Stranded in Thoughts

Chapter 11—The Monster

“That’s a lot, Lucky Kid. Now, how do we start a fire again?”

I grabbed two pieces of dry branches and attempted to create a fire by rubbing their surfaces against each other.

Disclaimer first: I didn’t know how to create one, but I at least had an idea based on the books and videos that I had read and watched. It seemed not that complicated, just rubbing two pieces of wood together.

The only lighting that we could get, which helped us in seeing just enough in the dark, was from the flashlight application of our cellphones. They finally had some use. However, it was still cold and we needed a fire to warm ourselves.

It took some more minutes before I got tired and soon gave up. How come it was this difficult? I succumbed to the corner, near the elevator as we were currently staying on the first floor, ashamed of the humiliation I displayed in front of Chevonne. Lucky Kid was trying his best not to laugh at my incompetence.

“Josh, I’ve got some stuff from the fifth floor. Maybe they can help,” she suggested as she placed the things she had found from the faculty office.

Pieces of crumbling paper, paper clips, and a broken Rubik’s cube.

“How can they help us? As if I can make a fire out of those,” I disappointingly remarked, still embarrassed of myself.

“Well, let’s try to brainstorm. Those are the only things that I have salvaged. The rest were broken and too heavy to bring here.”

We crouched around the items—not much of a treasure themselves. Lucky Kid picked a dry twig and he rubbed it to each of the items.

“What are you doing?” He was doing something futile. There should be a limit to his imagination.

“Maybe it will work. Just maybe.”

“Are you an i***t? That’s what you get from not listening to your Science class. Are you not ashamed of teacher Chevonne here? If she knew that it would work, she should have done it already.”

“What else can we do? It’s almost freezing and we badly need it now!” he groaned, shivering with the cold night.

I studied the items once again, and a memory struck. The Rubik’s cube.

“Chevonne, kindly watch over Lucky Kid here. I’ll go up to check something.”

“Are you sure? Be careful up there, it’s dark and... scary.”

I remembered the behavior that I had shown her in the woods when we first heard the cry. “Don’t take me as a child who gets easily scared in the dark.”

I used the fire exit to go up to the fifth floor for quick and safe access because the main staircase was now reaching its limits. Who would know if it would decide to crumble the moment I’d use it again.

The lobbies were a hundred times scarier compared some hours ago. Each room gave off a sinister vibe and as I passed them one by one, my eyes deceived me for a figure modeled after the antagonists of horror movies I had watched on Netflix, lurking in the dark. I brought my legs higher and trudged, adding some noise in my pace just to distract me from the fact that I was scared and couldn’t wait to get out of the floor.

However, I needed to do this for our survival. For Chevonne.

Once I reached the faculty office, I immediately opened my drawer just under the desk and rummaged through the contents with the help of the screen-light of my phone. It took me just a few seconds to locate what I was finding for. I lifted the rotten packs of cigarettes and picked a rectangular, parakeet-colored contraption.

A lighter.

The Rubik’s cube once belonged to Rex, and I remembered that I confiscated it from him because he kept on playing with it every time it was my class. He was complacent whenever I was his teacher, foolishly thinking he could just take me easily and feel like he was at home.

I confiscated a lot of things from him not just during class hours, but also whenever I visited his house. Including this lighter.

Without further ado, I pocketed it and dashed straight back to the fire exit.

Finally, I was able to make a fire—thanks to the lighter—and Finlay went to sleep rather fast. Well, he was still a kid, and it was a tiring day for us. We were able to find some fruits when the sun was still up—which the three of us found strange because some of which couldn’t be grown here in Bantayan—and a stream with clean water to drink. Well, I was not sure if it was clean, but we had no other choice as all of us were thirstier than camels. The cocohair fruits were too heavy for us to carry, that was why we resorted to finding something else to eat. Though I was curious about what it was, I didn’t care as much as how I did the first time we were rained by them.

I wondered when we would be rescued here.

Chevonne was sitting all alone on a slab of mossy stone with the fire crackling in front of her, munching some apples and oranges hungrily. Even after the argument that we had had, I still found her cute and wholesome. I mustered my tainted courage and sat beside her. It seemed like she didn’t notice me.

I sniffed the woody atmosphere and in an apologetic voice murmured, “I’m sorry for what I’ve said on the rooftop. I’m just kind—”

“It’s okay. I completely understand you,” she interrupted. She might have been expecting it.

