Forget Me Not

Chapter Four

KAYLA was already falling asleep, but her sleepiness was disrupted by the noise of Brennen's cellphone camera shutter. It's already past eleven o'clock, and they are all sleeping together in Melissa's mother's room. The girls are lying side by side on a hard bed, while the boys are lying side by side on the mat on the floor. Aling Telma is resting in the living room.

Kayla glanced at Brennen on the floor. That's when she realized he was taking a selfie. "Brennen, I want to sleep already, but your camera is so noisy. We need to wake up early so we won't miss our trip."

"Dude, is it right to take a selfie at a wake?" Rico asked, his gaze fixed on the ceiling, his head resting on his arms. It was evident that he was deeply troubled and couldn't sleep. Kayla thought that out of all of them, he was probably the most affected by Melissa's passing. They had been a couple for almost a year.

Brennen took a moment with his eyes closed before responding. "I just want to see what I look like when it is me in my wake," he replied.

"You are stupid," Kayla muttered with a half-smile. She just returned to sleep, adjusting herself under the blanket. The night was too cold.

"Why? What's wrong with what I said?" Brennen cried, sounding like a young child.

"I will never forget this night," Gilbert said. It was evident that no one among them had slept yet, except for Irene, who was starting to snore. Even though she was lying sideways with her back turned to Kayla, she knew that she was still awake. She noticed Kayla's frequent release of deep sighs as if something was troubling her.

"This is the first time we're all having an overnight together... but one of us is outside," Gilbert added.

Gilbert's statement was followed by a long silence. Everyone felt the sadness in the air. Even the shutter of Brennen's cell phone camera fell silent.

When no one else was speaking, Kayla made a final attempt to sleep. But she jolted awake when Brennen suddenly yelled, "f**k s**t!" After that, she heard what seemed like something being thrown against the wall.

Everyone, even a deeply sleeping Irene, was startled and jolted awake. Brennen quickly stood up and retreated to the corner of the room, his face drained of color. His eyes darted around as if he had seen something terrifying.

"Hey, what happened, man?" Rico asked, full of surprise. All six of them in the room stared at Brennen. Irene appeared to be drowsy and mumbling various things. Brennen held one hand to his head as if pulling his own hair while staring intently at his cell phone that was scattered on the floor.

Rico stood up and picked up his cell phone. He examined it closely and said, "s**t. The LCD is broken, man." He looked at Brennen, who still couldn't seem to speak, clearly displaying intense fear.

But afraid of what?

Brennen gradually sat down as if he lost all energy. It's evident in his appearance that he could cry at any moment. His lips are trembling.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Gilbert approached him and placed his hands on both shoulders. "What happened to you?"

Brennen looked up at him, fear still evident in his eyes. His voice trembled as he spoke, "E-earlier... while I was browsing through my cell phone and looking at my shots..." He paused and looked at each of them one by one as if begging them to believe what he was about to say. "I had a selfie there... with me inside a coffin, my eyes wide open and mouth agape..."

"Enough, please," Kate said, suddenly crying. "I'm scared now. Let's go home."

Kayla was unaware, but a strange fear was slowly growing in her chest. She didn't want to believe Brennen, but the intense fear in him couldn't be faked. He looked extremely pale too. However, she was certain there must be a logical explanation. Perhaps it was just a nightmare.

"Dude, maybe you just had a bad dream," Rico said, trying to reassure him. He patted Brennen on the shoulder to calm him down. "That's what you get for watching too many Thai horror movies. All sorts of things start getting into your head."

Brennen nodded his head to the floor, unable to speak. He slowly stood up and returned to his previous spot on the bed. He hugged himself and just closed his eyes.

They exchanged glances before doing the same as him and decided to let him rest as well.

“THANK you very much for your condolences,” Telma bid farewell to her son's friends with a sad tone. "But before you leave, I have a favor to ask." She went out of the house first and headed to a small guava tree. She broke off a branch and used it to draw a deep and long line on the ground.

She scooped water from a bucket and poured it into the deep line she had drawn on the ground.

"Come here..." she called to the young people who were just watching her. Almost all of them approached her at the same time.

"Before you go, take a step here..." she instructed them.

Although curiosity was evident on their faces, none of them questioned her and willingly followed her instructions. When the last of the friends complied, she thanked them again. In the back of her mind, she silently prayed that God would protect these young people.

"Can I ask a question?" Kayla asked before finally saying goodbye. "What is the purpose of what we did?"

