The Seven Ghosts
by Anshika 6B

Chapter 1: WE TOUR THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

Alright, first of all let’s hope I don’t die, and second of all, my name is Via. You might be wondering on why I’m freaking out right now. The short version: I saw some scary things. The long version: Well……I’ll tell you……………

There I was, speeding on the roads of New York in a school bus. I gazed outside to watch the tall skyscrapers whiz by. My class and I, were going going to the Statue of Liberty so we learn more about architecture. My best friend, Astha, was sitting next to me. Her chocolate hair was pulled back in a ponytail, with her dark eyes overflowing with excitement.

She’s an architectural nut, so going to the Statue of Liberty was going to be fun for her. Don’t get me wrong. I love architecture as much as her, but I’m not that crazy for it. Unlike me, Astha tries to visit as many monuments as she can to learn more.

She turned her head to me.
“Are we there yet?,” Astha asked.
“Do you see a Statue of Liberty?” I asked sarcastically, gesturing to the window.
She looked outside, “Yup.”

I turned where Astha was looking, and I saw what she saw. Right in front of my eyes was the Statue of Liberty. I hadn’t realized that the the bus stopped when we arrived. The green copper was gleaming against the sun. It looked new considering the fact it was hundreds of years old.

The boy in front of me (Vihar, a good friend of mine) turned his head to face me,. He had midnight hair that was cut flat on the top. His dark eyes twinkled with a mischievous glint. When I first met him, I thought of him as a troublemaker.

Vihar scoffed, “I’ve seen statues better than this”.
“What are you doing back there, Shah?”, Coach Hedge yelled.

Coach was our chaperone for the field trip. He was wearing his regular orange polo shirt, with jogging pants. His red baseball cap was settled on his brown curly hair. Coach was leaning on his baseball bat. He would have looked pretty scary if he wasn’t five-foot zero.

“Nothing, Coach!”, Vihar yelled. Coach grunted as if he wasn’t pleased that answer.

“Alright kids, listen up!”, He yelled. “We’re at the Statue of Liberty, so try not to break it! Also, don’t fall off from the top! That would cause extra paperwork for me. Form a line!” We filed in a line and stepped inside the statue. After what seemed like ten thousand steps, we reached the top inside the crown. Me, Vihar, Astha, and the rest of the class followed the tour guide. The inside of the statue creeped me out. It was dim and gloomy, like somebody closed the curtains in a bedroom.

“Okay, kids answer this for me”, said the tour guide, “since the Statue of Liberty is made out of copper, why is it green?” A few hands from our class shot up. I studied the guide carefully. She looked like a flight attendant. Perfect makeup, a high ponytail, and she always smiles, but whenever I get near her, I feel a cold presence.

Finally, one kid answered the question, and we moved on with the tour. The guide was in mid sentence with a fact, when all of the sudden the place went midnight black. The temperature dropped thirty degrees.

The floor turned slippery. Someone bumped into me, then another. I’m pretty sure it was Vihar and Astha. I could feel them shivering. Both of them took my hands and held tight. Under normal circumstances, I would have been pretty embarrassed of Vihar holding my hand. I’m reasonably sure that Vihar would, too. But right now it didn’t matter.

I tried to peer through the darkness, and a few meters away, I spotted the class. They were smiling, like the tour was going that well. I thought they were crazy, grinning like that. Then I realized they were frozen………in time.

I couldn’t see how that was possible. I couldn’t even see Coach Hedge, or the tour guide, anywhere. Suddenly an eerie white glow sparked to life. I could see Vihar’s and Astha’s face more clearly. They weren’t frozen, but they looked like they were silently hyperventilating. Astha locked her eyes with mine, her expression read: Are we going to run, or what?
Great idea. But the floor was way too slippery.

I forced myself to look into the light which, was in front of us. I’m pretty sure my eyes were playing tricks on me. Right there, before me, was seven glowing figures. They looked human, but they had a ghostly white aura around them, and they looked……faded.The figures started to hiss: “Poú eínai? Poú eínai i̱ ouránia stémma?”

Now, I don’t how to speak Greek, but instantly in my mind, I had a translation into English: Where is it? Where is the celestial crown?

“Boreíte!”, the fourth figure hissed at me, then turned to its ghost buddies. “Af̱tí̱ i̱ kóri̱ ti̱s Í̱ras eínai o idioktí̱ti̱s tou ourániou stémma. Pár 'to apó af̱tí̱n, kai na epitetheí tous fílous ti̱s, ti̱n kóri̱ ti̱s Estías, kai to gio tou Poseidó̱na!

I was too stunned on what she said, than saying the translation. I glanced over at Astha, and Vihar. They looked as stunned as me, like they also understood what ghost things said.

“D-do you guys understand them, like me?”, I stammered.

“You understand them, too?”, Vihar asked. “I thought I was going crazy.”

“Me, too.”, said Astha. “I mean, the understanding part, not the crazy part. I know that my mom and Via’s mom are always on their business trips and stuff, so we barely get to see them, and I know that’s the same for your dad, Vihar, but what those ghost things said-”.

I interrupted, “They said, that our parents are th-the-”. I never finished that sentence, because at that moment, the ghost things charged.