Did you ever feel every concept you'd ever had about life was all bogus hearsay?

All my life, I had been reminded over and again that we were alive on a definite set of borrowed time. That when you die, you will meet a robed skeleton holding a scythe who shall lead you to Heaven or to Hell. With the deaths around me, I had become so used to the notion, I thought there could never be any vicissitudes. Never when it came to death. Death wasn't kind, it snatched where it could. It didn't pretend to care; it didn't pretend to distinguish. The hooded veil of death had hung over the world for a long time, always threatening. But, it was never uncertain. It never delayed, nor came sooner. It was definite as the cycle of life.

And now, when I saw the uncertainty, the vagueness of everything I held a factual truth to, I was scared. And confused. And was feeling every baffling feeling you can sum up in your dictionary. My mind was cold and empty, my face sunken and haunted. I couldn't make head from tail.

Miss Helen. Dilylah. Rudy. How? Why?

I hovered around the Verona hallways, aimless like an adrift ghost. Heck! I was even looking the part. If people didn't know better, they would think I really was a spirit wandering for God knows how long. Well, in my defence, I couldn't help myself; all the jumbled-up thoughts in my head plus two nights of all-nighters can do this to people. I was dog-tired and my legs ...no, scratch that; My entire body hurt like hell.

I drifted off to morning class in a sluggish pace, feeling like all the energy that my body produced was being sucked up by my overloaded brain. I could hear the bustle in the classroom, and I felt an impending headache as I neared my said destination.

Our usually dreary classroom was lively with noises today and when I finally reached the class, I got to know the root of this pandemonium.

Eric Warnard sat at my seat; his booted crossed feet rested on top of my desk as he was propped leisurely on my chair. And he, the greatest antisocial being I had ever seen, was chatting around merrily like the host of a party. That was not even the worst of it. Eric, who made disgusted faces at every breathing being he ever came across was happily gossiping, mind you! Gossiping, with the worst of those breathing beings alive. Donna Perkins and her cronies.

On the other hand, Donna looked like she was on the ninth cloud. Making pouty faces and fluttering her fake lashes at Eric all the while wearing heart emoticons in her eyes. Actually, all the people around him were wearing hearts in their eyes. But that's beside the point. The concept of Eric interacting with living beings was something so bizarre to me that for a minute, the shock rooted me to the ground, and I gawked, petrified, at the scene my eyes relayed to me.

After that minute of stunned silence, I sighed to myself and slowly made my way to my seat. I had no idea what Eric was planning this time, but I was in no condition to decipher the motive behind his abrupt weird behaviors. I just wanted to give my aching legs some rest.

"Mind if I have my seat back?"

"Wow! Phina, what happened to you? It almost looks like there's an 'Out-of-Order' sticker stuck to your face." Eric had the audacity to snicker to my face, not to mention all the people surrounding him. They were acting like they were his minions now. If I wasn't so dead-beat tired, I would have scratched his face off.

"Would you, please do me this tiny favor of getting off my seat?" I grumbled like a goaded bear on hibernation.

"My, Phina! Did my ears hear you correctly? Are you, Seraphina Valdez, begging me for something?" He smirked like he had won the world. God, what sin had I committed in my previous life to have the ill-fated encounter with Eric Warnard.

My face turned an enflamed shade of red, furious red. I would've hauled Eric off my seat and threw him off the window if he didn't get off on his own the very next second. Fortunately, he did. Most probably because he sensed my murderer spree and got scared.

I grumpily took my seat and fell over my desk, minutes later drifting off to a restless sleep.

And when I finally woke up, it wasn't the teacher that barked me awake, nor was it the girl behind who poked me awake. But the nightmares that often haunted my nights these days. Fortunately, I didn't jump off my seat screaming for the hills. I don't know how I would've handled such a scenario. God, the frights.

I sighed to myself as I yawned in fatigue. And my attention was, once more dragged off to the monotonous scene the view outside the class window provided. I stared into space as I thought of everything that was happening around me. Everything was so messed up, like a jigsaw puzzle that had pieces which didn't fit anywhere. It was like this with me these days, I would go and revisit the scenes of substance while staring blank in the air. Trying to find a meaning, trying to find a clue to solve all the weirdness going around.

"Miss Valdez, would you please read out the next para for the class?" Mrs. Hudson, our English teacher pointed me out. More like startled the daylights out of me.

"...Huh!" I stood up, flustered.

"Would you please read out the next paragraph of our chapter for us, Miss Valdez?" Mrs. Hudson repeated, quite vexed.

Damn it! Every bad thing that happened today was a direct result of choosing to get out of bed.

I stood there, looking disconcerted, embarrassed and without a clue to which next para I was apparently supposed to read. And just when I was about to give up hope and surrender my white flag, I heard someone whisper the page and paragraph number from the back. God bless this kind soul.

After class. I turned around to find a very lanky freckle-faced girl staring right at me. Brian Holdert, a simple yet a straight A student of our class. She wasn't much talkative, had a quite nice temperament and was rather known to me for her faded T-shirts that were always two sizes too big for her. Even though I never really talked to her, she seemed like a friendly person. Even though her gaze got me a little ill at ease, nevertheless I knew my etiquettes. I put on my best smile and said, "Thank you very much for your help today."

Consequently, she blushed a deep shade of crimson and replied in a scatty and hesitant tone, "Oh, don't mention it. But I...I hope you will tell Eric that I did what he asked for."

"What?" I puckered your brows in alarm. "What do you mean?"