“Um,” I started, trying my best to change the topic and rebuild the relationship I had once worked on with much effort, “how come Lucky Kid can sleep soundly with our situation? I hope I’m like him.”

“Sometimes, being too innocent makes you fearless of things though it can be scary on its own.”

“How ‘bout you? Don’t you find everything here not normal?”

She twisted her body, finally facing me, but the facade she was showing was something that I had once seen. “I told you, Josh, in due time. If you’re trying to make me spill the beans, you better stop.”

“No, it’s just th—again, I’m sorry. I just find everything here surreal. It’s like I’m dreaming.”

“I wonder if this is what dreaming really feels like. I’ve been told that you can do everything in your dream since you can control it,” she added, straying off the topic.

“That’s a half-truth for me. I can sometimes control mine, but mostly they’re random. If dreams are like that, then I’d surely just dream all day long and live in it.”

“But living a predictable life is boring. It would be much challenging to live life just it is, like cooking your dinner. You will never know if it’s going to taste good.”

I tried to process what she just compared life with and couldn’t help myself chortling. “So, you’re not good at cooking.”

She blushed a little bit. God, how cute could she get? “Hey, that’s rude. Well, yes. I’m not good at it, but it’s no laughing matter. I’ve been practicing lately and hopefully, it will show me good results.”

“I’m sorry, I just can’t help it. How ‘bout you cook for me once we get back home?” I accidentally requested.

I started sweating.

She threw me an icy stare. Then, she dropped her shoulders, which I thought a sign that she was relenting. “Fine. Once we get back home.”

“Yes, once we get back home,” I echoed back. Well, it was not a waste at all.

There was an ample of silence once again filled with crackles of the fire and crying of the embers. The night had been pleasant thanks to the stars in heavens above. How I wished we could just enjoy this moment, just the two of us.

“You know what? I’ve been thinking a lot about my power lately,” I shared out of nowhere. Rather, inevitably. I knew, deep inside, that I’d reopen this topic with her once again because she was the only one who believed me.

“Why would that be?”

“I kept on wondering if it’s really real. But so far, with all the things that have happened to us, it gives me more room to believe that it’s something possible. I mean, if what we are experiencing right now is not a dream, how much more my power, right?”

“You might be right,” all she just said.

“How about you? Do you think it’s real?”

“I don’t know. How about you try it again? Think about something that you want to happen right now.”

For a woman such as her, I’d do anything she would ask. I bolted up to my feet with my eyes closed and hands balled to fists at my sides, and a face as if containing my rage to throw a punch at someone, and I thought of something that I did want to happen. It might be something straightforward and, to say, ambitious of me, but I still did it.

I imagined her kissing me right at this moment.

I let a few seconds pass by. I gradually opened my left eye and examined if something had changed. She was still there, sitting on the slab of stone, staring at me with high expectations.

Well, of course, it would fail.

I sighed with disappointment and sat across from her on a pile of dried twigs and branches, and about to report that I failed when she suddenly jumped to her feet and approached me with blushing cheeks.

“Hey, don’t move,” she ordered right after she put both her hands on the dried twigs and branches at my sides. It rendered me speechless, and an expectation flared up within me.

Did it work?

She slowly moved her head closer to mine with steamy breaths and lustful eyes. I tried to recoil in defense. Yes, I did like her to kiss me, but I found myself surprised that I was not ready for this yet. How come she was aggressive tonight?

When our lips had reached some dangerous inches gap between, she stopped abruptly and stared at me, surprised at what she was doing. Some sort of realization hit her based on how she turned and looked around in the darkness, and then she went straight to Lucky Kid. She blurted, “Did you just save me?”

I didn’t know what it meant.

He was still soundly sleeping. Chevonne approached me once again, but this time with much care and an apologetic gesture.

“I’m sorry. That might be weird of me,” she apologized in a low and robotic voice.

“No. I—I’m sorry, too. Actually, I imagined something that…”

“That?”

It took a moment for it to sink in. What was I thinking? “No, it’s about my power. I imagined a shooting star to pass by tonight, but the starry night is still as calm as it is. I failed. Sorry if you’re expecting something else to happen.”

“No, it’s okay. Sorry for pressuring you. Also, kindly forget what was about to happen earlier.”

