THE SECRET OF DEATH

eight

 Margaret smiled enjoying Sean Thompson always the same statement, "Sean, I can feel something around that pool. What do you see?" she asked.

"Flying dogs, two headed girls, legless women, old men with peeling faces, cats with the face of wolves and something that's staring at you." Sean replied, but his face contorted again at his last statement. "Irritating." Sean snapped and he stood up from his seat, and in a moment he was about to step over to the edge of the pool, but Margaret quickly stopped Sean.

 "Sit down." Margaret asked gently. She really wanted to laugh at Sean who was so annoyed at something she couldn't see, it was clear Sean's face showed displeasure and would soon pounce on something that annoyed him, "she doesn't bother us, sit down again, let her look at me or at you Even if she tries to approach me she won't."

 "But the way she looks at you irritates me."

 Margaret laughed softly when she found Sean Tompson who was very cute when he was jealous, so far she had never taken Sean's words to heart that she felt were unnecessary. But she didn't want to show it to Sean, she knew if Sean knew then Sean would do ridiculous things, for example, just a few months ago, Margaret had teased Sean by telling him not to approach her and as a result Sean never greeted her at all even though Margaret was already there. apologized, and Sean also did not hesitate to skip classes or do strange things.

 Margaret herself didn't know what made Sean take her so seriously even though they were cousins ​​from the mother's side. Margaret's father is related to Mrs. Sean, even though they have different hair and stature, one thing that cannot be separated from their family tree is something special and sometimes annoying. And oddly enough, among their cousins ​​and siblings that special privilege went to them both.

 Sean Thompson can see ghosts and sometimes Sean can punch ghosts. Margaret Clark herself cannot see ghosts at will, but she can move objects without being touched, predict the future and see the past.

 Even though it was considered extraordinary and special, sometimes Margaret and Sean felt frustrated with what they had, they even always wished that if they didn't have all of that, then their life would be fairly peaceful.

 Margaret says she can be at ease without it because she sometimes gets fed up when she wants to sleep and suddenly has a feeling of goosebumps and objects around her just float away on their own.

 Under these circumstances she didn't want to share a room with anyone, Margaret's parents even paid double the monthly fee so that Margaret could have her own room, even though it rarely happens but what's wrong with anticipating it.

 Sean Thompson took a candy from his pocket and handed it to Margaret who had been quiet a few minutes ago. "The girls just gave me." Sean said without hearing the previous question.

 "Thank you!" Margaret said when her hand reached for the candy and she opened the package, after which Margaret chewed the mint flavored candy.

 "Margaret!" called Sean who was beside her. "I guess I should get back to class, bye!" Sean then sped away leaving Margaret alone in the lounger.

 *****

Sean Thompson walked with wide strides in this crowded corridor, he couldn't even serve the girls who tried to greet him or give him something. Actually, even if he had plenty of time to spend with the girls he wouldn't want to either, and if only Antoni hadn't texted him saying, "Mrs. Helena needs to see you urgently, she was looking for you." He wouldn't leave Margaret Clark in front of that strange pool alone.

 Sean looked back at his cellphone after he took it out of his trouser pocket, he snorted softly and put it back in his pocket while grumbling deeply. Sean's gaze is now looking straight so he doesn't hit something or he can avoid something, but a few meters from his view he frowned, his eyes narrowed for a moment Sean's brown eyes were focused on something in front of him which was soon approaching.

 He ran fast, then pulled the body of a girl who was looking at her cellphone without paying attention to right and left. Sean pulled the girl's body to avoid something and to be precise, the girl hissed painfully when her back landed on the stone wall, several other students looked at the two of them with strange and unsuspecting looks.

 The girl closed her eyes for a moment and then forced them open, she also didn't understand why she got this kind of treatment all of a sudden. She raised her head and looked at who had done this to her. Her crescent like eyes were as round as she could, she couldn't deny that Sean Thompson was the culprit.

 She stared at Sean, who was very close to her face, she could even feel Sean's breath, which smelled of mint. She paused for a moment feeling something hot spread to her body especially on her cheeks. She couldn't do anything, other than remain silent and stare until Sean Thompson's face was far away from her face.

