The Corner Read online

  Chapter 3 How?

  I shouted for help, but no sound came out. I kept on trying and trying. The girl kept on glaring at me.

  Then I woke up gasping for air. A thin film of sweat was coating my skin and absorbing the cold air to impart a chill into my system. There was nothing in front of me. Stoned and stunned, I lay on the bed for a while before sitting up, with reluctance, to survey my room, particularly the corners.

  There was a moving shadow at one of the corners. Startled by that, I quickly brought up my knees to my chest to bury my face in between them. I couldn’t stop the involuntary quivering of my body.

  How did she follow me to my home? It was my turf! Shouldn’t she be stuck staring at the wall in school?

  I wanted to call for mum and dad. But it was the middle of the night; I would disturb their sleep. Would they find me a nuisance for waking them up over something that didn’t seem to exist? They wouldn’t scold me for it, but they might think that I hadn’t grown up yet—still a baby girl who cried for her parents at the slightest setback.

  After a minute or so, I heard the rustling of the leaves and realized that the shadow could be that of the willow tree outside my window. I stole a peek at that corner to confirm my suspicions, which were proven right. My tensed-up muscles relaxed a bit, and I sank back into my bed.

  She was still grounded to that spot.... She couldn’t touch me when I wasn’t there.

  ***

  The disturbed sleep caused me to wake up later than usual. Even the alarm clock had failed to perform its function. I grabbed a sandwich and then charged out of the house to sprint towards the bus stop. The bread, stuffed with ham, tomatoes, cheese and lettuce, was gobbled up just before the bus arrived. I got up the vehicle and went straight for the back rows on the upper deck. I felt awkward to be sitting at the front, in the full view of everyone.

  Would she appear in the bus? Most probably not.…

  Though I still felt a lump in my throat and a pressure pressing down on my chest.

  After the bus halted at the second stop after mine, a boy, probably one or two years older than me, came up onto the upper deck. My physical discomfort gradually eased off the moment I took note of his presence. I immediately recognized the uniform he was wearing: the distinctive dull green shirt and trousers of St. Andrew’s Institution. The crest he had on his chest further confirmed he was a student from there. It was a shield with three objects adorning its surface: a book, a cross and a burning touch. My guess was the three signified the school’s mission, origins and motto.

  Frankly speaking, their uniform design was ugly. Green was one of the most awful colours to be used for clothes, cars and hair. Not that white was great either since it couldn’t conceal the colourful underwear that some of my schoolmates wore. So to be on the safe side, I always had my school’s blazer on.

  I was surprised that there was someone else from my neighbourhood attending one of those prestigious high schools. My district was mainly occupied by the middle class families. Most of the kids here were able to get into decent high schools and then moved on to enrol in quite reputable universities. However, only a handful of us could get into the best schools.

  Notwithstanding the epic fail uniform, he still looked pretty good due to his clean, boyish appearance and scholastic air. It helped that he was carrying a guitar case, adding a mysterious element to his outlook.

  When he turned towards me, I wasted no time to shift my attention to whatever that lay outside the window. Still, I could see him from the corner of my eyes. He was heading for the back rows. My mind went into panic mode when I noticed that almost all the seats were taken. Only few, including the one beside me, were available.

  I was hoping that he wouldn’t sit with me. I couldn’t deal with it.

  Ended up that he did not. I couldn’t thank my lucky stars enough for that. However, another thought surfaced. Was I so repulsive that he didn’t want to sit with me?

  Throughout the journey, I stared out of the window, wondering what was wrong with me.

  At least, that standing girl didn’t move away when I sat near her.

  Maybe she was the manifestation of my anxiety over the need to adjust to a new environment. She might be gone already.

  When I reached my classroom in a considerably lighter mood, the first thing that caught my eyes was the girl standing in the corner.

  Why?

  Chapter 4 Ghost?

  Another question sprang into my mind: should I just ask for a change of seats?

