Modern Rituals by J.S. Leonard Read Free Book Online Page A

did. The foyer narrowed into a long walkway shooting through the school’s campus, intersected by a covered walkway that connected a windowed low-rise—twice the size of the gym and three stories high—on the left and another building beside the gym on the right.  
    Perhaps that building to the left is where the classrooms are?  
    THOCK — the sound of knocking wood mingling with babbling water broke the pervading silence. It trilled from a well-manicured Zen garden that harbored a lily-pad-laden pond and towering, Japanese gazebo under which meditated a mammoth, bronze Buddha statue. The administrative building wrapped behind the garden, standing as perimeter to intimate dirt paths speckled by inviting stone benches and shrubbery. A bamboo dipping-bird filled with water and repeatedly spilled its contents by slamming upon a hollow log.  
    In other circumstances, James would have found this spot beguiling—charming…romantic even. He looked at Olivia and realized that he was goggling her.
    “Huh…” he said, embarrassed, and glanced away.  
    He peered up at the offices. They overlooked the garden from floor-to-ceiling windows on each level—they seemed to lack interior lighting. The windows revealed nothing.  
    They arrived at an intersection where the tea garden ended and an overhead sky-bridge connected two buildings.
    An entrance opened off to their right. “Looks like a multipurpose room or something,” Olivia said.
    They slowed to investigate the juncture—James walked in front of Olivia and stopped, turning to face her.  
    “Well, I think we have the gist of this place. This looks like the center—the whole thing’s not all that large, really,” James said. “You okay? You haven’t said anything for a while.”
    She looked at him and parted her lips, but instead of speaking she cocked her head and her eyes widened. James whipped around—he struggled to distinguish the outline in front of them.  
    A girl. A small girl.  
    “Hey, there! We aren’t here to hurt you!”
    No response.  
    He raised his hands and walked forward until he could see the young girl’s eyes. Dread sunk needles into his neck—the eyes discharged a frightening stream of murderous lust. Knee-length wet, matted hair shrouded her downcast face. She wore a tattered, gossamer gown, grimy and unwholesome over pallid skin, slightly damp and decayed here and there. A sneer furled her purple lips.
      “What the holy fuck!” James said, reversing course, placing himself between Olivia and the girl.  
    The wet girl wriggled forward in spasmodic, bone-snapping movements, careening down the corridor in blurs and snapshots.
    Nothing should move like that!  
    He grabbed Olivia’s arm and dashed left, taking cover in an alcove outside the low-rise.  
    “Where did it go?” Olivia said.
    James peeked around the corner. The girl…thing had disappeared.  
    “W-What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck! That was like straight out of a goddamn movie! Shit, I can barely breathe!” James said.
    Olivia put a hand on his shoulder.
    “We need to move,” she said.
    They retreated to a set of nearby doors, which swung open after a valiant shove, crashing into the walls. The sound echoed throughout the campus.
    “Oops,” James said, listening to an unusual steadiness in his own voice. “I guess I need to calm down.”
    Olivia grabbed his hand and pulled him into a dim hallway lined with lockers and classroom doors. Polished bamboo squeaked beneath their feet—flares of light reflected in it from a door at the hallway’s end. James glanced to the side and noticed a narrow set of stairs that led upward. Olivia quietly closed the doors behind them and stood for a moment catching her breath.
    James stared into Olivia’s eyes as his ears strained to capture any sign of the thing that chased them.  
    Silence.  
    James’ cheeks burned hot.
    “Okay, well, I’m guessing we weren’t put here to begin a new semester of school,”