Scintilla and Scent

VII: Poiesis

Chapter 7

"That guy— when he looked at us, parang he's acting that he didn't even know us,anong meron sa lalaking 'yan?" I rolled my eyes.

"He's a campus popular, sino ba tayo for him to notice us," Ansley flipped her hair."I'm just curious what's in him actually, like does he have some gifts din ba?"

"Ssshh... zipper your mouth, mag-ingat ka naman sa mga pinagsasabi mo," saway ko kay Ansley.

"Hayaan n'yo na siya-- ang mahalaga nailigtas natin si Coreen, anyway kumusta na raw ba siya?" Ben asked.

"She's still recovering, if you want we can visit her later in the hospital, gusto rin daw tayo ma-meet in person ng family n'ya," Ansley smiled.

"Sige-- I wanna see her too," isinuot ko na ang itim ko na backpack at tumayo. "I have to go... may class pa ako."

Nauna na akong naglakad palabas ng cafeteria. But when I supposed to enter in my first class, my classmates were outside as if they're stuck in front of the door.

Nakisiksik na rin ako sa kanila out of curiosity. I gaped upon seeing what's in the door. Napa-atras pa ako nang bahagya dahil sa pagkagulat.

The door was scratched. Parang kuko ng isang mabangis na hayop ang may gawa. Halos buong pinto ay mapuno na. Of all the rooms in this university, what's wrong in the room 206?

"Kali? Anong nangyari rito?" Ben asked as he and Ansley came in.

"Hindi ko alam," hinila ko na lang sila palayo sa crowd ng students. "Diba last night, it's not there, kasi...kasi 'yung nandiyan last night was-"

"Was blood, and right now it's all gone," Ansley crossed her arms. "You know what-- there's really strange in that room, ang scary huh."

"Naalala mo couz-- diyan din unang beses na may nagparamdam? Then something came up after noon diba?" Bentley leaned on the wall.

"Yeah! Lage ko rin napapansin na kapag diyan 'yung klase ko, sumasakit 'yung ulo ko," I gulped. "Adding up that rare coldness in that room, sobrang lamig kasi diyan compare to others."

"Si Trina-- diba may klase rin siya diyan, same with Coreen, come to think of it, may connection ba 'yun?" Ben looked at me. Bakas sa mukha nito ang pag-aalala. "Ikaw-- muntik ka ng maaksidenti remember?"

I gaped,"what do you mean?"

"It's just my conclusion, I think...we can search for the history of that room," Ben suggested. "For us to know, what's the real score."

"Oh my! I think it's still scary pa rin eh, like I thought it's all done na, tapos now here it is again," Ansley held her chest.

"Don't worry Ansley, we'll find out what's behind this," Ben moved out and proceeded to his class. Mabilis ding sumunod sa kanya si Ansley pero lumingon pa siya sa'kin na parang takot na takot na mag-stay malapit sa room 206.

I sighed as our professor came in. Nagsipasok na rin kami sa classroom. I sat down quietly roaming my eyes around. Parang mas lalo yatang hindi naging maganda ang pakiramdam ko rito. Lalo yatang lumamig sa loob ng classroom.

“Kumusta na raw si Coreen?” tanong ng isa kong kaklase sa katabi n'ya.

“Okay na raw siya, nagpapagaling na,” sagot naman ng katabi n'ya.“Buti na lang na-save siya nila Ansley, Ben, at 'yang misteryosa nating classmate.”

I rolled my eyes listening to them. Misteryosa pala ang description nila sa'kin. So what?Hindi nila alam ang pinagdadaanan ko. Kung gaano kahirap ang struggles ko everyday, na may makakasalamuha akong tao, na malapit ng mamatay.