Field Trip

“I’m really excited!!! We’ll be the first batch to go on a field trip on Baguio! And we’re going to stay in a hotel!!!!” Makoto excitedly said in a loud voice while on they’re on the jeep, not minding the other passengers.

“Yeah, me too. I was hoping that Rika and Maki can go too… But it seems that they were not allowed by their parents because it’s too cold for them… Damn you asthma!!!”

“But you have asthma too right?” Miki butt in.

“Correction… HAD. Since I became active in badminton, I haven’t had any attacks for 2 years now… ” Hitomi retaliated. Their teacher said that only ½ of the seniors were going on this field trip. Those who wanted to go, paid an additional fee because the fee for field trips was usually included in the tuition since it’s a private school.


“Rika went in our recollection… Maki joined her section’s recollection in Batangas and it’s somewhat cold in there too right? I can’t see the reason why they can’t go now…” Makoto said in a low voice, now conscious that people were eyeing her.

“Because… Baguio is FARTHER than Batangas… Just from exhaustion from the trip can trigger an attack… Got that? Well, take care! I’m going now...” Miki said before going out of the jeep. Makoto and Hitomi waved goodbye. Hitomi was silent all throughout the ride. She was thinking about their recollection last month, from November 7-9.

There were many things that happened. One that she will not forget was the time all of them held hands and “sushi rolled” under the lunar eclipse. Funny things happened like trying to her laugh because Kamenashi made a scene and cried out loud during the “realization” session where the reco-master said all possible sad things that may happen:
“Hehehe, he must have been a bad child that’s why he’s reacting so much..”

“Accidentally” peeping into the boys’ cr and saw someone wearing a red brief.
“I’m glad I didn’t see who the owner was… And I didn’t get caught..”

… Bumping to someone many times when they were engaged in an activity where their eyes were blind folded and their partner will guide them.
"I swear, Miki did that purposely… I wished that I’m the one who went first, so that I can take my revenge when we switched places…”

Besides those happy things, she also thought about the “scary” things she felt in the reco-house. There’s an activity that they need to do outside one night. There were 5 people on each group and the objective was to protect the tiny candle’s light from the wind using only their bodies so it will not die down. There was a small hut near the garden. Hitomi saw a black shadow lurking near there. It’s somewhat far from their current place and only a small light from the post illuminates it. She looked at Rika, which is her group mate and made a sign to look near the hut. Rika looked and nod at Hitomi. Hitomi got the message and knew that that shadow was not a shadow from a human.

Another scary stuff that she recalled was when they were already sleeping. The room has 30 single beds and there were only 29 girls in their class. The door was opposite Hitomi’s bed. There was a wide space between the next bed on her right and Makoto’s bed was on her left. When nighttime came, Makoto decided to sleep in their adviser’s room so that she can sleep peacefully and not be bothered by our noisy classmates. In the middle of the night, Hitomi can’t sleep because she felt that there was someone walking on her right side. She can’t move a bit. She also felt some movement on Makoto’s bed which was unoccupied.
“How can my classmates sleep through this? Can’t they feel it?"

“Hey! You’re day dreaming again… I said take care!” Hitomi snapped back from reality. She waved goodbye at Makoto.

……….
Their departure was scheduled on Saturday, at 1 in the morning. Some of their classmates who were living far from their school decided to stay in their classmates who were much closer in the school’s vicinity. Hitomi, together with her mother and brother left their house at 12:30 in the morning. There were many parents outside the school. Only the students were allowed to go inside.

“Ohayou!! What time did you arrived?”
“12… Hey, let’s go to our building and check our hideout!” Yassan eagerly said.

“Matte… Matte… I don’t think I want to see anything for now… And just the two of us? No way!” Hitomi turned back and saw Miki and Makoto coming.

“Hey, let’s check our room.”

“I know what you’re thinking Yassan… Let’s go!!!” Miki pulled Makoto and Hitomi towards the tunnel. Hitomi caught a glance of their room. As soon as the group emerged from the tunnel, Hitomi could feel her hairs rising from the back of her neck until they passed the huge tamarind tree.

“It seems quiet here…” Miki sounded somewhat dismayed.

“And do you expect that something WILL happen here?!” Hitomi almost yelled at her friend’s ears.

“Hey, what’s that?” Makoto interrupted the two and pointed towards their classroom.

“There’s a light inside! It… It’s moving!!!” The three sensed that Yassan’s voice was trembling. A clear sign that he’s afraid too.

“I told you it’s not a good idea to go here… Let’s go back!” Hitomi turned back and walked towards the tunnel but was stopped abruptly when she saw a figure standing on the azotea, the upper part of the tunnel. Miki bumped into Makoto who bumped into Hitomi.

“Why did… you… Let’s go now and fast…” Miki saw the figure too and they both walked with their eyes fixated on the ground.

“The two of you looked like you were praying…” Yassan teased. He only wanted to make the situation lighter.

Due to some lethargic students, the bus departed at 2 in the morning instead of 1. Hitomi sat beside Mari, while Miki and Makoto where in their front. Mari had an extra small pillow which she lent to Hitomi so that she can sleep well.

“Shit!!! Shit!!! What was that?!?” Hitomi bolted up from her sleep. It’s already 6 in the morning. She taught that they were already in Baguio and were falling from the cliff.

“Hahaha!!! You looked funny there... The road was just really rough.” Mari explained.

Miki kneeled on her seat and looked back at Hitomi. “Yo-chan, I guess you were dreaming that we were already near Baguio and were falling from the cliff… relax… there’s still 2-3 more hours before we reach that cliff…”

“I don’t know whether you’re comforting me or pissing me off but from the sound of your voice, I guess the latter’s more applicable.” Miki smiled to Hitomi and sat on her seat properly. Hitomi couldn’t sleep anymore and decided to enjoy the view.


………
They reached the hotel at 9:30. They were given 30 minutes to unpack their bags to their designated room. Makoto, Miki, Mari and Hitomi shared one room. They put their bags in the cabinet and proceeded to the dining area where their “brunch” awaited them. After that, they immediately boarded their bus and proceeded with the tour.

There were many famous places listed in their itinerary. They also went in Benguet were the strawberry farm was located. They ate their lunch in Camp John Hay. They also took pictures of military students on PMA who were good looking.

“I can’t believe you! Every time we boarded the bus, you just sleep and sleep and sleep… We’re here for the scenery!!!” Mari shook Hitomi’s shoulder. Hitomi opened her eyes and smiled her fuming seatmate.

“I can’t tell her that I’ve seen ghosts at the Teacher’s Camp that’s why I don’t want to look out the window anymore… She’ll freak out.”
Their last destination for the night was the “Grotto”. People who went to see the Virgin Mary needed to climb its almost 1,000 steps. Hitomi and Miki counted each step as they went up.

