Nethania

Chapter 21: Leave the Knife

AVIA

MY TIRED eyelids, which were not ready to witness the day, slowly let the light hit my eyes. I stared at the ceiling while I was laying on my bed. I turned my head sideways, to the direction where the window was. I noticed sun rays hitting the window pane, signaling the arrival of another deadly day.

One day passed and I was absent from the class during my rest. I was restrained from going out of the dorm until I had fully recovered. Now I'm eager to get out of here.

I sat on my bed and closed my eyes when I felt a little sting in my head. I remembered I got a wound from being smashed by a chair and it would take days for it to heal. This is my first day of going to school with a bandage on my head, and I am a little bit embarrassed about it.

I got off my bed and had a little body stretching. I yawned and rubbed my eyes and dragged my feet to go to the living room.

I saw Hilary come out of the bathroom. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel and she was wearing a pink bathrobe. She was smiling while approaching me.

"You're feeling alright now? Maybe you need more rest," Hilary said, caressing my shoulder.

I shook my head while scratching it. "I'm totally fine. What time is it?"

"It's six AM. But still, you won't be attending our classes," she ordered.

Geez! My academics were jeopardized because I was absent from class one day! I couldn't afford more than two absences. That would freak my system out.

She walked past me. "Hey! I'm not that damaged and handicapped to not be able to attend classes today. I'm fine, and this is only a small wound," I stated, turning my body in her direction.

She scoffed. "Minor wound, huh? Let's say that it's only a small wound, but what you have experienced was way more traumatizing than that. You need more rest."

"Uh-uh, I won't be missing a single class today, take that. I will go to our classes and no one can stop me." I marched toward her and the first one who entered the bed room. I went to our walk-in closet and wore my bath robe and got my towel.

I faced her. "Where's Hannah?"

"She went out to buy milk. We ran out of stock today," she replied.

I nodded. "Oh, okay. By the way, how's Austin?"

I never heard of him since we were brought to the clinic. He was severely damaged and had fewer chances of recovery if we took so long in rescuing him.

She unwrapped her hair and rubbed it on the towel. "He underwent a blood transfusion. He lost so much blood and if we hadn't brought him to the clinic immediately, he could have died."

"Thanks, he's fine," I remarked.

"Did my Dad call?" I asked, staring at her eyes. Since my phone was heaven knows where, I didn't know if my Dad had known about what happened to us.

She shook her head. "No, I didn't receive a call from him."

I rolled my eyes and began walking. "I need to get a new phone."

She nodded. "Yeah, you should. We'll but it on Sunda, okay?" I ambled down the hall to the restroom.

I arranged my things and turned on the shower. Cold water ran down my body and it seemed to wash away all my negativities and give me a soothing effect. The scene of telling them about the killer was still fresh in my mind. I couldn't believe what I just said about it and they even couldn't believe their ears. I was wondering if I sounded like an investigator or something weirder than that.

*

"What happened to the two of you yesterday?" Hannah asked.

I called my squad to gather in our room today. I was so eager to tell them about what we had experienced when we tried to search for the headline. I told them all we had done since our first move until we got abandoned at the back part of the storage building.

"We met the killer. Her name is Nethania, and she was the suicide victim who died four months ago. We almost died. She slashed Austin's body with her knife and said that she would have her revenge on us."

"Does she have a surname?" Hilary asked.

I faced her. "Of course, Hilary, she does have it, but I wasn't able to see it because Nethania burned the paper," I replied, then munched a chip.

"No way!" Vino exclaimed, shaking his head while holding a bag of chips. "So the gossip is true about the student who committed suicide, but how come she's alive?" He eyed us one by one.

I glanced at Vino. "She said, she escaped her death," I informed him, shrugging my shoulders.

I wasn't even sure if she was telling the truth. The killer is sometimes a liar. You can't trust his words.

"Darn, she wanted to avenge? Why?" Jamsen spoke.

"What the f**k is that?" Vino scoffed. "She tried to kill herself and even tired to escape from it? She's insane."

I sighed. "What if she didn't try to kill herself by hanging her neck and stabbing herself, yet there was someone who killed her?" I speculated that my lip rose in an awkward way.

"What kind of thought is that, Avia?" Hilary unbelievably, said.

They eyed each other like they had heard an absurd quote from someone like me.

*

I finished my bath and the whole time that I was in the bathroom, all I could think about was the thing I said to them. The situation around us is becoming messier and deadly. We can think of irrelevant thoughts sometimes.

I strode my way to the bedroom and I saw Hannah preparing her uniform. She was already in her uniform and had her hair pulled up into a ponytail.

"You good?" she asked and glanced at me.

"Yeah, I'm good," I replied, walking toward the walk-in closet.

She never talked after that until we had our breakfast and set off for school. We left our dorm and bounded down the stairs. Then I thought of something that was worth my time before going to our class.

My mind would hate this, but my heart wanted it. And of course, I want to check his health status too.

"Hey guys!" Vino yelled from afar and we stared at his direction. He was with Nico and they were heading to our spot.

"Uhm... Girls, I have to go somewhere else. Nico and Vino will be with you so I'll get going," I whispered.

"Send our regards to him, Avia!" Hannah shouted, winking at me. Hilary leaned closer to me and whispered, "He would be happy to see you."

"Stop, I still remember what he did okay, I want to see his condition for now."

We parted ways and walked down the pavement. It's seven in the morning and I still have enough time to talk to him. Perhaps he was awake now. Austin was a diligent student; he couldn't afford to oversleep after seven, I guess.

