13 IGNIGTING HER EVIL SELF

Inside the same restaurant where York and Thea's first and unusual date happened. Is the place to meet Thea, as what he fills in his note. Peeking over the fixed glass wall, craving and for Thea's appearance and a chance to have a word with her again, York, glimpsing each one of the passers-by, hoping that sometime, anytime one of them will be Thea, that she will heed on her note. It's almost an hour from their last class if she will come she should be there minutes ago.

Even though it seems like a castle in the air, York is still hopeful, the silent treatment that Thea showed doesn't precisely mean "No" as he believes; silence means yes after all. In spite, his uneasy for the probable reason for Thea's absence. He decided to make his way and check Thea back to their classroom.

The classroom is open, but not a single person inside. He's about to walk out and decided to find Thea in other possible places like her boarding house. Hence he noticed and recognized a crumpled paper on the floor. It was his note, and with his feral sense capability, he sniffs some sign of danger in it. Without a second thought, he closes the classroom's door, and for the second time, he brings out his power, changes himself to his beasty appearance illuminating the entire room with his magic, and locates the girl she loves.

*****

From a lying body of Thea, a translucent form of herself, gossamer-thin, was thrown out from her physical body. Before her other self, in the flesh, stands up. Resembling a horse that was restrained for years and suddenly freed from his stable. Full of unexplainable glee, she hops, run around and dances oddly, and shouts to the top of her lungs.

"W-who are you? What did you do to my body?" Thea, in her spirit form, was disconcerted and anguish, trying to touch herself, but her hands just passed through any part of her body.

Thea in the flesh, with her demonic laughter, halted and move towards her. " You can call me Tim, and who am I? of course I am you, just the hidden part of you. Let us say... your duplicate, perhaps. But thanks to this snoopy little bitchy here. She released me from your exaggerated monochromatic lifestyle. Now I have my own life." Nudging Nerie's body, who's unconsciously lying on the floor.

"You want my body. So how about me? I'm still a part of you. How can I come back?"

"Yes, we're part of each other if I'm dead, you're dead, or vice versa. But here's the catch, you can't die; you're bodiless. Hahaha," Tim, Laughing cruelly and victoriously.

"But why? can't we just be in the same body, l-like before?"

"No way, If I let you in, you can take over me. "

"Then what should I do?"

"It's your struggle, not mine. By the way, just enjoy yourself being invisible to everybody except me." Tim rolled her eyes.

The swooshing of the elevator door opening stopped their conversation. Coming out from it, is York, this time was back in his human form.

"What happened here? Thea, are you okay?" He runs towards Thea or rather Tim, worried and puzzled after seeing the unconscious body of Nerie.

"Uhm...Uhm. Y-york, I thought you'd never come?" Tim bounce back a question to York since she's out of alibis and no idea how to explain the situation.

"Thea, I'm sorry, it seems that Nerie was trying to trick you and changed my note. I am supposed to meet you at the restau..rant" His utterance was interrupted when Tim unnoticeably entwine herself around him.

"I know it; that's maybe why she had that little bottle with her. She tried to throw it to me, and there's maybe some kind of poison in it, made us both unconscious, thank god I recovered." Tim is feigning as if she's terrified and victimized. However, away from York's sight is a sly smile, and with her mischievous eyes, that she intended to show to Thea in order to tease her. Who's now in her spirit self, looking helpless and broken.

York hugged her in response." Thea, I'm just glad you're okay."

"Can you stop calling me Thea? I'm Tim." She blares in her displeased, startling York and the unseen Thea. "I mean, if you don't realize, my full name is Timothea, and I don't want to be called Thea anymore." Her mood changed from livid to placid as fast as one leg can carry one to avoid suspicions.

"Yes, of course, I know you're Timothea, I've seen it in your I.D., and I've been peeking on your notebooks. But I'd never knew you don't want to be called Thea before."

"That's before, but I'm trying to make everything exciting this time. So call me Tim." Proding and swirling her finger on York's broad and capacious chest, flirtatiously.

York started to get confused about Thea's personality, but her intention to talk to her about him being not a human prevails. "How about my real identity? Are you okay with it?"

"Definitely not a problem; I'm so ready to be a queen."

"How did you know I'm a king?" York frown, more dubious. Simultaneously, the spirit Thea on the other hand was agape with the newly discovered information.

"A-actually, I'm just guessing, but it's also too obvious, with your virility that truly fits for a king." Hiding her sneaky face, hoping not to be too apparent with her alibis.

Trying to comprehend Tim's bases, York smiled faintly. "But I think we should bring Nerie to the clinic."

Tim nodded after she secretly sighs in relief.

After York and Tim left, without a glimmer of idea on what to do next and almost losing hope, Thea was left meandering around the school campus. Passing through walls to walls and every person she came across, literally, until she finds herself inside the clinic where Nerie is still unconscious and lying on the bed. She stayed there looking at her for a while, recalling almost everything that happened to her these past days. Waking up anywhere with half-dead bodies every time. Now that almost all of her confusions were addressed, that she'd comprehended that everything was Tim's doing, it might be too late for her to save herself, to own her body back.

Holding the patient's chart/record folder, the slightly exhausted nurse on clinic duty approached to check on Nerie. Yawning as she's about to take her pulse. Watching her, Thea was surprised when the nurse may seem not yawning anymore, but her mouth is still ajar, with icy sweats starts to flow out from her forehead and nose after verifying Nerie's pulse rate. With her shaking hands and in haste, she takes her stethoscope to check on Nerie's heart rate. In a while, she shouted for the doctor's attention.

"She's dead" The voice and conversation of the nurse and the doctor turn vague and fading at the very time as Thea was focused on her attention on the glass-like, smoke-like, and distorted image of Nerie floating out from her body. Her eyes are closed, but her face expressing pain and fear.

Painstakingly looking at Nerie, Thea never strays her eyes away from her until she saw her smudged, getting thinner and thinner, then suddenly fanned out, joining with the air and disappears.

Open-mouthed and eyes widened, Thea screamed, unheard as she's unseen, with great astonishment and panic. An unfathomable intensity from Nerie's body sucking her, just like the speed of light, then everything turns to black.