Righteous Side of Hell

 "Say, why are we doing this topic again?" The question from Azul brought Pamela out of her deep musings. They were in the library in the late afternoon.

Pamela turned to her boyfriend across the table, Azul was reading photocopied handouts. "We can get people to be interested in watching our documentary by featuring not just any ghosts but the famous White Lady of Balete Drive." Her eyes gleamed with enthusiasm.

Azul scratched his head with the tip of his pen. "I don't know, hon, the other group in our class is going for something similar so we won't stand out much"

"You are not looking at the bright side here" Pamela scowled, huffing at the pessimism from her significant other that she didn't hide rolling her eyes at him. "They are doing mythological creatures from their provinces, it's still two different topics."

Azul leaned back on the chair. "Why can't we do witches or warlocks? We have more credible proof to back us up, we can go to my distant relatives' house in Siquijor or something."

"Noooo! Shut up!" Pamela's voice rose an octave with her gaze seething with raw anger that had Azul almost pulling back in surprise. She slapped a palm against the table, "We are going to see the damn White Lady! Is that clear?!"

Her boyfriend was too stunned to reply, and it took him a couple of seconds to say a word. "Okay, chill"

The realization dawned on Pamela like a splash of cold water bucket, her livid temper fading out and she looked around to see if her shout got the attention of the librarian or other students, fortunately not. "I need to go to the washroom" Pamela left quickly without waiting for Azul.

In the washroom, she went to the last cubicle and closed it after getting inside. Pamela sat on the toilet lid and put both hands on her head. When she closed her eyes, whatever was on the other side of the crimson door in her head spilled out, forming scenarios that couldn't be set aside easily—dark endless road lined with towering looming trees on each side.

With labored breathing, Pamela staggered to the marbled counter and gripped it tight. A painful throb in her head and a flash of unwanted images—one that she tried burying hard. "I didn't do anything wrong..."

--

Azul was checking the bags at the backseat of his car when he noticed a small plastic of medicine from the additional bag his girlfriend brought. Tonight was their scheduled plan to start their documentary featuring the urban legend surrounding Balete Drive as they wanted to make their project as realistic as possible so venturing at night was the option. The car was parked in front of Pamela's home.

Pamela came out of the gate garbed nicely and she noticed Azul holding her meds, "Hey what are you doing hon?" She took the medicine from his hand and shoved it back in the bag.

"Did the psychologist ask you to retake them...?" Azul asked with concern. "I'm just worried about you, hon, if you need to talk to someone--" His words were cut off by another person who arrived.

It was their other teammate, Kyla. "Sorry, I'm late! I got the DSLR camera!" She showed them the detailed device held with both hands.

"Let's go," Pamela ignored her boyfriend's words earlier, walking past him to sit beside the driver's seat.

They went to Balete Drive past midnight, since it was a weekend and already the wee hours of the night, the road was mostly empty.

Kyla was in the backseat, she kept glancing at her side and rubbing her arms. "Starting to feel some chills...I hope we make it alive in the morning"

"You're kidding, right?" Pamela scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Azul was the one driving, "Where should we park?"