 "You..." the girl said hoarsely and nervously.

Sean moved away from the girl's face and then looked back without noticing the other students giving him strange looks. Then when the object that was getting smaller at the other end he looked back at the girl who was still leaning against the stone wall. His brown eyes stared into hers, "watch your way!" Sean asked then in a low and gripping tone, until the heat that the girl was experiencing just evaporated and turned into annoyance.

 The girl digested Sean's words that said she had to be careful, but she didn't understand what this strange man meant. She should have said that first and strangely she got the sneer.

 The girl kept her back from the wall and then looked up at Sean who was a bit taller than her, she smoothed her hair and didn't forget to tuck her hair behind her ear. "Wait a minute!" the girl stopped talking when Sean was about to leave. "You say I should watch my way?" the girl's tone rose, and managed to make Sean stop from his steps. Sean stopped without turning around to glance at the girl.

 "I guess I should be the one saying that."

 The normal atmosphere in the school halls suddenly turned into a tense aura. Previously, only a few people were aware of it, now almost everyone at that location looked at the two of them, waiting for what happened after that. They even started mumbling strange things and they divided themselves into two camps. The first camp is Sean Thompson's supporters who think Alexa Brown is not careful about something they don't know and the second camp is Alexa Brown's supporters who consider Sean Thompson to be a brash man because of his sudden actions without them knowing why.

 Sean Thompson massaged his forehead and turned his body to look at Alexa, who was throwing curses at him that he didn't know the meaning of. He lowered his hand from his forehead and stepped closer to Alexa who folded her arms across her chest. "And after I saved you, you cursed me?"

 Alexa froze for a moment, and wonders if Sean really saved her from something life threatening or if she just wanted to make her weird in people's eyes. Alexa raised one eyebrow "so can you say on what basis did you save me?"

 Sean was silent for a moment, whether he should say it or tarnish his good name. He was really confused, Sean glanced around him, he saw a lot of eyes on him without being told Sean already knew what that look meant. Then Sean looked at Alexa for a moment, then took a step, brought his head closer to Alexa's left ear who stood pensively, "my eyes and yours are different. So be quiet so you don't look crazy in everyone's eyes." Sean whispered and then he really left in front of Alexa who was frozen even he didn't hear the girl swearing at him.

 *****

terrorized?"

  Terror, that's what in Alexa's mind.  She innocently did not know that everything she was experiencing was part of terror.  And to what terror hooked her.  And why should she, and why did Margaret say that.  But since she claimed to have seen a dead body the next day she has never had strange things happen again, her life feels peaceful.  And the only thing that made her weird was Sean Thompson, she herself also didn't know why.  Should she ask Margaret that, and she also felt comfortable around Margaret.

  "Terror?"  repeated Alexa since a few minutes of silence.

  "I also don't know why he terrorized you."  Margaret replied without even glancing at the now paranoid Alexa.

  Since two months ago, more precisely, before Margaret Clark met her, she never felt paranoid anymore.  And Alexa heard what she said, so the terrors that Margaret said happened because there was a third party, and she had no idea who the third party was or what their motives were.  "Him? Who do you mean?"  asked Alexa bravely.

  Margaret closed the book she was reading.  "Do you see Patter often?"  guessed Margaret and she stared at Alexa's face, which was dominantly Asian than European.  She previously smiled and then the smile faded as if he saw something from Alexa's eyes, then suddenly has nose started bleeding.  Even so Margaret still remained silent with a different expression than before, she still looked at Alexa who was suddenly surprised to see her nose bleeding freshly.

  "Margaret, are you all right?"  asked Alexa who was getting worried, she glanced around the library intending to ask for help but she couldn't do it, because everyone who filled the library just disappeared.  In the library it was just her and Margaret with nosebleeds.

  Alexa then held Margaret's pale face, Margaret's face was cold for some reason.  Alexa took out a tissue from her pocket "I have a tissue, you can use it."

  Margaret didn't pay attention to Alexa's words.

