CHAPTER 14: THE DREAM

“Angel, wake up” I heard a familiar voice waking me up. I feel the coldness of his hand when he touches my face. I slowly opened my eyes to see who it was. At first, my eyesight was blurry but when it got clear. I saw Jayvee sitting in front of me with a smile. Waiting for me to wake up. My eyes grew wide when I saw him. In an instant, I stood up and hugged him because I miss him so much.

“I miss you,” I said and I cried a tear of joy that Jayvee is back. He is here now in front of me and I can hug him.

“I didn’t go anywhere,” He said with a smile. His smile, his haircut, his looks didn’t change. He is the Jayvee that I’ve known. He is my heaven; the man that I love and will marry someday and he is back and I can’t describe the happiness that I can feel right now.

“I am just there right in your heart” He added while smiling at me. I miss his smile too and it is sweeter than before.

“Always,” I said and hugged him again and kissed him because I really miss him so much.

“Why you never come back for me?” I asked him

“But I am here now for you” He answered

“What took you so long to come back for me?”

“I have a lot of things to do”

I looked at him and I realized that I should stop asking even if I want to ask him a lot of questions because I don’t want to question his return. What matters now is he is back and we will be together again. 

“You know what happened the day before the bus fell off the cliff? He asked while looking at me. I didn’t answer because I didn’t know.

“Did you remember anything?” He asked again while still looking at me but I didn’t answer. I just took a deep breath and looked at him.

“Jayvee!” The man called from afar. He looked back and I looked at the man who was calling him. It was the driver and I saw Camille, Josh, Aimee, Nestle, and the others sitting inside the bus waiting for Jayvee and they were all wearing white same as Jayvee.

“It is time for us to go!” He said while waving. I saw the bus and it was good as new. No broken glass, no broken windows, or even dirt. It is not a wreck from the last time I saw it in the picture inside the bulletin board of our school. It is shining, especially the sunlight shining through it. 

“In a minute,” He said and looked back at me.

“I have to go,” He said

“Where are you going?” I asked and I held his hand because I didn't want to let him go.

“Somewhere… where you are not allowed to go” He answered and let go of my hand and he stood up and looked back to the bus that was waiting for him.

“Bye, Angel… I hope you can take all the challenges that await you” He said in a cold voice and he hugged me which made my tears fall. He looked me in the eye and he said “I already forgive you” And turned his back on me and walked away. He went to the bus that was waiting for him. I know he belongs there and he can't take me with him.

“Heaven” I whispered and I broke down on the floor because of the pain. My tears rolled down my cheek as I watched him leave. He left me for the second time and the pain is still the same. Painful like before because I thought he was back for real but I was wrong and it’s hurting me again.

And then I suddenly fell into a big black hole. I remember how I felt when the girl pushed me, to save me from hell. I keep on falling and falling and falling because there is nothing that I can hold to. The pressure of the air went inside my nose and my mouth and I can’t hardly breathe. I closed my eyes because my hair is getting inside my eyes and it hurt. After a few minutes of falling. I woke up when I was on the ground in front of someone’s house. I saw a yellow light inside and there’s a woman walking barefoot. Walking slowly with something in her hand that she suddenly hides behind her. I can’t see it clearly because it is dark and the only light is the moonlight from the full moon. I stood up slowly to follow the woman whose height was the same as mine, her body build was the same as mine too, the color of the skin and even the color and the style of the hair. I saw her hand closely and she was playing with the cutter. The one that she hides behind her and she keeps on looking around while walking inside the house. There’s a dog but the dog didn’t notice her. That is why it didn’t bark at her. She is walking barefoot and tiptoed. Very careful that someone might hear her. She checked every room as if she was looking for something or for someone. She didn’t know that I was following her. 

While she is walking she bumped into a vase that makes it move and creates a little noise in a very silent house. The man who was wearing pajamas and a slipper went out from his room to check who it was but I and the woman that I am following hid that is why he didn’t see us. When he saw no one he went back inside his room and continued what he was doing. The woman continued walking again and suddenly looked back. I was about to hide but I was surprised when I saw me. SHE IS ME. That is why she is wearing the same clothes as me, we have the same height, body built, skin color and even the hair are exactly the same because SHE IS ME. She signaled me to be quiet and she went inside the man’s room while still holding the cutter. I couldn’t believe what I saw when he pulled the man’s head and in an instant, he cut his throat.

