The Ghostly Cheerleader

Lacey Delgado walked down the long dark hall leading to the locker room bathrooms. Something about the chill of the hall and the odd echo of her footsteps gave her the creeps, even though she could still hear her teammates working on their cheers in the gym behind her. The hall seemed to go on and on, and the burned out lights and dark windows in the doors to the abandoned classrooms definitely made her nervous. Twice she swore she could hear a slight scuffle behind her, but when she turned around, there was nothing there. She felt like she was being watched, like unseen eyes were following her, perhaps from one of those empty rooms. Just when she was about to give up and go back to the lighted gym, she saw it...the girl's bathroom.

Pushing the door open, Lacey entered an old fashioned school restroom. Obviously the place hadn't seen much use lately. The mirror over the sink was clouded and coated with a thin layer of dust. The stained sinks were dry and discolored where water had dripped for many years. The chipped tile floor was littered with torn paper towels and peeling paint. Still feeling a bit spooked, Lacey pushed open the door of the nearest stall and did what she came for.

The stall door opened with a creak as Lacey walked out and started to wash her hands. Glancing up into the dusty mirror, she felt her heart leap into her throat as she saw written in the grime the shaky words "Get out...NOW!" Lacey bolted for the door, running blindly, panics overtaking her. A fear like none she'd ever felt before flowed through her body...The hair at the back of her neck seemed to be crawling and she felt unseen eyes on her as she sprinted towards the hall. Just as she reached the door, the entire room began to shake. Lacey was knocked to the floor as the floor seemed to tilt. The noise was deafening, lights crashed to the floor, lockers broke loose from their moorings and tipped into the hallway outside, the dusty mirror shattered and sprayed the bathrooms with shards of glass. Lacey covered her head with her arms and lay still as the tremors passed. She knew this part of California was prone to earthquakes, but she'd never actually experienced one, and her knees were weak as she climbed to her feet, determined to get out of the building before another shock hit.

Lacey pulled hard at the bathroom door, but it wouldn't budge. The old building had shifted in the earthquake and the door was jammed shut. Then she heard an urgent whisper coming from behind her..."This way，quick，I know another way out!" Spinning around, Lacey was shocked to see another cheerleader standing in the bathroom behind her. She hadn't known anyone else was in there with her, but there stood a blonde girl in a blue cheerleading uniform. The name Alicia was spelled out in gold letters on her tunic.

The girl began prying at a large piece of plywood on the far wall. The plywood had been revealed when the tiles covering it had shaken off in the tremor. The plywood came off with a loud groan, and Lacey followed the girl into a dark musty hallway. Thick dust covered the floor and spider web blurred the dim ceiling. It was obvious that this place hadn't been used in a long time. The only light came from a grimy window at the far end of the hall, and Lacey hurried to keep the blue uniform in sight. Broken glass fallen plaster and other things that Lacey didn't want to think about crunched under her feet as she made her way towards the distant light. To her relief, she realized that the light was coming from a door leading to the outside. The blonde girl pushed open the door and indicated that Lacey should exit first. Lacey stumbled into the sunlight and gasped the fresh air. Almost immediately an aftershock shook the earth and Lacey was knocked to the ground. When she stood up, the girl was gone and the door was closed.

Lacey's coach came running towards her, shouting to rescue workers that Lacey had been found. Urgently, Lacey pleaded with the workers to find Alicia, to find the girl who had led her to safety. The door was pried open and the party entered the dusty hallway. Oddly, only one set of footprints could be seen winding down the dusty hallway, but workers followed them quickly to the abandoned bathroom. Alicia was nowhere to be seen.

Later, in her living room at home Lacey was propped up on the couch recovering from her ordeal. Luckily no one had been hurt in the quake. Alicia had never been located, but no cheerleaders were missing, so it was assumed she'd been a girl from another squad. A knock was heard at the door, and Lacey could hear her mother speaking softly with a woman at the door. After she led a blonde woman into the room and introduced her to Lacey awhile. The woman said she'd like to talk to Lacey for a bit if she was up to it. This is what she told her:

The woman whose name was Amy Porter had been a cheerleader along with her twin sister Alicia, at the old school many years ago. One night during cheerleading practice, a terrible earthquake had hit. Alicia and Amy had been in the bathroom and had run for the door at the first tremors. Amy made it safely outside, but Alicia had been hit by a falling beam and died in the hallway. The school boarded up the old hallway after that, deciding that it couldn't be made safe. The school, lately named Alicia Porter Memorial High School, had tiled over the entrance to the old hall, and no one had thought about it for years.

That is, until a cheerleader named Alicia led Lacey Delgado to safety down the old abandoned hallway.

