Leiloni's POV
Have you ever dreamt about seeing yourself dying?
I just had this weird dream, I don't remember it really well though, but in my dream, we were chased by some shadows and my friends and I were running for our lives. But my best friend, Lauren, she got caught and her face was completely covered in blood and all of a sudden, she viciously attacked me as blood started to pool on the ground. I don't know if it's a good sign or not, but it really scares the shit out of me.
A knock on the door of my room made me groan and hugged my teddy bear tightly as I was still enjoying my beauty rest. But I heard the door suddenly creaked open followed by footsteps going inside my room.
"Come on Lei you'll gonna be late for school." The sound of complaints in his voice made me groan even more, so I slightly opened my eyes and as expected, it was my dad, standing beside the door holding a cup of coffee - that I can smell from here - and with his lab gown hanging on his shoulders.
I can't believe it's already the first day of school, I still haven't enjoyed my whole summer yet. I haven't even got the chance to go swimming since my dad is busy being a scientist for the whole year.
"I know, I've been busy this week sweetie but I will drive you to school to make it up to you." He explained. I sat on my bed and rolled my eyes as I suddenly remember his promise about us going to the movies but never happened because of his work. "Come on I made you breakfast, it tastes just like how mom makes it."
I chuckled at what he said that made him look at me as if I insulted him. "Come on we know you can't cook the way mom does," I said wearing my insulting facial expression while getting up from my bed. I walked towards the door slowly closing it, "I'll be there in a minute."
He gave me his warmest smile not minding the coffee foam on his newly trimmed beard. After finally closing the door, I took a deep sigh and tried not to cry as memories of my mom and brother started to flash inside my head.
After half an hour of getting ready for school, I went down to get me something for breakfast. Dad was already in the kitchen reading a newspaper while sipping a cup of coffee. I'm surprised, dad really made pancakes for breakfast. I can't help but smile because the last time I ate pancakes was the morning before mom died. I know, everything inside this house left me a tragic memory that I will carry for the rest of my life.
After breakfast, dad really did drive me to school - it was not a joke after all - I don't know what has happened but I miss this. The last time he drove us to school was the day before my brother died. It's only blocks away from our house though, so after my brother passed away I used my bicycle as transportation.
"I miss them too." I was caught off guard as he saw me staring at our family picture that I used as a wallpaper on my phone. I gave him a weak smile and looked outside the car window. I don't want to cry right now, I don't want to ruin my make up because it almost took me an hour doing this. I don't usually apply makeup or any skincare products on my face, but I've been crying for months so I really needed to do something about my messed up face.
We're already near Cester High and it had been almost half an hour since the traffic light had turned red. Come on! How much does it take for a red light to turn green?!
"Every time I pass Cester High I always remember my high school days," dad started talking. Ugh, here we go again, "Wait, is that Aaron?" My heart suddenly raced after hearing that name. I glanced at my dad and he's looking past by me. I looked outside the window and there he is, riding on his motorbike with another girl.
"Fuck," I mumbled. The car window started to go down making me start to panic. I tried to stop dad but it was too late so I hurriedly covered the right side of my face with my right hand.
"Hey, Aaron, how are you?" Dad said with excitement on his voice. I tried to glare at him but he won't even look at me.
"I'm good, sir, how 'bout you?" Damn that voice. It's been two months since the last time I heard it. Shit! I can't let this conversation go any further.
"I-I'm so sorry about my dad bye!" I hurriedly closed the car window and dad still have the guts to complain about why I closed it all of the sudden. "You already know that Aaron and I are already done. Just stop." I said trying to control my anger.
He was about to say something but I quickly cut him off, "The traffic light is already green, it means go!" my voice started to get louder while dad just paused there for a moment and was a bit shocked, "just start driving, I'm gonna be late for school." I said in a monotone. I admit, I felt guilty for shouting at him but I just don't want him to interfere with my life.
I looked away and closed my eyes to calm my nerves as dad started driving. I was about to open my eyes when the car stopped all of a sudden. All of my stuff was scattered on the floor of the car and thank goodness I'm wearing my seatbelt. But damn that almost gave a heart attack.
"For god's sake! What is this kid into? Is she going to kill herself or what?!" I looked outside to see what dad was talking about and there I saw a girl in front of us slowly crossing the road. Her skin is so pale and her messy bob cut hair made her look like a walking corpse.
All of sudden, heavy traffic was created because of the kid. And thanks to her the once peaceful and quiet road was now covered with different loud horns. Every student and people that pass by her are staring at her with their faces puzzled and some people seem to be afraid of her.
I leaned back and carefully arranged my stuff inside my bag. And just right after I finish arranging my things, dad started driving, and finally, the kid has successfully crossed the road. I hurriedly went out of the car after he parked outside the gate of the school.
"Bye, sweetie! always take care of yourself love you!" Dad said with a smile on his face. I'm used to their sweet words so I just smiled at him and walked away.
