Anito Anarchy (The Chaos of the Spirits)

Chapter 22: My Teacher Wants Me Dead

A loud, clanking sound woke me up from my astonished state. It was from the sound of Reiku's metal claws striking against the evil being's knife-like nails. The impact between the two of them was so forceful that it made them both jolt backward.

I felt so stunned after just seeing my life yet again pass before my very eyes. The sensation of dying made me recall the moments of my last encounter with the Shadows, making my knees feel weak and causing me to fall down on the floor, overwhelmed with fear and relief.

I turned to my side and found Reiku fiercely standing in a hunched position, her clawed arms before her, anticipating her opponent's attack like a seasoned boxer. She just saved me again from a horrible end, just like she did back from that night.

"If you want to die before finding your brother, then just stay down there and wait for her next attack," Reiku coldly said. "I won't waste my energy saving you next time."

"I'm sorry," I promptly said, trying to stand up hurriedly. "I was just caught by surprise. I'll try to be more present moving forward."

"You're on your own, kid," Reiku uttered. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

"I understand." I firmly replied and cautiously looked at the evil entity before us.

With my head cleared off, I made the determination that the monstrous creature who just tried to attack me and my kind and gentle homeroom teacher were one and the same. I didn't have a clue what happened to her, but I concluded that it must have been the same thing with the Amalanhigs that attacked me and my brother back on that dreadful night. She might not look completely similar to them since she didn't have deadly, sharp fangs, but that didn't diminish her horrifying presence even for a bit. She was standing on all fours, looking frighteningly with her mouth wide open like a mad dog and her sharp eyes with a full shade of black.

"What happened to her?" I asked Reiku without losing sight of my teacher.

"She's been possessed by a black Anito," Reiku replied. "They are evil spirits with the ability to consume a human's consciousness and alter its form based on the Anito's attributes. There are a lot of things that I cannot explain right now, but one thing is for certain, the entity before you is not our teacher anymore. She will not hesitate to kill you if she's given a chance, so you need to watch out."

There were a lot of things that I wanted to ask Reiku or Mayari or whoever the fearless lady standing next to me was, but I knew that the timing wouldn't be good. I will save my questions for later and demand answers from her once we survive this ordeal.

And I was secretly hoping we could survive this situation unscathed, with all our limbs intact, unlike the last time.

Then, out of the blue, Reiku shouted loudly, "Move away!"

Suddenly, Ms. Rissa lunged into the air, her sharp nails dangling before her. She landed in front of Reiku while I ran to the other side to stay out of their way. The next thing I knew, my strange classmate and teacher were exchanging blows in the middle of the old library, breaking things they landed on. Tables and chairs were flying in the air. Bookshelves were falling into the ground. Papers and broken pieces of room decorations were scattered all around the floor. It was an intense battle, and all I could do was stand idly in a corner and watch all the fighting unfold.