The One You Shouldn't Let In [3/9]

Spying on the school librarian Jay hopes to discover the meaning of his mysterious dreams

Previously (1) Jay was again startled awake at 3 am, by another dream of a menacing visitation (2)

Image of Librarian with open book by Martine on Pixabay

Jay’s morning passed by without event. Each time he changed classes, he scanned the corridors, but he didn’t see Katie.

Meeting Alex for lunch he recounted what he’d overheard. Alex had picked up a rumour too, relating a teacher, not Katie.

“He’s evil J, I’m telling you!” Alex said around a huge mouthful of pizza.

“One kid was made to do 50 press-ups and 10 laps around the sports field, just because he brought the wrong kit to school.”

“That’s rough,” J agreed. “But there’s surely more to this than a coach with an overdeveloped sense of discipline!”

Alex shook his head and tore off another bite of cheese and tomato.

“I’m telling you mate, he won’t allow anyone in the sports pavilion either. All the equipment gets carried to the door, but only he takes it in to put it away. He’s hiding something, I bet.”

J didn’t see much cause for concern, but what made his theories better than Alex’s? No more fantastic for sure than thinking along the lines of alien abduction — except that Laurie and Katie were not gone. He shook his head at his own craziness, and that’s when he saw her.

Katie Thompson was outside in the quad, in conversation with an eccentric woman in a tweed suit. The staff member had her back to the window, so J only saw her grey hair — not her face — but his view of Katie was clear. She looked drained and pale, her long hair looking lank and dishevelled.

“Who’s that?” he asked Alex, gesturing at the woman lecturing Katie.

Alex looked up from his food.

“Who? The old biddy who looks like a 50's throwback?”

J nodded. He kept his eyes on Katie, who in turn stared unblinkingly at the older woman.

“That’s the new librarian — she took over from the one who went on maternity leave. Dunno her name though, who’s she ranting on at?”

Alex craned his neck, and nearly fell off his chair.

“Whoa — is that Katie? She looks awful!”

J shushed him when a couple of boys at a nearby table looked up from their food.

“Exactly. It’s just like Laurie — they both look sort of … flat and lifeless.”

“You’re not kidding! I remember her now, from the inter-house drama competition last year. She was in that murder mystery play. She looked smoking hot in a little tennis outfit!” He peered at her again. “For a while I couldn’t stop thinking about her, today she’s like a deflated balloon .”

“C’mon, let’s get closer.”

J stacked his tray on the counter, before Alex could argue. The boys hurried outside into the quad. But Katie had already gone.

“What do we do now?” Alex wanted to know.

“Let’s check out the Library.”

They entered the English block and turned left, then stopped suddenly. Through the half-glazed doors they saw the tweedy librarian standing by the large plastic container for returned library books. Then she moved towards a door at the back of the Library which led to her tiny office.

This was the ideal moment to get in there and snoop

In synchronised silence, the boys moved swiftly through the swing doors, J pointed to Alex then at the office, then indicating his own chest he gestured towards the computer. Each set off on their separate missions.

J moved stealthily and wiggled the computer mouse to bring up what the Librarian had last been looking at. He tutted at her casualness in not locking the computer when she stepped away, while being hugely grateful that she hadn’t! An inventory page loaded, she was in the process of placing an order for more books — nothing very surprising there. What was minimised in the toolbar? A database of student names & their library pass codes, a timetable of classes using the Library for study sessions and internet explorer. Her internet search was much more positive: hypnotists and hypnotism in its many forms.

Just then J heard the squeak as the back office door swung open. Immediately he ducked low and sidled away from the desk. He didn’t straighten up till he was safely between two bookshelves crammed with paperbacks and hardbacks, neatly ordered by category. He could hear Alex talking in that low voice people use in libraries, so J had no idea what he was saying.

The Librarian moved in his direction, her sensible shoes making a faint squeak on the parquet floor. J grabbed a random book off the crowded shelf and took it over to her, digging his library card from his inside blazer pocket as he walked.

The Librarian tapped a few keys and moved the mouse. The printer sprang to life to churn out a piece of paper. When she turned away to grab it, Alex threw a wink in his friend’s direction.

