Chapter 3

Phil screamed at the top of his lungs and stood up from where he was seated. He heaved violently like a drowning man finally able to gasp for air; cold sweat drenched his back as he tried to calm himself down. After he finally calmed down he noticed numerous pairs of eyes were staring at him.

                Mrs. Vilbar was staring daggers at him as she squinted her eyes.

                                "Mr. Craft, I hope you have a valid reason for interrupting my class."

                She stated with clear annoyance in her voice.

                                "I... I... I'm sorry Mrs. Vilbar."

                Phil stuttered as he had no convincing excuses to give his teacher.

                                "Mam maybe Phil is terrified of the math formulas you wrote on the board."

                Mark announced with a clear grin on his face, the class was filled with muted giggles while some could not help but laugh.

                                "Class quiet!"

                Mrs. Vilbar chided

                                "Mr. Dredger I suggest you stop with your jokes and focus on your studies, and you Mr. Craft I will be seeing you after class."

                Phil nodded and sat down on his seat, clear embarrassment can be seen on his face as he glanced towards Jess who was giggling at him. He planted his head on his desk as the temperature of his face slowly cooled down.

               The class then resumed its lesson until the bell rang for the lunch break. Students rushed out of the room after Mrs. Vilbar dismissed them.

                                "Mr. Craft do not forget our appointment."

                Reminded Mrs. Vilbar.

               

                Phil glumly walked towards the cafeteria and saw Eric sitting in an empty seat.

                                "Phil, over here!"

                Eric called. Phil sighed and walked to where Eric was seated; he sat opposite Eric and covered his face with both of his hands. Concerned about Phil's circumstance Eric asked.

                                "What's wrong?"

                                "I slept in class and had a nightmare. I made an embarrassment of myself when I interrupted Vilbar's class."

                Eric was speechless at what happened.

                                "What happen?."

                A girl carrying a tray filled with food sat beside Phil as she saw him depressed.

                                "He disrupted Vilbar's class"

                Eric stated.

                                "That terror teacher. I heard she sent someone to detention and made him write an apology letter and have it copied 50 times by hand, some say he could not hold a pen for 3 days after that punishment. Phil what happened?"

                                "I had a nightmare... It was horrifying, the smell of death and rot was nauseating, black hairy caterpillars crawling on your body sends shivers down your spine while a monster with the face of your mother slowly drowns you out with its flesh as it squeezes you to death."

                Eric gulped while Sonjya pushed the tray filled with food away from her, clear disgust showed her face. Phil noticed the faces of his friends.

                                "Well, the worst thing is that Mark made fun of me and Jess even laughed at my misery."

                Phil added to somewhat lighten up the heavy mood.

                Eric sneered and Sonjya annoyed punched Phil on the shoulder.

                                "Hey, careful you’re gonna dislocate my shoulder."         Phil winced in pain as he pitifully rubbed his shoulder.

                In an old school building far away from the cafeteria, an old man was staring at Phil through the school cafeterias window; he stood there looking at Phil dearly his eyes filled melancholy as he recalled some of his memories. Oddly he was dressed in a trench coat with clear marks of wear and tear neatly polished black shoes, and a bowler hat while holding a package and a cane adorned with a raven skull on his hands. His eyes were visible while shadows were covering the rest of his face, he glanced at the package covered with brown paper that was held with red twine, and a clear look of sadness can be seen in his weary eyes as he sighed. Looking at the dark empty hallway to his right he muttered as if talking to someone.

                                "Soon."

                The old man turned around and walked away, the audible clops of his black shoes and the sound of his cane hitting the ground echoed on the halls of the old building as his figure slowly vanished in the unlit hallways. After the old man faded away, a figure of a man came out of the shadows where the old man was looking, the man just stood there lost in his thoughts after the man felt that the old man has left, he shook his head and walked away as well.

