Learn To Fly -CHAP.03--TMOHS-

  The S.O.S. Brigade watched in horror as the mummy climbed all the way out of his tomb and began shuffling towards them, groaning and outstretching stiff, millennia-old arms.

  "This is really happening..." breathed Haruhi, sounding half fearful, half awed.

  Next to her Kyon was determinedly muttering, "This is not happening. This cannot be happening."

  Avery wasn't sure who she agreed with. The inquisitive, supernatural-indulged part of her couldn't imagine anything more fascinating than a real mummy actually come back to life. But that same part of her - the part that had also seen loads of bad horror movies - reminded her that mythologically speaking, when mummies came back to life, they were never in a friendly mood. And they were dangerous.

  The latter was clearly what was foremost on Itsuki's mind too. A deep frown creased the forehead of his usually smiling face. "Everybody keep back."

  "You don't have to tell me twice," Kyon managed to mutter, in spite of himself. It was extremely hard to think straight what with the whole mummy crisis unfolding before them. As well as the fact that Mikuru was whimpering and clinging to his arm.

  In fact, the only one who didn't seem at all perturbed by the situation was Yuki. Avery knew that the bookish girl never showed much of an emotional span at the best of times, but this wasn't exactly your everyday problem. This was much, much bigger. Not to mention completely unnatural.

  Avery was still sure that her eyes must have been deceiving her. But no matter how many times she closed and then opened them, the same ever-looming scene was still there to meet her. Was this really the same mummy that had been part of this exhibit the whole time Avery had worked here, as well as long before that?

  Her eyes scrutinised the ancient figure that was still shuffling towards them at a bare snail pace, as the S.O.S. Brigade backed further away - without real light, where could they begin to run to? The age-old bandages were greying and stained, black spots of tar and dark mass seeping through. But it was the mummy's right shoulder than suddenly caught Avery's eye.

  The gauze covering it was fraying and starting to fall loose - she could see it even in the poor light cast by the thin beam of the flash light lying on the floor. That wasn't possible. The Ancient Egyptians' handiwork was flawless. No way would the bandages unravel like that, even after thousands of years. Something was amiss.

  Avery swept her gaze downwards, really taking in the mummy's appearance. The pattern of the bandages grew messier further and further down its body. She could just make out the gauze flapping completely loose around the mummy's feet. She was also certain that the Ancient Egyptians had never worn sneakers. Everything suddenly became clear. She stepped forward, towards the mummy, retrieving the flashlight from the floor.

  "Hey, what are you doing?"

  "Miss Shimizu, please be careful!"

  The mummy mutely reached a hand towards Avery and Mikuru squealed behind her. Avery turned and shone the flash light in the mummy's face. It stopped, the half-raised hand moving instead to shield its face. Avery was sure that an ancient, undead figure hell-bent on some kind of revenge or wrath wasn't going to be deterred much by a mere flash light.

  As it raised its arm, there was a flash of silver. Avery reached and grabbed one of the bandages. It unravelled as she pulled, revealing a very alive hand. The glint of silver turned out to be a shiny wristwatch.

  "Hey, that's not a real mummy!" Haruhi exclaimed.

  No sooner had she said it, all of the lights suddenly came back on and filled the room once more. In the better lighting, they could see just how badly the mummy's - or man's - bandages were wrapped. Slithers of blue security uniform could be seen poking through between the edges.

  He then started laughing. "Oh, man, that was definitely worth sitting in that crypt for two hours."

  "Who are you?" asked Kyon, still stunned.

  "Can't you tell? I'm part of security detail," explained the man, unwinding the gauze from around his head. Underneath was a jovial face, the blue eyes still dancing with amusement. "Rimu and I hatched this plan as soon as she found out you kids wanted a twilight visit."

  "Rimu?" Haruhi repeated curiously.

  "That's my mom," Avery chimed in helpfully. She was only slightly bemused by the guard's revelation - part of her wasn't surprised to hear that her mom was one of the masterminds behind that little trick. Rimu Shimizu had always had an odd sense of humour.

  "How did you know that the mummy wasn't real?" Itsuki asked her.

  "The bandages were coming loose," explained Avery. "A real mummy wouldn't have been so poorly prepared, no matter how much time had passed. Then I spotted his sneakers when he was closer."

  The guard laughed. "Spoken like a true professional. You're gonna embarrass me."

  "Well, the gauze at least looks authentic," Avery commended. "Where did you get it?"

  "Just regular gauze from the pharmacy. Stained it all myself with tea leaves," the guard replied proudly. "I work in a museum - I may only be security, but I can't be caught doing half a job."

  "Huh. Then you could have tied the bandages better," Avery pointed out.

