Casa Del Unificado

Part II

“I’ve come to give these documents to the school,” he said. The registrar looked at him with a stern look. “It’s called the Casa,” she corrected him. Her estranged presence startled him. He did not utter any word again. As he handed out the papers, the registrar took them in swiftly and rolled them up like a diploma, and tied it up with a blue ribbon. That must be a local thing in school, he thought. She did not utter any word at him, and began working on her desk, as if his presence wasn't felt anymore.

The first day of classes began for him at last. As he wore his uniform and put on a good appearance, he felt courageous for a moment. He headed out of his dormitory.

His classmates were welcoming to him, and greeted him with smiles and cheers. He’s the newest student of the Casa! They said. I bet he hasn’t heard the things that have been going on in the Casa, they said. I hope he will enjoy the years in the Casa, they said. And after weeks of staying and constant learning in the Casa, he finally felt like he had his identity founded in the school’s community.

It was yet another normal day at the Casa. The scent he sensed from the first arrival in the school was stronger than before. He seemed to have gotten used to it, as he felt like he finally belonged to the Casa. A feeling he longed to experience. With every learning he took from the Casa, he followed the etiquettes of the school. As he looked in front of the looking glass of his dormitory, he saw an elegant, sophisticated man. He was happy.

As smiles greeted him as he went outside the campus, he saw the odd registrar once more. A trace of black ash was evident in her sleeves. The student assumed she came from the empty lot of the Casa. As he looked at the woman with a concerned look, she responded with a cold “What?” He immediately shook his head and walked the opposite direction. When shall I experience this retreat? He thought.

The night approached soon after and he decided to go out to gather some fresh air. But as soon as he opened the door of his dormitory, a black smoke welcomed him instead. Smoke? He wondered.

His curiosity got the better of him and followed where the smoke came from. To his surprise, he was led back to the place where he once stood on his first day. It was the silent empty lot. Though at that particular night, it wasn’t silent. As he tried to get a closer look, despite the smoke dancing about the lot, he saw a silhouette of a woman. The sound of the night made his senses jump in paranoia. His ear twitched as his heart began to drum faster than usual. As light approached his way, he quickly ran as he could back at the dormitory.

The next day, he decided to take on an investigation for himself. As he walked about the empty lot of the Casa, he took notice once again of the ashes that were present in the area. It was a surprise for him to see the similar ashes once again, it was like from the very first day of his arrival. And the scent of burning was still strong. There couldn’t be another retreat from school, right? He thought to himself. As walked further he saw a brilliant silk that reflected the noon’s light. He took notice of the familiar color and ran towards it. It was a blue ribbon. As soon as he picked up the singed ribbon, he was reminded of the time when he first submitted his personal documents. Though he had somewhat forgotten what the documents contained, he remembered one thing. The rolling of the documents. Traces of ashes were seen and he followed it like a trail. As he went further, the scent of burning was becoming more evident. He coughed as he continued on his tracks. He stopped when he saw a small hut, with a campfire beside it. The scene made him quiver. There were peculiar symbols and a series of polygons that shaped into stars, with a big circle around it. They were all written in ash. For the longest time, he sweat profusely.

As he looked on the ground, pieces of burned paper were scattered around. No, he thought. There were more blue ribbons and pieces of paper scattered around the ground. As he took a step backward from the horrid scene, a brittle sound came from his shoe. His eyes largened at the sight. It was his photo.

The bell began to ring. He hurriedly left the scene. He ran as far from the scene as he could, and stopped when he was already outside the hall of the Casa. He felt his necktie begin to tighten around his neck as he tried to catch his breath. He fumbled to loosen his necktie to breathe but failed. As he began to panic, the buttons of his shirt began to tighten, his uniform began to dwindle around his sweating arms. He struggled hard as he tried to take off the jacket of his uniform and threw it on the ground. He swallowed hard. As if to relieve the bottled emotion he felt, he began to pull his hair as he leaned on the wide walls. The registrar, he thought pantingly. Someone must know that she is up to no good.

He tried hard to look good once again. He began to comb his hair with his fingers, putting on his jacket and began acting like nothing happened. But the uneasiness was painted on his face. I must warn someone.

He hurriedly went to see the student council member of the Casa. The fragrant scent of the Casa grew stronger and stronger that it was hurting his nostrils. He knelt down as soon as he saw her. “What’s wrong?”

He explained the incident that had happened. As his words nearly failed him, his eyes spoke the truth. He was terrified. The student council rested her hand on his cold cheeks and whispered, “It’s okay, let’s check out the empty lot tonight and report this evidence to our schoolmaster.”

He wasn’t near to being less afraid of returning to the crime scene with someone, but having a friend would be a little comforting, at least that’s what he thought. As night once again swallowed the Casa whole, the two students began searching for the truth in silence. As they approached the same empty place where it happened, two people were there. The students both hid behind a boulder. As the two figures began to light the campfire, the tall figure spoke words that seemed to be an extinct language or rather, a language spoken from the depths of hell. The man repeatedly uttered the words. “May you feast on his soul and his body be yours.” The voice the student heard felt terrifyingly familiar. His eyes widened in suffocating fear. “The sacrifice, diabolus shall be pleased.”

“What about him?” The woman asked the man. The man plainly replied, “Let her resolve that issue.” Soon after, the student councilor he once asked for help rose up in front of the boulder exposing him and revealing herself from the darkness. “Need not to worry, I brought him in.” she replied with simple elegance. And before the shaking student knew it, terrifying eyes were fixed on him, unwavering. He ran without looking back.