  Who would be willing to do so? Was ghost sighting even a valid reason?

  The girl just stood there, looking at the corner as if it was her only friend. Her surroundings seemed to get darker by the seconds.

  As I trudged through the dense, stale air to get to my seat, my molars were grinding against each other, and that familiar yet unwelcomed coldness enveloped me again. There was an unseen force crushing my heart, which fought back by pounding harder. My legs felt weak. I almost couldn’t walk properly by the time I passed by Mandy’s table.

  Mandy stood up to hold me steady. “Are you okay? Your face is all pale. I know where the nurse’s room is.”

  “I’m fine,” I gave the most appropriate answer since I couldn’t be telling her that I was seeing a ghost.

  Then the corner girl’s fingers twitched for a split second before going limp again.

  I swallowed a gulp of air and turned to Mandy. “Had you seen any supernatural stuff around here?” I was expecting her to laugh at my question.

  Blinking her eyes in confusion, she gave it a thought before answering, “This place is very old. And I heard that mass executions were performed on these grounds before. So I’m not surprised if there’re ghosts hanging around here.”

  I gave a weak smile in appreciation of her analysis. Mandy did seem like a genuine nice girl. But she couldn’t understand what I had been going through.

  Overhearing our conversation, Kelly came over and chirped, “A senior told me that during the night, you can see a headless apparition looking for his head in LT2! He must be one of the guerrilla guys who got killed during the Thirteen-Day War.”

  The fact that my school was associated with the Thirteen-Day War just upped the creepiness. It was the bloodiest war in the history of Accastle, where a third of the population was wiped out within the first ten days of the invasion. Yet it ended three days after the National Army of Accastle sent out its troops. I first knew of it through a documentary. Intrigued by the mysteries surrounding that war, I went on to google on the subject.

  That kick-started my great interest in history, namely the parts that involved wars and times of turmoil. I began to study the other significant events of my country. After that, I continued to feed my curiosity by looking up on topics related to the history of Iceland and United Kingdom.

  Those countries are the closest neighbours of Accastle, not taking Mercales into account. Vast, wide stretches of sea stand between my country and the others. Well, maybe most countries won’t want to be connected to Accastle by land due to the reputation of being the accursed land borne from the corpses of demons.

  In the quest to expand my knowledge, I also explored the past of the other countries in Europe, followed by that of Russia and China. Japan’s history would be next, after I had finished reading up on China’s.

  I had developed a morbid fascination with the cruelty of humans. Why would people want to hurt others? Did they derive happiness and satisfaction from doing that? Did Carmen feel the same way when she edged on everyone to tease me and step on my shoes as often as possible?

  Reading about the horror and hardships endured by the people of turbulent times helped me to feel better. What I had gone through was nothing as compared to the sufferings of many others.

  Alice, a bespectacled redhead, joined in the discussion, “Yeah, my sis, a senior here, told me that this place used to be the headquarters of a guerrilla organization. There’s another story: a group of spectral-like
soldiers march around the basketball court at midnight.”

  Both Mandy and Kelly widened their eyes in horror. I fervently hoped that all those talks about ghosts weren’t attracting the attention of the standing girl.

  Kelly cleared her throat. “No wonder they can’t get most renovation works done. There were rumours spreading in my elementary school … awful accidents always happen when the contractors try to do their job in Lawson’s school compound. Must be the curses of those slain yet violent souls.”

  Alice adjusted her spectacles while rebuking, “Could be just the Principal’s excuses for not doing a good job on the maintenance of the building.”

  “That reminds me—her office seems newly renovated,” said Kelly while folding her arms.

  Alice smiled. “See what I mean.”

  Mandy then whispered, “Hear me out, Cindy mentioned that when they camped overnight in one of the classrooms, her friend had heard a woman crying … there were wails in the background.”

  “Which classroom?” asked the nervous Alice.

  Mandy replied, “2/8.”

