you’re not exactly with it today, but do you think you could actually get involved?’
‘Sure. How?’ I say, realising that probably wasn’t the best choice of words.
Lily turns to Sophia. ‘Hey, Soph, Liam said he’ll give you a hand.’
I give Lily a glare as she grins cheekily and moves on to talk to another student.
‘Pull up a chair,’ Sophia invites me.
I comply and join Sophia at the desk. Her charm bracelet rattles as she slides a large book my way.
‘So, what are we looking for? I sort of missed Lily’s intro earlier,’ I say, watching Sophia engrossed in her own book.
‘Lily wants us to research Old Sarum,’ Sophia replies.
Old Sarum, an ancient prehistoric hillfort on the outskirts of the city. The ruins still stand, attracting tourists and walkers alike. Lily’s super enthusiastic about the place, so much so she even got herself a weekend job in the gift shop.
‘Don’t we already know everything about that place? Old settlement dating back to the Stone Age, where the city was first formed, now a crumbling ruin…’ I say, thinking it sounds pretty standard.
‘All of that is true,’ Sophia interrupts, ‘but these books reveal more. For example, did you know many people believed the location was some form of evil doorway into another world?’
I almost laugh, assuming she’s joking, but the seriousness in Sophia’s expression stops me. She’s having a full-on history geek-out.
‘It is said that the doorway was protected by chosen ones who each have special powers. They were meant to be responsible for anything that made its way through to our world. The locals referred to the chosen ones as the Keepers. It’s all in that book there.’ She points to the book in front of me.
‘Say that again?’ I ask, needing to hear it once more.
‘… The chosen ones are referred to as Keepers.’
Keepers. It resonates in my mind. I can still hear his voice.
‘Liam, are you okay?’ Sophia asks.
I quickly flick through the pages to find the section on Keepers.
I trace the page, my finger stopping on a single word: visions.
My hand trembles slightly as I read about the visions new Keepers experience – frequent visions in their slumber, recurring nightmares of their predecessor’s death.
The book mentions speculation over the centuries: some believe it’s to prepare the new Keeper for what lies ahead, while others say it helps them avoid the same fate.
I lean back in my chair. Frequent visions. Recurring nightmares. Death. It’s all there on the page. This can’t be real, can it?
‘Intriguing, isn’t it?’ Sophia says.
‘You believe in the Keepers?’ I ask, my voice a little shaky.
‘Oh no, it’s just bedtime stories. Sarumbourne myths and all that. But it’s cool to imagine, right? Guardians with powers, watching over the city, protecting us from evil.’
‘Yeah, cool.’
Lily catches my eye and smiles.
My heart is thrumming. There’s a feeling in my gut that tells me this isn’t just a bedtime story.