Brian's blush seared through her cheeks and for a second I thought her face was on fire. She looked more nervous and flustered as each second passed by; like a fish out of water, "Eh...Eric told me to help you out if ever you find yourself in a bind." She mumbled, while looking edgy but a bit excited at the same time.

"Eric? Eric Warnard?" I squinted my eyes together in skepticism.

"Yeah, him. He told me to help you out." She let out an awkward smile, "...so, will you let him know that I did help you out?" She, now looked all starry-eyed and her head-in-the-clouds. Her demeanour made a 180-degree flip and converted to something of a deranged fan of Eric Warnard soaking with a passion hotter than a thousand suns. Suddenly, I feared if Eric was here, she would jump him in a heartbeat and cover him with her smouldering hot sunny kisses.

That thought, unintentionally brought a silent snigger to me and I couldn't keep my smile off my lips. "Yes, of course. I will definitely let him know. Anyways, thanks for your help Brian. I really appreciate it." Wait, I never knew Eric had his minions loose on me! ..I mean spying on me. After the little encounter with Eric's crazy fan and with the knowledge that the entire class could be accomplices of Eric Warnard, I made my way to the school library stuck with a forlorn frown on my face.

•••••••...

"So, are you jumping from one obsession to the other to run away from boredom now?"

"What!" I couldn't help narrowing my eyes at Eric Warnard.

"I mean you are obsessing over the classroom window these days, right?" I narrowed my eyes some more over the guy's choice of logic. "What, you weren't obsessing over the classroom window earlier when you were drilling holes into it with your eyes?" He asked in an innocent enough way and I had half the mind to chuck the book in my hand at his face. Oh! The stupidity.

I was happily doing my homework in the library without a care of the world when suddenly, luck decided to bail out on me, again. I mean Eric Warnard showed up to suck the happiness out of my soul.

"How about you do some self-studying as you chose to stick with me in the library, instead of making it easier for the whole world to figure out that you're a stupid ass." I smiled dazzlingly at him.

"Oh darling, sarcasm falls out of my mouth like stupidity falls out of yours," the prick had the gall to wink at me.

"Oh! So if I typed 'sarcastic ass' into GOOGLE, would your picture come up?"

"My, learned to bite now, did you tiger?" The left side of his faint sleek lips tugged upwards creating an impish smirk on his god like face; casting a spell of lust to eyes that dare look his way. God, why did I even try? I just made myself feel more stupid then Eric Warnard ever made me feel.

"Yeah? You tell me, what are you plotting?" I retorted in turn.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you who thinks all the populace apart from who you deem useful is no less than ants under your feet, was mingling with these ants today like they were your long-lost kin. Don't you think some people with brains, for example me, would find it hard to digest the fact that Mr. Antisocial was throwing himself into the crowd today and was actually sprouting out sentences, mind you! Sentences, not incoherent words but sentences in front of these people."

He seemed a bit ticked off with my choice of words, "Okay for one; I am not antisocial. They just sprout stupidity out of their system. So, I prefer to stay away, who knows when I might get affected. And two; yes, I was talking to them, but not to be bunk buddies with them or something. I needed some information only they could provide. So..." He shrugged, "You know, I descended off to their level of intellect and tried playing chums." Right.

"What information?" I knitted your brows.

"Well, you see; I feel as if there's someone lurking around in the west wing these past couple of days. I'm still not certain, so I was subtly enquiring around." That was so not subtle. But I was not about to reveal that to him.

While with this new piece of information I was really getting into my thinking zone, trying to piece out all the happenings into a big blending picture. Thus, without further notice I drifted off into a discerning silence which was much to my liking.

But no matter what, things were refusing to make sense. My mind wafted back to all the bizarre events that's been happening around me recently. The sudden changing of death dates and the incoherent whispers. Everything unsettled me in a bad way. And that voice from that day...as much as I might try, I could never forget its chilly whisper in my ears.

Eric, on the other hand was being noisy; trying to re-attain my attention with his mindless babble, "Earth to Phina, yoo-hoo! If overthinking situations burned calories, you'd be dead by now Phina. Phina? Hey..."

"...Eeny meeny miney moe...caught a lassie by the jaw, if she hollers, slit her throat." I mumbled quietly to myself as I mulled over the matter.

"...What! WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Eric, all of a sudden grabbed me by the shoulders and growled in a brassy dangerous voice.

I was startled beyond belief and looked at him like he had a red clown nose stuck to his face. Yeah well, I stared at him funny. But can you blame me? He was acting berserk as well.

"...What! What, I didn't say anything." I shook my head vehemently.

" No you sang that rhyme just now." He squeezed my shoulders harder, "That Eeny meeny miney moe rhyme..."

"Ah that!"

"Yeah that, where did you learn it from?"

"Well that, didn't I tell you I heard someone whisper some nursery song in my ears that day? This was it. But you refused to believe me and made fun of me remember?" I pouted as I spoke in some discomfort.

He didn't speak for a long while. Rather, he seemed deep in thought, and very very agitated. He was almost blue in the face. Like someone told him his room of songs was set on fire. Yeah, that anxious. Which unsettled me as well. I have never seen Eric Warnard that agitated, maybe a bit worried but never agitated. He was like the king of this academy. Nothing could ever faze him, and he was hardly ever bothered by anything. So, looking at him like this was my first.

Everyone in the library was staring at us by now and we became the center of attraction all over again. Oh, and they along with me were waiting for His Highness Warnard's verdict impatiently.

After what seemed like a millennium he finally spoke, "You are forbidden from going into my room anymore."

Say what!

TO BE CONTINUED...