CHAPTER 5

BUBBLE PROMISE

❤❤

 All through the class of Mrs. Lin and her scary stares whenever I yawned, my stomach flipped back and forth and so did my mind, from Damon to Desiree and Declan Gardiner. My only consolation was that there was no chemistry class after lunch. When I turned to my left as Mrs. Lin put her back to us, facing the board, I saw Aiden struggling to keep his eyes open and I giggled.

"Who was that?" Mrs. Lin asked, scanning our faces. I froze my face immediately and Aiden was back from slumberland.

Did I giggle that loud?

"It was Margo." Fiona's dainty voice came up.

She always sat at the back of us so she could watch us all the time. If at all she had to sit in front of us, trust me, her neck would turn on its 180-degree mode and if needed, it could go further and further to 360-degree. I could never discern what she found so fascinating in us. To be exact, I didn't know what she found interesting in me. I mean, I wouldn't even analyze me the way she did - all the time. If I did, I wouldn't be such a clumsy mess. I shouldn't have reacted to her telling on me, but I twisted in my seat and turned back to give her a stare, only to realize Elec who was behind me, was already staring at her. We were caught in the act and we got another death-threat stare from Mrs. Lin and an imposition of the equations to be submitted in the next class. Each equation 5 times. Trash. I put my head down looking into my notebook.

When it was lunch, Irsia had the riveting topic to discuss. She had an unquenchable curiosity for everything and CONMISDUM and the missing corpses were just what she wanted.

"Do you know...?" she began. She would make us know anyway. "Again, five corpses had been dug from the Aelburn cemetery. It's been 15 missing corpses this month in Aelburn." 

"That's what the newspaper said. Ghouls stealing corpses." said Elec, chewing her food, bored by the topic of CONMISDUM and ghouls. She didn't believe in ghouls. Irsia just loved to talk about it. I didn't know about Aiden's beliefs in this, but he for sure listened to Irsia attentively.

"I saw a video that explained that this is all staged by a satanic cult. That the cult is sending people straight to hell." Irsia shared her internet knowledge. 

"I saw a video speculate that this has something to do with extra terrestrial beings invasion." I added to the internet knowledge pool.

"I saw that spooky video too. That guy needs to learn how to add appropriate background music. I mean, the comments for the video were more creative than the editing." I laughed at how relatable Aiden's remark was.

"One more word about CONMISDUM, ghouls, or the half-baked internet videos I would either go eat my lunch with Mrs. Lin or I'd puke. These nonsensical speculations are making me regurgitate without even having to look at Fiona's promiscuity with Edric and every other guy." That was Elec ending the conversation.

We were all scared to death because of CONMISDUM, but also bored to death because of CONMISDUM. It was all that people ever talked about anymore. It was all that you could see anymore -News channels, Newspapers and Missing-person posters. It all began a year ago when people went missing. Some of them came back and they infected the ones in their family or friends or anyone they met. People went missing in bunches. It usually took from 6 hours to 3 days for a person who was infected to go missing. It was then announced that it was a mental disease that was contagious. No one knew how it started or how to stop it. When people saw their missing relative, they were supposed to call the CONMISDUM protection facility in Fayhedge town.

Strangely, no missing person had been found or caught by the team working in CONMISDUM protection facility. It was as if the missing people had vanished the face of the earth. Hence, there was no medicine or vaccine or whatever that was needed to stop or cure the disease. So the council of CONMISDUM protection facility devised a new plan to take the family of the missing person and keep them in the facility to protect them. It was on the assumption that it was the family that the missing person would turn to when they returned and rarely, some turned to their friends. Initially, the CONMISDUM protection facility wanted to take the friends of the missing person too, but it was denied by many and protests stirred. So they didn't take away the friends, but it was said that the friends were monitored for a few days discreetly to check for any signs of infection. The only sign that we all knew as a sign of infection was that people with CONMISDUM behaved like they were mentally ill. So I could be monitored now. If at all Desiree returned, I would surely be monitored.

