IF: Life and Death

Chapter 2: He Accidentally Haunts a Random UV

HE ACCIDENTALLY HAUNTS A RANDOM UV

Lights.

A series of flashing lights. Red and blue, white, and yellow—all of it is glaring at Leo the second he squints his eyes open. The world is turning behind his vision, making him dizzy. All he hears are muffled sounds but they seem to be knocking against his skull, wanting to come out. The pain causes him to push himself to stand even though he thinks he still needs to lie down and rest. He thinks that if he gets on his feet, everything will be alright, but it's not. In fact, it becomes worse. His head is in a tight knot. His veins become visible as if he's screaming even if he's not. Not that he can hear himself even if he does.

"Excuse me! Out of the way!" Those words registered to him a little late when he’s brush passed by a man rushing from behind. He barely managed to take a step to the side to avoid colliding with the one who’s supposed to attend to the source of the commotion.

He recognizes that the man is Professor Panlilio from his school and he feels relief for a moment. “Hey, prof! What’s go—” he cut himself off when the professor did not pay him any attention. Their gazes just met for a brief moment and the professor intently looked away. “What was that?” he mentally mutters, confused as that’s not how the professor usually interacts with him.

Professor Panlilio is a professor at College of Medicine and a university doctor at the same time. Leo remembers how he often meets up with the man for being a regular client of the clinic during his freshman year.

***

“It’s you. Again.” The doctor just shook his head and ushered Leo to take a seat across his table. “This is your third visit this week…“ the doctor fiddled inside the records cabinet to get a folder of what appeared to be Leo’s. “…and it’s Wednesday,” he continued. He tapped his pen on the paper while looking at Leo in disapproval. “Whose fist kissed your lips this time?”

“Well I punched them first for being a douche.” Leo protested, a smirk plastered on his face.

“I don’t think that’s something to be proud of.” The doctor gestured his hand at the attending nurse on the other side of the room. They didn’t speak but moments later the nurse brought a first aid kit to Leo’s aid.

“I-I can do it.” Leo took the cotton from the nurse, dismissing her in embarrassment. “They were too proud when they were mocking the school paper, prof.” Leo said to counter what the doctor’s previous remark. “So I had to shove their ego down their throat—ouch!” He flinched every time the damped cotton touched the cut on his lips.” The doctor just stared at him, not buying his explanation.

“You’re all things, Mr. Hernandez, but you’re not a hero.” He started preparing the release slip, jotting down random notes and putting his signature with equally ineligible handwriting. Leo frowned at the thought. “What class did you want to skip this time?” he asked, brows raised, waiting for Leo to tell the truth.

Leo. “Life and Works of Rizal—“

“There you go!“

“Wha—who needs that?”

“You do, actually. Otherwise you won’t pass this semester.”

Leo did not answer but his expression was not bothered.

The doctor sighed before sliding the slip to him. “Your mother will be upset.”

“She always is so that won’t be a shocker when she learns about this.” Leo averted his gaze to the open window, staring at nothing in particular.

Professor Panlilio did not argue anymore. “It says there you’re advised to take a rest and eat. That’s a 2-hour save from that lecture you’re talking about,” he said in defeat, referring to the slip that tolerated Leo’s shenanigans.

Leo flashed a toothed smile which the doctor shook his head to. “Lisa.” He called the nurse. “If this kid shows up tomorrow, send him out right away.” Lisa just nodded. Leo was about to protest but the doctor ushered him outside before closing the door. He looked at the excuse paper and kissed it before thinking of things to do during his 2-hour “vacant”.

That was the last time he got a clinic slip from the doctor. That was also the last time he talked to him.

***

Leo can still feel how badly his body aches. He wants to lurk around and check what the commotion is about but he really needs to go home. It’s past midnight and his mom would have been worried by that time.

Yes, he’s certain that it's almost midnight, judging by how the night sounds at that moment. He knows it, always. Maybe because he likes spending a lot of time staying late at night just to get lost in the beauty of darkness and the silence it brings, contemplating deeply about the life he believes he's living wrong.

But Taft Avenue seems to celebrate daylight too soon because it's as loud as it is during the day. A good number of people crowd in a particular spot just a few steps from him. The sound of the siren from an ambulance parked a few meters away goes on and on, letting those that are near know that something’s wrong.

He can see Ronald by the curb who's being interrogated by two police officers. He notices the shade of horror and pity evident on the old cleaner’s face and it totally opposes the smile he saw hours ago. Part of him wants to know what questions they are asking him; if they're giving him a hard time, but all he really  needs is to go home.