  The guard laughed again. "Ouch. You're definitely your mother's daughter."

  "Of course she is," said Rimu's voice from behind them. They all turned to see her with a big smile plastered across her face, and the other walkie-talkie in her hand. "Sorry, kids. You have no idea how hard it was not to laugh when you were trying to get through to me."

  "Mom!" Avery protested. Though she was used to her mother's sense of humour, she hoped that the rest of the S.O.S. Brigade wouldn't hold the practical joke against Rimu or herself.

  "What? You kids think it was funny, right?" Rimu prompted the other club members brightly.

  Avery noticed a couple of them exchange glances before they all looked toward Haruhi. Apparently, her opinion was the only one that was important, just like how things usually played out within the club. Avery had a feeling she could understand why.

  Haruhi actually looked thoughtful for a few moments, then her face split into a huge grin. "It was brilliant!" she exclaimed. "You really had us going there."

  The others almost seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Avery couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if Haruhi hadn't been impressed that it had turned out their walking mummy wasn't real. Oblivious to it all, Rimu beamed. "Well, I figured that was the sort of result you kids were looking for. Sorry it wasn't actually real though - at least it had you going for a little while."

  "Totally!" Haruhi agreed enthusiastically. "It was kinda spooky, but I wasn't actually scared, if you know what I mean."

  "Yeah, right. You were totally scared," Kyon muttered under his breath.

  Rimu laughed. "I'm glad it worked to some extent then. But I'm afraid we're going to have to boot you guys out now, so we can put the exhibit back together and then close up shop."

  "Can you actually get away with someone climbing in and out of a sarcophagus that's thousands of years old?" Avery asked pointedly.

  "Of course not," replied Rimu. "The real one's been put away safely. We replaced it with a fake just for this evening."

  Wow. Avery hadn't even noticed the difference. Either she'd simply been having too much fun to pay enough attention to the exhibit or she was starting to slip. She really hoped it wasn't the latter.

  "You really went all out," Kyon commented. "Where'd you manage to find a fake crypt at such short notice?"

  "Well, it is nearly Halloween," Rimu smiled. "You'd be surprised what some people get for their houses to celebrate the occasion. I hope we haven't scared you kids off visiting again though - please feel free to stop by any time. The mummies will stay preserved, I promise."

  "If they want to get up and walk around though, you don't have to stop them," added Haruhi, making Rimu laugh again.

  "Alright, I'll be sure to give them free reign," Rimu promised, amused. "And Avery, I'll be home in about an hour."

  "I'll put some dinner on ready for you," said Avery.

  "You're a star. See you later, kids."

  "Your mom's pretty cool," Haruhi commented as they left the museum.

  "She definitely has a weird sense of humour," Avery replied, though she was actually quite thrilled. She knew first-hand how difficult Haruhi could be to please.

  "I really did think that mummy was real for a moment there. It was so exciting!" Haruhi exclaimed. She continued to chatter away enthusiastically as they walked.

  Avery apparently wasn't the only one who had wondered what would have happened if Haruhi hadn't been so happy with the practical joke. Amidst Haruhi's excited babble, she heard Itsuki mention quietly to Kyon, "At least it looks like there won't be any repercussions from this evening. Even if it wasn't quite as expected, Miss Suzumiya still got what she wanted."

  The way he said it made these 'repercussions' sound more sinister than just a mere hissy fit on Haruhi's part, if things hadn't gone her way. Avery glanced curiously back at the boys, but besides an agreeable grunt from Kyon, neither of them said anything else about it. Avery guessed that they would have been on the unfortunate end of more of Haruhi's bad moods than she had.

  "We totally need to do something else spooky for our next club activity," Haruhi decided.

  "What happened to the slumber party idea?" Kyon pointed out. "You were all set on that an hour ago."

  "That's old news," said Haruhi dismissively. "We need something more exciting than that. Avery, what do you think we should do?"

  "Me?" Avery asked, surprised. She would never have expected Haruhi to put much value in her opinions.

  "Of course you! I said Avery, didn't I? Who else?" Haruhi laughed. "You helped us out with the museum visit, so come on, we need ideas!"

  "Oh, erm, right..." Avery racked her brains, trying to think of something that could please their impatient club leader. She couldn't help but think that this was a golden opportunity for her. The museum visit had been the club's first activity since she'd joined. Maybe she could use this moment to suggest some things that she thought would be interesting. After all, wasn't that what the S.O.S. Brigade was supposedly about? Hunting for mysterious phenomena? "Um... we could try a ghost walk?"

  Haruhi definitely seemed interested. "You mean like through a cemetery or something?" Avery nodded. "That's a great idea! That'd definitely be spooky - especially if we did it at night!"