Yeah, right. As if I’d forget that. Even if I’d force myself to put that part of my memory in a jar and throw it in an endless chasm of forgetfulness, I’d surely be able to remember it again. It would keep resurfacing my entire life. I mean, how could I forget such excitement?

So, my power worked. Or did it really?

There was another awkward silence between the two of us when we heard something outside. It was a succession of thuds that could nowhere be normal. For all I knew, it could be audible enough for every creature on the whole island. The sound grew louder and scarier, indicating that it was nearing us at an abnormally fast rate. Lucky Kid was awoken by it and he went to Chevonne, cowering behind her. She gave him a doubtful look.

“Cher, what’s that?” he asked in a shaky voice. I could see how terrified he was based on the quiver that was manifesting in his hands and knees. But it was kinda off. Like he was acting.

“Don’t worry about it. Just stay here with me,” Chevonne just said without any emotion to it.

So far, since getting stranded on this island, I had not yet done something worthy to be Chevonne’s protector. This time, I’d make sure of it. “Wait here, the two of you. I’ll scout the area and find out what it is.”

Before Chevonne could protest, I lurched forward in haste to where the direction of the thuds was coming from. I was about to get out of the main entrance when all at once it stopped.

I tried to sum up everything that was happening right now. I was not sure, though, but the thuds seemed like a series of footsteps. Now, if they were really footsteps, that could be something terrifying. Considering how loud it was, it might be something big. No, it might be something gigantic, humongous, enormous, gargantuan, colossal, or whatever it was. I remembered the bones we had found in this building and thought of dangerous animals.

I hid behind a post and glanced through the gaping hole in a punctured wall, accidentally sniffing something strong that could either be moss or something that I couldn’t explain well. I couldn’t see clearly with all the darkness coating the vicinity, but with enough lighting given by the stars and the moon, I was able to reach a wild conclusion that it was gone.

I went back and reported what I had found; rather, what I didn’t find. The two sighed in relief and Lucky Kid was about to go back to sleep when the sound resurfaced, but fainter this time, which was something that I was most afraid of.

It was fainter, but I was pretty sure that it was inside of the school grounds at this moment. It was like being careful with your steps once you had entered your brother’s room, whom you were about to prank, to keep him from waking up.

We frantically threw mud and soil on the fire and stomped on the embers, making sure it was completely extinguished. We huddled and prayed. I prayed for the safety of Chevonne’s life. Well, I hated admitting it, but also Lucky Kid’s.

Some minutes had passed, but nothing out of ordinary had happened yet. We calmed down a bit and huddled closer to share our body heat as it was getting colder. Our jaws started to shiver. I had never experienced a freezing night such as this here in Cebu.

We moved to the fifth floor and stayed in the faculty office, scavenging for things that could be of use to us. We hoped to find thick clothes or any stuff that could warm us up or even just nullify the prickly cold off our skins. Finlay found a couple of interesting stuff but were useless in aiding us to survive the freezing night. Chevonne found some more lighters, which might have been confiscated by other teachers from other delinquent students. I asked her where she found them, and she pointed at teacher Samuel’s desk.

We collectively amassed a pile of burnable stuff to sustain a fire for the whole night. Chevonne had just used the lighter when something obstructed the windows, prohibiting the moonlight to come in. Everything was now blacker than black. I felt that the thing that was blocking the window had moved based on how the building shook. I approached the window and flashed my cellphone’s screen light directly at it. I dropped my phone at the freaking sight.

It was an eyeball, jittering.

I gasped in horror and disbelief. When Chevonne saw it, she dropped the lighter that was still spewing flames. It hit the pile of burnable wastes, and in just a matter of seconds, the flame scattered throughout, illuminating almost the whole floor, giving us a direct and clear view of the eyeball that covered the whole window.

It was almost twice my size.

The sudden illumination made the eyeball squint a little, but it recovered and found us.

It stopped jittering. It had locked on.

We all dashed down the fire exit, terrified, and just barely made it down to the fourth floor when the whole fifth got ripped off the building. It gave off a tremor, making some walls and anything upstairs that I could only hear collapse in succession.

It would only take a matter of seconds before this whole building would succumb to the ground.

We quickened our pace straight to the ground floor. Another whacking sound buzzed above us. I was sure that the previous floor had been uprooted and destroyed as well. Despite all of these, I had managed to look at Lucky Kid’s and Chevonne’s expressions, surprised that they were neither crying nor shocked by what was happening. Rather, they were kind of serious and focused on what to do.