Each step he takes, it’s as if his bones crackle, shooting a pang of pain down his spine and making him wince. His clothes are still soaked with his own blood. He still coughs every once in a while and every time he will wipe his mouth clean with the back of his hand, red liquid will just stain his skin. He’s really in the worst situation he’s ever been in but at least there’s still a UV purposefully stalling at the corner of Ocampo Street and waiting for passengers.

He has never used the UV to go anywhere before but he sure knows that it can only take passengers until LRT EDSA station—which means he has to walk and go for another three rides to get home. He's not fond of traveling because one—he finds it really hard to commute—and two—he always gets lost.

It doesn't take a while until he hears the engine roars and the wheels come to action. He sits nearest to the back door, a lady across from him, and a man who's too engrossed in playing with his phone. At the front sits the driver and woman beside him. That makes five of them, totally strangers to one another, and that keeps the trip in silence as well.

"Bayad po." The lady moves inches forward as she hardly reaches her fare to the driver's extending hand and glares at the guy who just keeps on playing COC instead of helping her out.

The other two have gotten their fares paid later on and the sound of clattering coins and a sequel of bayad po reverberates to the corners of the UV, but after that, silence devours them yet again.

Leo is too preoccupied into thinking of an excuse as to why he's late when he gets home. He does not usually care at all even if it means ignoring his mom's tired eyes because of staying late just to wait for him. He’s totally dead.

He reaches for his back pocket to get his wallet but he finds it hard because his whole body aches. The lady spends a glance at him and he feels her stare so he looks as well, looking like a dog scratching his back.

The UV is dark but he sure sees her eyes widen just before she swiftly looks away. Maybe she's sensed that he's going to make her hand his fare to the driver. Well he is. Leo raises his arm, an exact fare on his clutch as he waits for the lady to take it, but she just inches farther and clears her throat for the man with his phone to take it instead.

"A-ahem," she purposefully let the fake sound come out, smiling in triumph as the man looks her way, obviously annoyed.

"What?" the man asks sarcastically. The lady just nods to Leo's and the man hisses as he snatches the bills from Leo's hand.

"Iaabot lang, e," he says through flaring nose, complaining about the lady's lack of courtesy. "Bayad daw po."

The driver does not take the fare and instead eyes the man through the rear view mirror. It makes the man more irritated as he mentions about some sort of enemy attack, along with a series of curse words. "Bayad nga raw po," he repeats and he almost throws the money in exasperation because the driver just won't take it.

"Aren't you two already paid?" the driver speaks. The woman beside him nods in agreement as she too observes the people behind.

The man groans as he clicks his tongue. "Just take it, will you? It's for the guy at the back." Just as how hard and fast those words come out of his filthy mouth, the UV pulls into a halt, making them all launch forward.

"Are you planning to get us all killed?" the lady inquires, massaging her temples for hitting against the passenger seat.

"What was that for?" the woman beside him asks.

"Putangina," the man curses not about the sudden halt but because of losing the virtual battle in his phone.

They all have their chests rise and fall as they wait for the driver's reason but their hearts that are pumping rapidly because of anger skip beats when the driver finally speaks.

"There are only four of us here," he says and despite the cold air condition inside the vehicle, sweat races down his temple. "I should've known. I closed the door when you stepped in," he adds, pertaining to the lady behind who is now biting her nails off.

The man stops playing with his phone as well and after half a minute, as the screen times out, agitatedly, they all turn their heads to the farthest seat behind them.

Leo feels gazes striking his entirety so hard he has to breathe his exasperation away. His whole body aches and is so desperate to lay on the comforts of his bed but all he gets are nuisances in the form of four strangers gawking at him.

"What?" he says, his voice falling into the hebetude of what he's feeling that time. But instead of looking away, they all hop off the UV, making the driver's side of the door their only exit. Their screams fill the quiet night but it does not take long before it becomes quiet again. Leo is left on his own again; in the coldness of the UV, his body in dull pain and without anything or anyone with him. He then thinks of the clinic visits he had before for faking sickness. It makes him snicker. If only he can swap the chances he had then because that’s what he needs that time. There’s nothing he can but feel hopeless and lets himself fall in the hands of slumber, gradually dozing off with one thing on his mind.

He's got classes tomorrow

***

Leo is awakened by loud screams coming from outside the UV. It’s not the same sound from the passengers earlier. It’s more of a cry from someone calling another from afar. With a grunt, he pushes himself to get out of the vehicle. The night unusually becomes darker. He’s not sure how but it’s definitely become darker than what he saw earlier. Leo looks around as the screaming continues. It feels near but the darkness acts as walls around him. It only takes a matter of time before the sound breaks through. Whatever it is, he smells trouble. Every second that passes, Leo feels the invisible walls starting to collapse. The sound gets nearer and nearer until it almost feels like a whisper. 

