SERRA “Serra...” someone grabbed my hand. I stood frozen. The corners of my lips curled a smile. I excitedly turned my head and faced him. My lips contracted erasing my smile seeing Xyrus. I was expecting someone else, someone else I don’t even know. “I just want to say thank you for saving me the other day despite how bad I treated you.” He stared at my eyes with a smile curved on his lips. I gave him a sturdy look. “Worst.” I corrected him. He looked away and said he was sorry in a soft voice. “Go out with me, Serra.” That was an out of the blue remark that took me by surprise. He looked away again. Red crept his cheeks. He ran his fingers through his hair. That gesture of him replayed in my mind nonstop. The short strands of his hair covering his forehead ran smoothly upward up to the back of his head. His long brown mapple hair bounced above his shoulder. “Serra?” Xyrus called. His black hair leaned to his right. Sadness fell over me. I was seeing someone else. My heart sud
“Grey Preston...” I lifted my head to see who mumbled my lover’s name. It was Amara. I removed my piled books from the space beside me and placed them on the table. I tapped the bench motioning her to seat beside me. “That mysterious guy again?” She shook her head. “Is he even real?” She put her bag on the table and handed me a bag of snacks. “So, how’s the baby?” I ran my hand over her bulging tummy and talked to the life inside. “The baby’s fine and if you’d ask, I’m fine as well.” She rolled her eyes to the back of her head. “How about Lulu?” I grabbed a different colored pen and started scribbling random stuffs around Grip’s name that I doodled. “Can I see his face again?” Amara pointed at Grip’s name using her lips. I flipped my sketchpad and showed her my artworks. I drew his face in every scene I could remember. I first showed her my art work of Grip when we met each other for the first time, on the pathwalk, under the mapple tree. “Is he some kind of fictional character
“She’s not answering her phone!” Mandy complained the nth time raffling her hair in annoyance. “It’s because she’s dead,” Amanda said bluntly. “S-She can’t be dead.” Amara sobbed and buried her face on my shoulder. I felt terribly useless. I risked my life just to save others who doesn’t even treat me as human but I haven’t done anything to save a friend, to save Lulu. I clenched my fist. I’ve never thought I could be more useless than before. I was busy with my pain that I wasn’t able to eye her. I shouldn’t have acted careless. “If only I didn’t got carried away with my emotions, with my thoughts. This wouldn’t have happened. Lulu should have been still here with us, talking, laughing,” I angled my head downward. “This is all my fault...” I whispered. “Serra...” Amara gaped my chin and placed her hands against my cheeks. “This wasn’t your fault, none of these. Never be apologetic, Serra. You’ve done more than anyone could.” She wiped away my tears. “You could have your busy days
“K-Kate...” I said under my audible breath. She smelt awfully damp. Her sloughing skin wrinkled and was icy pale. Her lips were chapped and purpled. Her brow angled ferociously framing her glaring eyes. The corner of her lips elongated a smile up to her ears. The skin over her lips created visible cracks due to the movement when she grinned. Her body snappily turned to me and her hands pressed tightly against my throat. She was laughing in satisfaction with pursed smiling lips. “K-Kate...” I groaned and wrapped my hands around her wrist. I tried pulling it away but my hand kept on slipping off her slimmy rotten flesh. I held in her arms putting all my weight and kicked her chest as hard as I could. Her arm snapped off her body that floats on the surface meters away. Her body sinked but her hand kept intact on my neck. I grabbed her fingers twisting them off my throat and threw her pair of hands away. Both landed on the tiles out of the pool area. I turned around when I felt someone
“That’s absurd!” Mandy walked back and forth of their room. I was getting dizzy with what she was doing. Amara just sat beside Kate who is apparently Lulu at the moment. The latter kept quiet since we left the pool area. Amanda wanted to stay and make sure I was okay but she was called by Mr. Garzon and it seemed urgent. After a few minutes, dad came running to check on me. He even suspended the entire school activities to make sure I was okay and won’t worry skipping one. “Let’s calm her down first.” Amara suggested pulling Lulu closer and placed her head over her shoulder. “She needs that. She looked anxious,” Mandy agreed but still kept on walking in front of us. “We all are–” I pointed at Mandy “–and we can’t calm down with a sight of you striding back and forth.” I swiped my finger on the air pointing to the chair next to the bed. After a moment of silence, Lulu was the one who broke it with a sigh. She curled her knees and put her chin over it. She pushed her index finger up
I knocked on Lulu’s door or basically Kate’s room but I got no response. I was about to leave but I heard loud whispers from the inside. There were like two people arguing inside the room. I quirked a brow. Mandy told me that she will accompany Amara today for her prenatal check-up and they just left. There’s no way Dorothy could sneak in. Amanda has a photoshoot out of school either so she couldn’t be here. “Lulu?” I called but still got no response. I twisted the knob and the door wasn’t locked. I slowly opened the door and went inside of the room. I found her standing at the corner facing the wall. She was mumbling inaudible words furiously as though she was arguing with someone. “Lulu?” I called one more time but she didn’t look like she heard me. She brought her hands to the sides of her head and covered her ears. “Shut up... shut up... shut up!” “Lulu, what’s wrong?” I approached her. “Ahh!” she screamed still covering her ears. I swiftly recoiled my hand in shock. “No! Th
Dorothy was sitting in the middle of the dark room, unconscious. Lulu moved closer and hid behind me but her eyes were still peeking over my shoulder. She was hooked despite the fear that was consuming her. Mandy did the same to my other side. Amara wrapped her arms around mine and squeezed herself to me. Amanda did the same to my opposite side. I was like their human blanket or pillow they use every time they watch a horror movie. They all pressed against me more when Dorothy moved. She was awake. She looked around in total confusion. She ran around banging the walls and doors looking for possible exits. The camera was a pair of eyes following her movement and she didn’t seem to notice it. She stayed paranoid while trying to break free. In this type of situation, you have to keep calm in order to think right. In her case, she was like scooping a broth with a fork. “Dorothy...” a voice behind the camera called. It was sweet and playful yet creepy. It gave me goosebumps all over. S
“That was like a scene in a horror movie.” Mandy brushed her palms against her arms to get rid of the goosebumps. “A movie based on a true to life story,” Amara added. “W-Why did we watch it?” Lulu hugged her knees. “Yeah, why?” Amanda asked confused. Amara shrugged and so was Mandy. They slowly turned their head in my direction and my reaction was like I wrote the word what using my face. “I was looking for clues that would help me determine who the serial killer is. Let me remind you, I clearly and vividly remember you guys rejected my invitation but then you joined me one by one anyway. Don’t blame me for the nightmares haunting you even in daytime.” I sat on the edge of the bed. I exited the video after finishing watching it the nth time. They all looked at me with awkward smiles on their lips. Realization hit them like ton of bricks. We were currently inside our room, Amanda and my room. We spent the nights together after what happened to Dorothy. We also decided to stick t