雷茜·德尔加罗走过黢黑而又漫长的大厅来到了浴室的更衣室。大厅寒冷的气息和她的脚步在大厅远处奇怪而又沉闷的回响，令她瑟瑟发抖，一种毛骨悚然的感觉油然而生。她甚至能够听到她的队友在她身后的体育馆中一边欢呼着一边工作的声响。这座大厅看起来又是如此绵延不绝。在被遗弃的教室门口，那烧完的烛火还有黑洞洞的窗户令她紧张不安。她曾发誓有两次她甚至听到有脚步在地上拖着行走而发出的轻微的声响。但当她转过身看去，背后却是空无一物。雷茜认为自己肯定是被某种东西盯上了。一双看不见的眼睛总在某处悄悄地跟随着她。也许这些该死的鬼玩意儿就是从那些空荡荡的房间里窜出来的。就当她打算就此放弃，回到灯火通明的体育馆时，她看见了……那，那女孩的浴室！

推开浴室锈迹斑斑的房门，雷茜来到了一个老式的学校休息室。很显然，这房间已经弃置不用多时了。水槽上方的镜子灰蒙蒙的沾满了尘埃，锈迹斑斑的水槽上，龙头还在滴着水，看来已经有好几个年头了。碎了的瓷砖地板上布满了撕碎了的手纸和褪色的油彩。仍然觉得有点诡异，雷茜推开了最近的房门。

随着房门打开时的嘎吱的声响，雷茜走了出来，打算去洗洗自己的收。当她的目光突然注视到墙上那灰蒙蒙的镜子的时候，她感到自己的心快要跳到了嗓子眼，镜子上的灰尘中竟然明明白白写着“快出去，趁现在！”雷茜立即打开门，埋头冲了出去，恐惧的狂热充斥着雷茜的大脑。那从未有过的惊悚在她体内流窜着，她的头发好似在她背后蠕动一样，雷茜拼尽全力冲向大厅，而那看不见的眼睛仿佛又在注视着她了。正当雷茜刚碰到门把，整个房间竟然开始摇晃起来。雷茜惶恐地敲打着开始微微倾斜的地板，巨大的摇晃声振聋发聩。一道光柱随即投射在了地板上，橱柜支离破碎地倒了下来，横档在了外面大厅的过道上。墙上那面镜子碎了一地，迸起一堆玻璃片。雷茜惊恐地双手捂着头，蜷缩在一边。她深知这片地带是加州地震高发区，但她还从未真正经历过。她的膝盖是如此的虚弱，但雷茜咬着牙心想，必须在下一个地震来临之前，逃出这屋子。

雷茜竭尽全力想推开浴室的房门，但它依旧没有任何动静。这栋老建筑已经在地震中变了形，房门自然也已经扭曲得不像样。随后，她听到了一阵急促的低语从她身后传来，“这边走，我知道另一条出路。”雷茜警觉地环顾四周，惊讶地发现浴室里竟然有一个啦啦队队长正站在她的身后。雷茜甚至不知道这房间里还会有其他人，但在她面前，的的确确站着个亚麻色头发的女孩，还穿着啦啦队的队服。在她的运动衣上的金色卡片上赫然写着“艾丽卡”。

那个女孩开始对着远处墙上的一大块胶合板开始祈祷，余震中簌簌而下的瓦砾使胶合板慢慢的裸露了出来。雷茜跟着那女孩跑进了一个黑暗而又充满霉味的大厅过道。地板上布满了浓厚的灰尘，朦胧的天花板上布满了一层又一层的蜘蛛网。显然，这处地方已经好久没有人来过了。只有一丝亮光从远处尽头的玻璃窗投射在地板上。雷茜紧跟着蓝衣服的女孩。破碎的玻璃，下坠的水泥，还有其他杂物让雷茜不顾一切地冲向远处的亮光。当她逃出过道时，她意识到那亮光是从一个门缝外面传过来的。那个女孩推开了大门，并示意让雷茜第一个出去。雷茜跌跌撞撞地闯进了亮光中，大口地呼吸着新鲜的空气。就在此时，又是一波余震袭来，雷茜倒在了地上，当她再一次爬起来的时候，那个女孩随着那扇大门的关闭，她就这样消失不见了。

雷茜的教练立即朝她赶了过来。大声地对着救护队喊着雷茜已经被发现了。雷茜不顾自己的伤势，让救护队员赶紧去那个帮助她脱离险境的艾丽卡。房门被撬了开了，救援队伍冲进了布满尘埃的大厅过道，但是奇怪的是，在大厅的过道中只有一条弯弯曲曲的脚步，救援队伍随后又冲进了弃置的浴室，但他们还是没有发现艾丽卡。

之后，在雷茜家的起居室内，从灾难中脱险的雷茜被教练扶了起来。幸运的是，没有人在地震中受伤，救护队伍至始至终都没有找到艾丽卡，也没有什么啦啦队队长失踪的消息，所以人们都猜测艾丽卡她可能是另一个队伍中的救护队员。此时，想起了一阵敲门声，雷茜听见了她的妈妈正在门口和一个女人窃窃私语.在雷茜的妈妈将这女人领到雷茜面前时，那女人说她希望能够和雷茜谈谈，如果雷茜不介意的话。下面就是那个女人告诉雷茜的话：

这个名叫艾米·波特的女人曾经和他的妹妹艾丽卡一样，都是一所老学校的啦啦队队长。在一次啦啦队训练的晚上，一场可怕的地震发生了。在第一次地震的时候，艾米和艾丽卡正在浴室里，她们试图奔向浴室的大门。艾米成功逃了出去，但是艾丽卡却在大厅的过道上，被掉下来的石梁砸死了。在那之后，学校考虑到大厅已经不再能够安全使用了，便在大厅的过道上铺上了一层木板。之后，学校被更名为艾丽卡·波特高中，并禁止学生进入那个废弃的大厅，这件事已经被尘封了好多年。

直到如今这个名叫艾丽卡的灵魂指引着雷茜·德尔加罗逃出了地震中的浴室……