Malediction

Divergent Memories

"You don't understand. I need that. Please give it to me." She begged with her teary doll-like eyes. She stood up as well, not losing me. I stepped back. I can't. An innocent girl like her couldn't understand. It may be a new realization to me, but I know it has something to do with the Mangagaway. It's attached to me in a way now, I can't involve her in this. 

"Why would you need it if it was only a charm? You're not even sure it's yours." I asked carefully, trying not to make her cry. She was barely holding it. I didn't want to make a scene in such a crowded place. I might get in jail for this. 

"My dad… he's not mentally well. When he had that, he was sane. I don't know how but the necklace gave him peace and clarity. It's been many long years since he lost it." She looked down on the ground, her voice was shaking. "We're  trying to help him not to hurt himself now, he's collapsing piece by piece," Is what she said and sniffled. My tension lessened. I came closer and gave her a light tap on her shoulder. She really was trying not to cry. She looked me in the eyes meaningfully. 

"So I'm sorry if I have to do this to you." She muttered under her breath and before I could react, she hit my head with hers. The collision was so hard that I staggered back after the clash and fell with my bottom first. I could feel a tiny swell already. She was approaching me with speed, and with me confused and without any resistance, I felt fingers searching through my shirt and 'Twack!' permeated the air. I felt the necklace snapped away from my neck. Light and quick footsteps walked past me. Maddie ran to the buildings I remembered so well. 

I tried to keep my balance as I stood. I was struggling from the dizziness I had from the  impact of her head bump but I tried to keep a good visual of her. Her small figure was slowly disappearing from my view. I had to move fast to catch up with her. 

The crowd of students wasn't aware of the fiasco. Everyone was so absorbed with the rally and their own personal lives that  no one paid attention to how she desperately took my necklace from me. Yet it didn't bother me one bit, it was better it happened this way. 

It was peculiar to me that I felt at ease and glad chasing Maddie but it was how I understood my anticipation for this encounter. My heart raced again, it wasn't fear now but adrenaline. I took a path where only a measly few took in the university. It wasn't particularly a great way to be at the end of the university, but it was enough for situations like this.  I really don't have to chase her on her path. I'll just wait where adorable, cunning rabbits like her usually hide. 

 'It looked like our roles switched, Manggagaway.'  I whispered to myself. I know… I am truly aware that she was just identical, but it felt like she just wanted to mess with me as well. I'll just take it no matter what. Ha… I really just want to live peacefully with Andrea, but if things like this happen, I can really level with it. I don't mind having my hands dirty for others' safety. 

I threaded along narrow spaces where soil was not touched by modification over the years. Between buildings, I went in and out without being suspicious. It was like being in college again though I was curious about myself. Despite the years and my memory lapse, I can clearly remember every pathway of this school, even those restricted areas. I wonder what I did with what I knew before. Maybe it was for pass time? I probably liked wandering around.

I saw her catching her breath by the end of a second floor hallway by the fourth building from where she left me. I shaked my head. I was by a pillar of a building facing hers outside, where I could see her perfectly. She was  looking for a room to hide from me, to pass time. She probably thought I would give up. Unfortunately, she thought wrong. It took a few minutes for her to decide on her room and I had to wait. The door she went in latched its lock. It was my time. I went to the building she hid in to get back that problematic necklace. Maybe I could just burn it later. 

It may look new on the exterior but the building was wasting away inside. It was one of those abandoned buildings that was being prepared for renovation. The wall still had its posters and bulletin board intact. With a glance, I saw it was from five years ago. I was a senior at that time. I pulled the paper carefully from its pin. Medical Department, it said with an invitation to research on the bottom. Why did it feel like I've seen it before? In the back of my mind, I can hear people in the lobby of this abandoned building, those were college students with white uniforms holding medical kits and stacks of paper and I think, vaguely, that I may be one of them before. Why do I smell smoke when there isn't anything burning? My senses were confused. I dropped the paper to the ground and went straight to the stairs. There were more important matters to deal with.

