Nethania

Chapter 36: The Bottom Truth

AVIA

"THE FOUNDATION day celebration has been cancelled and we strictly adjure the students to stay inside their dormitories until further announcements. The authorities have been settling the disturbance that happened earlier. You are only allowed to go out during meal time. And for your safety, we assigned uniformed personnel to guard the perimeters and blah blah..." I recited the text message from our administration I received while going around the bedroom. Hands on my waist and eyebrows raised as I stared at the screen.

After staying in the clinic for a good number of minutes to rest, we strolled straight back to our dorm and continued our rest. Yeah, our stress didn't back out when we were in the clinic yet, I still felt exhausted.

"I would just stay here until I graduated..." Hilary languidly whispered. Her back peacefully rested against the headboard while sitting on her bed. Melted dark chocolate stained her fingers as she was relieving her stress.

"It's impossible." I chortled. "We can't stay here as much as we like. This is temporary, Hilary. As soon as this commotion is settled, we'll go back to our normal routine as students."

"But the normal ambience would be gone like what we have before," Hilary replied. She licked her fingertips as she finished eating her stress reliever snack. "Fear would be seen in everyone's eyes," she continued, getting off the bed cautiously, Hilary stood and made her way to the bathroom.

I stood up and leaned against the wall beside Hilary's bed. "What do you think about the weird ruckus that happened—"

"Grotesquely insane! I wouldn't have second thoughts about killing that b***h!" The bathroom door burst open and Hannah with a crumpled infuriated face got out and didn't care to close the door. Her steps were booming on the floor, and she dropped her body on the couch, grabbed a pillow, and with gritting teeth, she slammed it against the floor, lifted her foot up, and stepped on it.

I cringed when I saw what she did. Such an aggressive reaction. I crossed my arms across my chest and sighed.

"I hope the door's okay," Hilary mumbled when she got her senses back. She only had her poker face. Geez... that girl. She should have been worried about herself not being slammed by the door when Hannah burst out.

I left the wall and made my way to the chair and sat on it, facing her. "Hey, you need to chill your system out. We had been worn out for the entire morning, and it gave us a terrible fright," I stated.

She lifted up her head and looked at me straight into my eyes. "You know what, I can't chill, relax and especially calm down right now," she answered and sighed. "I wanted to stay here in the dorm until Nethania was found dead!" Her back slammed against the couch, rolling her eyes and staring away.

I flipped my hair and heaved a disappointed sigh. "Geez, Hannah. You don't even know where she is or what she's doing right now. If you want to defeat her, then you must gain strength so that when she appears again, you'll have the strength to confront her."

"Whatever you say, Avia," she mumbled while twisting her lips.

I sighed again and gazed away. I understand her situation and the feelings she felt when she saw what Nethania did to Nico, but she must think of a way to gain courage to survive without him. Nico was dead and she had to forget him. It's hard to forget someone you treated as your family, but we should let it go for good.

My eyes caught a moving motion behind me. Hilary went out of the bathroom while holding her phone.

She stared at us when she noticed we were looking at her. "Let's go to the cafeteria, they are waiting for us there," she announced.

I forgot about the lunch. I was occupied with the situation and Hannah's drama. I stood and picked up my handbag on my bed and went beside Hilary.

"Yeah, I'm famished," I said, "Hannah, you're going with us?"

"Of course!" She yelled. "Do you want me to starve to death here?"

She left the couch and marched toward the door and went out. She reached the door first when Hilary was the one who called us out to have our lunch.

"She's kind of a lunatic," I muttered.

"Yeah," Hilary whispered.

"I thought she would be staying in the dorm until Nethania was found dead, but she couldn't even skip her lunch 'cause she might die due to starvation." I scoffed, emphasizing the word starvation while gesturing with my fingers.

"Are you going or not?" Hannah's voice boomed from the outside.

We strode our way out of the dorm, meeting Hannah with furrowed eyebrows and curving downward lips. We just stared at her and marched down the staircase and strode along the pavement with other students.

Hilary pulled the door. The cafeteria was jammed with hungry people. We could hardly find our way to the counter to order food. Alviana must take this moment into their history record because this is the first time that we got stuck in a horde of people.

"Are you sure we entered the right room?" Hannah disgustingly whispered. "I could feel someone touching my waist and it's offensive!"

"Geez! Just get along with it, Hannah. We're jammed and it is natural that we might bump into each other without intently doing it," I lectured.

Holding our trays, I could finally say that the game of racing toward the counter was over. Hilary saw Vino's hand waving directly to us. We went straight to their spot and placed our trays on the table and settled down. I sat next to Austin and Hilary was beside me. Vino and Hannah settled in front of us.

"Why do we have to wear our uniform when classes are cancelled?" Hannah complained while rolling her eyes.

"To prevent inappropriate fashion clothes, Hannah. Some of us here aren't aware of their garments, including you," Hilary answered, throwing a sideward glance at Hannah.

"What?"

"Hey! Stop it. We only have an hour to do our thing here. Just eat," I called down. They hushed after I spoke.

We began eating our lunch. In the middle of munching and enjoying our food, silence overwhelmed us.