Looked like I was the only one who was about to piss my pants here.

When we reached the ground floor, Chevonne harshly grabbed Lucky Kid’s collar and held him up in the air. I was petrified by her sudden action, but Lucky Kid’s reaction was something much appalling. He just averted his gaze aside and gave off something like a s**t-she-got-me expression.

“I know who you really are, Finlay. I’m supposed to act normal around you because you will surely escape once you’ll know who I am. However, it leaves me no choice as you’re the only one who can save us in this predicament. Now, if you don’t want to be erased, better help us,” she threatened, giving off some murderous intent and gradually tightening her grip the more he remained silent.

I didn’t understand what they were talking about. What was with Chevonne? On the shore, she showed how she cared for Lucky Kid, but now she was just a minute away from killing him. “Chevonne, what are you doing? You’re cho—”

“Don’t interrupt, Josh. Please, just stay where you are,” she said without looking at me. It seemed like she couldn’t spare a second to look anywhere other than Lucky Kid, or else he might disappear or what.

She was not the Chevonne that I used to know. That I used to like.

I just shut my mouth. There was another wrecking sound, and this time it was closer. It seemed like the floor just above us had been completely obliterated. I could see the bleeding moon through the hole of the roof, and a giant silhouette covered it, blocking the light it was giving off.

Oh, my God. It was a freaking giant. It looked like it was as tall as the edifice.

I couldn’t deliberately see its figure and to whatever it was, but sure enough, it was something that looked like a human being. It might really be a giant for all I knew.

“Do it now!” Chevonne shrieked out of nowhere, scaring the hell out of me.

Lucky Kid sighed as if everything was just a game to him and tapped Chevonne’s hands that were holding him up. “Let go.”

She put him down, which I found gullible of her. What if Lucky Kid would not do the thing she was asking him to do?

He proved me wrong seconds later.

He positioned himself unlike the mischievous and lucky kid that I had known. With his arms pointing upward in open palms, like Goku’s Kamehameha, and a serious-looking face with both of his feet spread out in a stance that made him sturdy-enough from stumbling, he looked like someone else that was far from being childish; like he had grown up suddenly. It was like observing a butterfly forcibly emerging from its pupa. I gawked at him and waited for something to happen.

The giant then raised its right foot, puffing some specks of dust upward.

Oh, my goddamn poopy pants, this bastard was trying to stomp and pulverize the whole building with us! I was about to rush over and grab the two off the trajectory of the stomp when Chevonne stopped me midway with a tap on my shoulder.

“Trust me, we’re going to be safe. Remember when I said that you’ll know everything in due time? Well, I didn’t know that it will be this early for you.”

“Thought!” Lucky Kid screamed out and a blast of light shot out from his temple that immediately expanded around the perimeter of the whole building, coating everything in amber, which gave off some lighting effect to the whole area, making it less dark. I noticed that the expansion ended just above the giant’s head, forming an arch down to the ground.

It looked like we were inside a force field. Did he just create a goddamn force field?

The uncanny twist of the event made me gape at him.

Who the heck was this kid?

Lucky Kid abruptly closed his hands, like he just grabbed something out of the air, and the giant turned to mist, leaving nothing of itself but one, which fell from above, onto a pack of grass, north of where we were. I went after it and examined what it was.

Jesus Christ. It was an eyeball.

I threw it aside and scrambled up to my feet, feeling nausea climbing up my throat. I went back to Chevonne and Lucky Kid.

“Guys, what the fudge was that? An eyeball has just fallen from the head of the giant. And what the heck are you, Lucky Kid? No. Who are you, Finlay?”

Chevonne stepped in between us and gave me a smirk. “He’s a silencer. He’s capable of defeating that monster because it’s a product of a thought.”

“The produc—the hell is that?”

“It’s really hard to explain everything to you, Josh. You’ll learn it along the way as we get more information about this realm. Finlay here will help us since I’ve linked him already,” she matter-of-factly replied as if I knew what was happening all along.

“Hey, this is too much now. I don’t mean to be rude, but what the fridge are you talking about?”

“Josh, we’re thinkers here. He’s a silencer, and I’m a linker. What you saw Finlay did earlier is something that you can also do, but in a different way. You’re one of us.”

“Whut?” I astoundingly blurted. She was not making any sense.

“Remember what you’ve shared with me? It’s a sign of a thinker. And based on it, you might be a morpher.”