"Lana,.."I'm unsure how long I have been lost in that swirling darkness, but eventually, a glimmer of light began to pierce the fog. Faint echoes of distant noises could be heard, like muffled voices underwater. I began to piece together the missing fragment of consciousness."Come on, Lana, wake up." a voice I knew well broke through the chaos in my mind.Struggling against the heaviness, I pry my eyes open. It felt like an eternity before my surroundings came into focus. I was lying on the warm rooftop floor of my high school back in my hometown.The waning sun hung low in the sky, casting its golden rays across the rooftop. These radiant beams played a silent dance and flickered like ethereal flames upon my face. The warmth caressed my skin, starkly contrasting the cold, hard concrete surface beneath me. I remember this scenery, but something was missing from here...A shadow loomed over me, and I strained my gaze to get a clearer view of the figure. The features of the face b
Raindrops against the window create a soothing chorus in the classroom. Everyone had left from the extra hours of revision class that had just ended, leaving me alone in my seat. I was lying face down on the hard surface of my desk, my bag slung over my shoulder, ready to go home, but I decided to stay a little longer. Dribble, dribble, dribble... This is much more relaxing than being at home at this time. Mom will be busy preparing dinner, and Hansel, my younger brother, will most likely be playing with his favourite Legos. And Dad will be there in an hour. When Dad is home, Hansel is less likely to attack or annoy me. Hansel was diagnosed with a rare intermittent explosive disorder, which required him to attend a special school and undergo extensive therapy. Playing with blocks and drawing are usually the best ways to lift his spirits, but his episodes tend to occur when I'm at home. He couldn't be around me doing my own thing without having outbursts of rage like him. He refus
Caring less for my dirtied soaked shoes, I drag my feet toward the bus stand a few kilometers away from the school. I think I have run far enough, even if he catches up with me, there is nothing he can do to me in the public. Shivers wouldn't stop running over my body, trembled even in my breath, panting out of air. I take a seat to catch my breath, hugging myself hoping it can reduce the chills I feel. It takes a few minutes to calm myself when I spotted a black sedan pulling over from the corner of my eyes, I start panicking as I heard the door pushed open and someone is descending. My very first instinct is to escape, running wildly in the opposite direction without even looking back. The footsteps of the person become intense and I sense that I can never escape this time as he is at last able to grab me by my elbow. I come to a dead-end, left with no choice, covering my ears I shouted to the top of my lungs, co
Morning comes rough for me, I woke up soaked in cold sweat and headache. I'm pretty sure I had taken all the safety measures to avoid getting sick from coming home drenched in rain yesterday. But, I guess the incident had messed up my immune system. I have serial nightmares of Mr. Bong chasing after me, and I couldn't forget his sinister sneers that keep echoing in my mind. Forcing myself out of bed, I get ready for school. The whole process takes a ton of my energy, one moment I wanted to give up for school today but then Hansel will be home earlier, and afterward, mom will be restricted to go out to spend time with Hansel. The therapist said bonding time with Hansel is important for his recovery. Go to hell with the advice, Hansel would be glad to torture me for the rest of the day, and then mom will be coming over blaming me for the mess he creates. I guess our age g
A ruckus filled with the shattering voice of cries coveted my eardrums as the dead body splays by their eyes to witness. I couldn't move. Definitely, it was our school security man, MR. BONG. Am I still in one of my continuous nightmares? Please, I wanted to wake up! His pale face indirectly faced me, empty eyes staring back at me, sending churn to the pit of my stomach. Implement a lucid image of his death to the back of my mind. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle a scream while the paramedic roughly snatched the linen, giving me an annoyed glance as he put it back to its place. Did I accidentally injure him? Does he bleed heavily to his death? A shivers run through my spine, thinking, should I look back yesterday, just to make sure he is not hurt anywhere, will he survive? So, now... I'm a m
"Shh... Don't joke on things like this Lana, " Samuel blurted in a half-whispered tone, putting his hand over my lips. "You going to get in trouble." Tears welled up my eyes. I do hope that all of this is only a prank, but Mr. Bong is dead, and I'm officially a criminal. I weakly shove his hand away, "Sam... I'm the last person he met. He tried to... " I hushed, chin trembled, and an involuntary whimper escaped my lips. Staring back at me, he realized that I'm not kidding him. He is silent but at last, he exhaled, coming closer putting a hand over me, and crushing me to his everlasting safe haven body. "I'm sorry, don't say a word anymore." "I'm scared. I didn't mean to..." I convinced him with my voice muffled to his chest. "Hush... I know, I understand, anyone in your place won't hesitate to stab him to death..." He comforted me, tightening the embrace as I sobbed uncontrollably. &n
A thousand rays of the morning sun escaped from between the blinds. I used to love being near the windows, but every now and then each time my glance turns to the exact spots where Mr. Bong's body lay, a cold shiver runs down my spine, and my palms couldn't stop sweating in the cold air-conditioned room. I have to keep telling myself over and over again that it wasn't me that had him killed, I didn't stab him, someone did. And that someone, is among us... It is day four after the incident, there is no new clue of the case, crime scene investigation and evidence collection were completed and we had been allowed to move back to our classroom yesterday. I didn't take leave from school the day after the incident. When I woke up that day later in the evening, I was in Samuel's guest room, he had offered to let me rest in his guest room once I have taken the medicine provided by Ms. Oh. I'm running with fever again on that day, and Samuel said that I keep mumbling in my sleep that he ha
The soft bell chime indicating that school is over for today sends a sigh of relief throughout the class. We say our salute to Mrs. Sue, the mathematics teacher, then gather our belongings to leave. I stuffed my notebooks into my bag and went up to Samuel who was already waiting outside with his three other best friends. "Hey, Lana what's up." Jerry Chon, the boy with the most adorable eyes and sweetest smile welcomed me. "I'm good, thanks," I replied while giving way to a girl who is flirting with Jason Bak without seeing that she almost bumped into me. Anyway, can't they simply wake up to the womanizer who would never commit his heart to any of them, but then there's Jason, all confident... Good looks are definitely a plus. I saw Naomi being the last exiting the class, I try my luck to talk to her again as she approached us but Nelson Kim had already overtaken me. "Goodbye, Naomi," Nelson uttered with a smile. His dimple deepened, showing off his charms. Now I understand why Na