“I really wish that Ayaya came with us… I miss her jokes!!!” Miki whined and Hitomi stopped walking to answer Miki.

“Don’t talk to me or I’ll lose count…”

“You just have 1 kb memory that’s why you can’t count the stairs while talking to me…”

“You knew the reason… So just shut up…………………… 700, 701, 702, 703……….704, 705” Hitomi tried to focus on counting that’s why she said the numbers loudly.

“603, 407, 296, 395,… Yoh, Mari and Shun were bickering again!!!... 670, 385, 605, I’m cute……. You’re ugly……. I miss Aya……”

“Will you stop mocking me?!?! I’m trying to focus here…”

“But it’s boring…”

“Go to Makoto and bug her… I’m busy for now..”

Hitomi left Miki and joined Yuichii on counting the stairs. They took pictures when they reached the top and stayed there for 15 minutes. The fog became thick and the sun had almost set, they immediately went down towards their bus.

Hitomi felt her hairs were rising up again. They were on their way back to their hotel after visiting a church (or cathedral). She was in a curling position in her seat and she used her jacket as a cover from the cold and the light in the bus. She then felt a cold hand brushed the back of her neck which made her bolt up. Mari screamed from the shock.

“Don’t touch my neck with your cold hands!”

“Eh? What are you saying? I didn’t touch you… You can ask Miki and Makoto. They were teasing me with Shun.”

“Ok… If you didn’t touch me then who did?”

“I guess, you just dreaming again.” Miki smiled at her.

“I swear, I’m not dreaming…”

45 minutes had passed and they still didn’t reach the hotel. Hitomi sensed that something was wrong. It felt like they were running in circles. Their classmates started to panic. It’s good that their teacher was from Benguet and somehow was familiar with the roads. She called one of the other teachers from the 2nd bus to tell her, the way back to the hotel when she realized that bus was somewhat lost in the track.

Miki looked back at Hitomi with a questioning look.

“I guess it’s related with that ‘someone’ who touched my neck”

“What are you talking about?” Mari asked.

“Nothing, just go back to your bickering with Shun.” Hitomi looked outside and saw a small hand print on the other side of the window. She was scared that she just tried to enjoy watching Mari and Shun in their “lover’s quarrel”. But in her peripheral vision, she could see something outside, hiding in the darkness of the night.

………….
“No one will sleep tonight!” Mari yelled.

“Sorry, but I want to sleep…”

“All you did was sleep in the bus! Haven’t you had enough?”

“Yeah, still sleepy…”

“You’re no fun.”

Hitomi didn’t bother to argue with Mari. She put her jacket under her head to serve as a pillow while she put the pillow which Mari lent her, to cover her head. She gave the pillow of the hotel to Miki who lie beside her. Mari took the single bed and Makoto was on the pull-out bed under the bed of Mari.

“I guess ‘something’ was the reason why we got lost right?” Miki whispered to Hitomi’s ear.

“Yah, and I think that ‘something’ was the one who touched my neck.”

“Have you noticed there’s a ghost when we pass the Teacher’s Camp?”
“Yes, and there were many of them…. that’s why all I do is sleep… Because when I look out of the window, I can see spirits roaming around.”

“Your third eye’s good...”

“Yeah, and I’m scared to death. I guess I’ll have to tell it to my parents sooner or later.”

……….
Hitomi was the first to wake up at around 4 in the morning. She opened the tv to watch her favorite Korean series. She was glad that the hotel has a cable connection. She opened a bag of chips and ate silently while watching.

…..
“Wait, you don’t want me… I don’t taste good…”

-
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“Do you want a bargain? I can bring you other persons… I can be your delivery girl… I’ll bring you my friends if you want.”

-
-
-

“Fine, you can bite me and be one of your minions… but first, let’s play a game of hide and seek. Count till you reach 100 and then you can find me… and you can eat me… IS that ok? It’s like my last wish so I hope that you can grant it.”

The vampire went to a wall and started counting. Hitomi tried to run away but it seemed that some unknown force was pulling her back. She just walked fast and surprisingly, walking was much faster than her running before. She went to the highway and saw many cars and jeeps passing. She tried to stop one of it but they just kept going. She tried to catch one speeding jeep and boarded it but the moment she did… the driver and all the passengers went out. She tried to drive the jeep and over run the vampire in front of her. Hitomi was shocked to see the vampire sitting right next to her.

“Hey! You’re there… You cheated! That was fast… I was counting too.. It’s only.. 56 seconds. You need to redo the count… Hey, stop! Don’t come near me… Want to play again? Come on play with me… Why are you smiling? I said don’t come near me!!! Matte!!!”

…….
“That was a weird dream… I can’t focus on the series I’m watching… What happened to Jung Da Bin? Focus, Hitomi, Focus…”

“What are you eating?” Makoto whispered in Hitomi’s ear. Hitomi bolted up, trying to suppress the shout that’s waiting to leave her mouth.

“Mako-chan! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Ok, I won’t… next time” Makoto smiled and ate some of the chips that Hitomi was eating.

………
The rest of the day turned uneventful and Hitomi were able to truly enjoy the trip. They took pictures of the natives, played with a St. Bernard dog, went on a boat ride, and then shop for specialty foods and things that can only be found there.

They started traveling home at around 2 in the afternoon. Hitomi and her classmates were tensed when they came to the cliff. Hitomi remembered her dream earlier when the bus were traveling on the road’s zigzag shape and suddenly, a thick fog covered them, which was somewhat happening now. The teacher led a prayer while the driver drove slowly. They were able to reach the base safely.

The Lady in the Room

“What a sad story….” Rika managed to say.

“It happened a long time ago… hmmm… how many years is that approximately?” Yossie asked.

“Maybe…7-10 years? That’s why, when we first saw him… He’s wearing long khaki pants… like the rest of our high school boys here. If he didn’t die, he’ll probably be in the same year level as we are.” Maki explained.

“And what about the ghost in our room? We’ve heard you mentioned about that earlier…” Yassan asked.

“Yah… Tell us now what you saw earlier!” Miki commanded.

“It’s nothing really… I just saw a white lady near the closet for our cleaning tools… that’s all.” Yossie answered.

“Just don’t tell this to our classmates… They may freak out… Let’s just keep this to our selves for now.” Rika said to them. The others agreed.

“So Yossie… Is this your first time to see ghosts?” Yassan asked.

“Hmmm… Nope… I’ve seen one when I was a child…”

“What did you see? Is it scary? What kind of entity? White lady? Ghost? Vampire? What? Miki asked successively.

“…. I think it’s an elf… a white elf…” Yossie looked upward… It seems that she was trying to remember what happened that time.

“What do you mean ‘I think’?” Miki asked

“You know that my memory capacity’s only 1 kb…”

“TRY TO REMEMBER IT!!!” Miki shook Yossie’s shoulder…

“Oi stop that Miki… Her brain’s falling from her head already!” Rika laughed. Maki and Yassan followed.

