The Mott Hall Girl Story Part I ( Just tried to put as much as I could more to come) The Mott hall Girl The Mott Hall School is located on 131st and Convent Avenue. It is this being on Convent Avenue that is at the heart of this story. Mott Hall did not begin its existence as a school it began as a Convent for Nuns or sisters in the Dominican order. When the building opened donated by Mr. Mott, the sisters of this order sleep on the 4th floor, cooked and dined on the 3rd floor, and had their living quarters on the 2nd floor. Guests and priests could celebrate and discuss issues and mass on the 1st floor. All was fine until the decision to allow for young ladies with problems to also live in the building. I grew up down the street from Mott Hall and I and my five friends attended the school across the street from me that was run by the sisters who used to live in Mott Hall. In those days the Mott Hall School was being renovated by City College. The building had been purchased and was being emptied. There were no desks or even set rooms or big lights, only small lights hanging from the ceilings with wires. The portacle back area that contained the double doors that lead to the inside of the school was the same as it is today. But the whole back yard was like a jungle full of trees and bushes. A wonderful place to hide and play!! It was one of those days in an early October afternoon that my friends and I had sneaked into the back yard and had started to play hide and seek. I was ‘it’ so, I placed my head on the pillar by the porticoes and began to count; “5, 10, 15, 20, 30 40, 60, 90 100, here I come…” immediately I hear “you cheater Fernandez…” to which I countered “yea, keep on talking and I will find you.” All became quiet. I knew there would be some in the trees or behind bushes and I knew up in the hill would be the best bet in finding some. So, up I cautiously walked looking and ready to run. That’s when I first heard ‘it’. I thought it was the wind, but in my heart I felt something was wrong. So, on I went, looking , listening, then again, but this time clearly, I heard the sound of someone crying! The sound was coming from the bottom of the hill in the portico area. I ran down the hill and quickly stopped by the closed double doors. There in front of me on a bench sat a young girl hysterically crying, with her hands cupped over her face. I should have noticed then, but now that I think about it, I remember that her uniform was faded, her hair and even where she sat all seemed faded. But I was too amazed by the situation and so I asked, “Are you OK?” To which there was nothing no reaction but crying. In frustration I insisted “It’s OK, I have friends to help!” and still there was only crying. Finally I asked “Are you lost?” and then she stopped, but only for a moment. At this point I told her to wait and that I would get my friends to help here, and still the crying. Off I ran screaming for my friends to come and help. At first my cries were met with “you cheater!” But soon one of my friends, who unknown to me was at my feet in a bush and scaring me half to death he, asked “are you serious?” Recovering as I yelped, I insisted that there was a need to help and soon there were both of us screaming for help. On they came, surrounding me and asking if I was being real. I insisted the problem was real and we needed to go down below and help the girl. We ran down the hill and as a group stopped by the doors now opened to inside of the school. “There’s no one there!” screamed one of my friends, pointing to an empty bench. Almost on cue we began to hear the crying. This time it was coming from inside the school. I turned to the others and implored them to together go into the school to help. We all knew that the construction workers didn’t like us playing in the back yard. But being inside the school! If caught we would be in trouble for sure. Slowly we walked into the school. The smell of old dusty and decaying air was gross and then there was the dim light. As our eyes began to adjust to the darkness we could see that the girl was inside and crying and the sound was coming from the other end of the hall. One of my friends yelled “hey girl we are all here to help you!” Almost as if on cue we began to see here move around. Not side to side but to spin as if floating on air. One of my friends softly speaks and says, “run”, and then another louder, “run” and finally we all scream “RUN!” Slipping on the old dust and dirt we begin to run toward the double doors to go home, but our feet betray us and we begin to slip. Screaming and slipping I looked back and there she was “floating” toward us. As we scamper toward the double doors we notice that the doors are beginning to move back and forth. Someone yells “the doors! They’re closing, Hurry!” My friend and I grab hold of the doors but they are too strong and we can’t hold them too long. My friend screams and my last friend jumps and with a thud floors to the floor. We pick him up and we run, roll, and trip down the hill and out of the back yard. We then cross the street ignoring the beeps and curses of the drivers! Finally we flop onto the stoop and breathe. All, but one. Fred, is looking up the block and up into the windows of the Mott Hall building. He quietly says, “Look, look at the window” and he points trembling. As we look we see what appears to be a dark shape. One of my friends screams, “The eyes! Look at the eyes! They are red!” Now I look and I do see the shape but not the eyes. We begin to slowly go to our homes. This night I sleep under my bed!! The next day, we meet together at lunch time at our table. The conversation begins with, “do you think it really happened?” Nothing, not a word! We eat in silence till one of my friends asks if it could be possible that it was the construction workers that set up everything to keep us out? We immediately jump to an agreement “it had to be!” The rest of that year we never went back to play in the back yard. The renovations ended and the building opened to the delight of many English college students. We waited. Waited to hear the screams. Waited to hear the police come. But nothing ever happened. Maybe it was the construction workers? So I thought till I came to work, where? Why at the Mott Hall School. It was many years later and I was looking for a school to teach at. Of course I wanted to be at one of the best schools. I was so thrilled that I was being considered to teach at the school and how amazing I was “coming” back to my old neighborhood. It never crossed my mind that this was that “place” so many years ago. I began my Mott Hall years as a technology teacher and lunch time supervisor. I had received a bunch of computers and was setting up a technology room for students to use at lunch time. As lunch time began and I was supervising students I noticed that a group had begun to hover over something laughing gout loud. When I approached they began to disband and there in front of me there was an Ouija board. I explained how this was not allowed to be used in school and they promised to remove it. I went away and came back a few minutes later and there it was again. So, I collected the game and placed it in a bag and advise them they could pick it up at 3 PM. Lunchtime ended and back to work I went. When all of a sudden the phone rings, it was the custodian who advised me that it was already 3PM and that everyone else had left. I apologized and he told me I could stay till 4-5PM. I hung up and realized I was hungry. I went to the vending machine and came back and found the room dark. I clicked the lights they flickered and on they went. As I sat there eating my chips I saw the Ouija board and began to play with it. “Oh ghost of Mott Hall, where is the gold?” and I laughed. But as I held the pointer I felt it move. It moved from L to O to, as it continued I took my hand off the pointer and I remembered! This was the place where the “girl” was. Where she said she was lost. Suddenly the lights flickered again and the computer began to boot up. First one, OK, then the other. But instead of a blue screen there was a red one with the letter “L” on the middle of the screen. Almost at the same time, the other screen began to boot up red with the letter ”O”. Then the lights began to flicker again. This time I stood up and decided not to wait for anything else. My mind and feet met and… RUN AWAY. As I ran I looked backed and I thought I saw something, but no time I began running down the stairs and as I reached the darkened 1st floor I remembered that my office was there on the floor where “she” was. I took out my keys and took a deep breath and off I went trembling as I put the key in the slot I felt a hand on my shoulder screaming I turned around as my voice was met with that of the custodian. Screaming together I stopped and shouted my indignation to his scaring me! To which he blamed me for scaring him. As we entered my office we understood something was different. But he insisted he didn’t want to talk about it in the school but we could go outside and he would share how he felt that “things” were happening again. We sat on the front stairs of the school lit by the street light and light from the outside of the school. He began, “I can see it’s all happening again!” “AGAIN?” I questioned. Yes, and then he began to tell me of his first experience.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 22:13:56 +0000
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