"Margaret!!! Margaret Clark!!! Margaret!!! Wake up," she shook Margaret's stiff and icy cold body, Margaret still stared blankly.

Alexa was so scared that she couldn't hold back her tears, she sobbed while asking for help in this lonely library.

Alexa stepped back from her place because she felt Margaret was wrong she ran away from Margaret who was still silent with a bloody nose.  When Alexa was about to push through the large wooden door where she had passed earlier the door suddenly jammed.  Then Alexa's fears were complete.  She already suspected that he would die then and there.

Alexa leaned against the door and slowly slumped down to the cold floor of the library, then she saw Margaret sitting on the other end floating and then followed by books flying from the bookshelves.

Margaret's body flat and she could see it, Margaret's beautiful face was no longer visible, slowly Margaret's body moving towards her made her even more frightened.  She couldn't imagine her fear, she could even hear her own heartbeat.  Alexa's eyes are unmitigated to hold back her tears of fear that she might even have wet her bed.

This was the first time in has life she had seen such a strange sight, usually she had only seen it in horror films and even then she was not that scared because all she saw on the cinema screen was just ordinary sabotage and trickery to scare.

"Save me!! Let me live!!"  Alexa shouted to fill this empty library, she only saw Margaret who changed her form.

Margaret's hair, which was red and wavy at the ends, now turned into long and almost waist length brown hair, Margaret's nightgown changed into a shabby uniform and again, Margaret's shady eyes disappeared and changed to a scary green color.

Alexa tried to push the door as best she could but alas, it was all in vain.  Now the hand of the girl who wasn't Margaret landed on her neck.  Those cold hands made it hard for Alexa to scream and breathe, only her eyes could show her begging to be saved.  Alexa can also smell the rancid smell of this girl.

"Give me back!!!"  said the girl her voice sounded broken and a bit unclear.

Again Alexa doesn't understand what she has done so this girl will kill her and tell her to return hers.  What had she taken from this girl and what should she do.

"I..I..am,, don't understand what you're saying!!"  Alexa replied hoarsely, "save me!!!"

"No one can survive. Especially someone like you!!"  the girl spoke up later, her voice was so soft but tight that it made Alexa's hair stand up..

Alexa's neck was sore and she already felt her lungs need oxygen as soon as possible or her heart would stop beating.  But the more she moved the tighter the grip and the quieter it became.

Alexa closed her eyes while screaming in her heart, begging God to give her the strength and opportunity to live.  She didn't want to die at the hands of this person or this ghost, she still had much to do before she died.  She had never thought of dying.

"Arghh........." Alexa covered her ears as best she could when the girl who strangled her became hysterical and let go of her stranglehold.

Alexa breathes quickly while holding her chest feeling her heart pumping so hard it makes her feel pain.  She coughed afterward, her eyes which were now faintly round because of the tears that never stopped.

She saw someone choking the girl back but she didn't know who.  At that time her vision turned black and her head hurt.

*****

"Arghhh........"

Her brown eyes started to startle, she blinked her eyes slowly while looking around the room then she blinked a few times as the sunlight dazzled her eyes, she blocked the light with her hand then she was silent for a moment.  She touched her neck, which felt congested, and her heart was beating wildly, not because she was in love, but because something had happened that had taken up a lot of her calm.

She took a deep breath then pulled the neck pillow around her neck and threw it roughly even she didn't care if the pillow was lost.  Then she wiped her face full of sweat.

She believed that everything was a dream but why did the dream feel so real, the girl's touch on the girl's face and the scene of the incident.  Only one thing is visible, namely the man who strangled the creepy girl.

"Just a dream, not all dreams are real."  She said to herself, she tried to calm herself who was overcome with sudden fear, even though that scary thing happened to has dream but has fear was brought up to has conscious mind.

Then she took a small glance at the clock in the corner of her desk, again she fell asleep at the study table all night and she already felt some parts of her body ache and even she could see her own saliva sticking to the paper, disgusting.  And one more thing that made her complete, she found herself menstruating and her menstrual blood was clearly visible on her white nightgown.

She quickly stood up from her long seat and headed for the bathroom, to rid herself of the strange dream and her menstruation.