“Fine…. Make fun of me… I’m used to it… Just don’t laugh that hard… It may trigger your asthma.” Yossie warned Rika. She was concerned for her friend… She knew how hard it is to have an asthma.

“…. Try to remember what happened… I want to hear horror stories…” Miki urged her.
“…. I do remember that I was waiting for my father to come home that night. We were staying in my auntie’s house. My mom, cousin and I were watching some Chinese horror movie that time. And then… I thought that I heard his bike… checked the gate through the window… and then I saw a small being… wearing white pants and long sleeves and a white hat crossing the road towards a vacant lot… I was stunned that time that I became quiet throughout the movie.”

“And then… what happened?” Yassan asked.

“I asked my mom and cousin whether they believe in ghosts or other entities… My cousin said yes because when she was a child… She saw a “tikbalang” (a local entity with a face of a horse and a body of a human.) looking at her from their ceiling when she was on her bed. My mom, being a religious person… also believes that this kind of things exists… and then my cousin asked me why I brought up that topic… I told them that I saw an elf… The next morning went we were going home, I looked at the vacant lot. I saw that there’s a ‘Punso’.” (a heap of soil…it’s usually believed that an elf lives in a mound of soil called in our local tongue.. “nuno sa punso”)

“Not that scary…” Miki commented “I’ve seen one that’s way creepier…”

“Yeah? It’s just a little part of my childhood… but there are a lot of scary things that happened especially with my brother when we were kids…. But let’s hear your story first..”

“Ok… I’ve told you that it’s scarier than your experience because… There’s a full contact…”

“What! A full contact? Like a ghost possessed you or something?” Yassan was horrified.

“Not that kind, dummy… It’s like this… Two years ago… I slept in my friend’s house. You know that I’ve been on a band before right? We were writing songs and then… I fell asleep in the room. I didn’t know that my friends left me to buy food. But then, I felt that there was someone walking near me. And THAT someone touched my back. After awhile I woke up and went down to them. I asked them who touched me while I’m sleeping. They said that they didn’t and told me that they all went out of their house.”

“What did you do then?” Rika asked

“It seems that Rika was not being scared at all by your story!” Yossie exclaimed and scanned the other persons who were listening to the story… “And Maki seemed alright to me.”

“I don’t care whether they were scared or not… It’s a one thrilling experience for me. But anyways, I was freaking out at that time. I blamed them over and over saying… ‘Why didn’t you wake me up… You knew that there’s a spirit here’...” She saw that Yossie was smiling weirdly at her. “But I didn’t cry, ok? I was just freaking out.”

“Yeah right…”Yossie rolled her eyes and continued. “How about this… When we where little, my parents took us to a vacation in my father’s province for a week.”

“That’s not good than mine! It’s your brother’s story not yours!” Miki cut off.

“Hey, stop arguing… Let’s just listen to her story first…” Maki decided to stop the two from fighting… It’s not necessary though. They were friends and friends do that.

“Well… Back to MY story… We were on the ship for 24 hours. My mom told me that there were two old people who gave us candies. I don’t remember eating them. Anyways… We arrived the next day and then we boarded the bus for 1-2 hours of travel from the port to my father’s place. Our week in the province was…ok… but on the first night of our stay, we heard strange flapping noises. Much like coming from a huge bird.

“Is it coming from an aswang then?” Yassan inquired. (An Aswang is a local creature that can shape-shift into different animal forms. The most widely known form is a creature that has the upper body of a human with huge wings resembling a bat.)

“I don’t know… Maybe… I was not well aware of that at that time.” Yossie answered. “Well, after a week, we went back in our house. And then my brother, claims that he had an elf friend!”

“Is it a white elf or a black elf?” Rika inquired.

“A white one… My brother said that his name is Yuya….”

“Ahh… I see, it’s better than a black one…Ok, proceed with your story… But make it fast… Our classes will start within 10 minutes.”

“I can continue it on our break time…”

“I’ll just remind you that we had a test on Visual Basic after our break time.” Rika said.

“WHAT!!!! TEST?!?” Yossie and Miki looked at each other… Both were surprised at the news.

“We had our test on that yesterday… It’s quite easy.” Maki told them.

“It’s easy for you… but you know my memory right? “Yossie answered.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you in reviewing.” Miki was really into computers. She was the one who taught Yossie how to use the internet when they were in their second year of high school. Yossie considered Miki as her mentor… mentor in playing guitar, computer, internet, anime fan-girling, yaoi/yuri pairings, and lately, Jrock and Jpop music. She introduced her to L’arc en ciel and Johnny’s entertainment.

“Thanks… Ok, back on my story. My brother claimed that he had an elf friend and they were fighting the black ones in our elementary school. His teacher believed on what he’s saying because she believed that those things exists. I was scared with my brother that time… He would tell me… ‘Yuya’s above your head’… or ‘Yuya’s beside you’. I would always scream for my mother to come. One neighbor told my mother that maybe my brother’s third eye was opened. She gave directions on the location of a psychic that can close that. We all went to that place. Even though my mother didn’t tell a single thing about our journey to the province, the psychic told us that my brother had eaten a candy given by those old people and it somewhat got stuck on his throat.”

“Eh? Stuck? How did that happen?” Yassan asked.

“Well, physically it’s not stuck.. Maybe he just used that term to emphasize that, that candy was the one responsible. He then gave my brother a glass of clear water to drink. My brother was screaming “there’s an earthworm! There’s an earthworm on the water! I was like… ‘Ok… there’s nothing in there…’ But the psychic told us that the ‘candy’ was doing that so as my brother will not drink that water. To make the long story short, they forced him to drink it and then… his third eye closed. He didn’t see Yuya or any spirits anymore but he can feel them.”

“So he became a sensitive…” Maki uttered

“What was that?” Miki asked.

“Well, at first, your brother can see things normal people could not see. But then, by what you’ve told us, your brother’s third eye was not fully closed… He can still feel them and those people who could not see spirits but can feel their presence… were called ‘sensitives’.” Rika finished for Maki.

“Why did the two of you know that?” Yassan asked. HE was like a detective, always sensing things.

“Nothing… We just know.” Maki answered and then, winked to Rika. Yossie saw that but she decided to stay quiet.

……………
The next day, Yossie didn’t have the guts to enter their hang out place all alone. She might see someone again inside their room. She didn’t have to wait long when Maki arrived. They both entered the place at the same time.

“I saw that you winked to Rika when Yassan asked you why you know those things… Care to share it with me?”

“Well, it’s because… I can see things too. Even when I was a little child.”

“….Really? I must have been hard right?” Yossie sympathized.

“Hmmm, not quite. It just seems pretty normal with me when I see spirits. It doesn’t scare me anymore, but it had some effects with my life.”

“Like what?”

