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,
etermined 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·德爾加羅走過黢黑而又漫長的大廳來到了浴室的更衣室。大廳寒冷的氣息和她的腳步在大廳遠處奇怪而又沉悶的回響,令她瑟瑟發(fā)抖,一種毛骨悚然的感覺油然而生。她甚至能夠聽到她的隊友在她身后的體育館中一邊歡呼著一邊工作的聲響。這座大廳看起來又是如此綿延不絕。在被遺棄的教室門口,那燒完的燭火還有黑洞洞的窗戶令她緊張不安。她曾發(fā)誓有兩次她甚至聽到有腳步在地上拖著行走而發(fā)出的輕微的聲響。但當她轉過身看去,背后卻是空無一物。雷茜認為自己肯定是被某種東西盯上了。一雙看不見的眼睛總在某處悄悄地跟隨著她。也許這些該死的鬼玩意兒就是從那些空蕩蕩的房間里竄出來的。就當她打算就此放棄,回到燈火通明的體育館時,她看見了……那,那女孩的浴室!
推開浴室銹跡斑斑的房門,雷茜來到了一個老式的學校休息室。很顯然,這房間已經棄置不用多時了。水槽上方的鏡子灰蒙蒙的沾滿了塵埃,銹跡斑斑的水槽上,龍頭還在滴著水,看來已經有好幾個年頭了。碎了的瓷磚地板上布滿了撕碎了的手紙和褪色的油彩。仍然覺得有點詭異,雷茜推開了最近的房門。
隨著房門打開時的嘎吱的聲響,雷茜走了出來,打算去洗洗自己的收。當她的目光突然注視到墻上那灰蒙蒙的鏡子的時候,她感到自己的心快要跳到了嗓子眼,鏡子上的灰塵中竟然明明白白寫著“快出去,趁現(xiàn)在!”雷茜立即打開門,埋頭沖了出去,恐懼的狂熱充斥著雷茜的大腦。那從未有過的驚悚在她體內流竄著,她的頭發(fā)好似在她背后蠕動一樣,雷茜拼盡全力沖向大廳,而那看不見的眼睛仿佛又在注視著她了。正當雷茜剛碰到門把,整個房間竟然開始搖晃起來。雷茜惶恐地敲打著開始微微傾斜的地板,巨大的搖晃聲振聾發(fā)聵。一道光柱隨即投射在了地板上,櫥柜支離破碎地倒了下來,橫檔在了外面大廳的過道上。墻上那面鏡子碎了一地,迸起一堆玻璃片。雷茜驚恐地雙手捂著頭,蜷縮在一邊。她深知這片地帶是加州地震高發(fā)區(qū),但她還從未真正經歷過。她的膝蓋是如此的虛弱,但雷茜咬著牙心想,必須在下一個地震來臨之前,逃出這屋子。
雷茜竭盡全力想推開浴室的房門,但它依舊沒有任何動靜。這棟老建筑已經在地震中變了形,房門自然也已經扭曲得不像樣。隨后,她聽到了一陣急促的低語從她身后傳來,“這邊走,我知道另一條出路。”雷茜警覺地環(huán)顧四周,驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)浴室里竟然有一個啦啦隊隊長正站在她的身后。雷茜甚至不知道這房間里還會有其他人,但在她面前,的的確確站著個亞麻色頭發(fā)的女孩,還穿著啦啦隊的隊服。在她的運動衣上的金色卡片上赫然寫著“艾麗卡”。 那個女孩開始對著遠處墻上的一大塊膠合板開始祈禱,余震中簌簌而下的瓦礫使膠合板慢慢的裸露了出來。雷茜跟著那女孩跑進了一個黑暗而又充滿霉味的大廳過道。地板上布滿了濃厚的灰塵,朦朧的天花板上布滿了一層又一層的蜘蛛網。