AUTHOR'S NOTE : This is the updated 2022 version of Chapter 04. If you are re-reading this part, you may observe some changes from the previous version.
CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNING : This chapter contains depictions of and references to blackmail. Please be mindful of this sensitive theme and other possible triggers. Remember to practice self-care before, during and after reading.
LORELEI
I SPENT the entire day avoiding Loki on campus. I heard from Rosetta that he was a STEM student, so I did not pass through the wing where their classrooms were. It felt like I had committed a major offense against him, even though I really had not. I had not yet given my answer about whether I was willing to become a member of his QED Club. I had refused to give him an answer when he asked me on the stairs as we were coming down from the rooftop.
Yes. I said that I would do whatever favor he asked of me—as long as it did not go against my principles. But the favor that he asked of me was not easy. It seemed simple. It seemed effortless compared to other favors he could have requested. I just needed to fill out a membership application form, and then it would be done.
The issue was, if I joined his club, I would be compelled to join him in his club activities every now and then. I could not be an absentee member. Even if he said that I did not need to show up in the clubroom every day, my conscience would not allow it. It would be an academic year-long commitment, and I got to commit myself to it.
I was already with him on the way home to the apartment, and now I had him with me at school as well. I was really going to get tired of seeing his face.
"My club needs to have another member or else they'll take away my clubroom," I remembered his story from earlier. "The student council vice president wants to bully me. He knew it would be difficult for me to persuade anyone to join my club."
I was unaware of his issues with the vice president, if he had any. If only he had a friend, he would not have to worry about recruiting club members. So much for his perspective that "friends are nothing but excess baggage." I hoped he would realize that it is not wrong to have a friend whom he can rely on in situations like this.
Maybe he had hard time dealing with people. I would no longer be surprised if that were the case. He could be arrogant, condescending, and insensitive. Surely, others would have a hard time relating to and getting along with someone like him. We had only been living together in the apartment for two weeks, but my impression of Loki was not very good.
"Hey, Lori! Have you decided which club you will join?" Rosetta asked as we ate lunch in the cafeteria. After her nearly daily pestering, I finally accepted her offer to accompany her during lunchtime. Because of the number of people having lunch here and the loud noise, she had to raise her voice.
I lowered my head over, sighed, and absent-mindedly dropped my fork. Thanks for reminding me, Rosetta. Whenever I heard the word club, I immediately thought of the favor Loki had asked of me. I did not want to think about it at the moment. I also did not want to worry about it just yet.
"Not yet." To be honest, I had no interest in joining any clubs. I could not understand why club membership was made mandatory here at Clark High. What about the students who preferred to be alone? Some joined for the incentives. Others joined because they genuinely enjoyed what they were doing. "And you, have you decided yet?"
"I plan to join the Paranormal Club! I want to participate in their ghost-hunting activities every week," she replied with a smile. Judging by her eager tone, she seemed to be looking forward to it. She did not seem afraid of ghosts, if they did indeed exist.
What is it about this school, and why are there such unusual clubs? First, there was Loki's detective club. Now, there was a club dedicated to paranormal activities? Back in my previous high school, the most unusual club was for otaku who loved to cosplay during school events.
"Do you like paranormal stuff?" She waved the fork she was holding like a magic wand. "I do not like clubs that are too ordinary, the ones that repeat the same activities over and over. No excitement, no thrill! I prefer adventure."
"Is it true that the club actually hunts ghosts?" I lazily twirled the spaghetti on my plate with my fork. I lost my appetite because of our topic. "Maybe you are not really looking for anything at all."
"Sometimes there are, sometimes there are not. The main quest of the Paranormal Club is the thirteen otherworldly mysteries of Clark High," she explained. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Since it was formed last academic year, they have solved only one mystery so far."
It seemed that every school had a certain number of mysteries, urban legends, so to speak. In my old school, they also had what they called "otherworldly mysteries," but only up to seven.
"Before tackling the main quest, the club will first attempt a dry run at a haunted apartment," Rosetta said. Her words went in one ear and out the other as I stared at her. I could not focus on her story.
"A student actually suggested a haunting spot to the Paranormal Club. She used to live in an apartment three blocks from here. She was forced to move because a ghost was reportedly bothering her."
That was also where Aunt Martha's apartment was. Wait… I did not notice any other apartment or dormitory there aside from where I was staying. Maybe it was closed now, which is why it became haunted?
"It's supposedly terrifying because when she takes a shower, she hears whispers in her ear. And… suddenly, there are red eyes that appear before her! And that's not all! When she sleeps, she hears the voice of an old woman calling her name and asking for help! Creepy, right?"
Why did that ghost story sound familiar? It seemed like I had heard it just the other day. Had someone already told me? I just could not remember who.
"What's the name of that apartment?" I asked curiously before taking a forkful of spaghetti.