“I can’t go to cemetery… Especially this coming November… I always see them and it’s like they are draining my energy. I just stay in our house during that time.”

“Oh, I you were me, I’ve probably freaked out by now. I don’t know what will be my reaction if a ghost will approach to scare me.”

“They don’t usually scare people; some just needed prayers that’s why they made themselves visible to other people… Like Nino. I don’t see him around anymore.. Do you?”

“Yeah, you’re right… How about the girl?” Yossie lowered her voice, her back was facing the window of their room where she saw the ghost.

“I don’t know yet… But I guess there’s a reason why she’s there.” Maki whispered back.

“What do the two of you whispering about?” Miki asked in a scary voice making Yossie shout from fright.

“MIKI!!! Geez, don’t do that!” Yossie slapped her friend’s right arm.

“Hahaha… Sorry… You were still talking about yesterday right?”

“Yes, just talking about the girl in your room.” Maki answered and blinked to Yossie.

“Is that so? I guess we will have to find out more about her as the time passes by right?... By the way, Yo-chan, could you teach me how to do smash in badminton?”

“I don’t like too… You scared me…” Yossie answered with an angry tone.

“Oh come on…. Scaredy cat…” Miki smiled evilly.

“I will not teach you if you continue to piss me off.”

“Hahahaha… Alrigth, alrigth… I’m asking you nicely now…”

Yossie got up and went to take her racket from her bag. She managed to get a glimpse of the inside of their room and saw a white figure standing near their blackboard. She just shrugged it off and gave Miki the shuttle cock. Miki ran towards the field to wait for her.

“She there right? I saw her when I was getting my racket.” Yossie said to Maki.

“Yes, and I guess she’s not happy being talked about. She looked rather angry at us right now.” Maki whispered to Yossie.

“…Why don’t you come with us… Are you sure you’ll be alrigth here?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine… I’m used to it.” Maki smiled at her. Yossie looked at Make while she was passing their room. She felt the hairs from her neck stood up when she passed by the broken window. She ran immediately towards the field to where Miki was waiting for her.

………
“You looked funny when you were playing darts with Tackey.” Miki laughed. Their P.E. was over and they were walking back to their room to get dressed.

“Why did you say that?” Yossie asked after she drank water.

‘Hahaha… I noticed that too! She looked like she was shooting from the free throw line! Bending her knees like that.” Makoto said while she was imitating Yossie.

“Don’t mix up basketball with darts… Ok?” Miki said before joining Makoto with her laugh.

“But at least, I’m pretty accurate when I’m doing that technique… I hit the bull’s eye 5 times… Can you do that?” Yossie said and ran towards their room. The two followed. They always run when they go back to their room. It’s a sort of last minute exercise.

Yossie managed to get to their room first. As she opened the door she saw someone inside. “YAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Miki came in second place and saw the reason why Yossie yelled. “Now, you’re scared of Eri too?” Miki laughed.

Yossie was holding her chest for her heart was beating really fast. “Geez, you scared me there.”

“What was scary with me changing clothes?” Eri asked.

“Nothing… She was just being a scaredy cat these past few days.” Miki answered remembering what Rika told them before. They will not say anything to their classmates so as not to make them scared also.

“I wonder how much fats I lost today from that running.” Makoto said while entering their room. Eri’s chair was near the cabinet with cleaning materials, and Yossie’s chair was behind Eri’s chair. She changed her clothes fast. She can feel that the door in that cabinet was somewhat swaying back and forth, though all the windows were closed because all of them were changing.

…………..
“Who screamed in your class?” Maki asked when they were inside their hideout.

“Guess who’s the scaredy cat here?” Miki said to her.

“Ahh, ok, I get it.” Maki smiled.

“Hey, that’s mean!” Yossie answered.

“She didn’t say a name… She just said that she’s got it..” Rika joined in.

“Yeah, that only means that you’re guilty of being the scaredy cat!” Miki laughed out loud.

“You’re all mean…” Yossie looked at Maki. Maki was looking at the tree near the tunnel. She followed Maki’s line of vision and saw something she wished she never saw. In one of the branch of the tree where it’s close to the window in the dorm, she saw a woman hanging from it. There was blood all over and Yossie felt that the woman was looking at them. Her tears fall from her eyes unknowingly.

“Hey, don’t cry. I’m sorry for laughing at you.” Miki said to Yossie.

“I’m not crying.” Yossie answered back but her eyes were still fixated at the woman.

“But why are your tears are falling?” Miki asked. Rika noticed that Yossie and Maki were looking at the same place. She looked at the tree too and saw something.

“Now I get it.” Rika mumbled.

“What do you mean by ‘I get it?’. Come on, tell me!” Miki saw that her friends were looking at something in the tree. She looked at the tree too. “My goodness! What’s that?”

“What, ‘what’s that’? Yassan asked. He was looking at the tree too. I can’t see what you’re talking about!”

Maki stopped looking at the tree. “I guess the four of us can see things, right?”

“What did you see? I didn’t see it!” Yassan was still looking at the tree.

“There’s a woman who was hanging from that branch near the window of the dorm.” Miki explained.

“You saw that too?”
Miki nodded. Yossie was stunned. She had a feeling that the four of them have an active third eye.

“And she was covered in blood right? Now I have an idea why they say that the dorm was haunted.” Rika said.

“Hey, is this the first time that you saw a ghost?” Yassan inquired to Rika.

“No, I always saw my twin sister that’s why I’m not scared when I saw ghosts.” Rika answered.

“Wait… You had a twin sister? We didn’t know that.” Miki raised her eyebrows.

“Well, it’s because she died when we were born. My real name was supposed to be ‘Risa’, and my sister’s name was ‘Kaori’. But when she was born, she died, and my parents combined our names to become, Rika.”

“Oh shit! We had the same experience! My mother told me that supposed to be, I had a twin sister just like you. But then she died inside my mother’s womb. My name was supposed to be Mikan and her’s was Kisa, that’s why my name became Miki.”

“I had a twin sister too! But she died too when she was inside our mother’s womb. My original name was Mari but then my parents combined my name, and her name, Kirei to become Maki.”

“Ok… Now I had this theory in my head that whoever had a twin sister/brother who died before even coming in to this world, the living twin will have a third eye.” Yossie stroked her imaginary beard.

“That’s a good theory you had there! I had an older brother too. But he died when we he was a baby.” Yassan told them.

“…You had a third eye too?” Yossie asked.

“No, It’s just that my theory was, he was supposed to be the one named Shota Yasuda III. But my father, Shota Jr., changed it to Maruyama. When he died, they named me Shota III. My grandfather named the older brother of my father as Shingo instead of Shota Jr. He died when he was a little boy. My theory is that in our family, we should have a son who will be named “Shota” so as not to be dead.” Yassan finished.

