Portville Village

Day 3

DAY 3

I mused at myself over the mirror, evaluating my outfit for the day. I was wearing a pastel blue skater dress paired with pastel pink ballet flats. This would do. It was Sunday. Magsisimba kami ni Mom sa isang cathedral across the town na first time naming mapupuntahan.

I shot a quick glance over the white house, nagbabakasakaling makita ko muli 'yung psychopath na kapitbahay pala namin. Pero mukhang wala namang tao. Baka nambibiktima na naman siya sa mga oras na ito.

"Let's go Enidh, malalate na tayo sa 1st mass!" My mom called in.

"Ready na ako ma!" I called back and we made our way towards the gate.

We hailed a jeep upon reaching the road. Fifteen minutes lang ang layo ng cathedral sa village namin. During the ride, I glanced over my co-passengers. Strange as it seemed, they were all wearing a desolated expression. Some of them were weeping, with their head bowed down while some of them were staring impassively across the winding road, clearly lost in space. With that, I felt a curl of nausea in the pit of stomach. Not a good day to start. I bounced my gaze at the driver in the rearview mirror, and to my surprise, his face was contorted in deep pain.

I nudged my mom and told her what I had noticed about our fellow passengers. It looked like they were mourning and about to attend a funeral or a wake. This was helluva creepy.

It couldn't be that all of these passengers were like that! My mom just shrugged off and told me to pray.

Thankfully, nothing untoward happened throughout the ride. We alighted from the jeep and I stared back at the passengers. To my horror, all the blood in my face drained as I saw their empty sockets staring blankly at me. With my heart beating in unfathomable rate, I looked away from then, turning chalky pale. I quickly made a sign of the cross as we got inside in the church and sprinkled myself a holy water.

When we got home, I was still wearing a horror stricken face. I didn't bother to tell my mom about what I saw when we alighted. I decided to hit the sack and buried myself under the sheets.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to stroll around the village.Dala ko na naman ang megaphone ko. Ewan ko ba, siguro ganun lang talaga kalakas ang loob ko mag-ingay dahil wala namang tao sa village namin kundi si Eslov at 'yung psychopath. Pero simula kahapon, hindi ko na nakita ang psycho na 'yun. Thank God. Hindi ko rin sinabi kay mama kagabi 'yung nangyari sakin kahapon na muntik na akong mabangga dahil ayoko siyang mag-alala and besides, okay lang din naman ako.

Suddenly, the cold breeze whipped around and I felt the cold sending chills in my spines. To keep me occupied, I beheld my megaphone and spoke:

"HELLO. Sabi ni Eslov haunted daw ang lugar na ito. But I don't care. I like the rush of thrill!"

Lumakas pa lalo 'yung ihip ng hangin. Napatingin ako sa mga kabahayan. It really looked like deserted. Hanggang may kapirasong papel ang lumipad at naglanding sa paa ko. I bent to pick it up.

His love killed me. Nakalagay 'doon sa sulat, written in cursive.

With that, I felt goosebumps starting to wash all over me. Mukha lumang- luma 'yung papel.

It was written in an onion paper.

His love killed me. Sino naman ang magsusulat ng ganito? Baka naman natangay lang 'to ng malakas na hangin mula sa basurahan? I shrugged it off thinking na baka nga ganoon. I could feel the hard dents as I ran my fingers across each words. Parang 'di ko mabasa ang emotion nung sumulat nito; I couldn't tell kung galit ba siya or frustrated. I crumpled the paper and chucked it elsewhere. To keep my fears at bay, nag-ingay ulit ako. This time, kumakanta na ako. Kinanta ko ang "The Diary of Jane" ng Breaking Benjamin. Hindi ko alam, pero iyon ang unang kantang pumasok sa isip ko ng mga oras na iyon. Then, it dawned on me na nakakatakot din pala ng boses ko hihihi. Tinatakot ko pa tuloy lalo ang sarili ko.