What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse, Part 3
1583 Words
“Itchy. Tasty.”
We expect him to not cause a stir, so we don't reach for our sabers.
“Oh, I meant that as a joke. I've learned a lot from revenants, you know.”
The ghost says that line in a not creepy, but serious, way.
Whew. Our hunch is right. This ghost really means no harm.
I directly ask him, “So why did you and possibly your kind decide to pull out pranks? Like those spikes and those eyeballs and those bullfrogs and scaring anyone named Remington and that 'V of doom' and that 'S from hell' and that creepy-looking stone mask and that stone mask's apparent grandma and that picture of a baby about to be eaten by a cobra and that demonic trident coming out of a thunderstorm and that strange globe shedding a creepy tear and that tiger sporting a mean stare and that tombstone with a hammer and a sickle and that golden slime forming into a man and his child and that statue firing a threatening beam and that hair-raising lamp and that...”
Well, the reason I'm able to spew out all these scary stuff is that I've read a book chock full of them. Simple.
The ghost replies, “We have been dishing out pranks to people simply for them to notice us. If we unintentionally scared you all, we are terribly sorry... and...”
He then notices the book that sits on Laika's bedside table, The Hazing Diaries: How Fraternities Achieve Nothing.
“Wait a minute! This is what we are fighting for!”
Laika responds, “Certainly not the book itself, right? But everything contained within it instead.”
“Indeed, maiden. We have been finding justice for years. Even though the kingdom we used to live in has no shortage of people who stand up to justice, His Highness included, we wanted more. We wished that those who tormented us... must be condemned to the fire and brimstone of the netherworld!”
I reply, “Alright. So you wanted justice. That's all fine and dandy. If we want to resolve your long-unfinished business, then please tell us what you know.”
“Very well. And please spread our message to more people, so they will know of our plight.”
Yulissa concludes, “Okie-dokie! We have a pen and paper ready!”
We intently listen to the ghost's story and write it down, word by word.
It took ten minutes for him to divulge everything.
“Very well, youths. You, as an esteemed hero says, are the hope of this kingdom. May the Most High bless your pursuit of our redemption...”
He then vanishes, hopefully for good.
Alright.
We're done with what we're set to do.
We'll furnish a report to the superintendent tomorrow, right after classes.
But for now... good night once more.
The 3rd of Watermonth, 1017 CE. Earthday.
After we've had our classes, we furnish a report that comes from the ghost's testimony. It reads...
Report Regarding the Appearance of Ghosts Within the Confines of the Kingdom
By Cadet First Class Keenan Floribunda, Cadet First Class Laika Santiaguel, and Cadet First Class Yulissa Floribunda
We were searching for the reason for the apparitions that suddenly appeared two days ago in various parts of the kingdom, including the case of Cadets Dietrich Kessler and Xyline Ella Pamatong. As luck would have it, Cdt. 1C Santiaguel and Cdt. 1C Floribunda Y found a book entitled The Hazing Diaries: How Fraternities Achieve Nothing, which is a compilation of stories coming from hazing victims and their relatives and is authored by Renson Bravissimo, in the Grand Library. We borrowed the book in the hopes of linking the cases of hazing to the cases of the prankster ghosts as our hypothesis. One ghost then took notice of the book, while we three were on standby for signs of ghosts within the campus last midnight.
After an entirely harmless negotiation, we were able to extract important information from the ghost, who identified himself as Narciso Jadidip. He narrated his experience as a hazing victim with the following, transcribed word-for-word:
“I was involuntarily drafted into the Witwiw Heske Cugma Fraternity. Its leader, Kingit Lovalevi, claimed to be 'the representative of activists' and wants me, as a 'fellow human being', to fight the supposed tyranny of His Highness the King. At the time I was recruited, I, who was a mere high school student like the fraternity's leader, lost my home, my family... everything was taken from me. Mr. Lovalevi... he gave me a brand-new purpose in life, knowing that the worst days of my life were brought about by the supposed tyranny of the monarchy.
“To prove that I was indeed loyal to the fraternity's cause, he made me undergo some initiation rites. First, he made me smear some horse dung into my parents' grave, to show that I only live for activism and not anything else. Second, he made me assassinate 44 soldiers, to show that their forces are nothing to us prospective guerrillas. And finally, he made me plant some illegal drugs in the personal chambers of the members of the royal family, to show that the entire royal family are nothing but drug-addled psychopaths who really don't care about the people they serve.
“As I performed those tasks, I've increasingly felt queasy. I've observed that the people under this kingdom are kind and helpful, and that my loss of everything was just fate being really harsh to me. As I accomplished all of those tasks, I puked several times, because I couldn't really stomach doing something so despicable just to get my life back!
“And yes, I was finally admitted into the secret fraternity after finishing the initiation rites. The first task Mr. Lovalevi gave me – where I must dump lots of trash near a populated area in Dinggiff Prefecture as payback for the kingdom's allegedly counterproductive recycling initiatives – was my last straw.
“I angrily accosted him and told him that everything the fraternity does is destroying this kingdom. He replied to me, 'Yes, I am indeed destroying this kingdom... because I was scorned by the woman I loved! That good-for-nothing princess went off with another man who is apparently a womanizer!' I answered back, 'No! That ain't true! I've kindly asked that man and he simply brushed off those allegations, as he never courted a woman before in his life!'
“In response, he kicked me and beat me up with a walking stick, all while stating: 'You're just trash-talking me. Because you are afraid just like those trolls who pose as humans that are infesting this land. Because all of you are criminals. Let me guess... you don't have the will to surrender yourself to our cause. WHAT A SHAME! You are fighting not only me. You are also fighting the oppressed who are seeking justice in this pathetic excuse of a land they call the Kingdom of Lebenswasserheim. I will not just sue you for disinformation... but also condemn your soul to hell!'
“And by 'condemning my soul to hell'... he truly meant torture and nothing but torture, while being locked up in a cell secretly placed outside the confines of the Royal Academy. That was when I realized what I was experiencing was called... hazing.
“Ultimately, my body couldn't take all that torture... and I died. Died without contentment, died for realizing that the life I was supposed to live wasn't righteous! And they... they just dumped my body in a burn pile, my ashes scattered to the four winds. How could I meet the Most High with something like this?!
“And thus, I carry on this quest of redemption as a wandering soul, a victim of fraternities and hazing – who isn't recorded in the history books. For every 10 known victims, there are around twenty unknowns.
“Fellow poor souls have gathered in this kingdom for years, for decades, to warn you, the living – that this specific specter of injustice must be quenched, if it means educating future generations of the mistakes of the past. Because after all, those who cannot remember the past are cursed to repeat it.”
With his confession, we are proving our hypothesis to be right, and further action from the concerned authorities must be enacted as soon as possible, to bring the prankster ghosts who are presumably hazing victims to their long-desired repose.
We hereby certify under oath that everything we have written in this report are true and accurate to the best of our abilities.
Below the report are our signatures.
We then present the report to the superintendent, and we also present the book, too.
Lt. Gen. Caralde reacts...
“This is indeed a breakthrough! Great investigative work, cadets! And also, I am receiving some reports that other people in the entire kingdom who have that specific book are also visited by those ghosts. Those people also talked to those ghosts and those ghosts narrated their sordid stories that were sadly unrecorded in history. Alright, then. I will wait for further instructions from the joint committee investigating this entire prankster ghost phenomenon before you and the other cadets can take action. Understood?”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“Alright, rest well. We have a busy week ahead. Dismissed!”
Sunday may be our full day-off, but justice doesn't wait for another day.
- Writer