“Well, I guess we should be careful in picking names to our children in the future… That was scary…” Yossie said. They all went back to their classrooms when their bell rang.

………
Hey onichan, can I watch an anime tonight?” Yossie asked her brother. It’s Saturday night and she had nothing else to do.

“Just for thirty minutes.” Ryo replied.

“Sure!”

“Massage me first…”

“Ehhh?”

“Or buy a Pepsi outside… That will be fine.”

“I don’t have money…” Yossie answered

“Then you have to massage me first before I let you watch your anime.”
Yossie was left with no other choice so she massaged her brother for about 5 minutes. After watching anime she went upstairs. She was somewhat tired because they went to the cemetery in the morning because today was November 1.

“Nakazawa-sensei fooled me there… I thought that Nov. 1 and 2 will fall under the weekdays… That’s why she was so happy when she said that we will have no classes on that day… because Nov. 1 and 2 will fall on Saturday and Sunday… Next time, I’ll look first at the calendar before I will believe what she will say. But I’m glad that we had no classes yesterday.”

Yossie was in her parents’ room. She was staying in there first because it was colder in that room. They had a queen sized bed. And an antique dresser with mirror, near the door. She turned off the lights and tried to sleep a little. She felt that ‘someone’ was beside her. She was somewhat scared so she turned on the radio to listen to music. She still felt that someone was in the bed so she spread her feet and arms as if blocking someone. She scattered the pillows also. After that, the dogs from their neighbor started howling.

She had goose bumps when she heard that. He grandma said to her when she was little that dogs howl like that when they see spirits. She also recalled what happened when the father of her older cousin’s wife, died. She and her brother stayed in their auntie’s house. They were left with the nanny and their grandma because their parents went with their cousin to the province. They went home late with one of their relative’s car. Her cousin has 2 Dalmatian dogs and a Boxer. The three dogs started howling when they parked the car in the garage. She remembered that her grandma said that the ghost went back with them. Her mother said that maybe that’s the reason why it feels that the car had a difficulty to go fast. Yossie then saw something flash from the mirror in the antique dresser. She immediately turned the radio off and run down to the living room.

“What happened with you? Yossie’s mother asked when she saw how pale she looked like.

“Nothing… What are you watching?” Yossie asked.

“An All soul’s day special… about true to life ghost stories…” Ryo answered.
Yossie knew this show. Every November, they had a special documentary about ghost and other paranormal events that happened. She remembered that when they were in elementary, they watched this show all alone. Their father had a night time shift from his work and he will come back the next morning. Their mother went to their cousin’s house to get something. They were watching this show when the guest psychic said to the camera that the ghost will appear near in the stairs. The psychic was talking with the ghost and asked her to show herself in public. The ghost said yes, but the psychic said that only those people with third eye will be able to see the ghost. She and her brother saw the ghost. They immediately ran outside to their neighbor’s house and waited for their mother to come home.

…………..
“How’s your weekend?” Yossie asked Maki.

“Well, it’s very interesting…” Maki smiled.

“Why, what happened?” Yossie asked eagerly.

“I’ll not talk until the others were here.” Maki said to her. They waited for a 15 minutes for Miki to arrive.

“So every one’s here right?” Yossie checked, there was Miki, Yassan, Rika, Maki and her. The people who knew about these paranormal events were all present.

“What happened?” Miki asked while putting down her things.

“Well, I tried to go to the cemetery last Saturday… And guess who I saw…” Maki smiled at them..

“The you-know-who in our room?” Rika whispered.

“Bingo!” Maki exclaimed.

“Ehh? But the cemetery was somewhat far from here… Why is she there?” Yassan asked.

“Well, the right question was… Why is she here?” Maki corrected.

“Tell us now what happened!” Miki excitedly said.

“Calm down will you… Ok, I checked the name of the tomb where I saw her… I guess, her name was Kusumi Koharu. She was a rich young lady here during the Spanish era… She died somewhere around 1890’s I think. Her bones where there in the cemetery.”

“If her bones where there… Why where she here? It doesn’t make sense.” Yossie asked

“At first look, it doesn’t make sense at all… When I got home that night, I dreamed about her.”

“You’re like ‘Joseph, the dreamer’ huh. You dreamed about Nino too, right? So what’s this girl’s story all about?” Miki inquired.

“Well, I dreamt that she had a secret boyfriend. Her father wouldn’t approve of him because he was poor… But Koharu loved him very much. His name was Keiichiro. Her father found out about them and ordered his men to kill him. Koharu found out what his father did and killed herself. She was buried in the cemetery near our place and Keiichiro was buried in this school, the former public cemetery, at the same location where you put you’re cleaning tools.” Maki explained to them.

“So it’s a sad love story right? Koharu knew that Keiichiro’s body was here so she spent her ‘ghostly days here instead in her own tomb right? But why can’t we see him?” Yossie asked.

“Well, I didn’t have the answer to that. Maybe his soul already found peace. That’s why he’s not haunting this place anymore.”

“I hope that Koharu’s soul will find peace soon..” Rika finished.

Part 1: The School Boy

It’s the last week October… Yossie was somewhat happy because they will have no classes on November 1 and 2 because of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. She was happily thinking about it while riding a jeepney on her way to school. It’s already 5:52 on her digital watch… She would arrive in their school in less than 10 minutes if the traffic cooperates with her…

“I guess I shouldn’t worry… I still have 1 hour and 30 minutes before the class starts.”

She was thinking how she survived her last 3 years in high school. She NEVER studied in their house. All she did was to watch anime and listen to her collection of Japanese anime cds… or some J-rock music, though she didn’t understand them… She would just go to an internet shop to get lyrics with translations and compiled it in a binder… She’s well known in their group as the “Human Anime Jukebox”. If you don’t remember the anime song… or its title, she’s the person to ask and you’ll get your answer immediately. Their group was really into anime… Her best friend Maki wrote a cross over fic between Hunter x Hunter and Power Puff Girls entitled as Power Puff Hunters… It’s very funny that Yossie smiled unknowingly inside the jeep. She noticed that the other students and passengers were looking weirdly at her… She just opened her binder and pretended to be reading something. She closed it when she saw that it’s already her school. The jeepney stopped and all the students went down. She went straight to the church besides their school. It’s her habit ever since she was accepted in that ‘premier’ catholic school in their city.

It’s cold and the sun didn’t rise up yet when she went out of the church. They had a test that day that’s why she stayed a little longer to pray.

“It’s cold!!! December’s near. I hope I can save enough money to buy some gifts to my friends… Nani?.... I forgot to pay for the ride!!! Oh well, at least the driver didn’t noticed… hehehe.”
Because of her ‘day dreaming on the jeep, she totally forgot to pay for the ride. She only noticed it when she put her hands inside her pocket to get her hanky… a penny fell when she removed her handkerchief because she always put her payment for the ride on her pocket and not on her wallet inside the her bag.
She entered their school. The security guard is the only person she’s seen so far. She walked straight to a corner and turned left towards the tunnel. The lights were still on. She noticed someone was already in their “hideout”. She went past the huge old tree at the end of the tunnel, and squinted her eyes to see clearly.

