2 I

A loud ringing in the air resonated in the whole bedroom. It annoyed the sleeping brunette haired boy who was having the best time of his life.

"Stupid alarm clock." He groaned, smashing the said clock off, and went back to sleep.

A couple of minutes later, his phone buzzed. Another disturbance in his slumber. He ignored it, but he was bothered when the buzzing won't stop.

He picked up the phone without looking who was calling him. "What?" He spat, mad at the fact that he was awakened.

"I'm assuming that you just woke up?" The other line noted.

The boy looked at the caller ID and was shocked to see the name flashed on the screen. He was awake now. "JONATHAN!"

"Yeah, good morning." Jonathan greeted him with a hint of sarcasm. "If I don't see you at this bus stop, any moment from now, I'm leaving your lazy ass, Gabriel." He warned. "And I mean it."

The call ended.

The boy, Gabriel, stormed out of his bedroom and went to do his daily task inside the bathroom. He put on his high school uniform and rushed out of the house after locking it. He was so much in a hurry that he didn't mind fixing his appearance. He hopped in right on time when the bus almost left. There he saw a boy who has the same uniform as him; has the same hair color as his, but wavy; has a little bit of tanned skin; has somewhat a height of 5'7". It was his friend, Jonathan, sitting at the back part of the vehicle. He plopped down on the seat beside his friend and inhaled a huge amount of oxygen. He was out of breath from all of the runnings.

"Hey, shorty." Jonathan teased.

Gabriel rolled his eyes at the statement. "For your information, having a height of 5'5" isn't considered short in the Philippines." He huffed. "You did plan on leaving me."

Jonathan, "Definitely."

Gabriel, "What a friend."

"Just to inform you. Your alarm was so loud for straight ten minutes that it can be heard in my house. It's not my fault that you were still sleeping." Jonathan bickered. "I'm surprised you slept through all of that noise."

"I'm not doing that again." Gabriel sighed. "My body isn't suitable for running."

Jonathan, "Sucks to be you."

"Thanks." Gabriel replied, sarcastically.

***

"Hey guys!" A young male, who had a darker hair color and is taller than Gabriel by an inch, greeted the two lads the moment they reached the school gates. Beside him was a girl with a straight and black hair, a couple of centimeters shorter than Gabriel.

"Hey Justine." Jonathan greeted back. "And Ashley."

"Jeez, what took you guys so long? I and Justine have been waiting here for…" The girl, Ashley, blurted. She looked at her watch, shock filled her expression when she saw the time. "Twenty-three minutes?!"

Justine chuckled. "Come on Ash. Spare them."

Jonathan sighed. "Don't ask me why. Ask him." He pointed an accusing finger at Gabriel.

Gabriel raised his hands in defeat. "Fine! I overslept, okay?"

Justine went and hugged Gabriel, patting his head. "There, there, don't mind them."

Gabriel returned the hug. "Justine is such an angel! Please don't attach yourself to these demons and just be my friend."

Jonathan and Ashley rolled their eyes in unison.

The bell rang, a signal that the classes are about to start. The previously crowded halls were now filled by empty spaces. Students were heading to their respective classrooms, as well as the four students who were standing near the lobby minutes before.

Justine stopped in his tracks. "Wait! I need to get something from my locker. Go on without me."

Ashley, "Hurry up before the second bell rings. You have like, ten minutes."

"Will do. Thanks." Justine waved bye and dashed towards the locker area.

Justine walked around and searched for his locker, eyeing the numbers on each metal box he sees. Once he spotted the number 128, he sighed in relief. He took his books out and placed them inside his bag.

He was about to return to his classroom when he felt something strange. He took a step and felt the wind getting colder. He looked everywhere but saw nothing. He took another step. The place was eerily quiet, too frighteningly quiet. He felt like someone's watching him. He didn't move for a moment. His pace fastened and he ran out of the area when he saw the trash bin fell to the ground on its own.

He reached his classroom, which was situated on the 3rd floor of the school building, and flopped on his seat. He was trembling so hard, too scared of what happened. He flinched when Gabriel patted his shoulder.

Gabriel, "Hey, you cool?"

Justine nodded frantically. "Yeah. I'm okay."

Jonathan gave a questioning look. "You sure? You're pale as fuck."

"Language." Ashley warned. "Do you want to go to the clinic?" She asked Justine, worried.

"I'm fine. I just had a normal paranormal experience with the trash bin falling to the ground on its own." Justine assured his friends. "Thank you for worrying though."

Gabriel stiffened upon hearing what his friend encountered. "There's a ghost in school???"

Jonathan hit Gabriel's head and earned a shriek from the latter. "Idiot. Ghosts aren't real."

Gabriel, "How did the bin fall then???"

"It's probably just a wind passing by that Justine failed to notice because he was terrified." Ashley explained.

"That would do." Justine took note. "I'll keep that kind of reason in mind."

"Good morning class! Go back to your seats." Their conversation was interrupted by their teacher entering the room. "Ready for math?"

"Bullshit." Jonathan muttered.

"Language." Ashley scolded.

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

***

Justine was walking down the streets alone towards his cozy home. Classes have already ended long ago and his friends went on with their separate ways. He was humming a song, lost in his mind until the events this morning flashed in his memory. He stopped in his tracks when the familiar cool breeze tingled in his skin. The same fear he felt before resurfaced.

He breathed, relaxing. "Calm down Justine. It's just wind. It can't harm you."

"Anc ew ypla tihw mhi? (Can we play with him?)" A small cackle was heard.

"Who's there?" Justine asked.

"Erus. (Sure)"

"I said who's there?!" Justine asked a little bit louder, sweat forming on his temples.

"Excuse me, child?"

"AH!" Justine screamed at the top of his lungs. He hid behind his arms, terrified for his life.

"I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"

Justine peeked from his cover. It was just a man. A man with ivory hair and grayish eyes. He has, almost, the same height as him. He's wearing some sort of long-sleeved shirt with white and purple stripes, paired with blue pants and green checkered sneakers. A brown sling bag was hanging on his torso. Justine can't help but think that this dude is cosplaying some anime character.

Justine stood up straight and cleared his throat. "Sorry that uh… you had to see that um… that was embarrassing." He stuttered, scratching his nape. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, it was fine." The man reassured. "I'm Kent, by the way. I live around here." He said, reaching his hand for a shake.

"Justine." Justine replied, skeptical with sharing more information. He just looked at the stranger's hand, not knowing what to do.

Kent retrieved his hand and placed them inside his pocket. He smiled at the boy, eyes going crescents.

Justine was being cautious. "May I help you with something?"

Kent's eyes linger around and he snapped his fingers. "Actually, yes. I thought you wouldn't ask."

"With what?" Justine warily asked, hoping that the man didn't notice. His legs were feeling numb, but he must remain at ease.

Kent, "Can I ask you to be a vessel?"

Justine scrunched his brows, confused. "I beg your pardon?"

"You don't need to do anything." Kent fished a pocket watch from his sling bag and showed it in front of Justine. "I just want you to look at this clock's hand for the seconds. Follow its every movement as it passes every line until it reaches twelve."

Justine wanted to protest, but for some reason, his eyes met the clock. He was drowned with its sound. Tik Tok, Tik Tok. When the said hand reached twelve, he started to feel dizziness. His vision became blurry and with that, he was engulfed with darkness.

Kent grinned maniacally. "Good night."