Anathema (The Academy of the Cursed)

Chapter Eight: A Cruel World

-chapter eight-

"I guess we'll know it by tomorrow."

Tiningnan ko ang relo. Five minutes 'til five o'clock. Kinuha ko ang tasa ng kape at lumapit sa bintana. Cards scattered around the counter table, a winning royal hand on my side. Kahel is softly snoring in his bed, pagod, dahil nilinis niya ba naman ang buong kwarto kagabi.

When I stayed by the hallways at 10PM, a voice blasted through the speakers. Pinaalalahan nito ang mga estudyante na pumasok na sa dorms. I don't know about the lobby but students began to pour in the third floor.

Another reminder blasted around 11:59. Although, there was no voice at tanging music lang ang narinig namin. Hinintay kong makatulog si Kahel before prying the door open. It did budge! I even tried to step outside and nothing happened. Only the dark and quiet hallways greeted me, at dahil hindi ko pa balak magexplore, I entered my room again.

So it's not like you'd get laser-killed kung lalabas ka. Siguradong may nagro-roam around to see if students are breaking curfew. Kung mga tao lang rin naman ang nagpapatupad, there are likely to be loose areas that can be used for escape.

Kaya ngayon ay nakatayo ako sa harap ng bintana. The sky is soft in pastel yellow and slightly dark orange, the sun slowly waking up. Wala pa nga talagang estudyante sa labas. If I ignore some of the silhouettes I see moving.

When the clock strikes five, I placed my cup in the desk. With a loud thud to wake the sleeping dog up. Mukhang naging successful ako dahil bigla siyang tumalon paupo. Luminga-linga siya sa paligid hanggang sa mahulog ang tingin niya sa'kin.

I pursed my lips. "In fairness, ang gwapo mo sa umaga, Kahel."

Maybe it's just the illusion of light. Or he's just lucky that the light hits the right part of his face. Parang anghel tuloy siyang nakaupo. I blame it on his stupid curly, blonde hair and soft eyes. This is not the mad dog I know.

Lalo na nang pumula ang mukha niya. "Ha?"

"Ha? Hanep." humikab ako. "Go and wash yourself. Aren't you excited for our first class, mad dog?"

Sumimangot siya. "Only an insane person gets excited over a class."

Panay ang reklamo niya habang inaayos ang kama pero sa isang minuto ay nasa loob na ng banyo. Napailing ako sa mood nitong aso. Talagang ang hilig niyang magreklamo habang sinusunod ang inuutos ko.

Dahil tapos na akong maligo, nilagay ko na lang ang kakailanganin sa bag at nagpalit sa uniform. Kahel came out of the bathroom, drying his hair, while I'm sitting in the sofa and listening to a news.

Ipinapakita dito ang pagdakip daw sa isang ability-user na umano'y nagnakaw sa isang shop. They even showed a CCTV footage that shows how the ability-user is obviously far from the shelf stolen and is being tailed by an officer who keeps on talking. I bet no good words went out of that mouth. Nang dumaan ito sa cashier ay nagbayad pa ito ng amount na mas mataas kaysa sa normal.

But they blamed it over the fact that he is an ability-user. Thus, he can do anything that can't be captured by the camera. Of course, citizens will immediately believe it, and if he's not rich enough for bail or bribery, there will be no justice for him.

The media, huh. I scoffed loudly, which made Kahel turn and frown at me. What a bunch of cowardly and money-hungered idiots who will kick any ability-users the best they can. Not that they're not already biased and kissing the toes of the government, they also have no sense of shame and morality.