Chapter 4

 

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I entered the classroom, the room was full of groaning boys. They have their heads on their table, some may still be absenting today. They might not be feeling good like me, my head is still aching and throbbing.

 

I looked at the attendance sheet on the teacher's table. Let's see who was absent yesterday, I hope I am not the only one. I went behind the teacher's table. Let's see, I flipped the paper above, going back to the attendance sheet yesterday.

 

!?

 

What the!?

 

Janly Alas: Not Present

 

Louie Buygagam: Not Present

 

Elyzer Denious: Not Present

 

Clyde Joe: Not Present

 

Clint Tino: Not Present

 

Roger Fin: Not Present

 

Bawayan Pogi: Not Present

 

Benjo Kid-en: Not Present

 

Mateo Valentino: Not Present

 

Most of the boys… are not present. Only two are, Raymark and Marc. All of the girls are present. I went out of the classroom and rushed to the other section grade.

 

“Yow Mateo” my friend from the other section, James greeted me on the hallway

 

“Yow” I greeted back

 

I went inside their classroom and went straight to their attendance sheet on the teacher's table. It's the same, most of the boys were not present.

 

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*RIIIIIIIINGGG*

 

Recess time

 

“Can I have two baluts?” I said the vendor

 

A big hand emerged from my side and added money to my hand. It was Marc.

 

“Make it 4” he said to the vendor

 

The vendor took the money and gave us the baluts with a cellophaned salt and vinegar. We headed back to our group of friends just at the other side of the vendors place eating lumpias, baluts, kutsinta, cheese sticks, botchi and drinking palamig. We sat on the cement floor because all of the metal chairs are now occupied by them.

 

“Fuuuuck, that night and yesterday was painful” Benjo groaned

 

I cracked the upper shell of the baluts by bashing it on my head.

 

“Same bro, headache, stomachache, it felt hot like what the fuck!” Elyzer added

 

I opened the shell on the top. I could see the small underdeveloped duck inside above the yellow yolk, its texture grayish, its gray white eyes very eerie as it looked up at me.

 

I added salt and vinegar to it. I put the open crack on my mouth then raised my head above. I sipped it, the duck went inside my mouth. I threw the shell behind me.

 

I started eating the baby chick and the yolk, it was soft and squishy. It was tasty mostly with the salt and vinegar.

 

“It's all of us were affected, then it gotta do something with the food we ate” Louie said while looking at the vendors on the opposite side

 

“Not gonna argue but damn, that's a lot of bacteria coming from a food. But all of the girls weren't affected, they also even buy the same snack we ate. But still, most of us boys in the whole school were affected” Sky replied

 

I ate my second balut, it tasted more delicious and better than the first one.

 

“Wait a minute, what the hell happened the day before yesterday. Like what did you do there? Nearly forgot about that” Louie asked Benjo

 

We stopped what were doing and we all looked at him to hear the answer.

 

“I-I also don't know, it just happened all of the sudden. It just did on its own, it just appeared unknowingly” Benjo replied

 

“The thing that it looked like a superpower” Bawayan said

 

“I agree, the way you punched Clyde with the thing you did made a strong shockwave that it made our own hair and clothes sway backwards even were far away from both of you”

 

I spat behind me.

 

“You want some?” A voice

 

I looked to my left, it was Janly sitting beside me handing me out his plasticked kikiam.

 

“Thank you” I said and took a piece with my bare hand and ate it

 

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♪Iniwan mo ako, binitaw mo pa ako!♪

 

♪Basag ang aking puso, umiyak para Sayo!♪

 

♪Akoy nag iisa dinudukha humihila para makuha uli ang puso mo!♪

 

We are at the dap-ay behind the school, cooking the pinkpikan Benjo bought for us to eat for lunch. Surprisingly, the teacher's let us borrow the kitchen’s big cooking pot. Benjo and the others are singing.

 

Elyzer took the cloth and opened the hot lid of the pot. Hot smoke came out, we could hear the boiling from the inside. It smelled tasty and made my mouth drool. Elyzer used a big spoon to get soup from the pot and tasted it.

 

“Krrr krrrrr! Time to eat boys” he said to us

 

We took our lunch boxes by our side and lined up to get food. We started eating. It tasted good, the seasonings were fine, the salt was also fine.

 

One of the teachers noticed, he ran up to us with a plate.

 

“Let's taste the food you cooked boys”

 

He tasted the soup.

 

“Oooooh, you boys are good cooks. You're future wives are going to be happy with you all”

 

Other teachers also came, taking a plate and a plastic container to take home. We finished feasting and took a rest, the other continued to play guitar and sing. I took a cup and poured myself a soft drink.

 

“Hey, Mateo, I have a question for you” Elyzer beside me said

 

I looked at him, he is smirking

 

“What is it?” I asked and took a drink

 

“You love Luna right?”