I was already near the entrance of the school when I once again saw the kid who almost got hit by our car. She is much paler in a closer look but aside from that, her face looks gorgeous. What happened to this kid? She looks and walks like she drank one bottle of tequila and partied whole night, but from the looks of it, she's still a 7th grader - so not a drinker.
I'm much more closer to her now and I can see her in my peripheral vision. My heart raced when her body suddenly jolted, I quickly looked at her and from that moment her body started to shake like having convulsions that made everyone's attentions turn to her.
What made me more scared is when she suddenly fell down with her body still shaking. Luckily, my senses are fast so I caught her right before she hit the ground. I slowly sat on the floor and I let her head rest on my legs, not minding all the dirt that I can get.
Everyone is just looking at us, some are gossiping and some are just wondering what is happening. My hands started to shake because it's my first time to encounter a tragic scene like this in a closer look. I gently brushed her hair with my shaky hands when all of a sudden someone shouted out of nowhere.
"Out of the way! Out of the way!" It's the voice of a man but I don't know who it is. The group of students in front of me was suddenly separated into two and a guy that looks like the same age as me sprinted towards us. He sat in front of me, using his fingers, he cautiously checked the pulse of the kid.
He slowly lifted the kid and stood up, "Out of the way!" He shouted again and the useless students quickly obeyed him. I stood up and followed the guy who lifted the kid.
We were running as fast as we could as we enter the main building, and I think I already know where we're heading. He entered a room with a glass door but I did not follow him going inside the room anymore. I looked up and there is white plastic signage on the top of the door that says 'CLINIC'. I turned my head around and I saw students looking at me gossiping as they pass by me.
I entered inside the room and the first thing I saw was the nurse, she was busy trying to recover the kid's consciousness while the guy is assisting her. From the looks of it, I bet he has a lot of experience with this kind of job. I glanced at the kid and I can't bear looking at her with her situation. I decided to take a seat where I can't see her. Why am I still here? I don't even know who that kid is.
My mom is a doctor back then when she is still alive, and I remembered, I was just a small girl when she always takes me to the private hospital where she works. There was a time when I followed my mom to the emergency room, I peeked at the door and I saw the dying patient catching his breath. I got so scared back then so I ran back to my mother's office crying.
I don't know why but every time I see someone on the brink of death, I just can't help myself but get scared and pity at the same time. I looked at my hands and it's still a bit shaky. I just can't forget what happened a while ago.
"You okay?" I glanced to where the voice came from, it was him. I looked straight into his eyes and slightly nodded as an answer.
"Is she okay?" I asked with a mellow voice still looking at his chestnut brown eyes.
"She's fine, for now, but don't worry the nurse will take care of her," he replied. I once again nodded still looking at his eyes, gosh this is getting awkward. Have I already mentioned that he has very addicting eyes? "Maybe we should go? I uh... I think we're already late for class," he added scratching the back of his head. I looked at my watch and it read 8:52 AM, oh shoot.
"Y-Yeah I think we should go," I hurriedly went out of the awkward scene that I have started and walked as quickly as I could. I dodged the flock of students that are also going to their classrooms and most of them are juniors, so I can say that I am really late as fuck. I glanced at my left and beside me, I saw the guy who has very addicting eyes.
"I'm Troy by the way," he said without looking at me.
"Leiloni," I answered briefly. Okay, that was awkward.
The senior high building is far from the main building so we've got so much walking to do. We were so quiet the whole time until we can already see our building, milk-ish white in color. I am already near my room and luckily Lauren saw me. She signaled me to quickly get inside so I fixed myself first then slowly entered the room.
"Oh just look at that! The two lovebirds are late!" Our teacher said that made the whole class look at us. Wait, lovebirds? I turned around and I saw Troy standing so innocently behind me. Why is he here? I can't let myself get more embarrassed so I hurriedly sit beside Lauren and took a deep sigh.
"Why are you late? What took you so long? Did you know that I was texting and giving you a call the whole time? And why are you with Troy?" Lauren fired me a bunch of questions so I just glared at her and thank god it made her stop. She looked at me again but this time she was grinning while bouncing her eyebrows up and down "You owe me a story you little biatch," She pinched me on the side that made me chuckle. She knows so well that it tickles me so I tried to stop her.
Our three classes have ended and we did nothing but introduce ourselves to our new classmates. It's already time for recess so the whole class and even outside began to get noisy. Everyone is just talking, laughing, and making new friends. But for me, I'm not wasting my time talking to some fake people. I fixed myself and invited Lauren to go to the canteen. She did not hesitate to go with me because I promised her a story. She is the only true friend I have since we were little and I just can't bear not talking to her when we're together.
"What did you do to your face?" I looked at her with a big question above my head but suddenly I realized she knows that I'm not fond of putting makeup on my face.
"Oh, yeah, I have a very huge pair of eyebags and I need to hide them since it's the first day of school and I don't want any bad impressions," I let out my hand mirror and looked at my face. My black irises are now even standing out because of my makeup, "is it bad?" I asked.