“Wow… Maki-chan’s early today.”

“Ohayou! I’m first today!” Maki said when Yossie approached the entrance.

“Tomorrow I’ll be the first to arrive here… Hehehe.. Hey by the way… I’ve brought my lyric collection that you want to borrow.” Yossie handed Maki the green binder before putting her bag beside her and sat.

“I’ve brought my fic! You’ll have to finish it now because my brother will type it on the computer later to have it uploaded on his website.”

“Ehh?!? But we have a test today… And I didn’t read a single note… I guess I’ll just read it on lunch time.”

“Ok… But you hold it for now.” Maki gave her a red folder containing lots of papers. Maki really loved writing. Through it, she expresses her feelings and emotions in which she could not express besides her close friends. Yossie got her book on advance algebra and started reviewing. On her peripheral vision, she noticed a little boy outside, near Maki’s place.

“Oh… Its 6:17 already… maybe that’s my nephew Uchi.”
Yossie looked up from her book. She managed to see someone ducked. She smiled. She peeked to see whether her nephew’s there but she saw no one.

“You want to play hide and seek huh…
“Maki… Look if someone will pass there.” Maki looked behind her to check if there’s someone. Yossie immediately run outside and circled the place. She saw no one.

“What happened?” Maki asked

“Nothing… I thought my nephew’s already here.”

“Well, if Uchi’s here… Then Yassan would be here also… They’re on the same school bus right?”

“… I guess so.” Yossie went back inside and opened her book.

“Don’t stress yourself when reviewing algebra… Hahaha.” Maki laughed.

“What’s that’s supposed to mean?”

“Nothing… Nothing… Study now… I’ll not bother you.”

“Hidoi…” Yossie started reading again. After a while, Yassan arrived.

“What happened? It’s already 6:30.” Maki asked. Yossie looked up from her book and smiled at Yassan.

“Our service broke down a little. I’m really thankful that were the first batch. I’m sure the third batch will be late from their first class today.”

“Hey, is my nephew with you?”

“He’s in the elementary quadrangle now… Why?”

“Nothing..” Yossie went back to study again.

Nothing else happened that day. Yossie somewhat forgot what she saw earlier. She, Maki, Miki and Makoto where waiting for a jeep. They always went home together. Miki hailed for a jeep to stop. Yossie restrained Makoto while the other two were boarding the jeep. She immediately boarded and gave her money to Miki and Maki did the same.

“Here’s our payment!” Miki immediately gave the money to the driver before Makoto even sat herself.

“Geez… That’s a good strategy there huh.” Makoto looked at Yossie and gave her the money for her ride. Yossie passed it to the driver.

“We wouldn’t do that again it you do not treat us anymore… Geez, save your money once in a while.” Miki said.

“Hehehe…” Makoto only smiled at them.

“That smile means that were gonna be like this for quite a while.” Yossie said and all of them laughed.

……….
When Yossie arrived at their house, she immediately opened their TV to watch Legend of Condor Hero. She hasn’t missed an episode on this anime.

“Hey… Who said that you could watch anime? Get out form there… I’ll watch basketball.” Her brother Ryo said with a commanding voice.

“Please!!!! Just thirty minutes!!! I’ll do anything you say!” Yossie pleaded. She was glad that her brother always comes late but sometimes he’s early. And those times when her brother was early was the time that she dreaded the most.

“Thirty minutes?.... Ok… Give me 20.” Yossie immediately search for her wallet inside her bag and gave 20 pesos to her brother.

“…Hmmm… use that to buy me a soft drink and food.”

“But I’m watching!”

“During commercial, you must buy. If you don’t I’ll change the channel.”

“Alright…” Yossie reluctantly said.

She managed to finish her anime and went up to get changed. She then lay down on her brother’s bed to rest for a while. They share the same room. And their bed was a double deck one. Her brother’s on the bottom part and her bed was the upper part. It’s already dark that time and she turned off the lights. She closed her eyes to doze off a little but then, she felt that someone was walking inside the room. Their room’s flooring was made of wood so one can easily feel it when someone’s walking around. She shrugged it off and turned her face towards the door. She opened her eyes when she felt that someone’s walking again but she saw no one.

I guess onichan’s finding some money on our parent’s room again.” But then, her heart started to beat very fast… She suddenly felt cold that’s why she immediately ran down the stairs.

“Hey don’t run! You might fall.” Her mother said to her.

“Don’t worry… I won’t fall. Is the dinner’s ready?”

“Yes, just get your food on the table.”
Yossie filled her plate with lots of rice. Their dinner for that night is her favorite, spring rolls. Though how much she eats, she didn’t get fat… Her metabolism is somewhat fast and maybe because she was on the varsity team of their school in badminton. She brought her plate in front of the TV and sat beside her brother who was also eating in front of the TV. It’s almost November so horror movies and dramas were spreading like fire.

That night, she had a hard time sleeping. She could remember the horror movies that were featured. She turned left and faced their wall, her back facing the door and the large mirror. Her brother’s a fanatic when it comes to heavy rock metal bands. He posted several pictures and posters of these bands on their wall. It didn’t help her ease the tension that was building inside her for the pictures showed the gruesome and scary masked these bands wore.

Why do Slipknot and Mudvayne have to wear that masks…”
She laid her back flat on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She smiled. Her brother wouldn’t let her post her anime posters on their wall, that’s why she just posted them on the ceiling. But then, she wished that she didn’t do that because she could feel that someone’s walking again. Her brother was sleeping soundly underneath her. Her both their parents sleep earlier than them. She just covered her face with her pillow and forced herself to sleep.

…..
The next day…

“Boo!” Yossie was startled when someone tapped her shoulder.

“Geez… You surprised me… Don’t do that Maki… We’re in front of the church.” It’s around 6 that morning. Maki and Yossie met in the church. They prayed for a little while and went to their school at the same time.

“Did you managed to watch Hunter x Hunter yesterday? I’ve been caught in a traffic jam that I just managed to watch the middle part.” Maki asked Yossie.

“I didn’t watch Hunter because after watching Legend of Condor Hero… my brother watched NBA.”

“Your brother’s such a kill joy.”

“You could say that… The only anime he’s ever watched is Yu Yu Hakusho and Slam Dunk.”

“My brother and I both love anime…. Hey... Is that Tackey?” Maki pointed at their building near their ‘headquarters’. Yossie squinted her eyes to see well because they were still inside the tunnel and the huge tree was blocking her view.

“Tackey?... He’s early today huh… What’s he up too?” The guy was leaning on the side of the building while his arms were across his chest. It’s like he’s been waiting for the two of them that’s why they both hurried their steps.