 

I spat out my drink beside me.

 

“What!? Where did that come from!?”

 

“We all know Luna has had a crush on you since 2nd grade. You were friends with her until whatever happened in 7th grade”

 

“I do not want to talk about it”

 

“What happened between the two of you? I want to hear it” Elyzer I insisted

 

“It's nothing that important”

 

“C'mon, c'mon! Tell me!”

 

“It's, it's just nothing”

 

“What do you mean nothing? Both of you were close friends”

 

“Just drop it off. It is hurting my feeling bro, you don't want to hurt a bro”

 

Benjo stopped strumming the guitars. He stood and headed to the bathroom east of where we are. They continued strumming the instrument. They sang and sang and sang. Lots of minutes passed by, Benjo never came back.

 

I suddenly felt a pain inside me, very painful. Shit, this again. What the hell really happened to me. What did I eat, or whatever happened to me to give me this pain. I held it in, suddenly, it was gone.

 

“Hey, Mateo, wanna go and take a piss?” Marc who was standing in front of me requested

 

“Sure”

 

I stood up, we both headed to the bathroom.

 

“Are you going to join the boy scouts?” Marc asked

 

“Nah, even if it was a very very good experience when we were grade 6, it might be boring today” I replied

 

By the time we arrived, we heard faint sounds. It was heavy breathing, Marc and I were startled. We continued walking, getting closer.

 

A sweat bud rolled from my head. We went closer, the sounds got nearer. We are about to take a turn. We suddenly saw someone, a guy, crouched down on the ground. Something’s off here.

 

His arms have… Furs on it, yellow furs. We walked closer, we can see his face. His neck and face… was also covered with dots of yellow furs on it. What the hell!?

 

It was… Benjo on the ground, breathing heavily. We saw puke on the ground. He had his mouth opened, on the right of his teeth part, he has a big long sharp fang. Yellow furs around his eye, around his face, around his arms like dots.

 

He looked like a mutated human mixed with an animal. I took out my phone to take a video. My hand was shaking. I pointed my camera at him and started recording.

 

“Am I… am I going to be okay?” Benjo asked, his voice full of worry

 

Not only that, there's a growling sound mixed with his voice.

 

“I-I don't know man, how did this happen to you?” Marc stuttered

 

“I am not going to die right?” he asked while looking at his arm

 

“I really don't know man, how did this happened to you”

 

“I was just pissing and… My body started aching, these furs started to come out of my skin”

 

We hear a chirp of a bird. Benjo looked behind him, we also looked. It was a small brown pygmy, hopping and pecking the ground.

 

Benjo growled, he suddenly leaped at the bird. We were shocked, I kept my camera at him. We heard the wailing sounds of the bird, then nothing.

 

He has his back on us, he looks like he is… Eating the bird. We just watched in horror. We are speechless, we can only hear slurping sounds. Then suddenly, Benjo puked again, the furs on his body were suddenly gone, going inside him.

 

“Bleeeeegh! Disgusting!”

 

I stopped recording, Marc and I went to help him stand up. He looked weak.

 

“C'mon, let's go back to classroom and have a rest” I said to him

 

We started walking him to the classroom. I took one last look behind me. The bird was shredded to pieces, shit, did he actually try to eat it?

 

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A few days went by, it was silent. No fights occured at school, and no more strange phenomenon. But images flash on my mind, Benjo with furs around him, eating a bird raw and alive, and that green aura and particles during his fight with Clyde.

 

Benjo got popular for what just happened, some even move to the Shadow Strike Squad thinking they have a fighter with powers in their squad. But the thing that happened was never revealed again.

 

I noticed a poster on a wooden post on the side of the road. I stopped to read, it was a missing poster of a dog. A medium sized dog, an aspin breed. Not only one dog, but there are two other missing aspin breed. The first one was missing five days ago and the other two dog was missing two days ago.

 

This doesn't happen that much in the province. That's odd.

 

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I took my seat with the group, Benjo and the others are gambling at the back of the classroom playing lucky 9. I only watched, they only bid 5 pesos.

 

“Down”

 

They revealed their cards. Benjo got 3 and 4, Perry the banker got 10 and 5, Melvin got 2, 6 and 5, and Lian got 7, 7 and 4. I continued watching them. Watching to pass the time and just celebrate with whoever won.

 

“Hey Mateo, you finished the homework?” Perry asked

 

“What homewor-”

 

I suddenly shut my mouth after letting out a growling voice of an animal.

 

“What was that?” Benjo asked

 

“Nothing, nothing, yes, I did it” I continued

 

What the hell was that?

 

“Well, let me copy it later, forgot to do it at home”

 

“Kay”

 

“Wanna join Mateo?” Lian said while shuffling the pile of cards

 

“Well, okay. If I lose one time and I am quitting”

 

I took out a 10 pesos coin out of my pocket and placed it on the table. They saw my bet, they exchanged their bet to 10 pesos. Lian started shuffling the card to us. 3, that's a bad start. I waited for the second card. C'mon, c'mon, give me a better number.

