9th Life

9TH LIFE ( CHAPTER TWO ) PART 2

While still wondering what could be the cause of the kids crying, out of nowhere someone said to them, "strange right”?, Seth was startled and was just about to yell "What the f**k" before he noticed it was the girl from their compound. She smiled and politely greeted them. “I’m Sonia” she said. Seth ignored her but Eva said hello and introduced herself and her brother. Sonia told them it’s nice to meet them but Seth still wasn’t paying her any attention. She told them not to worry about those three kids that they cry a lot. Eva asked if she knows why they were crying and she said no that nobody really understands those kids. It’s best to just ignore them she said.

Eva curiously asked her why they didn’t respond to their greetings this morning and she apologized and said she wanted to wave back but, “but what” Seth finally responded. She said that it’s complicated and that they wouldn’t understand. Seth was wondering why the sudden interest in them, he was a little on the edge and everything looks spooky to him that's why he didn't trust whatever Sonia was doing here. She told them again that it’s nice to meet them and that they don’t often get new people in this town. Seth sarcastically said that he wonders why. Sonia smiled again and told them she has to go to class now that she’ll see them around before leaving.

After Sonia left Eva asked why Seth was being rude to her, He told her that he’s not being rude that he doesn’t even know her. Eva mentioned that she was just trying to be friendly and she didn’t seem harmful. Seth told her he didn’t say she was harmful, that he wasn’t just interested in talking. Eva was quiet. Then he told her that they need to be careful that they don’t know anyone yet so they have to keep to themselves till they get familiar with how things operate here. Eva asked him how are they supposed to get to know anyone if they don’t talk to them and Seth told her to just do as he’s said.

Before she could say anything their father came out of the principals office. “Let's go kids” he told them. As they were being escorted to their classrooms Seth asked his father if he was still going to start from SS2 again, his father told him yes and then told him that he knows it’s not what he wanted but there’s nothing they can do about it. Then in his strange attempt to console him he told Seth that on the bright side he’ll get to go through this class as a revision. Seth didn't say anything, in his mind he thought "who gives a f**k about revision", his mate will be graduating this year while he will have to wait till next year to do the same. Obviously it wasn't fair but like his father said, there was nothing they could do about it. The only obvious option that would have guaranteed him continuing his class exactly where he stopped was money to give to the principal, but they barely have enough to get by so it wouldn’t favor them to spend it on bribery.

When he got to his class he saw that Sonia was in the same class as him. She waved at him when he entered and he gave her a cold response. She knew he’s still getting adjusted to the whole situation so she didn’t take it personally. When he sat down he noticed how weird everyone was acting towards him including some of the boys that were clearly a clique. He isn’t a softy so one thing he knew was that no one was going to bully him here without tasting the power of his fist.

While the teacher was taking his class Seth overheard some of the students behind talking about an incident that happened yesterday. He immediately got goosebumps when they mentioned two strangers dying in the freak accident and the way their descriptions matches the dream he had last night. When he turned back to look at them they stopped talking and asked him to mind his business.

He turned back around and started wondering what exactly the dream was about. In his dream he saw what happened to the two men that brought their belongings with the moving truck. And now that he’s hearing the students talking about an actual accident that happened with the same vivid description he started wondering if it was the same people. The thought of it bothered him throughout class that day but he held his conclusions about the whole thing until he’ll get to ask his parents if they know whether the driver and his assistant made it home yesterday.

At the clinic everything went on well with his mom and Michael. She was already getting familiar with her work routine and her colleagues, they all seem very fond of Michael and his little cuteness. On their way home after picking them up they chatted about how their day went. Seth was less responsive, lost in his thoughts obviously. To the rest of them the day went on fine like everything was actually going to work out. Things weren't the way he expected, definitely not what his parents wanted also.

But despite his disagreement with them moving here, the one thing he loves and appreciated about them was their contentment with the little they have going on for them. Being grateful for the little in their lives while striving to better their conditions was the best they can do. None of them wanted their lives to take this sudden turn but their consolation was that God has a better plan for them regardless of the circumstances they were in. Being optimistic is one of their best trait. Seth is the opposite of optimistic, he is more of a realist and never liked that they have to struggle to care for themselves. He wants to believe that things will be better for them, he really do, but it’s just that them moving away from everything they had to this haunted town according to him was just a big adjustment.

When Seth asked his parents about the driver and his assistant, it turns out they also heard about the incident and told him they’re not sure if it was them or not. They said there was no body to identify by the time the news got to them. As strange as that sounded they still didn’t sense that something was really off about this place.

When they got home, just outside their driveway coming out from the car they saw a cute cat sitting close to their entrance. Eva called her mom’s attention to the cat. The mom asked if it’s lost or something and the father said probably. Eva didn’t care about that, she was just excited to see the cat and asked if she can keep it. The mom told her that they can’t keep it because it might belong to someone who must be looking for it by now. Eva was not happy with what they’re saying and it was showing on her face.