9th Life

9TH LIFE ( CHAPTER THREE ) completion

He immediately asked them again if they can see that cat. Sonia turned and asked him if he’s referring to the big black cat at the door. He said yes and was thankful that it’s not his eyes deceiving him. She said ok yeah that’s mr Tamu’s cat. Seth was surprised. He said “the principal has a cat roaming around in the school?” Sonia chuckled and said yes, that the cat is practically a student here and everyone is friendly with her. That was the strangest thing Seth has head all day and he didn’t know exactly what to say about it. If felt to him like they just legalize his reason to be terrified.

Seth asked her what kind of school allows a principal to have a cat in the school and she said the kind of school that can get him through out for asking a question like that. He paused for a second and she laughed at the sight and confused expression on his face then told him that she’s just kidding. He told her that wasn’t funny and Eva replied to him that it kinda is if he could see his face right now. He tried to put on a little smile though he still didn’t find the cat being around funny at all. The more time he spent with Sonia the more she seem harmless. She obviously had noticable sense of humor which he kinda liked but wasn’t ready to admit at this time. “Maybe she isn’t that bad after all” he thought to himself.

It was remaining few minutes before end of breaktime and since they were done with their meal they decided to start heading back to class. As they were walking back to their class Eva pointed at someone and said “look it’s Michael.” From a distance not far from them Seth saw a boy the same age as Michael looking exactly like him with the same clothes he was putting on today. Sonia asked if that was his brother and he said it can’t be because Micheal is supposed to be at the clinic with his mom. Before he could say another word Eva started running towards the boy and Seth immediately followed to stop her. “Eva wait” he called out but on getting their the boy they saw was gone.

“Where did Michael go to” Eva curiously asked. He told her that wasn’t Micheal because it couldn’t have been. But even he himself was sure that it was Micheal he saw. But the question that bugged him right now was, if that wasn’t Micheal they saw, where did the boy they saw go to in a split seconds. As he stood there looking for someone to give him an explanation he saw the lady cat again at the door looking at him, now he knows for sure that something wasn’t right. Then suddenly everyone in the hall stood still and was also staring at them. He didn’t know what exactly to make of this but it scared the hell out of him.

At that very moment back at the clinic Michael’s condition has gotten worst and the doctors and nurses there were all out of options. After trying everything they feel they could do it wasn’t enough and just like that their little sweet Micheal was gone. Seth’s mom couldn’t hold her heart break. She kept on crying and hoping he would wake up, every minute that passes felt like this whole thing was a big joke. She kept yelling and asking the doctors why her boy is not responsive. But there was literally nothing they could do at that moment. They told her that the infection has spread to his organs which has resulted to heart failure.

How can you describe the pain a mother feels after losing a child, no attempt to console her was working so the doctors did the only thing they could do which was to call her husband. He drove back immediately and when he got to the entrance after coming out from his car everybody outside the clinic was just standing still and looking at him. Unable to explain why they kept looking at him like that he ran inside the clinic and met his wife was on the floor crying bitterly beside the bed Michael was lying on. “Oh God” he muttered and kept asking God where he went wrong. He couldn’t believe what was happening. They’ve lost their sweet boy, how did this happen?, why did this happen?, What reason could God have for letting this happen?. He had a lot of questions to ask but first he needed to comfort his wife who was in a worst condition right now. The feeling was unbearable and unless you’ve lost a loved one before you won’t understand how she was feeling.

Seth was uncomfortable throughout that period that they saw that boy. He could literally feel it that something was not right and his mind was on Micheal. He left his class to go meet his father and when they told him that he just left to the clinic few minutes ago it was as if it confirmed the fear he had. When his father came to pick them up from school and he saw his mom inside the car he knew the worst has happened and immediately tears started running down his eyes.

When they got home everyone was devastated. Seth kept saying it was only a scratch mark, that how can Micheal be gone just because of that. His mom was too Busy crying to say anything while his father did all he could to put up a strong reaction even though all he wanted to do is just cry some more. What Michael meant to them was too much for words to express.

The only person that didn’t have any reaction to this news was Eva. She seem normal like everything was fine. It was almost as if she didn’t understand what they meant by Micheal is dead. But that couldn’t be the case because she’s a smart girl and she pretty much understood the loss when her dog puppy died so if she understands what death means why is she then showing a less reactive response to loosing her kid brother whome she cherished so much. That was a question Seth really wanted an answer to.

While everyone was still in tears and shock over the whole thing, Eva yelled out, “mommy mommy I’ve found my cat.” Everyone was surprised to hear her say that, and they were even more shocked to see her holding the cat that was supposedly hit by a car last night. She told them the cat was on her bed when she got inside her room. Seth asked how could it be.? His parents was as confused as he was, they themselves saw her lying dead on the road last night. Seth asked Eva to drop the cat immediately and she cried no seeing that he was serious and making his way to drag the cat away from her. The father told him to hold on a moment that how are they sure that this was the same cat they saw last night, that the other one could be a sibling or something. “Cats do look alike you know” He said.

Seth couldn’t believe his father just said that, but instead of arguing with his theory he said, “well if that is true, that means this was the cat that cut Michael which is the more reason not to allow her here, what if she cut someone else”. With tears in her eyes his mom told her husband that Seth is right. She said she doesn’t have anything against Eva having a pet but it can’t be this cat, not after what it did to her sweet boy then she started crying again. Eva didn’t want to let go and her father wanted her to be happy, but at this point it was too risky keeping the cat with them so after his father had collected and threw the cat outside without letting her cut him, Eva started crying and fighting off anyone who came close to console her.

It was the most annoying thing to watch Eva crying over the same cat that put Micheal in this position instead of feeling a remorse of loosing him. They didn’t pay much attention to the drama she was displaying because they had bigger things to worry about, Michael was gone and that has left a huge hole in their hearts. except Eva who was busy crying over her cat.

Seth was not thinking straight and needed something to distract him from the pain he was feeling. Seeing the tears in his mom’s eyes was not helping, he needed to clear his head if that was even possible right now so he went out. He thought hard and wondered how that cat got into their house again. He didn’t understand what was going on but he knew the whole thing wasn’t normal. Not even in the slightest.

That night was the longest night they ever spent. Eva kept having nightmares and waking up in the middle of the night screaming and saying “Michael is trying to beat my cat”. Nobody understands what she meant by that, it got too strange and kept happening to the extent that her parents had to take her to their room to stay the rest of the night with them.