"I tell you guys," Vino began sharing his words, making our eyes stare at him. "My new roommates are getting into my nerves! If only dorm abandonment was permitted, I could have absconded the dorm and transferred to Austin's dorm instead, though I hate him. But I loathe those new humans living with me right now!" He ranted. His hand holding a spoon was moving up and down while he talked.

"Is it them who are annoying or... you, Vino?" Hannah asked sarcastically.

"Are you kidding me?" Vino replied.

Austin placed his utensils on the plate as he finished eating. "My new roommates are nice, I guess. They're quite loud, but tolerable anyway."

I nodded at Austin's response. I slowed down my munching and swallowed my food when my sight went down to a black spiral notebook beside Austin's glass of water. It had no words imprinted on its plain black cover. It piqued my attention and the eagerness to open it was filling my curiosity.

Out of mind, I stretched out my hand to reach the notebook. I flinched when his hand dropped on it while staring at me. I swallowed the lump in my throat when I met his glare. I could feel shivers slithering along my skin and tickling my spine. I slowly retrieved my hand and clenched it nervously while maintaining a deep stare at him.

His hand carefully slid the notebook off the table and placed it on his lap. What made me shiver the most was when he smiled as if nothing had happened just a few seconds before. My lips automatically curved upwards, though my system was vaulting inside because of the terror he gave me. My curiosity deepened and it made me feel sick the more I didn't know about it.

"What's that?" I asked, gesturing my finger toward his lap. I maintained my smile like I was innocently amazed at the thing he hid.

"A notebook that only my soul can peek into it, in short, my journal," he replied, looking at me, then drank his water.

"Oh, I didn't mean..." My eyes blinked multiple times as my expectation dropped to the bottom of my mind. At the back of my mind, I never thought it was his personal thing. I thought about it something weird. I almost forgot he was a book nerd and lover of words.

I was only embarrassing myself.

"It's ok, good thing I caught you first before you got my secrets written in here," he replied, beaming, holding and waving his black notebook in front of me.

My sight was stuck on the notebook he was waving. I didn't feel right about it.

It must be something complicated, weird, and worst of all, connected to Nethania.

I slapped my face and slid my hand downwards when I realized I was having a bad judgment about Austin. He was too good to be connected to Nethania and too honest to trick all of us. Avia, you're just imagining things most likely not to happen.

"Hey, you ok?" Austin pulled my attention. "Are you still eating your lunch, or already satiated?"

I averted my gaze from him. His finger was pointing to my plate that was almost finished.

"Satiated," I responded, giving him a small smile.

"Avia, how's—"

"Wait, someone's calling," I interrupted Vino's words when I felt a vibrating sensation inside my pocket. I took a glimpse at my screen and saw my dad's name written on it. I could feel the authority, though he was only conversing through a call.

"Excuse me for a moment," I excused myself, and they nodded. I distanced myself and positioned myself in the corner so that no one could hear our conversation. Dad calls, I make certain that only the two of us can hear what he says. His words are too "sacred" to be heard by other people.

"What is it, Dad?" I asked in a monotonous tone, leaning my shoulder against the wall while putting my weight on my shoulder.

[I'll be fetching you up in five minutes.]

"What?" I burst out. I stood up straight. My eyes widened upon hearing his words. Geez... What in the world he was talking about? Is this because of the commotion earlier, so he decided to take me home? If I were to guess, he wanted to take me home because he wanted to give me "protection" that I believe he was abundant with, overflowing protection that didn't concern my health or well-being.

[Avia, are you deaf? I—]

"Hey, hey old man—"

[Don't address your father in that manner, young lady.]

I closed my eyes and sighed. I leaned again on the wall because whatever tantrums I may throw on the spot, it doesn't hinder him from his decision to take me home. "Ok, fine. So, Dad, why are you fetching me within 5 minutes?" I asked, suppressing my impoliteness. My lips were twisting in annoyance. My eyes were like marbles that didn't want to stop rolling.

[This is your mother's wish to take you back home. If I were to decide, I would let you stay there and never bother you again.]

That's kinda piercing to me.

I flipped my hair. "Is this because of what happened earlier this morning? We are all fine here, nothing to worry about," I responded.

[That's exactly the reason why she wants you to go home. Your mother doesn't want you to stay there any longer because the attack might come over again. We'll rescue you first and then the students of this academy. You come first, before them. That's it, wait for me outside your dormitory.]

"Wait—" I wasn't able to finish my reply when he hung up the phone. I clicked my tongue and irksomely turned my body toward our table. I strode back to our table with lips curved downwards and slumped my body onto the chair.

"Is there something wrong?" Hilary asked when she saw me first. They followed me and gave me a suspicious look.

"Mom wants me to go back home. And Dad will be fetching me here within five minutes," I answered with a low voice while looking at the table.

I felt sadness when I accepted the fact that I was leaving my friends and I would be back to loneliness in my room. Yeah, this is life. It's good to breathe but usually hard to go on.

"So, you will leave us right now?" Austin queried. I could see sadness in his eyes and the low tone of his voice was telling me that I shouldn't leave them amid the situation.