“Thank you Miss. I’m sure my Library card is somewhere at home, but this’ll save my bacon, getting some study books out today.”

“This is valid for one week.” She observed him sternly over her glasses. “If you haven’t found your card by then, see me to arrange a replacement.”

As Alex took the temporary pass, she turned her attention to J, who proffered his book. As she entered the reference code she looked at him rather strangely — he kept his face neutral. It wasn’t until they had fled down the corridor that he looked at the book’s title, and burst out laughing, “Lacemaking Through the Ages”. Of course she wondered why he needed that!

“What did you find out?” J asked Alex.

They walked briskly, needing to get books from their lockers for afternoon lessons

“Not much really. Too many posters & flyers obstructing the glass panels.” He shook his head. “But she did look furtive. I saw her putting a big jar of pills into her handbag. Which, by the way, also looks like something from a museum! What did you find?”

“We may be onto something — she’d been researching hypnotism on the internet. I’ll run the same search at home tonight and find out what she knows.”

J could tell Alex was impressed, but before they could talk more the bell rang, summoning them back to class.

Arriving home from school, his sister Lulu excitedly flapped a pink postcard in his face.

“What’s that Lulu?”

“A party invitation. MY PARTYYYYY!” she squealed and twirled, making her checked summer dress flare out like a bell.

J took the invitation from her hand to read.

“So Lulu, karaoke AND a clown?”

“Yes J. And there will be balloons and dancing and a Disney Princess cake.”

“Wow! Lucky you. Will you give invitations out to your school friends tomorrow?”

“Mmm hmm.” She followed him to the kitchen and watched him make a sandwich.

“Can I have a milkshake please J?”

He reached for a glass, which he filled with milk, adding spoonfuls of strawberry powder. As he stirred it he looked at his little sister. Her thick blonde plaits and grey blue eyes enhanced her air of sweet innocence. When he handed her the glass, she padded off down the hall, silent in white cotton socks. Seconds later he heard the blurt of the television as his sister settled down to watch cartoons.

J made himself a drink and took his sandwich upstairs. Passing his Dad’s study door he peeked inside where Dad sat at the computer. He wasn’t writing, he was drinking coffee and scrolling on his phone —so it was OK to interrupt.

“How’s it going? Did you get much written today?”

“Yes. I had a bit of a breakthrough actually, I got a lot done. How about you? School good?”

“Er — guess so.”

J flicked his fringe out of his eyes. He didn’t feel like sharing details of the recent weirdness with his Dad. Change of subject required.

“Lulu’s party sounds cool Dad.”

“I hope so. She wanted something none of her friends had done, and I saw the clown-guy’s card in the newsagent’s window. You might know him actually — he goes to your school. Danny something — Randall is it?”

Dad looked at him expectantly.

“Oh yeah. Does drama, year 12.” J nodded his head, Danny had been in some school plays.

Biting into his sandwich he moved off to his room. The dog got up from under his Dad’s desk, stretched and followed J’s sandwich.

J opened his laptop, eating while he waited for his desktop to populate with various icons. He threw crusts which the drooling dog caught in mid-air, then typed ‘Hypnosis’ into Google, checking the Wikipedia entry first.

Hypnosis is a state of human consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion. The term may also refer to an art, skill, or act of inducing hypnosis.

Theories explaining what occurs during hypnosis fall into two groups. Altered state theories see hypnosis as an altered state of mind or trance, marked by a level of awareness different from the ordinary conscious state.

J conceded that both Laurie & Katie seemed to be in an altered state of mind, blanking out their friends and exhibiting reduced emotional responses. What puzzled him was how the Librarian was doing it, and for what purpose?

He stroked the dog’s head absently. It snuffled around his desk hoping for more food, before plodding down the hall to curl up on its bed in Dad’s study.

As J clicked on more links he learned that hypnotism did not require the ‘subject’ to be sent to sleep. There were also more subtle ways to hypnotise than swinging a pendulum in front of someone’s eyes. In fact it could work on the power of suggestion, and a normal conversation peppered with key command words could be used to trigger ‘mental obedience’.

J printed off the most relevant passages to show to Alex tomorrow, then he cracked open his books to start on his German translation homework.