  The other two girls breathed a sigh of relief, but I wasn’t feeling any better.

  “There’s one about our classroom …” added Mandy.

  I froze up. An eerie presence at the back was crawling towards me as I waited for Mandy to continue her story.

  Should I stop her?

  It was getting nearer.

  With a look of suspense plastered onto her face, Mandy revealed, “Corner—”

  The clogging sounds of the teacher’s heels sent us scampering back to our seats.

  “Good morning, class,” greeted Ms. Fairfield, our Mathematics teacher.

  I had good impressions of Ms. Fairfield. From my observations on yesterday’s lessons, I could tell that unlike other teachers who had that lazy vibe, she was alert and focused, conducting her lessons with deadly precision. She didn’t simply read to us what was written on the textbooks. Highlighting the fundamental concepts was her way of getting us to understand the topics. In fact, she was the only teacher whom I paid attention to for more than fifty percent of the time during lesson.

  While Ms. Fairfield was delving into the concepts of Trigonometry, her mention of mirror sparked an idea in my mind. If the corner girl was a ghost, she shouldn’t have a reflection.

  After the Mathematics lesson ended, I took out my compact mirror. It was more for the purpose of checking if there was any food stuck between my teeth after meals. I felt uneasy about looking at myself in the mirror when in front of others. My preferred way was to do it in the privacy of the cubicle. So no one could judge me for what I was doing.

  The thought of finding out the truth was daunting and scary, but I really needed to know. It might just put me at ease upon understanding the nature of that standing girl.

  With my forearms rested on the desk, I held up the mirror to have it facing me. I was ready ... maybe.

  Chapter 5 Sick?

  Gripping the mirror in my trembling hand, I used it to get a view of what lay behind me. First, the reflection of the wall appeared in the mirror. I slowly tilted it towards the corner.

  The edge of a white object showed up at the side of the mirror. Her uniform?

  The mirror was tilted further, then I saw her image.

  She was staring back at me. Her eyes were covered by her long centre-parted bangs.

  She was supposed to be facing away from me!

  I flung away the mirror in alarm. It smashed into the cement flooring and shattered into pieces. On the retrospective, I was glad that it didn’t hit anyone.

  Several girls whirled around to glare at me. Kelly appeared to be shocked and unpleased about the furore I had stirred up. There were many narrowed eyes and frowns among my classmates. Some of them were whispering to each other, but all the while, they didn’t take their eyes off me. They must be thinking that something was wrong with me. Perhaps they hated me for the disturbance and mess I had caused.

  Mandy ran to my side. “You really look … uh … not in a good shape. Let’s go to the nurse’s room.”

  After hearing what Mandy had said, Kelly grimaced and then offered to help, “You guys go ahead. I’ll clean up the mess and inform Mr. Schmidt when he comes in for lesson.”

  I didn’t expect them to be so thoughtful towards me. Kelly was appointed to be the class monitor, but still, it was surprising that she had bothered to help me.

  “Come on.” Mandy stretched out her hand.

  I smiled and shook my head. “Thanks. I can manage on my own.” I felt awkward to be treated like a princess.

  Ignoring the presence behind me, whose chaotic aura was getting stronger as seconds ticked by, I headed to the door. Before going out into the corridor, I used the corner of my eyes to catch a glance of the corner girl.

  She was hunching forward instead of standing up straight like she usually did.

  Was she depressed?

  At that moment, I felt a slight pity for her.

  On the way to the nurse’s room on the third floor, I decided to take a step out and asked Mandy, “Uh … you had mentioned something about ‘corner’ just now …”

  Mandy’s eyes widened. “Oh, that. Cindy told me while we were walking back home yesterday.”

  It meant both of them lived in District 9—the area where our school was located in. It was well-known to be the high-end residential district.