The people who were taken to the CONMISDUM protection facility were given some special hypnotic therapy which the CONMISDUM protection staffs claimed to ward off the delirium. There were rumors that the hypnotic therapy didn't work on some people if they were already infected and that the infected ones were shut in small rooms in the basement which was likely to cause claustrophobia even to the lunatics. 

The disease was termed CONMISDUM -short for CONtagious MISsing DeliriUM. The people who were kept in the protection center were never sent home because the missing person from their family was never found. The CONMISUM facility was now being questioned by the public as to what they do besides taking the family members to the protection center. It was a mystery unsolved. No one could come up with a better solution or a plan to find the missing.

So far, there were 256 missing people from my town and the neighboring towns and cities. 32 missing people from Wynerville, 76 from Aelburn, 29 from Hamilton-Isle, 40 from Eyers Grove, 17 from Ironwyn, 11 from Oldshore, 14 from Coldlyn, 6 from Fayhedge and there had been 31 people missing from my town (Ostonn Newvale) including Desiree and Declan. This number didn't include the 19 murders and 23 suicides that were involved with CONMISDUM.
Add this horror to the horror of grave robbery that seemed insidious. People said that it was the ghouls doing this. Some even say that they spotted the ghouls digging up the grave, going savage on the decayed flesh and bones. People started considering cremation. Maybe that would stop attracting the ghouls. In my opinion, if dead people couldn't be happy in their graves, then death wasn't worth dying. There seemed to be all kinds of chaos going on and yet nothing ever shook Mrs. Lin taking class. God! She scared me more than CONMISDUM and the ghouls.

298 was the number of people lost to the cruel CONMISDUM. Officers claimed that only 43 people who were murdered and had killed themselves were lost forever and the rest 256 were only temporarily lost, giving assurance that they would be found. That always sounded ridiculous to me. It was like a promising that the bubble you blow will stay longer than the bubbles that others blow when you actually know that it would burst eventually anyway. I despised bubble promises. 

There were at least 600 people locked and loaded in the CONMISDUM protection facility. Imagine a building that big. Imagine the amount of money the government had to spend on feeding them. Only a very few came home. These few people belonged to the family of the COMISDUM infected ones that were either murdered by someone or the ones who killed themselves. Declan and Desiree were the only people that my friends and I knew personally who had went missing.

"Hey Margo, did you know that Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were taken to the CONMISDUM facility?" came a voice from behind me. I didn't have to turn to see who it was. It was Fiona.

"Don't strain your neck to turn, Margo. I'll handle this." Elec put a callous smile. "Honey, everyone knows that they have been taken by the CONMISDUM protection facility. Ever heard of a newspaper?"

Fiona scoffed. "Chill, Withers. Why do you always have to be the alpha of the pack and protect everyone else? Relax. I won't call the officers to tell how Margo and Desiree were close."

"Well, you can call the officers. They can take me and run tests to see if I act demented or if I have issues controlling my anger. They can lock me up in that facility till they find a cure but nothing will make me feel worse than seeing you every day." Words flew out of my mouth whenever I saw her. She was the most annoying person in whole of Ostonn Newvale.

"Well done, Walker." Elec was so proud of me. "And yes sweetie, I am the alpha." Elec sounded so sweet, whipping the words at Fiona.

Fiona didn't accept her failures at attempting to pick fights with us. With another scoff, she walked away with too much movement in her hips, saying "hi" to Aiden. Irsia and I looked surprised.

"When did that happen!?" Irsia asked.

"Uh... just now. I think...," Aiden answered, shrugging, who was just as much as confused as I was at the moment.

"Good choice, Aiden." Elec rolled her eyes.

Aiden stared at Elec with his tongue pushing the lower right cheek, meaning that he was annoyed. These two could never stop annoying each other.

"Margo, no one would actually take you to the CONMISDUM protection facility because Desiree wasn't with you. The officers can take only those who were with them the last before they went missing." Irsia always had the right point to make.

"I know. They can't take me. I'm not worried about that."

