Chapter 11

Sophie expected Geraldine to laugh, but she didn’t.

“Oh. You’re talking about Millicent.”

“Who is Millicent?” Ophelia said. “What happened?”

“Well,” Geraldine began, sitting back in her chair, “Millicent was a dancer here in the 1920s. The story is, she fell in love with a boy at the same time as her best friend. Back then, remember, boys and girls didn’t share this academy—it was strictly for girls. But the Monsieur who was running the place at the time would bring in male dancers for classes sometimes. And that’s where Millicent fell in love.”

Sophie could hardly believe it. Maybe Ophelia was right—it was a ghost.

“Let me guess,” Kayley said. “She didn’t die of natural causes?”

Geraldine chuckled. “Oh, no. No, no, no. This was one of the worst tragedies in the many years of the Dario Quincy Academy. Millicent was about to declare her love to the boy—I think his name was Thomas—so the story goes, when her best friend beat her to it. Her friend—I forget her name—kissed Thomas on the very night that Millicent was going to make her move.

“Now, keep in mind, Millicent was already a little nuts. Again, so the story goes. She was one of those artists who was maybe a bit over the top, needed emotion to fuel her work?”

Sophie nodded. She knew those dancers. In a small way, she might have been one of them.

Geraldine continued: “But when Millicent found Thomas kissing what’s-her-name, she lost it. They were on the third floor, I believe, in what is now the old science room. Back then, though, it was like a parlor room, a place where all the girls would hang out and chat. Millicent found a pair of scissors and stabbed what’s-her-name. What is her name …?”

Geraldine’s thoughts overtook her, but Sophie had stopped paying attention. She was looking at Emma, who had gone completely white.

“Emily!” Geraldine exclaimed triumphantly. “Her name was Emily.”

But the other girls had turned to stare at Emma too.

“Thanks, Geraldine. That’s really helpful,” Emma said, her voice shaking.

“Oh, dear. I hope I didn’t scare you girls,” Geraldine said, leaning forward. She looked around the room, concerned. “This place can get to you …”

Emma started to regain her color. “No, that was an interesting story. But I think it’s about time we went to bed.”

Geraldine winked. “OK. We’ll keep this between us then, shall we? You won’t be in trouble for being out past curfew, and I won’t be in trouble for passing on creepy legends.”

The girls agreed, and Emma began walking out, Sophie close behind. As Sophie prepared to ask what was going on, Emma shook her head. “In your room,” she said. The girls snuck back down the stairs and into Sophie’s room.

When Sophie closed the door behind them, Emma collapsed in the chair. She’d gone from shocked to grim.

“Well, it’s Millicent all right,” Emma said.

“What convinced you?” Ophelia asked.

“There are some things I haven’t told you guys. Like, every time Trey and I are alone, something weird happens. Like, something breaks or noises seem to come from out of nowhere.”

“That’s horrible!” Madeline said. “How do we get rid of her?”

“There’s more,” Emma continued. “Trey and I always meet in the science room. You know, the room where Millicent went crazy?”

“More like stabby,” Kayley said.

Ophelia’s eyes started glittering. “Oh, yeah. It’s Millicent, all right. And I know just what to do. We use a spirit board, and we make her back off.”

Kayley said, “A spirit board? We don’t want to ask her questions. We want her gone! What made you think of a spirit board, anyway? After everything you’ve been through with ghosts, I’d think the last thing you want to do is talk to one.”

“A spirit board is the only thing we can do that will help. I did a lot of research after the whole … incident I had. I never wanted to feel that way again. And damned if I’d let one of my friends go through something like that. So I’ve been researching ghosts.”

Sophie sat on the bed by her. She recognized that look in Ophelia’s eyes. Ophelia was on a mission.

“Almost everything I’ve researched,” Ophelia said, “says that ghosts stay on the earth to relive things over and over again. Their old lives get mixed up with the living, and they get confused. Maybe this Millicent thinks Trey is like Thomas. You know—two best friends fall for the same guy …”

Had she really brought forth a ghost? Sophie wondered. Just because she’d had a crush?

Ophelia went on: “I think we somehow need to let her know that this isn’t Thomas. That this isn’t the same thing she went through and that she’s not living it through you guys now.”

She looked at Sophie. “We’re all going to be involved, but you might have to be the one who asks her to stop. I don’t know for sure, but I think this Millicent is living out what happened in her life through you and Emma—which makes you, her, and Emma, Emily. If sites I’ve been reading are right, we need to talk to her stat. Before this gets any worse.

“This isn’t some girl who was sad,” Ophelia continued. “This is a girl who committed murder. She could be really dangerous.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Sophie said. “No one is going to hurt Emma. No one.”

Emma smiled through tears in her eyes. “And no one will hurt Sophie.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kayley said, “this is all well and good, but where are we going to get a spirit board?”

Ophelia smiled slowly. “I thought you’d never ask. I haven’t just been researching ghosts. I’ve been stocking up on ghosty supplies.” She stood up. “Girls, come to my room and check out my new spirit board.”