Street Signs

Chapter 26

BRIELLE

In the serenade of the black, the stars were a choir; they were lights that sung in infinite patterns. There were also singing voices that swayed with the cold air breeze outside. Everyone was gathered there, not just to witness the pure midnight velvet, but also to enjoy them with the hymn mainly purposed for the camp.

One of the activities in the camp was the making of a jingle regarding the importance of nature. After the second game, it was not followed again by another one because the facilitators had given us this task. Besides, the day activities were tiring even though I did not much experience it; with just looking at the faces of the team, it could be said that they were worn out.

Everyone formed a big circle while Cheveyo was at the center telling us what to do. We would just follow him, and every time we made mistakes, he would not be mad, instead, he would correct us in a nice way; it contradicted what Queen had told me, that Cheveyo could not speak in a respectful manner.

Right after the practice, the team had decided to ghost hunt, except for Cheveyo. Even when everyone forced him to come with us, he didn't want to join for he didn't believe in ghosts. They also invited me to come with them, and since I found it interesting, I joined the force.

We went to the old laboratory building, which they said to be a mysterious place because every night, there would come out a nun. According to the story, that sister was a member of the university since it was a Catholic school; she got raped by the men who were in charge in the laboratory. The majority of the students believed in that story even though it was about two decades ago already. Some also said that they had seen that nun one night wandering around the laboratory, so the whole team decided to be there to prove if the said ghost indeed existed.

"Guys, do you want us to separate ways?" one of the members said.

We were inside the laboratory already, on the first floor, at the doorway. We were fortunate that the building wasn't locked, only the rooms. There was no light inside, and it was a complete silence there. Even though we had not yet entered totally, some of us were already planning to back off. And that was why everyone disagreed with the suggestion of that one member. So, as the majority wanted, all of us proceeded inside and while walking, murmurs could be heard.

Some of the members were holding one another. They were too frightened that they were slouching so bad. However, some were laughing, especially the boys. The ghost hunt we were conducting had different moods and that was what made it amusing for me.

"Guys, will you please quiet?" the same girl who suggested a move a while ago, said. "Especially the boys, it's not even getting funnier. I can't see the thrill in this. Why did we even decide to do this?" she groaned.

"I guess we should follow what Beatrice had said," one of the girl members mouthed. "If that's your attitude, we better separate ways now for us to witness the nun."

"She's not real, we are not going to see her even when we separate ways," one of the boys said, which made his companion laugh about it.

"Prove it!" Beatrice shouted at them. "The five of you, leave here and go everywhere on the highest floor."

"Sure," the boys said, hugging each other's shoulders as they went away. "Small thing," they chuckled before they finally left.

On the other side, Beatrice was so annoyed that her eyes went blasting. But after some time she was able to get back to the business and asked everyone again if they wanted to separate our ways; however, some of the girls answered her with a no again. "Alright. But how can we see the nun if we are all fifty here?" she said. "Are you sure we're gonna see it? Well, I don't think so. And it's not thrilling anymore. Remember our purpose here, and that's seeing the nun. Once discovered, take a picture of her, and we are going to show it to the campus."

"But it's scaring me," a girl member said.

"Why did you come with us then?" a boy member confronted her. "If you're scared, you should not have come. There's still time, you can run."

"Hey, stop it," another boy member said as he walked towards the girl and held her hand. "Don't worry, I won't leave you here."

Everyone screamed.

Beatrice scolded the team. "The nun would hear us, will you please shut your f*****g mouths? We came here to hunt the ghost, not to hunt... argh! Disgusting."

"Okay, then, what's the next step we should do?" I asked because I was close already to boredom. I was at the back, and everyone turned their gazes at me as soon as they heard my voice. "I guess, she's right," I pointed out Beatrice, "we should separate ways to make it more thrilling."

"I told you, guys," Beatrice smirked. "I guess we should group ourselves into three."

Everyone disagreed again, saying, "Why three when we can make it five?"

"Alright, then find your partners and leave here."

Everyone group themselves into five, except for me because I was just waiting for someone to call me until one of my classmates called out for me. When everyone was done, we started evaporating.

The laboratory was wide, so even when we were in different areas, meeting each other had the least possibilities. The building itself had six decks. This was where students took experimentations and exploration in different fields. Though it was old, it was painted new, yet the stories behind it could not be hidden still. In fact, not just the nun was said to be roaming around here, but also the spirit of the women who got raped as well by the same group of men.

They said that the nature of the ghost and its reason for staying stem from the choices made in the living years, upon the health, or deterioration, of the soul at the time they were supposed to pass on. Perhaps it was the reason why the raped women were still in this building, aiming for justice for themselves. However, I would not believe it until I'd see one.

"Brielle, where are we going now?" my four companions asked me.

"If you really want to see the nun, then we should go to the exact place where she got raped," I suggested. "Do you know where it is?"