  "Wouldn't most cemeteries be closed at night?" Kyon asked practically.

  "But you can actually book real ghost tours! Especially around Halloween," Haruhi insisted. She looked thoughtful for a few minutes and then her eyes lit up with a maniacal glint that most of the Brigade - Kyon and Mikuru in particular - had grown to fear. "I've got it! We should all spend the night in a haunted hotel! It's perfect - it combines the slumber party and the ghost hunting aspect!"

  Like usual, she didn't ask what anyone else thought of the idea. Instead, she started reeling off a list of where to look online for locations, what they should bring with them, what else they could do to make things even spookier - either calculating things out loud or expecting someone else to take notes.

  "We'll do it next Friday!" she decided. "I want to decide on the best one for us to stay in, so I'll give you all the details on Monday. Meet in the clubroom after class and don't be late; any of you!"

  "And who's the one who's usually late?" said Kyon pointedly. As usual, he was ignored.

                                                           *

  On Monday afternoon, Haruhi was last to the clubroom, as Kyon had predicted. She flounced in with no way of greeting and threw herself into a chair, a frown etched across her face. "All the haunted hotel deals are so expensive! It's stupid - who do they think are going to pay those prices?"

  "It's nearly Halloween. What do you expect?" said Kyon indifferently.

  "I still think it's stupid," Haruhi huffed. "Now what are we gonna do?"

  "You could just stay in a hotel that's not haunted and get over it," said Kyon sarcastically. He'd noticed that Mikuru looked particularly relieved that the haunted hotel plan didn't seem to be going ahead anymore. Unwillingly, however, he'd given Haruhi a new idea.

  "Wait a minute," she said slowly, the cogs turning in her head. "Just because a hotel isn't publicised as being haunted doesn't necessarily mean that there aren't a few ghosts still lurking around. If we find the creepiest looking hotel in town, then I'm sure we'll still have a few ghostly encounters."

  "I think that's just wishful thinking," said Kyon sceptically.

  "Of course it isn't! For that, you have to find us a hotel!" Haruhi decided. "And don't do half a job either - make sure you get us the creepiest hotel you can find. Look for one that's dirt cheap too. They probably won't charge much if it's haunted."

  As always, Haruhi's logic was ridiculous. "If a hotel's dirt cheap, then it's probably because it's a hovel," Kyon pointed out.

  "Well, avoid those then! Just find us somewhere suitable," Haruhi ordered bossily.

  "Yes ma'am," Kyon muttered sarcastically.

                                                            *

  With Haruhi not around to breathe down the back of his neck, Kyon was actually able to find them a hotel for the night. It was old-fashioned and moderately priced. The reviews for it were all good and there were no mentions of any supernatural goings-on. Kyon was sure that wouldn't deter Haruhi - she'd likely just be more interested in looking at the photos on the website. Despite the positive reviews, it really did look more on the creepy and rundown side.

  Haruhi was certainly pleased once she'd gotten a look at it and insisted on doing the booking herself -  now that Kyon had done the 'boring' part of searching, as she so eloquently put it. So that Friday evening, the S.O.S. Brigade met at the hotel with their overnight bags. Haruhi spoke to the man at the front desk whilst the others mulled in the lobby, no doubt wondering how this night was going to turn out. Haruhi soon rejoined them with two room keys.

  "Okay, guys, we're in rooms 311 and 313 on the top floor," Haruhi enlightened them. "I made sure we got rooms next door to each other, but for now, we can all just hang out in one of them. So let's go!"

  They took the tiny rickety elevator to the top floor, barely cramming in with all of their bags. Avery decided that Kyon had definitely done a good job. The musty elevator looked and smelt like it would have belonged in a number of bad horror movies. Haruhi was easily the most excited about it. She practically raced down the third-floor corridor, jamming a key into the lock of one of the rooms and throwing the door open.

  The room itself was pretty basic - neat, plain and a little more modern than the rest of the hotel's interior. There was a lot of beige on beige. And brown. And, Avery noticed, only three beds.

  Kyon noticed this too, as Haruhi threw her bag onto the bed closest to the door and announced that it was hers. "Erm, I don't know if you've noticed, but there are only three beds in here."

  Haruhi jumped down next to her bag. "Yeah, so?"

  "So are you guys gonna share or something?" asked Kyon, nonplussed.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Well, it's one room for girls and one for guys, right?"

  Haruhi looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course not! Do you know how hard it is to get a room with four beds? Plus if any of the ghosts we see happen to be malevolent, then you guys are gonna have to step up and protect the girls. So we're gonna mix and match!"

  "Are you serious?" Kyon gaped. He knew that Haruhi had been known to change out of her gym outfit in a class full of people - both girls and boys - but surely she knew this was pushing typical boundaries a little too far.

