CHAPTER 1 (4th part)

He heard frantic voices.


Somebody suggested to splash him with cold water.


A girl even dared of suggesting of giving him a CPR. Just to be safe, he forced his both eyes open only to face the fluorescent lamps on the ceiling. His focus was not yet that good and wherever he looked at was blurred.


He saw the mob surrounding him with childlike wonder. As his eyes roamed the place, his disoriented focus was coming back to normal and he realized that some of these people (he knew that some were just there for gossips) brought him to the infirmary.


Nurse Jane came and immediately asked the students to disperse so that oxygen could reach his nose. He had always been close to Nurse Jane, the 30-year old school nurse who was ever so gentle and treated him like her own son. She leaned over him and touched his forehead lightly.


''How are you feeling, honey? And what happened to you?'' Nurse Jane asked in a tone that you could say belonged to a mother who was singing a lullaby so that her baby could have sweet dreams. Daniel could trace a hint of the combined forces of loneliness and stress and worry in her face. Well, maybe this is just normal. She is having some problems with her teenage sons. Her questions brought back the memories of some minutes or hours ago that were temporarily hidden at the back of his mind.


Daniel thought for a moment before answering. ''I am okay. I just skipped lunch. Not a big deal.'' He decided not to trouble her more by giving few clues of insanity.


''I'll go get food for you whether you like it or not.''


He did not argue anymore. He had no energy left to do so. When Nurse Jane left the room, he regretted that he did not stop her from leaving. Because the instant that the infirmary's door was shut closed, he couldn't stop the memories from invading his brain cells. It was kind of automatic since he tried his best not to and just stared at the ceiling reciting the alphabet from A-Z and from Z-A so that he could escape from those invaders... but still, with no fruit.


I was walking. Then I saw this weird-looking girl being bullied. I decided not to mind them and just continued walking. Then... then... there was lightning. No. That couldn't possibly be right. It was so hot outside and still hot until now. The sun was still up so a lightning wasn't possible. Am I just editing my memories? Wait. Were those memories? Or hallucinations? I'll settle with the hallucination assumption. Then... umm... there were videos... of my past. And two people. Were they people? Yes. Possible. What else could they possibly be? Anyway... umm. yes. Another thing, the bullies and the girl were frozen. God! Daniel. What's gotten into you? You have great imagination.


One thing I am sure of, I wasn't hungry and my physical and mental state before those things happened were normal. So why did I pass out? What really happened... to me?


Someone knocked on the door twice interrupting his mind racking and nerve breaking memory visits. His emotions got mixed up and were changing too much in a flash. Happy that somebody was there to interrupt his brain. Confused because it was after school hours and not many people were still on school to knock casually at his door. And then fear and shock overcame the first two emotions. What if those two people were the ones knocking? He stopped himself from thinking that way. Don't be silly, Daniel. You were just hallucinating.


He said nothing and held his breath. He felt as though he was already deprived of oxygen after stopping himself from breathing many times today. First, before he passed out... whatever happened to him before that, he was sure that it was really something to be afraid of, whether it was just hallucination or concrete reality. Second, when he was racking his brain... nope, that wasn't right. When his brain was racking itself and thinking about what happened to him, he forgot how to inhale and exhale. Then now. It was just like in the movies when the criminal was crossing the few inch distance between the two of you brandishing his knife. His lips sealed themselves and became impenetrable. Cannot be opened. Closed. Glued together. Or he just didn't want to open them in fear of screaming. He chose to do nothing. He decided to just wait for the door to be opened by whoever was on the other side or for that somebody outside to ask him if it was okay to enter... only then will he be able to move.