顯然,這處地方已經好久沒有人來過了。只有一絲亮光從遠處盡頭的玻璃窗投射在地板上。雷茜緊跟著藍衣服的女孩。破碎的玻璃,下墜的水泥,還有其他雜物讓雷茜不顧一切地沖向遠處的亮光。當她逃出過道時,她意識到那亮光是從一個門縫外面?zhèn)鬟^來的。那個女孩推開了大門,并示意讓雷茜第一個出去。雷茜跌跌撞撞地闖進了亮光中,大口地呼吸著新鮮的空氣。就在此時,又是一波余震襲來,雷茜倒在了地上,當她再一次爬起來的時候,那個女孩隨著那扇大門的關閉,她就這樣消失不見了
。 雷茜的教練立即朝她趕了過來。大聲地對著救護隊喊著雷茜已經被發(fā)現(xiàn)了。雷茜不顧自己的傷勢,讓救護隊員趕緊去那個幫助她脫離險境的艾麗卡。房門被撬了開了,救援隊伍沖進了布滿塵埃的大廳過道,但是奇怪的是,在大廳的過道中只有一條彎彎曲曲的腳步,救援隊伍隨后又沖進了棄置的浴室,但他們還是沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)艾麗卡。
之后,在雷茜家的起居室內,從災難中脫險的雷茜被教練扶了起來。幸運的是,沒有人在地震中受傷,救護隊伍至始至終都沒有找到艾麗卡,也沒有什么啦啦隊隊長失蹤的消息,所以人們都猜測艾麗卡她可能是另一個隊伍中的救護隊員。此時,想起了一陣敲門聲,雷茜聽見了她的媽媽正在門口和一個女人竊竊私語.在雷茜的媽媽將這女人領到雷茜面前時,那女人說她希望能夠和雷茜談談,如果雷茜不介意的話。下面就是那個女人告訴雷茜的話:
這個名叫艾米·波特的女人曾經和他的妹妹艾麗卡一樣,都是一所老學校的啦啦隊隊長。在一次啦啦隊訓練的晚上,一場可怕的地震發(fā)生了。在第一次地震的時候,艾米和艾麗卡正在浴室里,她們試圖奔向浴室的大門。艾米成功逃了出去,但是艾麗卡卻在大廳的過道上,被掉下來的石梁砸死了。在那之后,學??紤]到大廳已經不再能夠安全使用了,便在大廳的過道上鋪上了一層木板。之后,學校被更名為艾麗卡·波特高中,并禁止學生進入那個廢棄的大廳,這件事已經被塵封了好多年。
直到如今這個名叫艾麗卡的靈魂指引著雷茜·德爾加羅逃出了地震中的浴室……
1 locker
n.更衣箱,儲物柜,冷藏室,上鎖的人
參考例句:
At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服鎖在小柜里。
He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走進更衣室把手術服脫下來。
2 sprinted
v.短距離疾跑( sprint的過去式和過去分詞 )
參考例句:
He sprinted for the line. 他向終點線沖去。
Sergeant Horne sprinted to the car. 霍恩中士全力沖向那輛汽車。
3 tilt
v.(使)傾側;(使)傾斜;
n.傾側;傾斜
參考例句:
She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴著帽子遮住左眼。
The table is at a slight tilt.這張桌子沒放平,有點兒歪.