  "Yeah, you're gonna be in this room with me and Mikuru. And Yuki, Avery and Koizumi will be next door," Haruhi explained without looking up, now more interested in rummaging through her bag.

  "Wait, what?" Kyon spluttered, a slight hint of pink hitting his cheeks. He was rooming with Haruhi and Miss Asahina?

  "What? It's not like we're gonna be doing much sleeping anyway," Haruhi pointed out, starting to pull a variety of snacks out of her bag. "And we're all friends here. Don't be such an old lady, Kyon."

  Kyon wasn't the only one bothered by the idea. Avery felt nervous. It had still only been recently that she'd made the effort not to be a social recluse. This was definitely stretching her comfort zone. Mikuru looked highly embarrassed about it too. Like always, Itsuki and Yuki were the only ones who didn't seem disconcerted by the situation. It still wasn't enough to faze Itsuki's trademark smile and Yuki simply looked bored by the whole thing, as usual.

  "Anyway, let's all get into our jammies and make this a real slumber party! Then we'll tell scary stories until the ghosts wake up," Haruhi grinned, producing a flash light from her bag and shining it under her face.

  So they all changed into their nightwear, taking it in turns to use both bathrooms to do so, before reconvening in the first room. Though Avery felt a little awkward sitting in her lacy white nightdress in front of the boys, she felt much happier about having a ghost story session. She loved telling ghost stories. She knew some great ones originating from England and South America. She was perfectly happy to do that all night, rather than having to settle into the awkward sleeping arrangements.

  She didn't have to worry about that for quite a while. They spent the next few hours swapping scary stories. Mikuru was the only one who didn't participate. She was already nervous having to sit in the dark - Haruhi had insisted on turning all of the lights off - and it was clear even by the dim flash light that she was trying really hard not to hear anything they were saying. Even Yuki volunteered a monotonously told story about a shadow-man sighting. If anything, her toneless voice made the tale even more chilling.

  But, like most things, Haruhi eventually grew bored. She'd admitted earlier on that she was hoping telling ghost stories would lure out some spirits. But there were either no ghosts in the hotel or they just weren't listening. Haruhi was now flicking the flash light on and off, the erratic light illuminating the scowl on her face. Mikuru had fallen asleep leaning back against one of the beds a while ago.

  "This is boring! We should have seen or heard at least something by now," Haruhi complained.

  "Maybe that's showing you there really aren't any ghosts here," said Kyon. Yet again, Haruhi humph'ed and ignored him.

  "They say that spirits are shy. Maybe they don't like showing themselves around strangers," Avery suggested helpfully.

  "Well, that's dumb. You'd think they'd appreciate the stories we've been telling," said Haruhi.

  "Maybe they'd prefer a good comedy," Kyon jested dryly. "I'm sure ghost stories get old if you're a ghost."

  "Don't be stupid, Kyon."

  "I'm the one who's being..."

  Kyon didn't finish his sentence because Mikuru moved in her sleep and turned so that her head fell against his shoulder. Kyon stiffened and shifted slightly, embarrassed and unsure what to do. This seemed to irritate Haruhi even further, because she suddenly flicked the flash light off and switched on the lamp behind her, getting to her feet in the same movement.

  "We'd better put Mikuru to bed," she said abruptly. "I guess you guys can all go to bed too. This was a waste of time - it doesn't look like we're going to see anything tonight." She pulled Mikuru none-too-gently away from Kyon. "Come on, Mikuru, we're all going to bed."

  Mikuru mumbled something groggily and allowed herself to be dragged unsteadily to her feet. Haruhi didn't say another word to any of them - she just forcefully directed Mikuru towards the bed in the far corner. Everyone else decided to follow suit and got up too. Kyon sighed. Once again, Haruhi's ridiculous desire for unusual happenings had gone unsatisfied.

  "Night, guys," he bid the others who were leaving for the second room, since Haruhi was now too busy sulking to bother doing so.

  Nothing else was said as the three of them migrated next door. Whenever Haruhi was in a bad mood, it somehow seemed to fill the atmosphere. Her personality really was all-encompassing, Avery decided as she climbed into her own bed. She turned so that she was facing away from the wall and pulled her long, strawberry-blonde hair round so that it covered the whole of her back, just in case.

  "Well, goodnight then," Itsuki said cheerfully from the bed nearest the door. His optimistic nature seemed to be hard to kill.

  "Goodnight," said Yuki in her usual blank voice from the far corner.

  "Yeah, goodnight," Avery replied, somewhere in the middle of the room, sincerely hoping that it would be. Knowing their luck the spirits would probably come out to play as soon as they were all asleep.