I made sure my steps were light so I almost tiptoed my way to the room she stayed in. I stood there thinking how I would take it from her without hurting her. It was unkept like the others except from the one on the farthest end of the hallway which looked burnt from the inside.

There were two doors for every room in this building. From where Maddie was in, the other door had its lock secured and strong. I opened the door.

She gasped in shock. She was caught in her own trap. I tried hard to suppress my smile after achieving a successful witch hunt and looked straight at her with a blank face. She looked horrified from a corner where she sat. 

"Maddie, I'm not gonna hurt you, just give it back." I stood still on the open door, blocking her exit.

"Why are you so persistent in keeping it? It's not even yours!" She shouted back with her shaking voice. She hugged the necklace she was holding to her chest and kept her distance from me.

"How are you so sure it wasn't mine? The necklace could have multiple copies everywhere. Who knows?" I said to rationalize with her. I know I have to be calm and collected in this situation. I know I can just take it away from her but that would hurt her. I can't have that in my conscience. 

"You really don't know what it is, don't you?" She asked. It was true that it was still a mystery to me. "It's an ancient cultural treasure from North Luzon, lost in transit from Europe. They kept it in their museums for so long after stealing it away from us. It's my job to return it back from where it belongs." She said firmly, but her scared tone was still eminent. The sky was turning dark now. From its lively blue colors earlier, slithers of gray were now invading the sky. "But you don't know what it can do, Maddie. Let me just fix it first and then I'll give it back to you." So burning it to ashes was not an option after all. I have to think of another way. Her fear turned into concern, she looked at me.

"What can an old necklace do to a man like you?" 

I heard the first thunder clap from above. I turned to see the sky turning dark where sad colors of white, gray and black spread through. She moved from her spot to the door that was open, I blocked her only to see that it wasn't where she was actually going. She was actually going to me.

She grabbed my arms back. Her skin was pale, veins scoured through her arm as her hair was now white. From seeing her arm, I turned to see her face smiling maliciously with her eyes becoming two circles of abyss that no light can pass through with its darkness.

She was suddenly the Mangagaway. 

This is what the necklace can do to me, Maddie. It can make me think of this evil creature before me who would terrorize me with every chance it gets. 

I tried to let go of her grip but her long sharp nails tugged on my skin, scraping flesh as I struggled. I screamed in pain.  Her grip was so strong that I couldn't do anything but wait for her to let go. I could feel my flesh opening from her nails slowly digging through my skin.

I dropped to my knees and was about to  faint from the pain I felt. As soon as my knees touched the floor, the pain disappeared but my feeling of burden from the pain was still there, overwhelming my senses. My eyes searched for Maddie, or her legs at least, since she should be standing before me after what happened. But no, she wasn't. She was at the back, hiding behind stacks of chairs with tears in her eyes. She looked so confused and I felt the same. 

"Maddie..." I called for her help but it only made her panic. She ran past me and to the unlocked door that I blocked earlier. I heard her run away. She ran away with the necklace. It took me a moment before I was able to think clearly. 

I sighed, now sitting on the floor. I tried to make her safe from being away from that cursed necklace but it's now her problem to deal with, I guess. 

Tim was waiting for me with an umbrella at the signed arc of Deramiya University. He was holding a water bottle with a questionable liquid inside. I think it was alcohol. He always liked bringing it everywhere. His breath probably smelled of it. I ran to him with only my hand protecting my head from the rain.

"You know, Andrea and I studied here." He shared while looking in the gloomy view of Deramiya.

"Wow, really?" I hadn't thought of that. I was genuinely surprised. It was a small world. I probably knew her from a distance in our college years. "Me too." I said, remembering how I was able to retrieve some of  my memories of this school earlier.

Tim's eyebrows joined together in bafflement. "I think you confused yours with Andrea's university." He said, reminding me of my lost memories. He knew I was struggling with it. "You said to us before that you studied in another city. Not here." I was genuinely surprised as well. How can I remember this campus in such detail if I hadn't studied here? 

Why would I lie in the past?