                Afternoon classes were boring the sultry heat made many students sleepy. Phil was listening to Seth discussing the history of the Philippines and about the relevance of events and their impact on the present. Many students were sleeping on the dull subject; even Mark was drooling and snoring quietly. Even though most students find Seth's subject boring all students agree he was a cool teacher, he never gave long assignments or berated those students who sleep during his class he sometimes even speak about strange philosophy that every student listen eagerly.

                                                'I have given you the knowledge and it is up to you if you want to learn it.' was what he told us at the beginning of the term.

                The school bell rang signaling the end of the afternoon classes. Phil packed his bags and walked towards the door.

                                "Mr. Craft I believe you had an appointment with Mrs. Vilbar."

                Seth stopped Phil as he passed by him. Phil nodded his head as he remembered that he needs to go to Mrs. Vilbar's office.

                                "I talked to Mrs. Vilbar, Mr. Craft. You do not need to go to her office after this, but I want you to go to my office instead."

                Phil sighed in relief since he dodged a terrifying punishment. He nodded in confirmation excused himself and hurried to meet his friends.

                Phil saw Sonjya and Eric standing at the end of the hallway waiting for his arrival. Phil with a wide smile ran towards them but unluckily he bumped into Mark.

                                "Watch it freak!"

                Mark pushed Phil down on the ground. Students from different classes watched the situation with curiosity.

                Phil with anger in his eyes stared at Mark wanting to punch him.

                                "What you want to fight? or are you gonna scream like a banshee?"

                Mark teased while the other kids that were watching laughed at Phil's misery.

                Sonjya and Eric approached the commotion and were about to help Phil but Mark's gang stopped their advance.

                Phil was contemplating on whether he should fight Mark when suddenly.

                                "What is this commotion all about?"

                A voice of an elderly lady was heard and all students immediately shut their mouths up. Mark hurriedly pulled Phil up from the ground and put his arm on Phil's shoulder.

                                "Headmistress"

                The students respectfully called the elder lady and bowed their heads.

                                "We were just playing headmistress Mam, right Phil."

                Mark nervously smiled as he squeezed Phil's shoulder.

                                "We were just playing Mam."

                Phil answered hiding his pain.

                                "Is that so?" The old lady squinted his eyes, making Mark and other students nervous. "Move along now and go directly home."

                Mark and the other students hurried off and walked away from the scene.

                                "Nana!"

                When all the students left, Sonjya cried out as she hugged and clung to the old lady.

                                "Sonjya dear, aren't you old enough for this kind of behavior"

                The old lady smiled and pated Sonjya's head dearly. She then looked at Phil concerned about his well-being.

                                "Are you all right boy? You don't look so good, are you sleeping late again?"

                The old lady nagged. But Phil felt happy.

                                "I'm alright nana, just had a bad dream that's all."

                                "You better take care of your health boy or else nana will take care of you using old medical means."

                Phil flinched as he had experienced the old lady's "care" when he was a young boy. Sonjya giggled at Phil's reaction as the old lady glared at her.

                The old lady then glanced at Eric and nodded her head; Eric smiled and nodded his head as well.

                                "Well, dearie nana still has a lot of work to do. Go home after your club activity okay."

                Sonjya reluctantly released the old lady from her hug and nodded. The old lady kissed Sonjya on her forehead and walked away.

                After the old lady left, Phil smiled and bragged about how he had evaded Mrs. Vilbar's punishment. The three of them laughed and talked about how lucky Phil was, Phil invited them to his birthday which is 2 days from now, both of them agreed and told Phil that they will prepare some gifts for him. After some time Eric's escort arrived and drove him home, while Sonjya had some club activities to attend to.

                Phil made his way towards Seth's office and walked slowly thinking about what he would get on his upcoming birthday.

                Unbeknownst to Phil, a creature hidden in the shadow was looking at him staring at him intently with strangely human eyes, numerous mouths on its gaseous body. It opened its mouth filled with teeth sharp like daggers. Like a hungry predator, drool dripped from its many mouths, clenching its fist holding back, it retreated into the shadows as the creature knows the time was not right.