STYGIAN | completed

36

ASTRIA

"Sa'n tayo pupunta?"

I asked Aegan habang sabay kaming naglalakad ngayong umaga. Pinatawag kami ng class adviser namin para magtipon-tipon sa open grounds ng lugar na ito. I wonder what Ma'am Montgomery is up to. She's known to be a mysterious person with lots of things up in her sleeves. I hope this time, these things are normal ones.

"I don't know," Aegan shrugged his shoulders. "It's Ms. Montgomery. Maybe it's something... ridiculous."

I chuckled. "Sinabi mo pa. Sana lang hindi tayo i-lock loob ng isang kuwarto na punong-puno ng mga insekto at mayroon lang tayong isang oras para makalabas."

"She did that?!" nagugulat niyang baling sa akin.

"You didn't know?"

"No," iling niya. "She's really something, huh?"

"Yeah," I replied shortly.

Naupo na kami sa isang bench dito sa open grounds. Halos kumpleto na yata kaming lahat na magkakaklase rito at si Ms. Montgomery na lang ang kulang. Nakakalat lamang sila sa buong grounds. Some are busy talking in circles with their friends. Some are admiring the beauty of the place.

Inilibot ko rin ang paningin ko sa paligid. Green hues are everywhere and it is being complimented with different shades of yellow due to the yellow bell, dandelions and sunflowers. Puro mga dilaw na bulaklak ang nandirito and I think this place is divided into divisions with different colors. We're here in the... yellow division? I don't know.

Iba ang pakiramdam ko sa araw na ito. Something makes me feel excited and at the same time nervous. It was like as if my adrenaline will rise up the moment we do what activity Ms. Montgomery is up to.

Speaking of the... yeah. Speaking of ma'am, here she is.

"Good morning!" She greeted us with that common smile plastered in her face, then she suddenly made a grim expression.

See? Weird.

"Please go here in front of me, we have an activity you surely don't wanna miss!" napakaseryoso niyang sabi sa umpisa pero biglaang nagbago ang tono niya papunta sa masaya sa huling bahagi.

Is she a bipolar?

I heard several grunts from my classmates because some aren't willing to do the activity, but they have no choice. The nerds and the athletes have a wide grin in their faces, knowing Ms. Montgomery is really up for something; the typical ones are just bored.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed. "Now that we're finally gathered here, I'd like to call for your participation for a very exciting game!"

Oh.

A game?

It surely caught everyone's attention. Hindi namin alam kung anong nangyayari sa recollections. I thought this was like merely for goodbyes but being a student in Ms. Montgomery's class? It is already something.

"Game?" One of the students raised her question. Medyo namumukhaan ko siya. I think she's T-ta.. Talora? Or was it Lamara? "What kind of game?"

Ms. Montgomery smiled. A really weird smile. "It looks like you're too excited for this, Tamara. I'm sure you'll like it."

Oh. So it was Tamara? I didn't know.

Ms. Montgomery cleared her throat. Then she grinned like crazy. What is she up to?

"But before that..." she trailed. "...I'm gonna tell you a secret. Would you believe me?"

Tumahimik silang lahat. Nothing can be heard but the chirping of the birds and the soft howling of the breeze. Tila nagulat sila sa narinig nila. What was that secret?

Pero hindi ko maintindihan ang sarili ko kung bakit iba ang naaalala ko. Why do I think of him? Those words are almost the exact words that Stygian had told me. But I thought that was just a hallucination or something?

I shook off my head and brushed off the thought. I looked at Ms. Montgomery again, only to find out that she's looking directly at me. I felt a chilling sensation down to my spine. It sent shivers altrough out my body. I never thought such a stare would make me feel this way.

"Would you believe me if..." she paused and wandered her looks everywhere. "...I told you that there's a dead body here?"

Gasps filled the places. Some have scared expression in their faces. Some almost fainted if it weren't for their friends. Some are left speechless— including me. I felt Aegan stiffened but we kept still.

I stared at Ms. Montgomery's face at hinihintay ko na magbago ang ekspresiyon na pinapakita niya but she still kept that grim expression.

Then she laughed histerically.

Seriously, what's wrong with this woman.

"I wanna take a picture of your faces but I don't have a camera with me. If you can just see it, hahahah," she laughed.

What? What does that mean?

"I'm just joking!" She said out loud and I can hear sighs of relief from everywhere.

"Seriously, ma'am?" Tamara asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Ms. Montgomery's face became serious. Did Tamara's question pissed her? "Seriously."

"But hey!" she suddenly exclaimed. "We'll have an activity!"

"What activity, ma'am?" I asked her.

"We call it... Mystery Game!"

Napuno muli ng bulong-bulungan ang paligid at nang humina na ito ay saka pa lamang nagpatuloy si Miss. "It may be easy as it seems, pero hindi iyon ganoon kadali. I'll pair you in two's— pwede na siguro 'yang buddy system niyo— and you have to find the missing body. And hep! it's just a mannequin."

Woah's and Ohh's filled the place. Mukhang nakuha no'n ang atensiyon ng lahat.

"And this is the first clue..."