"I think it's Henson Apartment. Just the three-story apartment over there."
I almost choked on my food. Rosetta immediately handed me a glass of water and patted my back as I drank.
That explains it! She was referring to where I live, right in the unit I occupy. I did not expect to hear rumors about my aunt's apartment. If those spread, even if untrue, the tenants might move out, or prospective renters might be scared away.
"I'm sorry to tell you, but there are no ghosts there," I said after wiping my mouth. "Maybe it was just the imagination of the person who told you the story."
"Hmm? How can you say that?"
"That's because I live there, in the very unit where the ghost is supposedly haunting. I've been there for almost two weeks, but nothing has made its presence known to me."
"Eh? Really?"
I nodded and continued eating. "Even my roommate has not mentioned feeling the presence of any ghost. If there were, they would have left or moved to another apartment by now."
To be honest, it was not ghosts that should be feared in that apartment, but a person. As I had told Loki before, he was far worse than the rumored ghost.
After we finished eating lunch, we returned to the classroom for the afternoon period. Throughout the day, nothing unusual happened. I even thought that Loki might suddenly appear in front of me to pester me, but I did not see even his shadow. Perhaps he was giving me time and space to think carefully about his favor, or maybe he had already given up on trying to convince me.
I thought of going to his clubroom after class hours. The problem was, I could not bring myself to tell him my decision. I hated breaking promises, and this dilemma was weighing on my conscience. If only he had asked for something else, I would not be in this predicament now.
I went straight home to the apartment. Usually, he came home quite late, so I always arrived before him. It was better if I got home first again today to avoid any awkwardness in case he was already there. Maybe he would take my non-appearance as a no to his favor.
But I was mistaken.
"As expected, you'll come home early and not meet me in the clubroom," he greeted me the moment I opened the door of our unit. He was holding darts, which I initially thought he was going to throw at me. Instead, he threw them straight at the dartboard, where a portrait of a man was pinned, his face already full of holes from repeated dart throws.
I noticed that many papers with numbers and strange symbols were scattered across our living room. And the TV? It was still covered with sticky notes containing mathematical equations. He had not even thought of tidying up his things here.
"In case you're wondering, I've decided to transfer my workload here," he explained before throwing the dart. It hit the man's left eye. "Since I'll be evicted from the clubroom very soon, I need to find another place where I can continue my work. Thanks to you, by the way."
Now, he was trying to guilt-trip me. Why did it feel like it was my fault? Was I the one driving him out of the clubroom? If anyone deserved his anger, it was none other than the vice president of the student council.
"Are you angry?" I asked. "And is that why you are taking it out on the portrait of an innocent man?"
He was halfway throwing a dart at the board when he froze and turned to me. "No, no. Don't use the word innocent to describe that man. He's anything but innocent or any positive adjective that you can think of. The word despicable best suits him."
Oh! Perhaps the man in the portrait was none other than the vice president he mentioned earlier this morning. It seemed that there was indeed a serious issue between the two of them. He went through the trouble of printing that photo just so he could throw darts at it.
"If you meet this guy in the hallway, you better hide, run, or turn yourself into a puff of smoke," his advice before he continued playing darts.
Before he could make me his next target, I went straight to my room and lay on my bed. I rested for thirty minutes before getting up again and leaving the room. Loki seemed to have grown tired, so he decided to sit down and just use his laptop.
After taking a towel from the rack, I went to the bathroom and locked the door. It was time for my afternoon shower. This was usually when I showered after a tiring school day. I let the water from the shower flow over my body. The cold water relieved my stress and felt so refreshing. So relaxing.
I had just begun applying shampoo to my hair when I suddenly heard something.
"Lorelei . . . Help me . . ."
I almost jumped in fright when I heard the faint voice of an old woman. I got goosebumps all over my wet body. I quickly wrapped myself in a towel and left the bathroom, even though I had not yet rinsed off.
"You still have some shampoo on your hair. Did they cut our water supply off?" Loki asked as he shifted his gaze from the laptop screen to me. For a moment, I forgot that the person with me was a man since fear had taken over. "Should I call the landlady for you?"
I pointed to the bathroom whose door I had left open. "I heard something in the bathroom . . . an old woman's voice . . . she called my name . . . asking for help."
Is this what Rosetta was talking about earlier? Could there really be a ghost in this unit?
Loki set his laptop aside and stood up to check the bathroom. He stayed there for several minutes before coming out. "There's nothing in here. There was no voice or whatsoever. You must be tired from school. You're hearing voices that aren't there."
I shook my head repeatedly. My body trembled, and it was not because of the cold water, but because of fear. I was not tired enough to mishear things. I was certain of what my two ears had heard.
"You know what? You're like my ex-roommates," Loki commented before returning to the couch and continuing whatever he was doing on his laptop. "You're also fond of imagining stuff. Ghosts don't exist, okay?"