"You're kidding, right?" Hannah asked, "You didn't have to leave us when Nethania was still lurking around here."

"Yes, don't leave me, us," Hilary pleaded and wrapped her arms around mine and placed her forehead on my shoulders.

"Just let her go. You don't want to see her dad's anger, right?"

"Don't you just feel sad about Avia's departure, Vino? She—"

"Lady Avia, your car is waiting for you outside." I flinched when someone whispered into my ears. Because of my Butler, who materialized on the spot, I wasn't able to hear Hilary's words.

I sighed. "I'll go." I stood and turned to them. "Goodbye, I'll get going now. I'll be back here soon, trust me," I assured Hilary when she was about to pull me back beside her. I glanced at Austin and he was just staring at me and the same with Vino. Hannah was just looking somewhere, so I just turned around and walked away from them.

I entered the car and sat on the backseat. "Why are you the one who fetched me here? Where's Dad? And I haven't packed my bags at the dorm—"

"You have many clothes in your mansion, Lady Avia. Your mother was eager to see you at the mansion. Your Dad went on his unexpected business meeting, so he called me to fetch you up."

I flipped my hair. "Ok, fine. Just drive," I commanded my Butler so that he would shut his mouth up.

I was still in my uniform and, ironically, I left my house in my uniform and returned to my house in my uniform. So weird.

So they were back from their lavish business trip, and the first thing they did was to bother my stay at the academy. We were fine there until they came and retrieved me, keeping me away from my friends and taking away the things I'd enjoyed.

Our trip took ten minutes and here I was, staring at the front lawn of our grandiose mansion, yet depressing. My Butler opened the door for me as the car was parked on the front porch. I got off and my orbs caught the view of my mother, who was standing in front of the main door waiting for me.

Out of excitement, she approached me with open arms. I walked toward her and accepted her tight hug.

"I'll be in my room, Mom, I'm tired," I said and broke her hug. She just sighed and nodded to me. I wasn't tired. I felt sadness and, at the same time, joy because I saw my mother. I couldn't express my emotions right now, so it was difficult to show them.

***

"Lady Avia, the dinner is ready."

"I'll go down later," I replied when I heard his voice. I just woke up from a refreshing sleep and took a shower.

I sighed when I got out of the bathroom and wore my sleeping pajamas. I decided to go down and wait for dinner. I held the doorknob and went out.

My feet never landed on the stairs because something was bothering me and stopping me from going down. I felt a cold ambience and shivers running down my spine. I instinctively gazed to my left, then I saw darkness over there. My feet wanted to go down, but I couldn't, because the feeling I felt toward the left hallway was dragging me into it.

I didn't know why, but I found myself sauntering along the hallway leading to the south wing. The dampness of the cold air touches my skin as I continue to step forward. I reached a room and stopped right in front of it.

"What room is this?" I asked myself. Since there was no light in this part of the hallway, I turned on my flashlight using my phone and illuminated the whole place. My hand touched the icy cold doorknob and turned it over. I gasped when I saw that it was completely dark in there. I searched for a light switch and pushed it to light up the room.

A pile of dusty books and old papers stained with dirt filled the whole room. I gasped when I remembered that this room was our old library and it hadn't been used for four months.

~To your right, Avia~

"Who is it?" I bellowed and flinched when someone whispered into my ears. I turned around, but I only found myself standing alone in the room. I kept my eyes open wide while my heart was pounding hard. I know I was trembling, but something urged me not to leave this place.

~To your right, Avia~

It whispered again. To my right? What does it mean? Though my mind was telling me to go out of this room right now, a part of my brain that was stronger enough to stop me was telling me to follow the voice.

I slowly turned my body to the right and all I could see was another pile of dusty and old magazines. I walked toward the piles. Examining each magazine that crossed my sight. Then...

I realized something...

My feet rushed to the piles and I searched for something I remembered in my mind. I took one pile down, put my phone aside, and began to rummage through the magazines, scattering them around me. I shook my head, stood up and took down another pile of magazines again. My search wasn't over until I scattered the fifth pile of magazines on the floor and rummaged through them until I got to the bottom.

I stopped and sat on the floor while panting heavily when I found the magazine that I was looking for. I was holding the magazine where the headline about Nethania was written down. I couldn't believe it was on my hand right now.

I looked sideways to search for any "spies" that would peek at me here. I opened the magazine and searched for the headline. My heart stopped beating for a second when I found the full article with the headline.

My trembling hands held the magazine tightly and read the article.

Headline:

A student committed suicide.

A student was found dead in an abandoned room. A rope was tied around her neck and held her body still at the center of the ceiling. A ball point pen remained pierced into her chest and thick blood was ozzing from it. The unnamed witness forthwith reported the incident to the administration and the authorities have taken action regarding the said tragic event. The student was identified as Nethania Alora Alvarez, female, 20 years old. A senior highs school student, section B. Her classmates have never given comments about her and why she committed suicide. She also doesn't have any friends, not even one in the academy. The authorities have decided to conclude that what happened to the victim was a mere suicide case. The whole information was secured to comply with the confidentiality of the case.

May she rest in peace.