"But's in the basement, don't tell us we're gonna be heading there?" There was a stench of fear in them. "Why don't we just back out? It's getting scarier."

"It's the purpose of a ghost hunt, to scare us," I chuckled.

"Yeah, but going in the basement..."

"Isn't it locked?" Candice asked, my classmate.

"I don't think so, but maybe it's locked. As far as I know, they do not open it anymore because it's only a storage room now," one of us informed us.

"Let's go so we can see it," I said.

The four of them looked even more worried. For some time they were quiet because it seemed like they were thinking of what to do. But looking at their faces, it appeared that they did not want to continue anymore.

Indeed, ghosts were the most frightening creatures for humans. They were believed to be existing just to plant fear in the people. But others would say that the behavior of the ghosts was typical of the spectral flock, for they needed a soul to hear them, to heal them and they were never heard nor seen in life. And when they felt ghostly no more, when they felt that their soul was a treasure heaven wanted, they made their way into the light. Still, to humans, they were dread, not knowing that there were still creations in this world that could scare us more. It might be the mysterious Nokunis and Baspiritus, I could say.

Until now that I escaped in Serinokuni, I was still bothered by them. It felt like I was still dreaming and my journey in that world was just a dream. And those stares I witnessed before I exited, was imprinted on me. I could tell that when I was there, all eyes were on me, especially when the queen announced punishment for me. But the stare I witnessed in the cave was different yet seemed familiar to me. I knew I saw those eyes before.

"Brielle," the four girls shook me off, which made me turn my gaze to them. "Are you okay?" they asked. "Have you seen the nun? Have you seen a ghost?"

"H-huh?" I stuttered, folding my brow. "No, I didn't."

"Is that so?" Candice asked. "You looked dumbfounded. We thought you've seen something from that room," she pointed out the room that was in front of us, about five-meter-away.

"Not actually. Just some random thoughts," I told them before we continued heading again to everywhere we could go in the laboratory, but I suggested we should go to the laboratory so we could not miss the opportunity to see the nun if ever it was real.

The four had nothing to do anymore since I insisted. But at first, they disagreed first and told me that the other members of the team perhaps went as well in the basement, so there was no reason for us to continue anymore because the others would do the duty for us. But as we arrived in the basement, there was no one there.

"Didn't they know that the sister was raped there?" Candice asked. "Gosh, they should've been gone here also. That's kind of unfair."

"Maybe they are roaming somewhere else," one of my companions said. "If we've seen Sister here, then we should accomplish the task."

"They should treat us when we did it."

"That's for sure, Candice."

From the door of the basement, I turned my gaze to the four ladies. "What's her name?" I asked.

"Her name was Lorenna. They said that Sister Lorenna was a friend to all because aside from she is stunning, she also had a good heart for everyone. She even treated as friends the men in this laboratory, so she didn't expect that they would do that horrible thing to her," Candice explained. "I just heard it from my mom because she also went to this school when she was in college. She knows Sister Lorenna. In fact, she had a conversation with her one of those days."

"Really?" I raised my brow, turning back my gaze again to the doorway.

Candice nodded. "Mom told me that Sister Lorenna was also a joyful lady. She was always smiling, so everyone on the campus, especially the males were attracted to her even so she was you know... a sister. But she was so young when she got raped. I think she was only twenty-five at that time. She still got many things to accomplish if that didn't happen. I feel pity for her."

"So, that means... the nun in this laboratory really existed?" I asked.

"Who tells you she isn't real? The story isn't a myth. It really did happen, Brielle. So, I'm scared to see her here. I wouldn't know what to do just in case."

"Candice is right. We better go back to the camp area now, Brielle," one of the girls said. "I might die here in fear."

I was to speak again when at the left side of the doorway, an eye hooked my attention. I didn't blink my eyes just to not miss it, but time was so fast that I didn't notice it disappeared. I planned to go down, but the girls stopped me. I wasn't scared, I told them, but they were. I didn't fear that eye that caught me because I knew it wasn't of the nun but was of something else that I had already seen.

"Are you really that desperate to see her, Brielle?" Candice whispered at me, shaking. "Let's just go back now."

I was about to speak when in time, a sound aroused in the place. It wasn't scary though because it was just a ringtone, and that came from my phone. So, I immediately took the phone from my pocket and looked at the caller's ID. I puckered my eyebrow knowing that it was Uncle Hernan.

"Uncle, what's the matter?" I asked him right away.

"Brielle, can you come here in the house now?" he asked.

"Why Uncle?" there was a rush in my voice, yet I didn't still make a move.

For some time there was silence. As I was waiting for Uncle Hernan to speak again, I was shaking terribly. I thought hearing what he would say next would be scarier than seeing the nun. Thrills shook my spine knowing of the reasons for the sudden call of Uncle Hernan; it would just mean to two things: he would announce a blessing or there was something wrong happening. In this case, I knew what was it, and also in the way he mouthed,

"Your Aunt Yadora..."