By Eddlynn Jennifer Mangaoang
Please do not repost or copy to another site. Thank you. Enjoy reading.
[2nd Floo Stairs; Maligaya Girls Dormitory, D City]
[00:16 AM]
Mari clutches her backpack straps and takes the stairs to the second floor one step at a time. The first landing is decorated with lush, green vines crawling upwards and near the altar where Mama Mary glued her hands together in front of her chest in a praying position, cherubs singing songs with their goat-horn horns and the serpent underneath her feet. She looks downward to observe those who ascend the stairs. Mari's hair at the back of her neck rises and shivers travel down her spine. With the red sconces highlighting her features, the Virgin Mary doesn't look as benevolent as she is in the morning. Hurriedly, Mari takes the stairs faster, almost running the flights between the second and the third floor.
From the third-floor landing, Mari walks the hallway of rooms 200 to 210, an eerie ticking sound echoes from the Grandfather Clock situated at the middle corner of the hallway. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick Tock... Mari jumps when a furry creature swiftly passes her. When she looks back, a pair of luminous green eyes stare back. She quietly shoos it away. Ngiiiiiyaawwww~~, it says, and continues on.
Mari nervously reaches for the wall to her right and slowly turns the corner toward the hallway of rooms 211 to 220. The dim light gives a creepy vibe and the open windows let the midnight dew spreads, chilling her even more. A harsh wind rustles the mango trees outside and cold air rushes past her. Who opened the windows? The middle lightbulb flickers on and off when a clanging sound of tin roof rattled from the nearby waiting shed, startling Mari and prompting her to run screaming silently with almost tears burning her eyes to her room. She fumbles through her jeans pocket for the room, opens the door widely, and bangs it close.
Her back to the door and hands on her beating chest, she inhales and exhales rapidly trying to catch her breath.
"The hell are you making noise in the middle of the night for?!" Dana scolds, sitting up from the upper corner of the double-deck.
"Sorry. Sorry." Mari whimpers.
Dana flops back inside her blankets. "Go take a quick hot shower and then to bed. Your sleeping mask is on your study table, Sonia did the laundry today."
"Thanks."
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