*****

Sean Thompson sat in a cafeteria chair, stirring his soup which had been cooling since earlier.  His face was held with one hand that was not holding the spoon while looking straight.

Right now his mind was in turmoil and even what he didn't believe in long ago he was now certain.  He sighed deeply while following the train of thoughts that could not be broken just like that.

His ears could indeed hear everyone talking especially Antonio and some of his other classmates.  His friends were indeed men but their mouths were like women's, they filled their stomachs with dinner but their mouths were used to curse and gossip about things that didn't matter, moreover they exchanged experiences about their boyfriends and what they did on their first date.

"I did a lot."  One of his friends replied to the words of one of his friends while putting a spoonful of soup in his mouth.

Jardes, who had finished his drink, corrected his sitting position and listened to what his friends were saying.  "As for me, i'd rather take her to the mall. You know that pretty girls always fall in love when they're done shopping."  The chuckle then.

Then his cynical gaze shifted to Jardes, the Caucasian boy, who was laughing so hard even though what he said wasn't funny at all.

"Really? You think pretty girls are always the same? I once wanted to bribe a pretty girl but you know what I got."  Michel chimed in, "she cut off contact with me!"  he continued in a weary tone.

"What did you bribe her for?"  asked Jardes curiously.

Michel took a deep breath and then exhaled "I bribed her to kiss me."  Michel answered slowly and casually.

Jardes and his four friends, as well as Sean Thompson, looked at Michel with cynical eyes, "if you want a pretty cheap girl, don't look for a girl the same age as you, just hire a service girl."  Antonio asked, then followed by the laughter of his friends.

Antonio broke out laughing with his friends but his laughter slowly died down among the laughter of his other friends, when his eyes caught a pensive Sean Thompson while stirring his soup which was not hot at all.

Then he elbowed Sean's arm, who apparently wasn't listening to his conversation and the others, "what do you think?"  asked Antonio quietly right next to Sean's left ear.

Sean broke off his long thoughts, then glanced at the person who was elbowing him lazily.  "Why?"  he asked flatly.

Antonio shook his head "Did Miss Perfect say something that bothered you?"

Sean was silent for a moment, hearing the name Miss Perfect that Antonio said to him made him even more irritated.  "No, she didn't say anything important at all."

*****

"Actually I also thought that it was you."  Said Mrs. Helena flatly.

Sean Thompson frowned and looked down at the pre words Mrs. Helena had said to him.  "I didn't know about her coming, and I wasn't in the dorm that night."  Clearly Sean Thompson and then looked up.

Mrs. Helena adjusted the position of her thin glasses while leaning her body on the soft chair she was sitting in then turning the chair around looking out the window.  "So you want me to think that dead people take them for walks?"  said Mrs. Helena slowly.

"The person who died?"  repeated Sean Thompson, he felt he still did not understand Mrs. Helena's words to him.  "You mean Miss, he was invited by some kind of spirit?"

Mrs. Helena turned her chair back around and looked at Sean who was confused, "no, nothing. Forget what  I said earlier. You can go back to your dormitory."  Get Mrs. Helena to hurry before Sean goes wild asking her about weird things.  She also wondered why she said that, maybe because lately she always sleeps late and has nightmares so she sometimes talks nonsense.  "You may go."  Mrs. Helena asked once again where Sean was still frozen in his seat.

"Uh, Oh, well, I'll excuse you."  Sean left his warm seat.

He pushed open the teacher's room door and walked slowly thinking about something, the result of his thinking was completely unfavorable.  And since then all his work is not as good as before.  It's just that, he still didn't expect that the thing he was afraid of finally appeared, even Mrs. Helena who was ignorant of the environment could say that.  Even though Mrs. Helena doesn't believe in mystical things, from what Sean saw behind Mrs. Helena's gray eyes, Mrs. Helena often gets unexpected terror.  Even though Mrs. Helena didn't tell in detail, Sean was able to dig up the information himself without being ordered.

Sean even knew Mrs. Helena rarely slept because she was always awakened from her sleep by nightmares that seemed real.

"She returns."  she thought.

*****