"Nope, it's just that I don't usually see you wearing makeup so I just feel a little bit weird about it but it looks good on you tho," She explained with full of sincerity.
"Fair enough," I smiled and shrugged.
"Now, tell me about what happened earlier, don't leave any details okay?" Her face is just full of excitement. What is up with her? She looks so happy, it's not the average happiness of Lauren that I can see every day. There is something going on with her. But it makes me smile seeing her like this.
"I'll tell you about it later," I said with my smile fading as I remember again what happened earlier.
"Tell me now I can't bear another moment without knowing!" She complained while continuously shaking my arms. Is she having a sugar rush or something?
"What's with the excitement? Can't we just eat first and do the storytelling later?" I really got hungry and my energy got drained because of what happened earlier.
"Okay fine," she pouted and it looks like her energy drained from a hundred to ten percent. I started laughing because of her face. She glared at me but I continued laughing. She pinched me on the side so I moved a bit away from her. I miss this; since my brother and mother died she is the only one who treated me the same way, she's like a family to me now.
I stared at her while she talks, the smile on her face makes my heart melt. I think I'll lose my shit if someone from above takes her away from me too. Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered my dream last night about her. I was about to say interrupt her blabbering when someone screamed so loud that made us look to where it came from.
It came from the cafeteria, and it doesn't sound right. Some students also stopped from what they were doing and some walked straight to the canteen. I was still standing straight when someone suddenly held my hand. I looked at its hand and it was Lauren.
"What's happening?" She asked while staring at the cafeteria.
"I don't know, maybe there's a fight between students, I think," I said taking a hunch.
The loud scream has stopped but some guards are marching their way to the cafeteria. We were just looking from far away when we overheard some students near us.
"Did you really saw the crazy girl bite Dan's arm?" Said the boy junior student.
"Yeah I saw it, she even ripped Dan's arm using her teeth, let's just go get our teacher," The girl junior student answered.
Lauren and I stared at each other wondering about what we've heard. What did the student mean by that? All of a sudden a loud screaming happened again. Students from the cafeteria started running away from there. We started to move back as we see the chaos that has started.
The surrounding suddenly became a complete mess. Students running around and screaming while Lauren and I just stood here still confused about what is happening. My heart started to beat fast as I saw a student gets out of the cafeteria with his body full of blood.
My body went cold and it sends me shivers as Lauren and I slowly move back. I was used to seeing people covered with blood back then but this time it feels so different.
"Run!" A student from afar shouted but we just stood there and still wondering what is happening. Everyone started to panic, they tried to get away from the cafeteria but there are students who still wanna know what the heck is happening. Our eyes widened as we saw a student furiously attacked a teacher.
Both of them fell on the ground and the student started to bite the teacher's neck. The student lifted his head ripping off a little bit of the teacher's skin followed by blood splattering everywhere. The poor teacher screamed in pain and he can't even do anything about it.
Lauren gripped my hand tightly as I covered my mouth in shock. The student started to dig unto the teacher's belly letting out its internal organs. The student feasted on the teacher like a wild animal who hasn't eaten for days. I feel like I was about to vomit but I just covered my mouth instead.
A number of students who attacks other students started to rise so we started to run away from the cafeteria as fast as we could. I held Lauren's hands so tightly as we run together back to the senior high building. And as we arrive at our building, the cannibalistic students are already there chasing and attacking some of our classmates. I can't think of a safer place that we can go to and I can't even think straight because of our situation right now.
"What is happening?" Lauren asked with her voice shivering in fear.
A sudden loud bang from our back made us jump and scream from the back of our lungs. We turn around and it was a student which we think who have fallen from the fourth floor of the building. Its body was completely broken and blood was all over the ground. Lauren screamed again and it made the cannibal students have our attention.
They growled and snarled their teeth and started chasing us. So I grabbed Lauren's hand as we run again completely having no idea where to go. We run and run avoiding all the cannibal students and scattered bodies all over the ground. It feels like a dream but I have already felt pain after Lauren tightly gripped my hand earlier so it's not. We ran across a group of students that made our hands slip.
I continued to look back calling out her name but she got lost in the crowd of students. As I got out of the flock the screaming still continued. The whole school sounds like hell, people screaming in pain, blood, and dead body scattered everywhere. I need Lauren right now. Why did I let go of her hands?! So fucking stupid! Tears started to fall down my cheeks.
"It's all my fault..." I mumbled as my body starts to feel so numb.
I turned around looking for Lauren but I can't see her, only students running, crazy students attacking other people, and blood and dead bodies scattered everywhere. I fell on my knees because I'm tired, and my tears are starting to burst. I covered my face with my hands crying and sobbing.
Everything looks so familiar. It feels like I've been here before. Is it deja vu?
Someone suddenly forcedly grabs my shoulder. I looked at who it was and what I saw made my heart pounding.
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