“Ohayou!” Maki waved at him when they where out of the tunnel. They were still 10 meters away from him when suddenly, the birds from the aviary made some noise. Yossie and Maki looked at their left side where the aviary was located. When the birds calmed down a little, Yossie and Maki returned their vision to the building. They stopped on their tracks… Tackey was not there anymore but a kid who looks like Uchi. Maki and Yossie stared at each other. They looked back at the same time. And they saw no one…

“WHAT WAS THAT?!?” Yossie was somewhat scared… This was way creepier than yesterday.

“Who’s that?” Maki was shocked but she was not scared.

“I don’t know… But that kid… He’s the one I saw yesterday.” Yossie explained while they went inside their ‘hideout’.

“You saw him yesterday?”

“Yah… I even asked you to see whether someone will pass by right? He looks like Uchi right…”

“… Well, Uchi and Tackey somewhat looked a like…” Maki said while putting her bag on the table. She went outside and scanned the area. Yossie stayed inside, too shocked to do anything.

“Hey, don’t be afraid… Maybe that boy just need some help.” Maki said and sat beside her.

“… I’m not scared… I’m just surprised…. “ Yossie said at Maki.

“Yeah right… your knees are shaking.” Maki rolled her eyes.

“And what about you? Are you not scared by that?”

“No… I’m used to it.” Maki smiled at her and opened her book.

“What do you mean by that?”

“….. Nothing… I’ll tell you some other time.”

“Hidoi!” Yossie retorted. After a while, Yassan came to join them but they remained silent about what they saw earlier.

“Yassan, do you have an assignment in physics?”

“Yes… why?”

“I can’t understand number 3 and 4… Can I take a look at it?”

Yassan got his notebook, passed it to Yossie and went outside.. In truth… Yossie didn’t make her assignment last night.

“Ohayou! Yossie… Do you have an assignment in physics?” Miki said while throwing her bag near Yassan’s seat.

“I’m just copying Yassan’s answer…” Yossie said to Miki.. Miki immediately got her notebook and copied also.
“Tsk… tsk… tsk…both of you are such a diligent student.” Maki said without looking at them. Yossie and Miki didn’t answer her because they were busy copying notes.

….. The next day….

Yassan and Maki were the first to arrive in their ‘hideout’. Yossie arrived late (6:15 to be exact) and proceeded to talk with Yassan.

“HAVE YOU WATCHED LEGEND OF CONDOR LAST NIGHT?!?!” THEY’RE SO SWEET!!!!” Yossie excitedly said to Yassan…

“Yeah, I’m planning to buy the manga version. I saw one in National Bookstore.”

“Oh? How much?”

“About 300 per book…”

“Oooohhhhh…. I don’t have that enough money.. I’ll just borrow it from you if you buy one.”

“Hey, here’s your compilation… I’ve finished photocopying some of it, arigatou.” Maki gave back the binder.

Yossie got her binder. Doing so, she managed to get a glimpse of the gate near their “hideout”. It’s at the end of the building and she saw the “boy” in there…

“He’s there again…” Yossie mumbled.

“What did you say?” Maki asked.

Yossie looked at Maki and Yassan. “The boy yesterday… He’s there near the gate!” Yossie pointed at the gate near them… but no one’s there.

“What boy?’ Yassan was curious and looked at the direction of the gate.

Yossie went to the gate. She looked at the end of the building. It‘s a dead end… there’s a huge tree blocking the way and behind it were some old chairs and tables and some steel bars.

“Maki come here!” Yossie shouted. Maki ran to the place and Yossie pointed at the wall. “I know that its not there before.”

“Nino… Who could have written that? I just scanned this area yesterday and that wall was still clean.”

“Could it be that the name of that kid is Nino?”
“Maybe… I’ll bring some holy water and blessed salt for him. My grandma said that these can help to make the soul, rest in peace.”

“What’s happening here?” The three of them looked behind them and saw that Miki’s already there. Maki and Yossie looked at each other and summoned the two of them inside their ‘hideout’. Yossie told them everything… From the first time she met that boy… till what happened earlier. Miki and Yassan were listening intently. They loved a good, true to life horror stories.

“Hey you know what… Ayaya had an experience in the girls’ toilet room. You know how she always loved to go there even during class hours.” Miki told them.

“Yep… Does she have some kind of a disease or what?” Maki asked.

“I don’t know but then… She went there all alone to take a leak… She just finished doing her thing when suddenly; the flush from the last cubicle was turned on. When she went out of her cubicle… She saw from the mirror that the door from the last cubicle was open and no one was inside. If there’s someone who entered, she will notice that because the door was not touching the floor, right? She immediately went out and then she heard the flush again… She went running back to her room that day… Ever since then, she wouldn’t dare go to that cr alone.” Miki related her best friend’s experience.

“You know why?” Yassan interrupted.

“Why?”

“Because our school ground was a former cemetery.” Yassan finished.

“USO!!!” Yossie exclaimed.

“It’s true… You’ve seen those grave marks on the walls of the church right?”

“Yah… What about them?”

“The truth is that those were all empty… Those people’s bones were scattered here in our school ground. Have you noticed the community pattern during the Spanish era? The municipal hall was near the hospital and the church… And usually, besides the church was the graveyard. Our school was created in the 1900’s… But before that… This place’s originally a local cemetery.

The next day, Yossie and Maki met up in the church again. Maki got a small bottle and filled it with holy water from the church.

“Eh? What are you doing?” Yossie asked.

“I forgot to bring holy water… but I’ve managed to get some blessed salt. We will offer these to him and some payers for his soul.” Maki explained.

“Ohh, I see.” Yossie and Maki exited the church and went straight to the red gate near their hideout.

“Here’s a little offering for your soul. I hope you can rest now.” Maki placed the container where she put the blessed salt near the tree. She then opened the bottle of holy water and sprinkled some of it to the area. She even sprinkled on their hide out and put some blessed salt on the door. And then on their building and the 2nd building. Yossie just followed her. Maki then sprinkled some on Yossie.

“Hey! Why did you do that?” Yossie shouted.

“So that spirits will not come for you… Hehehe.”

“You should do that to my brother…. He’s like a devil you know.”

“Hahaha… You should to that to him… not me.”

“Hey what’s happening here…. STOP THAT!” Miki yelled after Maki sprinkled some holy water on her.

“We were just offering some holy water and blessed salt to the boy so that he may rest in peace.” Yossie said in between laughing.

“Ahh, is that so?” Miki put down her bag inside their hideout. The two did the same also.

“Why are you so early today?” Maki asked.

“Yossie and I were supposed to play badminton today… It’s our practical test on P.E. today.” Miki explained while getting her racket. Yossie did the same too.

“Wanna come with us?” Yossie asked before getting out of their hideout.