4 deafening deafening
adj. 振耳欲聾的, 極喧鬧的 動詞deafen的現(xiàn)在分詞形式
參考例句:
The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛聲震得她耳朵都快聾了。
The noise of the machine was deafening. 機器的轟鳴聲震耳欲聾。
5 lockers
n.寄物柜( locker的名詞復數(shù) )
參考例句:
I care about more lockers for the teachers. 我關心教師要有更多的儲物柜。
Passengers are requested to stow their hand-baggage in the lockers above the seats. 旅客須將隨身攜帶的行李放入座位上方的貯藏柜里。
6 shards
n.(玻璃、金屬或其他硬物的)尖利的碎片( shard的名詞復數(shù) )
參考例句:
Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air. 目擊者稱空中石塊和玻璃碎片四濺。
Ward, Josh Billings, and a host of others have survived only in scattered shards of humour. 沃德、比林斯和許多別的作家能夠留傳下來的只是些幽默的殘章斷簡。
7 tremors
震顫( tremor的名詞復數(shù) ); 戰(zhàn)栗; 震顫聲; 大地的輕微震動
參考例句:
The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 這故事太可怕,它使我不寒而栗。
The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 這故事太可怕,它使我不寒而栗。
8 tremor
n.震動,顫動,戰(zhàn)栗,興奮,地震
參考例句:
There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的聲音有點顫抖。
A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亞發(fā)生了輕微的地震。
9 prone
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯臥的
參考例句:
Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出輕率的結論。
He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意見,他就發(fā)脾氣。
10 determined
adj.堅定的;有決心的
參考例句:
I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已決定畢業(yè)后去西藏。
He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他決定查看一下辦公室后面的房間。
11 budge
v.移動一點兒;改變立場
參考例句:
We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我們試圖把大石頭抬起來,但它連動都沒動一下。
She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在這個問題上不肯讓步。
12 standing
n.持續(xù),地位;adj.永久的,不動的,直立的,不流動的
參考例句:
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震過后只有幾幢房屋還立著。
They're standing out against any change in the law.他們堅決反對對法律做任何修改。
13 tunic
n.束腰外衣
參考例句:
The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件輕質寬大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和褲子跟你那首飾可不相稱呢,年輕人。
14 prying
adj.愛打聽的v.打聽,刺探(他人的私事)( pry的現(xiàn)在分詞 );撬開
參考例句:
I'm sick of you prying into my personal life! 我討厭你刺探我的私生活!
She is always prying into other people's affairs. 她總是打聽別人的私事。
15 groan
vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(發(fā)出)呻吟般的聲音
參考例句:
The wounded man uttered a groan.那個受傷的人發(fā)出呻吟。
The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重稅下痛苦呻吟。
16 blurred blurred
v.(使)變模糊( blur的過去式和過去分詞 );(使)難以區(qū)分;模模糊糊;迷離
參考例句:
She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她飽受頭暈目眩之苦。
Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他們那種慢吞吞、含糊不清的聲音在他聽起來卻很悅耳。
17 crunched
v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的過去式和過去分詞 );嘎吱作響;(快速大量地)處理信息;數(shù)字搗弄
參考例句:
Our feet crunched on the frozen snow. 我們的腳嘎吱嘎吱地踩在凍雪上。
He closed his jaws on the bones and crunched. 他咬緊骨頭,使勁地嚼。
18 gasped
v.喘氣( gasp的過去式和過去分詞 );喘息;倒抽氣;很想要
參考例句:
She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她驚訝得屏住了呼吸。
People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 體操運動員的高超技藝令人贊嘆。
19 pried
v.打聽,刺探(他人的私事)( pry的過去式和過去分詞 );撬開
參考例句:
We pried open the locked door with an iron bar. 我們用鐵棍把鎖著的門撬開。
So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. 因此湯姆撬開它的嘴,把止痛藥灌下去。
20 winding
n.繞,纏,繞組,線圈
參考例句:
A winding lane led down towards the river.一條彎彎曲曲的小路通向河邊。
The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我們迷失了方向。
21 propped
支撐,支持,維持( prop的過去式和過去分詞 )
參考例句:
He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠著枕頭坐在床上。
This fence should be propped up. 這柵欄該用東西支一支。
22 ordeal
n.苦難經歷,(尤指對品格、耐力的)嚴峻考驗
參考例句:
She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那場磨難中她始終保持神志正常。
Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期對我來說真是一場磨難。
23 squad
n.班,小隊,小團體;vt.把…編成班或小組
參考例句:
The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班長命令戰(zhàn)士們原地踏步。
A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是軍隊的最小構成單位。