I slowly re-entered the bathroom and continued rinsing my hair and body. Unlike my usual bath time, I finished quickly this time. I did not want to hear that terrifying voice again.
THAT NIGHT, I no longer heard the old woman's voice. Perhaps it really was just my imagination. Maybe because of what Rosetta had told me, the thought that someone was calling my name suddenly entered my mind even though there was no one there. Our minds can be that powerful.
After I finished dinner, I went straight to my room, leaving Loki in the living room. He had not even eaten since I found him there earlier. It was a miracle that he had not pestered me all day about the favor he had asked. Had he given up on me and accepted the fate of his clubroom?
I locked the door and rested my body on the soft bed. I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. Adjusting here in Pampanga was not that difficult. It seemed that not much had changed compared to my life before, so I was able to adapt easily. The differences: a new environment, new faces, no traffic, and no dad.
I sat up abruptly and grabbed the laptop resting on the bedside table. It was time for my daily blog post. I had turned it into a hobby to record my experiences here in Pampanga. It helped distract me, especially from the nightmares I was trying hard to avoid.
My fingers moved quickly across the keyboard. The sound of the keys did not stop as ideas flowed naturally from my mind. This was how it always was when I was in the mood to write, one after another, without pause.
Then, someone called my name.
"Lorelei . . . help me . . . please . . ."
I nearly jumped and fell off the bed when I heard the chilling voice of the old woman again. I ran out of the room, abandoning everything I had been doing inside, and sat down on the couch. I suddenly broke out in a sweat even though it was not hot.
Loki, who had been sitting there for some time, looked at me with confusion. He appeared so calm while I probably looked so freaked out. "What is it this time?"
My fingers pointed at my bedroom. "I heard the old woman's voice again in my room! Hey, what are you laughing at over there? I'm telling the truth!"
Loki glanced at the analog wall clock on the side. I was slightly taken aback to hear his soft laughter. "It's almost ten o'clock. You must be really tired and sleep, you're starting to hear voices that aren't there. Again. Why don't you get some sleep? That so-called ghost will be gone in the morning."
"Do you really not see, hear, or feel anything unusual here?"
"If it isn't quite obvious already, I don't believe in nonsense. You and my ex-roommates have a habit of scaring yourselves. It's mind over matter. If you think that there's a white lady behind you, you'd probably see one. Oh, don't look back. You might see her."
Even though I wanted to stay in the living room longer, I gathered my courage and returned to my room. I walked carefully, as if avoiding stepping on a landmine. This time, I left the door open so I could run out more quickly if I heard the voice again. I also kept the light turned on to drive away the forces of darkness.
I was about to sit on the bed when I noticed something on the floor. I bent down and picked up a short, thread-like black object.
"Hair?" I whispered as I examined the short strand pinched between my fingers. It was normal for me to find strands of hair in the room. What was strange was its length, only two to three inches. The length of my hair strand reached up to eighteen or nineteen inches.
Something was suspicious with this strand, as if it was a sign that someone had been in my room. No, it was definitely not from a ghost.
Ghosts probably don't suffer from hair fall.
While I was focused on the strand of hair, I heard the old woman's voice again. Both my shoulders lifted at the same time.
"Lorelei… help me… please…"
Instead of running out of the room, I turned around. The voice sounded exactly the same as the one I heard earlier. Same intonation, same stress on the syllables. Like it was recorded. And then I noticed the sound was coming from under the bed.
I gathered my courage and peeked underneath.
Whatever happens, happens, even if I see an old woman lying there, staring at me with bloodshot eyes.
Good news: there was nothing underneath my bed except for clumps of dust. But I wasn't satisfied. I decided to feel around under it, searching for where the voice was coming from.
"What's this?" I asked myself when I felt a rectangular object. It was taped in place, so I couldn't pull it out right away. My eyes widened when I saw a cassette tape player that was still playing. I rewound it a bit and pressed the play button.
"Lorelei… help me… please…"
Now it all made sense! The strand of hair. This tape recorder. I could think of only one person who might have done it. There was no other suspect except that one person.
I walked out of the room and threw the player at Loki. "Ouch!" he yelped, rubbing his head after it hit him. My aim was so good, it struck his head perfectly. Serves him right.
"What the hell was that for?" He was still rubbing the top of his head while staring at me. Continue acting as if you knew nothing. "Have you gone mad? Is it because of the voice? Did it tell you to throw this antiquated thing at me?"
"Don't mess with me, Loki." I crossed my arms as my eyes fixed on him. "So you were right. Ghosts do not exist in this unit."
"See? I told you—"
"But that old woman's voice I heard while I was showering and while I was in my room, you were behind that, weren't you?"
We stared at each other. My eyes were filled with irritation, while his were calm. How dare he look me straight in the eye with such a straight face!
