Night Before Friday

08. Possession

I fainted...

I don't really remember what happened at that time, I just felt that some classmates were helping me walk towards a long hallway. I wanted to see their faces, but unfortunately my eyes had trouble seeing them.

One of them helped me lie down on the bed in the all-white room, I thanked him very softly.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to make my body feel better. I didn't know how long my eyes had been closed. When I opened my eyes, there was no one around me, other than a boy leaning against a white wall.

The room where I was situated felt cramped, there were two beds with curtains and glass boxes hanging on the walls. A brown table was seen in one corner of the room along with a brown chair. The top of the table was filled with books and notes that I didn't recognize.

"Ahh you're finally awake Aya..."

The boy leaning against one of the white walls was Aji, he was smiling as usual. There were several questions I wanted to ask him as soon as I saw him. I decided against it when Aji was seen taking something from under the bed.

"The effect of the flower is diminishing, you should drink more Aya. It seems like the sunlight makes the effect diminish faster. Tomorrow I will propose that your seat be moved."

No sound came out of my tiny lips, Aji's words had discouraged me. After this morning enjoying the sunlight that I usually can't enjoy, now I finally have to avoid it again.

"So I'm still weak to the sun huh? Hmm... I thought my weakness was gone."

Aji was silent as she took out a thermos of water from a small bag she had taken from under the bed. Then he poured the warm flower water from the thermos into a glass that he took from the glass cabinet.

"By the way Aji, is this place... The student's bedroom?"

I thought Aji would give me a small nod or shut me up again, but instead she laughed. Is there something wrong with my question?

"Ah sorry Aya, this place is the school's infirmary. A place to treat sick students, think of it like a school hospital."

Hearing Aji's explanation, I just nodded while drinking the flower water she gave me. The warm, fragrant water flowed down my throat. For a moment I felt my body a little more refreshed.

"How was your first lesson Aya?"

"Not bad, at first I thought it was too fast. But after realizing it, sooner or later I have to get used to living with humans. That's why I'm trying to force myself a bit..."

I returned the empty glass to Aji, who left briefly to clean and dry the glass in the bathroom. While Aji was gone I felt strange auras and waves appearing in the room around me.

Not long afterward Aji returned, carrying a glass that was almost perfectly dry. She took out a blue box containing my favorite food, Boiled Chicken Eggs.

"Oh yes Aya, about your memory... Have you remembered anything?"

Aji asked just as I took my first bite of the boiled egg, I ate it easily because Aji had peeled the shell for me.

My mouth was too full to speak. Until the savory egg was fully digested in my mouth, I could only answer

Aji's question with a small shake.

"Is that so? Though I thought after seeing your age which doesn't seem much different from mine, maybe your memory would come back easily by going to school."

"I think that's a good idea, actually even though I can't remember anything here... But I actually don't feel unfamiliar with this place..."

A strange aura reappeared in the form of irregular waves, stronger this time. Suddenly from the distance came a faint shout.

"Aji! Did you hear that?"

Aji turned a puzzled face towards me, she was about to take out mineral water from the dispenser when I asked her to speak. The scream slowly grew louder, it sounded like a hysterical scream.

This time Aji began to realize the sound I was hearing, I thought the sound was getting louder because the source of the sound was approaching us. But I was wrong, the source of the voice was getting louder because the number was increasing.

"Aya... This voice..."

"The phenomenon of possession, exorcism, being attached or whatever. There are supernatural beings other than me who try to interact with humans by penetrating their bodies..."

I tried to get out of bed, Aji tried to calm me down, asking me to go back to bed. But I refused, I was sure that no one in this school would be able to solve this case. Everyone must think that this phenomenon is a stress or mass hysteria. There are tons of articles on the internet about this case, and I'm so glad Aji was willing to print it out for me.

"Aji, no one has been able to see that thing, I have to go there!"

"No Aya! You can't put yourself in danger. I'll go there!"

This is what I hate about the Nail, I can't force Aji to do what I want. The nail could recognize Aji's aura as its owner, and if I tried to go against orders, hurt her, or run away from her. The nail would make my body decay even faster.

"If Aji won't let me, what can I do.

But I don't want to be alone here.

There is no one I know here, to me they are all strangers... I'm scared."

I tried to show my begging face to Aji, I had seen a demit called Sundel bolong who used this face on humans to trap them. Using trickery to attract humans was not my habit, but it might be very useful for times like this.