 

Lian gave me the second card, we took our cards. I flipped the side of the card, give me 5, or 4, pleeeeasee. I looked, 6. I took the card, I raised both of the cards high up in the air and slammed it on the table.

 

They looked at my card, a 9.

 

“Can you at least wait or karma gets you” Benjo complained while calculating his cards

 

“Sorry, but I don't believe karma”

 

“Whatever you say”

 

I waited for them, they dropped their cards. Melvin got 5, 6 and 4, Perry got 6 and 2, Benjo got 7 and 8, and Lian got 3, 3 and 2.

 

“Give me them money!” I shouted

 

We got our rewards.

 

“We will get you in the next round Mateo”

 

Lian shuffled the cards to us. I looked at my first card, 2. What the! Nonononono. Lian gave me the second card. I peeked, 7. What? No fucking way! I waited for them.

 

“Down”

 

We revealed our card, I still got 9.

 

“Lian, are you shuffling the cards properly!” Melvin complained

 

“Of course I am, I am the greatest shuffler in this room. Why would I let him win if this is placing bets”

 

I got my money again. We placed bets, before I could place my bet on the table we suddenly heard shouts outside.

 

“What's that?” Perry questioned himself

 

Benjo stood up from his chair, making a loud skidding sound, he ran towards the door. We followed behind, we looked outside, there were two 8th graders fighting in the middle of the gym.

 

They are grabbing each other, punching each other. Nearby people tried to stop them, but some were enjoying it.

 

“There, there! Punch him more!” Perry cheered while watching them, punching the air

 

The teacher's came and stopped them, they made them stand up while pinching their ears and pulled them towards the principal room.

 

“Looks like we are going to have contestants for the afternoon” Benjo said as he go back to the table to continue the gambling

 

“The Elites versus The Denials eh?”

 

The three followed Benjo behind. When will this chaos ever end? Suddenly, James came into view in front of me.

 

“Oh shit, hey there, doing good?” He greeted me

 

“Doing fine, I guess” I replied

 

He looked around

 

“We still have a lot of time, wanna go for a quick-”

 

He motioned a smoking gesture with his fingers. I sighed, well, I have been really stressed lately and a lot is going on my mind right now. Might be a good time for it.

 

“Alright” I replied

 

“Also call Elyzer cause I accidentally bought 3”

 

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The cold wind brushed over our skin. I shivered. We took off our upper clothes to avoid getting the smell of the smoke stuck in our clothes.

 

“So, how's your sister?” James teased after lighting up his cigarette

 

He handed me the lighter.

 

“Shut up, I don't have any siblings” I replied while lighting up my cigarette and gave the lighter to Elyzer

 

I inhaled, then exhaled the smoke out of my nose.

 

“You've been craving a sibling didn't you?”

 

“What? Where did you get that?”

 

“Don't lie, didn't you say it during our truth or dare in 5th grade”

 

James looked at Elyzer who was lighting up his cigarette.

 

“Right Elyzer”

 

“Hmm? I don't know” Elyzer replied

 

“Bah, no way you don't remember. It is still fresh in my mind”

 

“Just drop it off man, you ain't getting shit”

 

That memory flashes in my mind. It was real, but I ain't going to brought that embarrassing memory. James smoked.

 

“The thing that, you are the only person I know who is an only child” he said to me

 

“In 1 out of 10, how much do you love Luna?” James added

 

These motheefuckers!!!

 

“Hmmm, I am going to say… Maybe!”

 

“HUUUH!!!??? What do you mean maybe!? I am going to burn your neck with my cigarette to make people think it's a hickey!” James blurted out

 

I remained quiet, Jamess calmed down.

 

We smoked in peace.

 

“Sigh, remember that time Sir Alen nearly caught us skipping school to watch the fight when we were in 7th grade?” Elyzer chuckled

 

Same nostalgic memory flooded in my mind. I missed those days.

 

“Yep, I thought I was going to get expelled there” I replied

 

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*RIIIIIINNNGGG*

 

Ahhhhh, dismissal time, again. And what special today is that tomorrow is Saturday, the best day. People filled the outside of the grade 8 room, waiting for their next fighter. I took out my headphones and was about to put one on my ear.

 

“Hey, Mateo” someone called out for me

 

I looked behind, it was Elyzer with Marc and James beside him.

 

“What?”

 

“Wanna go and watch the fight?” Elyzer requested

 

I looked at my phone, then back to them. Game or watch?

 

“Nah, I'll skip” I replied and continued walking

 

“Oh no, maybe what happened to Benjo last two weeks ago might happen today again” Elyzer said out loud

 

I stopped, I looked at Elyzer. Elyzer is giving me an evil smile.