  Then Mandy continued, “There’s a ghost standing at the darkest corner of our classroom. A girl in our school uniform”—her voice became tense—“only someone special can see her. She needs to feed …”

  I gathered the blazer around my body as my mind ran through the possible reasons on why I was the special one. “What does she feed on?”

  She shrugged. “No one knows. But it can’t be anything good.”

  “How can we be sure?” I thought that it was unfair to judge that corner girl based on what little facts we knew about her. I was so acquainted with the feelings of being wronged.

  A huge grin spread across her face. “Maybe we can try the Ouija board to find out?”

  I shook my head in staunch disagreement. “What if we can’t handle this properly? The spirits can end up following us …” I had read too many horror stories about Ouija boards to know that those stuff couldn’t be touched.

  Her lips scrunched up. “Don’t worry, we can keep them away with our willpower and courage.”

  I tilted my head sideway, trying to understand the logic behind what she had said.

  “I heard this from my aunt: the greater the fear, the weaker you’re against them.”

  I wasn’t convinced at all. “Is she a medium.… Does she know whether ghosts have reflection?”

  She laughed and made a waving gesture. “Nope. Just a goth obsessed with occult stuff. She had proclaimed that ghosts don’t have it.”

  I wondered if what I had encountered was something else.

  She went on to add, “There are some who’re powerful enough to project their images into the mirror”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“need to steer clear of those. Even common ghosts are afraid of them. It’s hard to get rid of those once the connection is made.”

  Was I doomed already?

  Mandy took a long hard look at me before replying, “You’re looking paler ... let’s drop this.”

  After I let out a soft sigh of relief, she asked, “Hey, which ECA are you joining?”

  Actually, I had no clear idea on which extra curriculum activity to sign up for. My choice would be none if I had a choice. Too bad that it was compulsory for us to join at least one ECA group. I would choose the one requiring minimum interactions.

  “Mathematics club, I guess.” It sounded like the best choice among all the bad ones. Mathematics was one of my favourite subjects after all.

  “This only?”

  I nodded in response.

  Mandy’s jaws went slack. “You’ll get a C for your ECA score. To get an A, we need to join
at least two that require high level of commitment.”

  “Well ...” I didn’t really care, but I kept my mouth shut on that thought.

  ECA score was for bragging rights only. It might help one to gain entry into prestigious universities, but wouldn’t contribute to our total scores for the national examinations. I had flunked all the Social Studies tests, but that didn’t stop me from becoming one of the top students in my elementary school.

  However, I had serious doubts on whether I could even be in the top ten percent of my cohort in Lawson. Competing with the best was just different. The dream of getting into Elisa Bennington University, the best Engineering school, seemed to drift further away. University of Accastle was an impossible dream in the first place since it was renowned for its Law faculty. I couldn’t hold a decent conversation with anyone, much less a debate.

  I tried to change the topic, “Have you decided already?”

  She began to walk with a light bounce in each step. “Yeah. NPCC. Kelly is joining it too.”

  NPCC: National Police Cadet Corps, a group that expected its members to devote ample amount time into those marching exercises and practise absolute teamwork. It was for the fittest ones to join. So I didn’t bother to take a peek at their booth during orientation.

  “That’s cool.” In spite of my lack of interest in that ECA, I really meant it since NPCC’s performance during the welcoming ceremony was very impressive.

  “I’m also signing up for gymnastics”—she walked closer to me—“want to join?”

  I already had a tough time doing basic exercises. Jogging was one prime example. Not to mention that my limbs had serious coordination issues, like how I couldn’t immediately tell right from left. Gymnastics was definitely the last sport I wanted to try.

  My brows furrowed together. “Don’t think so.”

  She waved off my negative reply. “Hey, come on. Accompany me to give it a try?”

  “How about Kelly?” I hoped to get off the hook by dragging the class monitor into it.

  “She’s joining the netball team instead. You can join us for one practice and see how it goes. Plus …” Then she chuckled. “It’s held at St. Andrew’s Institution.”