"Can you please enlighten me? Because I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied. "I was minding my business here peacefully. Then you burst out of your room and accused me of something I couldn't have done."
I showed him the short strand of hair. "I found this strand on the floor just a minute ago. It's only two to three inches long. It's impossible for this to be mine because my hair is long. It can't be Aunt Martha's either, since her hair is somewhat curly. Out of the three of us who have access to the unit, you're the only one who could own this."
His dull eyes narrowed slightly. "Okay, okay. So what does that have to do with the ghostly voices? How are they connected?"
"This is proof that you went into my room and placed the recorder I threw at you under my bed." I pointed at the object I had hurled, now lying beside him on the couch. "You recorded your voice and distorted it to make it sound old so I wouldn't recognize it. You wanted to scare me, that's why you did it, right?"
His eyes blinked, yet they never broke away from mine. His face remained emotionless. I couldn't tell whether I had hit the mark or wrongly accused him. It felt like I was talking to a wall.
"Now that I think about it, your former roommates here experienced the same thing. It's possible you pulled the same prank on them to drive them away so you could have the entire unit to yourself. Am I right, Loki?"
Silence hung in the living room for a few seconds before it was broken by his slow clap. I only stared at him. Was that meant as an insult or praise?
"Bravo! I never thought you'd figure it out in a matter of hours," he said as the applause faded. "Just to be clear, I intentionally left a strand of my hair on the floor. I wanted to see if you'd notice it and connect it to my cassette tape player trick. You did not disappoint me."
My brows nearly met. He was testing me? "Why did you try to scare me? Do you want to drive me out of this unit? Do you want me to feel what it's like to be evicted, just like what happened to you and your clubroom? Is it because I didn't grant the favor you were asking for?"
"A part of it, yes. I want to know if you deserve to stay in this unit." He set his laptop down first before standing up and walking toward me. We faced each other on our feet. Only then did I notice the few inches of height difference between us, he had a slight advantage. "And I want to confirm if my hunch about you is correct."
"Hunch?"
"That you have above average observation skills. While reading your blog, I noticed how much detail you included in every scene. You didn't miss anything of importance. And I find that impressive."
"But why do you have to confirm it?"
"Like what I said early this morning, I want you to join my club. The result of your simple test here made me want to recruit you more."
That was probably a rare compliment he would not easily give to someone like me, considering his condescending nature. I couldn't help but smile. But the smile instantly faded when I heard about his favor again.
"Ask me for a different favor, just not joining the club," I replied, shaking my head. "If you're still going to insist, then I'm sorry, but I can't give in."
Despite my conscience still bothering me, I spun on my heel and walked back to my room.
"You're leaving me with no other choice but to use my last resort," he said before I could close my bedroom door. It seemed like he really wasn't going to let it go.
I stopped and looked back at him, my brows slightly furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"If you still refuse to join my club, I'll upload a photo of your sleeping face and make it go viral on social media." He took out his phone and showed me a picture where I didn't look very flattering while asleep. "Do you want everyone at Clark High to see this photo?"
"Wait, how did you even take this?" I asked in shock. "Did you really enter my room even though it was locked? And while I was asleep?"
That was a stupid question. Of course, he did. That's how he managed to place the player under my bed and leave a strand of his hair behind.
"Have I mentioned to you that I have a master's degree in lock picking?" he jested. Or maybe he wasn't joking at all. "You should've added more locks to your door."
"Do you realize that what you did is illegal? You trespassed into my room and took a photo of me without my consent. And now you're blackmailing me?"
"Doesn't matter to me as long as it does the trick."
"You think that unflattering photo is enough of a threat?" I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "Go ahead. Upload it if you want. I don't care even if it goes viral."
I turned my back on him and finally stepped into my room. If he thought I would fold because of that, he was mistaken. It would take more than that photo to make me do his bidding.
"This morning, you were willing to help that student because your conscience couldn't take it if something bad happened to her. You felt somewhat responsible," Loki said. "Now, I'm merely insisting that you hold up your end of the bargain. You made me a promise. I have a recording of our deal. But you seem to be walking back on your word. Won't your conscience bother you about it?"
I lowered my head and closed my eyes. He got me there. Bullseye. Maybe that was why I couldn't directly tell him no. My conscience was in conflict. Others might find it easy, but for me, it wasn't that simple to turn my back on a promise, even if I didn't like the person I made it to. A promise is a promise.
"Don't worry, I'll let you sleep on it," he added. "I don't have much time left in the clubroom, so I hope you can make a decision by tomorrow."
"Fine. Let me think about it again." I let out a sigh before closing the door.
If you think about it, this new dilemma was my fault. I tried to outsmart him to solve another problem of mine, but in the end, he outsmarted me instead. I backed myself into a corner.
Maybe Loki was right. I needed to sleep on it first and think it through carefully.