I reached the clinic and pushed the door. I entered and asked the receptionist for his room number. I strode down the white hallway until I reached room 005. I inhaled deeply and exhaled. I clenched my fist and knocked at the door twice.

"Come in," said a husky voice from the inside. I was correct, he was awake before seven AM hit.

I held the doorknob and turned it gently. I pushed the door, entered the room and closed the door behind me. It was like the opposite event of what happened to me back then. He was on his bed, wearing his hospital gown and beside him was his side table which was filled with fruits. His room was well-ventilated, unlike the other rooms.

He smiled when he noticed my presence. I smiled back, but shyness was eating me.

"How's your feeling?" I asked, walking to his spot. He closed his book and placed it back on the side table.

He nodded. "Good. But my abdomen still hurts," he said, touching his abdomen.

I sat on a chair beside him and put my bag on my lap. "Nethania really did a painful s***h on your skin," I recalled, looking at his body. I wanted to see his wound, but it was just a day ago, so it might still be fresh.

His brows furrowed and leaned closer to me. "Who's Nethania?" he asked.

Geez. He was sleeping when the moment of truth was unfolding.

"The killer who nearly put us to death, who almost killed you," I answered.

"So she is Nethania? She also did a hard blow on your head," he said, touching the bandage on my forehead.

He adjusted his sitting position and pulled the blanket up to his abdomen.

"Yeah." I nodded. "You weren't able to witness and hear our conversations because you were out of consciousness," I said.

He bowed his head and heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry I didn't protect you from her. I never did my part and I owe you my life. I'll make it up to you, just wait," he stated. His voice was full of sadness and regret.

This situation also happens and not at all times. Men are the ones who save women. Sometimes women become the superheroes when men get defeated.

"Don't mention it," I smiled and waved my hand. "We could only help each other in this situation. You would have done the same if you were in my position."

He looked at me and smiled. "Thank you."

"I said don't mention it."

We laughed at each other like we had done something foolish and wild. He began to caress his abdomen and his brows began to knit, and his face went serious, as if he was feeling pain.

"Don't laugh too much, it can make you cry," I quipped and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Oww... I will. Crap, it hurts," he groaned. He breathed heavily and I just like watching him in the corner.

He looked at me. "Did you get the missing page?"

"No," I said, moving my head sideways. "She burnt it after I read it."

"She's so mean," he commented.

"Uh-huh, she even threw our phones," I informed and he made a quick turn of his head to me.

"What?" he asked, then looked away. "So I need to get one then," he said without any trace of anger and hate. His voice was in a low tone too.

I thought he would go wild if he knew about this. Phones are valuable, and losing them could expose sensitive information. I almost went crazy when I knew my phone was lost and I didn't have any idea where it went.

I leaned closer to him, squinting my eyes into slits. "Aren't you worried your phone just got lost?" I asked. I was just so stunned by how he reacted.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Why?" he asked, turning to me. "I didn't have any secret that would be used against me. How about you?"

This man! He turned the tables and made the situation against me. Well, really, if you have no secrets hidden in your phone, then you don't have to worry even if it gets lost.

I shook my head. "N-No, I hid nothing, but I was just worried about my accounts there," I said.

"I'm sure they were already destroyed. We'll get a new one this coming weekend."

"Okay, perhaps, I'll get going now. I might be late for school," I said, and I stood from my seat.

He smiled. "Okay, save me notes! Bye!" He bade farewell to me and waved his hands.

"I'm expecting your return," I replied and turned my back to him and opened the door. I closed it and pushed my back against it and heaved a sigh. At last, I was able to face him without, somehow, feeling hatred and anger. I felt something wasn't right in here. I felt my anger at him was gradually vanishing.

I left the door and walked toward the door. When I was about to hold the handle, two students held the door handle first and entered. I stepped aside to give them the way when I heard something.

"How come he's dead?"

"He went missing when the false alarm was pulled off."

"Then who killed him?"

"I don't know? No reports yet."

"Oh..."

Dead? Who? False alarm? When? I felt something strange after hearing it from the students who just passed by. I quickly grabbed the door handle and rushed out of the clinic. I dashed my way to the main building and I saw students were gathering around the field.

I looked around to find my friends. I stopped in the middle of the hallway of the first floor. My friends were always updated on the happenings in this school, especially Vino, who was the nosiest of us all. I bet they are already in the crowd and peeking at the scene.

The students were mumbling and murmuring about the scene at the field. I started walking towards the field, and as I got closer, I noticed that the Campus Police were all over the place, and I even saw Miss Nichole talking to Alexandra. I glanced around me, hoping I would find my friends, then I saw Hilary standing a meter away from the crowd. She was covering her mouth and her hand was on her abdomen while watching the scene.

I shook my head in disbelief. She was homophobic, yet she loved going to these kinds of scenes.

"Hilary!" I called her and held her arms.

She looked at me with a disgusted look. "I'm glad you found me, Via."

"Where are they?" I asked.

"In the crowd," she said. I felt like she was about to vomit. "Watching the dead body of Jeromy."

"What? Jeromy is dead?"

She just nodded and left her in her spot. I pushed myself into the crowd and I nearly vomited when I saw Jeromy was sitting on a chair. The rotten odor from his decayed flesh was filling the whole area, so I covered my nose with my handkerchief. His hands were tied tightly behind him and his feet were tied tightly too. He was still wearing his uniform and what shocked me the most was the long, sharp knife that sliced through his neck, making his head almost leave his body. It was hanging on the top rail of the chair while some veins were still attached to his body. I could even see his dark-reddish flesh inside his neck. The knife was still embedded in his neck and his eyes were still open.

I knew who owned that knife; it was Nethania's knife.