Telma let out a deep sigh. She didn't want to scare them, but she had witnessed two signs since they visited her child's wake. And the truth was, her heart wasn't at peace. It seemed as if something bad was about to happen.

"That's just an old superstition of ours," she replied. "All I ask is that you never forget to pray always."

"What superstition was that earlier?" Irene asked next.

She was forced to explain them there. "Well, last night, the neighbor's dogs were incessantly howling. One of the neighbors knocked at exactly eleven o'clock at night to warn me," she explained in a serious tone.

"Eleven o'clock at night?" Rico repeated. He looked at his friends with confusion. "We were still awake at that time, and we didn't hear any howling of dogs."

The friends nodded one after another in agreement.

"The truth is, almost none of us had a straight sleep," Kayla added.

Telma immediately felt her heart race. How is it that this group of friends was the only one not bothered by the howling of dogs throughout the whole night?

"Well, well..." she said, trying not to show what was on her mind. But she felt an inexplicable unease... or fear. "Let's just not forget to pray always," he added.

"But what does the howling of dogs mean, and what does it have to do with what we did earlier?" Kayla continued to inquire.

"That is a superstition when there is a dead person."

Everyone turned to their neighbor, Ising, who was sweeping in front of her yard. She was the one who saw Melissa hanging from the tree. And she was also the first to rush and report it to her. The next day, Ising got seriously ill and was glad to see her recovering.

"The meaning is that there will be a death that will occur," she added. It was evident that she had been listening earlier.

"Oh, Ising, don't scare these children," she reprimanded her.

“What does crossing the water line have to do with it?" Brennen asked Ising.

Ising paused from sweeping and met her gaze before answering Kayla's question. "So that the dead won't follow you."

THE classmates of Telma’s child were no longer around, but the unexplainable feeling of unease in her chest remained. She didn't like what she was feeling.

"Last night's event was not a good omen, Telma," Ising said as she approached her. "I'm worried about your child's visitors." Her concern was evident in her voice.

"In the same way, that's how I feel, Ising," she said, still gazing at the path where her child's friends passed by on their way home. From where she stood, she could see in the distance the old balete tree where Melissa hanged herself. "I pray to God to take care of them.”

“Include me in your prayers." She felt Ising's hand holding her arm. Its touch was cold, so she turned to look at her.

But she felt almost depleted of strength when Ising wasn't beside her, and she was all alone there.

"Merciful God..." Two hands covered her mouth as intense fear enveloped her, and she felt a chilling presence. She suddenly froze in place.

In just a few moments, she heard crying from Ising's house. She hurriedly ran there, her heart pounding heavily. Ising's house was open, so she went straight to where she could hear her children crying.

She found Ising's two daughters in the room, crying. Meanwhile, Romulo, her husband, was kneeling on the floor in front of the bed, holding his pale wife in his hands.

Upon seeing her, Romulo turned and gestured towards the door. "When I woke up... she was already lifeless, Telma," Romulo said mournfully. He was the one who knocked on her door last night to warn her about the bad omen.

She tightly grasped the door handle for support. Her whole body went cold, enveloped in intense fear. Just a while ago, she was talking to Ising and her child's friends.

She pressed her hand against her chest as it seemed to tighten. She didn't know what to think or how to explain what was happening. It felt like her head was pounding, almost as if it would explode. She struggled to breathe, overwhelmed by fear, while watching Ising lifeless on the bed.

She touched her chest and proceeded into the room. She stopped in front of the window. "Romulo, how—" Her words were cut off when the corner of her eye caught something from outside the window. Her window was directly facing Ising's room. In an instant, she turned her head and caught a glimpse of a woman passing by her window.

Even though her house was a distance away, she couldn't be mistaken about what she saw.

"Melissa..." she whispered. She quickly left that room and hurried outside.

She didn't know how she managed to reach her house so quickly, with her knees trembling. Fear was replaced by a yearning to see and talk to her child, even just one last time. She wanted answers as to why her child took her own life.

She stood still in the room. No one was there. However, she felt something different in the atmosphere. The air seemed heavy, and she struggled to breathe. The coldness she felt was far from normal.

Telma rubbed her arms. She didn't know why she felt as though she wasn't alone in that room.

One thing caught her eye and kept her frozen. The dresser, where she kept her sewing supplies, was open.

It was empty.

Melissa’s favorite dress was also missing.