"In that case, maybe I'd better stay here, just let someone else do it."

Damn, I didn't expect Aji to be this cowardly. Then I was forced to use my last technique, the 22:21 minute scene of the soap opera I saw last night.

I brought my body closer to Aji's, as I expected. Aji walked backwards away from me until his steps were blocked by the white wall of the UKS.

"Hmm Aya..."

My hands moved closer to Aji's face, after being this close to him I realized that Aji's body was quite tall.

My right and left hands are now touching his cheeks, Aji seems to feel amused and tries to remove his face from my hands. But he was not fast enough, I immediately used both of my hands to bring his face closer to mine.

Our eyes met, Aji's face began to blush, maybe mine too. I shifted my eyes between Aji's eyebrows, this way my eyes seemed to be still looking into his eyes.

"Aji... I may not know anyone here, but...

I want to be friends with all of them.

I... I just want to help my friends.

Can I... Do that?"

Damn, I've never been this close to anyone, even with the distraction technique, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Aji nodded and immediately invited me to run towards the direction of the sound.

Not only did we go there, some of the students whose class hours were empty were also there.

They gathered around the two classrooms where the possession phenomenon occurred. Some teachers came along with someone in a priest's uniform and also a cleric. The crowd in front of the classroom was too large for Aji and I to enter. But I could see the class from outside through the window.

There was nothing unusual about the class, it was just that...

Why didn't the creature that caused this phenomenon appear? I still felt the strange aura of the creature very strongly, but where was it?

Also, why is my intuition suddenly feeling so bad?

##########

Five bodies were on the floor, moving, struggling and screaming in pain. Three of the bodies were boys, and two were girls. Each body was restrained by five adults, teachers, and school employees from struggling.

A blackish-black aura seemed to faintly envelop their bodies, hiding their original aura that looked brighter.

"How is Aya? Is their condition dangerous?"

Aji stood beside me, looking from behind the same crowd. Although he asked that question as if he cared about them, the look on his face was the opposite. He didn't really care, Aji was just behaving as he should.

"Bad! Their life energy was eaten, besides...

That black aura similar to that black colored hair.

I seem to recognize it."

Aji of course could not see what I saw, but he was willing to try to understand everyone who spoke to him.

That was probably what made her trust others easily and not have trouble dealing with nonsense like this.

Suddenly the sound of those strange waves came again, this time more clearly. And I could tell where it was coming from.

I looked around me, I was now on the first floor of the school at the west side. The wave was propagating from the north, but for some reason it wasn't propagating straight horizontally, but at a slight downward angle.

My eyes accidentally caught a school layout posted on one of the classroom bulletin boards, my brow furrowed when I saw the words warehouse at the end of the northwestern part of the school building. To be precise, the warehouse was between the school's back garden and the field.

"Aji! Do you know anything about the school shed?"

I turned my face to Aji, who just looked at me with a question mark.

"If you mean the old shed at the back of the school, I know about it. But I don't have the key."

I quickly grabbed Aji's hand and dragged him out of the crowd, some students who noticed my behavior whispered to each other. I vaguely heard the words new student and girlfriend, or words like that. But I didn't care, right now I had things to accomplish.

My long hair blowing in the wind while running with Aji, many girls in my class asked about my hair. About how I take care of this long hair, and other strange questions.

I don't really understand human hair, because basically my calf-length corpse hair is like my hand or any other part of my body.

With the power of my spirit I could move it and make it into whatever I wanted. Even if my hair fell out, was pulled out, or cut off, it would still be as it was before.

Aji and I continued to run in the school hallway, until we finally passed the open cafeteria, some students were eating food in bowls when we passed by.

Even in conditions like this, humans can still steal the opportunity to eat? Aren't they worried about their friends?

"Oi Aji... Isn't it still class time?"

Aji was panting, ah yes... I forgot, even though I'm a ghost but I should also pretend to be panting like Aji.

"The hour... Break is over..."

"Then how come your human friends can be in the cafeteria? Isn't that against the rules?"

I could feel Aji's hatred behind me, a horrible look that I couldn't understand.

"Let it be... By the way after this turn left, the warehouse is a bit hidden."

I nodded my head, jumping over a lawn chair that I hadn't noticed, Aji tried to keep up with me, but his foot kept hitting the chair. Luckily Aji could still run after that.

There was no more time, if I was even a little late, everything would be in danger!