“No, I’ll just watch the two of you from here.” Maki smiled. The two were enjoying their play and they did not care whether there were many students passing by. Some became envious, got their own racket and played also. Others who do not have a badminton racket borrowed from the two of them.
“Hey, you’re tired now, right? Can I borrow your racket?” Yassan asked Yossie.

“Sure… Here.” Yossie gave him the racket and someone reacted.

“Ehh? I don’t want to fight him! He’s good!” Miki shouted

“You’ve played with me right? And besides he’s not a badminton varsity… He’s a table tennis varsity.” Yossie explained.

“I know that dummy…. It’s just that you’re more compassionate than him.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be easy on you… I just want to apply some laws of physics here.” Yassan said playfully.

“Good luck to the two of you!” Yossie said before going back to their hideout.

“Rika!!!! Why are you absent these past two days?” Yossie was glad to see her classmate.

“I had another asthma attack... You know me.”

“Well, you must engage yourself to sports… I had asthma too. That was before I engage myself in badminton… and basketball.

“WAAAAHH!!!! SO TIRED!!!!” Miki yelled before sitting next to Yossie. “You’re so mean…. Leaving me with Yassan.”

“Hahahaha… It’s good for you… think of it as an exercise.” Yossie said.

“But I think I’ve lost all my energy to play… How will I survive P.E. now? It’s your fault!”

“Gomen!!!! Hahahha… You still have reserved energy, thanks to your adipose tissues… By the way, with whom did you exchange places?”

“Ueda-kun.”

“Oohh… best friends… Hahahaha!!!” Yossie said.

“Eh, Ueda and Yassan are playing? I wanna see it clearly!” Rika went out of their hide out to see the fighting “best friends”.

..…..
“Waahhh…. I had a mental block in the last number…. BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA….” They had just finished taking a test in Economics and were about to go home.

“Here’s my shoulder.” Miki offered to Yossie.

“Thanks…. BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA!!!” Yossie slammed her head several times on her friends shoulder. She’s been doing this for a long time now and Miki got used to it.

“Why can’t you bang your head on Makoto’s shoulder sometimes?” Miki asked.

“ME?” Makoto pointed at herself.

“She has more adipose tissues than you… I wouldn’t feel anything even if I hit my head on her shoulder hard.” Yossie explained. She stopped banging her head on Miki’s shoulder. Her forehead became reddish in color.

“So, I’m the medium type then?”

“Hai…”

“Hey… what are you talking about? Why did I hear my name being mentioned? Share it with me!” Makoto pulled Yossie’s hair clip.

“OI!!! Give that back to me!” Yossie tried to catch Makoto’s hand but before she managed to get it back, Makoto threw it towards Yassan.

“That’s my 9th hairclip that you’ve taken from me… Oh well, I still have lots in our house.” Yossie said to them.

“We’ll gonna take that again… Why don’t you just let your hair be like that? It’s way cuter.” Yassan said while putting the clip inside his bag.”

“I’m not used to it, that’s why.” Yossie said while holding her hair. The truth is, she had three more clips inside her pocket, and she was just waiting for Yassan to go home.

“Gomen! Our teacher’s extended her time…” Maki said. She was in another section on the third floor. The 4th year batch has five sections in total. 2 sections were in the 3rd floor, another 2 on the 2nd floor and Yossie’s section was in the first floor. That’s why they “unofficially” made that newly made structure next to their room, their so called hideout.

The four of them were waiting for the jeep again. Yossie and Maki secretly gave their fare to Miki. When a jeepney stopped Miki boarded first and sat right next to the driver.
“Here’s our fare!” Miki said and handed the driver their payment for their ride.

“Tsk, next time I’ll outrun the three of you… Here’s my payment!” Makoto sat across Miki and gave her fare to the driver. They were so noisy in the jeep, sharing funny events to Maki that happened during their P.E.

“Yossie was the first to arrive in the gym… She suddenly went back to us because she saw that the boys were still dressing.” Miki laughed after telling it to Maki.

“Hontou?” Maki quizzically asked Yossie.

“Yah, but I’m used to it… I have an older brother right?... "

“You know what, when we were in elementary… Makoto saw Jin Akanishi’s brief!” Miki exclaimed. She noticed that other passengers were listening to them but she didn’t mind it.

“Who’s Jin?” Yossie asked.

“Akanishi? He’s my classmate now… What happened?” Maki asked excitedly.

Miki looked at Makoto… She saw that she’s somewhat blushing. “Well, Makoto said… : ‘OOOooooHHHhhh COLOR BLUE!!!’ ”

Miki laughed hard. Maki and Yossie were also laughing but they minimized their noise. Yossie covered her mouth and tried to stop laughing because the other passengers were looking at them.


The next day….

Yossie came early that time. It’s still dark and she stayed longer in the church in hopes that Maki would come anytime. She didn’t have the guts to go in their hideout alone. After a couple of minutes, she decided to take a look in their hideout in hopes of finding Maki there. She took a peek when she was in the tunnel… She saw no one….

“Ok, what took her so long…. She’s late today.” Yossie walked slowly towards their hideout. “Should I go inside now? Going inside means that I will see that tree… She was on the side of their building now and was deciding whether she will wait for Maki inside or outside. She saw that one of the windows in their room was broken. She took a peak inside. Well, well, well… Our room’s somewhat scary when it’s dark... She really wished she didn’t do that because she saw a girl with long black hair, dressed in white near the cabinet for their cleaning materials beside their blackboard. She immediately backed out and bumped into someone.


“AHHH!!!” Yossie screamed.

“It’s very early and you’re this noisy…” Rika said to her.

“RIKA!!!” I’m glad that you’re already here!”

“Why? What happened?” Rika asked while she went inside their hideout. Yossie followed her.

“I…. I… saw a ghost inside our room…”

“Really? Is that the boy Yassan told me?’

“No, this time it’s a girl… about her twenty’s I think.”

“So that’s the one my classmates were talking about…”

“Maki!!!” Rika and Yossie said in unison.

“I’ve heard that my classmates also saw a girl in our room when they stayed late last month… I guess she’s been hunting this building for some reason.” Maki explained.

“Why are you late today?” Yossie asked.

“I had a dream… It’s about Nino.”

“What? You dreamed about that boy?” Rika said.

“Yah… And in my dream, I saw how he died in there.” Maki pointed towards the gate.

“What a nice start for the day…” Miki said while entering their hideout… Yassan followed inside.

“Well, it all started many years ago… He was playing with a basketball in there.” Maki pointed towards their school ground. “His ball slipped away and went towards this direction. And then he hit the ball so hard that it bounced on the other side of the tree where those steel bars were located. He climbed on the other side in an attempt to get his ball… But he slipped and got hit by a steel bar straight at his body. He tried to call for some help but no one came. He died in there.” Maki finished her story.

End of Part 1