1 Red Snow

"sigh"

Nathan took a deep breath and let out a long sigh as he listened to his professor teaching his class algebra.

Of course, Nathan is not interested in this, after all, it's his first subject for today and it's only around 8:30 in the morning. Nathan had to wake up at 5:00 AM, so he can arrive at exactly 7:00 AM to his school. Nathan is already a bit tired from commuting as it is the only way he can go to school.

' I should sleep a bit early today. I also need to review for the test tomorrow. '

Nathan yawned but at that moment his professor caught him while he was yawning.

"Mr. Nathan, why are you yawning in my class? "

His professor, Mr. Salceda, called out to him. Mr. Salceda has a crew cut hairstyle, a very gentle eyes, a high nose, and thin lips, brown colored skin, his body is a bit fit like a person who goes to the gym three times a week and a height of at least 5'9.

Mr. Salceda is one of the most respected professors in Nathan's university he's currently studying so the students really love him.

"Uhm..."

Nathan can't think of any alibi, so he just smiled awkwardly to his professor.

"Pffft"

Nathan heard someone laugh to his right and there he saw one of his friends, John, he has a bald head, an oval-shaped face, flat nose, and thin lips, milky white skin and a height of 5'9 like their professor.

John was holding his laughter so much that tears started to form on the side of his slanted eyes.

Nathan glared at John who was still holding his laughter. They met each other's gaze and John immediately looked in the opposite direction while still holding his laughter.

"Are you feeling tired? sleepy perhaps? I can get you a coffee if you want, though the price of the coffee will also be your score for tomorrow's test. How about that?".

Some of his classmates started laughing. Finally after holding back for so long John can finally laugh to his heart's content.

" But sir what if I want the most expensive coffee being sold here on our campus?"

Nathan rebutted.

"Mr. Nathan, the most expensive coffee here is only 12 pesos. Even if I bought you 5 pieces, you're still going to fail."

Mr. Salceda said with gentle and apologetic voice its as if he's feeling sorry for his student.

"Ohh... Haha"

Nathan just realized that there was no coffee shop inside their campus. after all, this is only a university, not a private college school. they only have one cafeteria and the coffee sold there is the ones that come in sachets. Nathan could only smile bitterly and release an awkward laugh.

" I was just kidding though hahaha."

Mr. Salceda said this with a loud laugh.

"you guys know that I won't let you fail right? I will even tutor you one by one just to help you pass my subject"

Mr. Salceda said with a gentle voice while looking with a warm gaze at his beloved students that he almost treats like his own children. no wonder why other professors and students respect him so much.

The whole class felt good and became motivated even more because of what their professor said.

then at this moment.

the light coming from the gaps of the dark green curtain that was covering the windows became a bloody red. On his right side, Nathan swiped the curtain open, revealing the scene from below.

their classroom is on the 3rd floor of the building. from there, Nathan can see the roads leading to their school campus, on the left side of the road is the cafeterias where they usually ate at with his friends, then facing the cafeteria on the other side of the road to the right is the jeepney terminal for the students who are commuting going either to their home or someplace else.

Nathan also saw male and female students wearing a short-sleeved beige colored blouse, dark green pants with a logo of the school on the left collar of the blouse for women while for men was short-sleeved beige-colored polo and black pants with a patch of the school logo on the left side of their chest.

the students stood like a stone statue on the road while looking up at the sky. emotions can be seen from their facial expressions, they were baffled some even were panicking and quickly running to go inside their campus.

the commuters inside the jeepneys were riding at poking their head outside to see what was going on, some even left the jeepney to go outside to have a better look.

then something strange happened.

red snow-like substance started falling from the bloody red sky. as for being on the 3rd floor Nathan's class was the first one to see the red snow up close. the whole class's mouths were wide open disbelief can be seen on their eyes because it was impossible for snow to fall on their country, the Philippines, as it was located at the equator and is a tropical country. furthermore, there was no visible cloud that can be seen on the now bloody red sky, so it was literally impossible to happen.

out of curiosity their professor, Mr. Salceda opened the glass window and poke his right hand outside to feel the red snow. immediately after a single flake of red snow fell to his palm.

then it happened.

the red snow completely melted and vanished into thin air like it was a lie all that was left was a very tiny little red bead the size of butterfly eggs. Mr. Salceda then felt a sharp sting on his palm where the red bead was resting. then he saw something bulging from beneath his skin and it was moving at an alarmingly fast pace as it traveled from his palm to his arm it started getting bigger and bigger until it was as long as a pen and as thick as his pinky finger.

"Ahhh, Damnit it hurts. Ahhhhh"

Mr. Salceda let out a pained scream. he tried to stop the thing from moving up to his shoulder by wrapping down his left hand on his biceps as tightly as he could.

"Hel- Help me get this thing off my body, find something to tie up my arm. ahhh!"

Mr. Salceda was panting like an exhausted dog after it ran around the dog park. his vision started getting blurry, his heart was thumping like crazy.

The whole class was just staring at their beloved professor not knowing what to do, they stood there frozen and had a pale face. some students were shocked at the sight of the pained professor, while the others were staring at the long and thick thing crawling underneath the professor's skin. some students begin to felt dizzy at the sight, while the others quickly retracted their arms back inside.

"Guys, what are you doing? don't just stand there lets hurry and find something to help professor!"

Annie, the class president, she has shoulder-length black hair a sharp eyes, high nose, and thin lips, oval-shaped face a slim body and a height of at least 5'7, was the first one to come to senses and reacted quickly, she woke up the students from their shock.

The students started scrambling looking for something that can help. but it was too late.

"ahhhhhh"

Mr. Salceda let out a long loud scream enough for it to be heard from across the hallway to the other rooms adjacent to theirs. tears started pouring out of his eyes because of the pain. he started panting and gasping loudly as he saw the once trapped thing under his skin started digging deeper into his muscle. he can feel it moving inside him. it felt like an itch that cannot be scratched. it was so painful that he would black out any second now.

all he could think of right now was amputating his right arm. but it was impossible because of the lack of tools and even if there were tools he doesn't know if he can do it.

he can feel it now on his neck climbing. it seems it was going to his head. at that moment his eyes turned white his vision started getting darker and darker. his left hand that was holding his right biceps finally loosened its grip. he stumbled and then fell on the floor face first. finally, the thing that was crawling inside his body, reached its destination.