Leo is frozen in place; his body that’s shaking from pain earlier stops trembling and his air tracts stop taking in air. He doesn’t want to look behind him because for some reason, he suddenly feels a warm breath touching his nape. It’s hard but he managed to push the lump in his throat and just in the moment before his head tumbles to the ground from a brute force that’s about to hit him, he steps forward and turns around, tripping and falling on his butt, but also dodging the would have been fatal attack. His eyes widened when he saw the figure that’s now towering over him. Whatever it is, it’s definitely not human. Its eyes glow red in the dark, clamping onto his existence and never looking away. Its mouth looks torn creating a disturbing curve painted across its face, half-smiling and half-clenched. A gasp escapes Leo’s mouth when an idea knocks his senses. He doesn’t know it’s a Ripper but he definitely knows it’s a monster. He could not avert his gaze from it. He totters, using his hands and feet to push himself away. The Ripper moves along, taking small steps that heightens the pressure he’s feeling. He’s never been that afraid his whole life. 

“W-what do you w-want?” He tries to stay composed but still chokes on the words.

The Ripper stops on its tracks and opens its mouth. The smell of raw sewage reeks out and the yellow teeth only add horror. “See you made a mistake when you opened your mouth.” The Ripper hisses. “Food does not talk,” it says sternly before it growls.

“I was going to make it quick and just cut your throat before eating you. But you pissed me off.” It opens its mouth a little bit larger again. Four arms extend from its body and all of them are trying to grab him.

“Let me finish where I left off.”

One arm picks him up by his neck. He struggles, throwing his feet randomly in the attempt to kick the monster and make it lose its balance but none of them landed a hit. He starts to lose his breath, gagging from being unable to take in air. Eventually, he starts choking as he feels like swallowing his own tongue. Tears run from the corner of his eyes, mixing with the beads of sweat running rapidly down his face.

Does life still flash before someone who’s about to die… again? If that’s even remotely possible then that’s what’s happening to Leo.

He’s dying. Again.

White blur fogs his vision and his body starts giving off a bright glow. The light starts from his stomach and climbs to his chest. It pulsates a couple of times and seems to become larger, which excites the creature even more. It clenches its grip on Leo’s neck tighter, as if squeezing the light orb out of him. The light crawls from Leo’s chest to his throat until it reaches his mouth. Light bursts out and washes the darkness around it.

The creature tosses Leo to the side like a ragged doll with no use anymore. As it lands on the concrete, his skin slowly becomes hard and turns gray, like cement under the heat of the sun. It starts from his fingertips and spreads through his body like a disease. The skin on his arms starts crackling and turning to dust.

“Mortem.”

The world moves in slow motion until it reaches a halt. Nothing moves except the creature and the light orb it’s about to put in its mouth. Leo’s disintegrating body is engulfed with blue light and his skin stops decaying.

The creature turns his head frantically around, looking for something behind the shadows. It hisses and when it becomes frustrated because it can’t find what it’s looking for, it lets out a shriek, breaking the windows of nearby stalls and houses. The locals would wonder how their windows broke. They would look around, ask their neighbors until the mystery just died down and they’d forget about it. No one would notice the huge creature in the middle of the highway and the body inside a blue light.

The creature continues to scream, spitting drool all over the pavement as it moves randomly, both preparing to attack and defend.

When nothing appears from behind the dark, it takes the chance to back off, hiding the light orb between its two hands while the other two remain prepared, making sure it’s not letting its guard down. It retreats to the pitch black  alley but just as its body disappears into the dark, a loud screech is heard and two arms fly back to the concrete of the highway. Nothing bleeds out of the torn flesh. Instead the wind carries away the dust they instantly turned into. The light orb that was once kept between the now vaporized hands casually floats midair until someone carefully guides it back to Leo’s body.

The orb makes its way to Leo’s mouth and crawls back inside him. It pulsates, hard, making Leo tremble. His dry skin breaks and reveals a healthy one underneath. His gray color returns to its normal brown complexion. The light inside his stomach continues to beat harder until it jolts Leo awake. What remains of the creature that attacked him is soon tossed back to the highway. Its arms are limped from beating but it instantly regains its stance and growls at whatever is behind the shadows in the alley.

“Wakey-wakey, sleepyhead!” A girl with a playful smile and pink hair on a pig tail greets Leo while monstrosity happens behind them.

What in the afterlife is going on? he asks himself.