“No,” I said and covered my mouth because I was scared and surprised about what I saw. My other ‘ME’ killed a man, murdered someone.

I saw the man’s blood squirt from his neck and in an instant, he dropped on the floor with his laptop. I know the man is already dead but the woman, which is me, is not satisfied. She went closer to the man and checked his pulse to see if he was already dead and after checking she laughed and wiped her cutter with the man’s cloth to clean the blood, she wiped the blood on her face too and on her arm and then she licked some of the blood on her finger. I heard her humming and then laughing. Humming and then laughing. Humming and laughing repeatedly. She brings out a small black notebook and uses the man’s blood to erase something and I heard her counting.

“1,2, two more to go” She whispered and thought for a moment and closed the mini black notebook and put it inside her pocket with her cutter.

I couldn’t believe what I witnessed. The “Me” killed a man morbidly without remorse. I was surprised until now. Shocked at the same time because I can’t take it. I followed the woman and where she was going in this quiet, dark street and she was heading home. 

“No” I whispered and I hurriedly walked near her because she was not allowed to go to my home. I am scared that she might hurt mom and Nana Salve or worst kill them, like what she did to the man. 

“Stop right there,” I said and I stood right in front of her to prevent her from going home. She looked at me and the way she looked at me is exactly the same as how I look. 

“What’s your problem?” I asked the other me.

“You can’t go home,” I said to myself and I looked at myself and laughed the way I laughed. I know that she is not the real me though we look exactly the same. I know she is a demon who is copying me because I know to myself that I cannot kill someone.

“You cannot dictate on me,” She said and she tried to step forward but I blocked her way and she looked at my feet because we are the same, barefooted and she looked at me again.

“I want to go home… I am tired” She said and she stepped forward again but I blocked her.

“I said… you can’t go home,” I told her in an irate voice while still blocking her. 

“Why don't you want me to go home in my own house?”  She asked and she’s irritated too.

“You’re a demon… I don’t want you to hurt my family” I answered while still trying to stop her from getting inside because I know I am not her though she looks like me, I am not her, because I can’t kill someone. I am not a murderer.

How can I hurt my own family? My mom and Nana Salve?” She asked me back, which makes my eyes grow wider because she knows my mom and my Nana Salve. The demon knows my family.

“Stop,” I said but she pushed me away and continued to walk home. I grabbed her but she pushed me, which made me fall to the ground and continue walking. I immediately stand up because I need to stop her. I am scared that the next one that she would kill will be my mom or Nana Salve or even Wolfie. 

“You stop, you are not funny,” She said

“That is my house and I can go home anytime I want!” She madly said while looking at me eye to eye but I never lost hope to stop her. She cannot step inside the house.

“You are a murderer!” I shouted at her and she suddenly stopped and looked at me

“Me?? murderer?” She asked in an irritated voice while still looking at me and she raised her eyebrow. She suddenly laughed and,

“Not me” She said while laughing.

“But you,” She added and pointed at me.

I looked at myself and I was surprised to see the cutter in my hand, my hands are full of blood too. How did it happen? I know I am not the one who killed the man. I am not a murder. I suddenly feel scared that someone might see me holding a butterfly knife and with blood in my hands. That is why in an instant I threw the cutter away and it fell on the ground and I kicked it away from me and wiped my hand on my shirt and the blood-stained my shirt. 

“No… No… No” I whispered while still wiping my hand on my shirt. Praying that no one can see me because I am scared to be in jail because I know I am not a murderer. I am not a killer.

“Who is the murderer now?” She asked me while looking at me wiping all the blood in my hand on my shirt.

“Who is the murderer now?” She asked again, still looking at me with her raised an eyebrow.

“Who is the murderer now?”

“Who is the murderer now?”

“Who is the murderer now?”

And her voice plays repeatedly in my head that making me scared more. I stutter and get nervous while she is asking the same question all over again and I feel like; her voice is hypnotizing me. It gives me a headache like a static that I used to hear recently.

“Who is the murderer now?”

“Who is the murderer now?”

“Who is the murderer now?”

I keep on hearing her voice again and again and again, which makes me dizzy and fall to the ground. In this dark, cold, silent night and only the ray from the full moon is the only light I see. I am so dizzy and I Passed out.