Irsia let out a sigh. "It's Damon. Isn't?"

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"You know what? Let's go look for him this evening," Aiden offered. "You tell the places to look and I will be your driver."

Now, Elec turned to him with the same reaction. Pushing her tongue against her right cheek. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "what exactly are you trying to do?"

"I'm just helping." He shrugged.

"Thanks, Aiden. I appreciate it, but I don't want to trouble you."

"Trouble is looking at you not eating." Irsia snapped. "You aren't going anywhere alone. We are coming with you."

That's it. They wouldn't leave me alone. "But I have work at the library after school."

"I'll go home, water the plants and then come back and pick you up after an hour." Elec's voice was firm. She wanted to convey Aiden that he wasn't going to pick me up after my work at the library. Aiden didn't seem to care about her threats or her being the alpha of the pack. I didn't know why he loved to be with us. These fights and bickering didn't seem to bother him. He was almost always comfortable with everything that was going on around. How could anyone conceive that skill? I've rarely seen him angry or anxious. Now that was what I'd call a superpower, super strength. Who wanted to spit fire, fly and become invisible? Not me.

Aiden walked to the bunch of boys at another table and they were doing boys' stuff. Weird as always. All they did was punch each other or roar into laughter. Aiden was close with Edric, Irsia's brother. Edric was a junior when we were freshmen. Edric was the reason why boys were afraid of Irsia. Irsia wouldn't even notice that boys were scared of her; she was just that busy. Somehow Edric went along well with Aiden. I wondered how that happened. Elec and Edric, how could I put this delicately? They didn't get along very well. Well, to be blunt, I didn't like him either and they were mortal enemies, since Edric pushed Elec into muddy water when we were twelve and he was fourteen. Elec, Irsia and I just had our hair cut. Edric then sped off with his bike. Elec had to walk home with Irsia and I with drenched clothes and hair. Since then, he had become our enemy. By the end of our freshman year, it was so obvious that Edric liked Elec way too much that he wouldn't let any guy talk to her. I mean, he might have rights to protect his little sister, but he didn't have any rights on Elec. Elec was trying so hard not to kill him. The tension between Miles and Edric was growing every day. I was just happy that one of them didn't end up in jail.

On a random day last summer, while we were at Irsia's home, Edric apologized to Elec, saying he was dumb to push her like that into muddy water and that he did it when he didn't even know how to spell real mature. Elec so graciously threw a glass of water in his face. I could not forget how red he looked and I still remember Irsia's ringing laughter in my ears. When he walked toward Elec from across the table, I was frantic and was looking for something to diffuse the upcoming murder. But I wasn't sure who would kill who. Irsia looked like she was in no position to stop her laughter for a decade. But Elec wasn't one bit scared of him. She just stood there staring at him with her usual attitude. I almost let out a scream when he neared Elec but he just took the kitchen towel that was hanging near Elec and walked away. Trust me, even Damon looked shocked at him just walking away like that. He dropped his crocodile toy down from his mouth and looked at Edric in awe.

The only thing I liked about Edric was the fact that he loved Damon and he did warn about Kyle once in a very subtle way, but I was dumb enough not to catch it. I quote his words, 'girls always fall for the wrong guy, Fawn. I'd say don't fall for the wrong guy, but you won't listen. Would you?' He mentioned my name in the sentence, but his eyes were on Elec when he said that. So obviously my denial overruled my logic and I thought he was talking about Elec and Miles. Once everyone knew Kyle had dumped me, Edric literally told me - 'I told you so' and I had to yell back at him -'no, you didn't.' He even texted me once after he moved to Silver Oak University, asking how Damon was. That memory sent a pang of poking pain to my heart. Where could he have gone? To the woods? Because no one had found him in spite of all the flyers Aiden and Irsia had put up.

Irsia was very inquisitive about my lip stain and wondered about how my lip stain lasted longer than others'. Elec, too, agreed that my lip stain didn't fade at all until evening. Well, Irsia and I used the same lip stain, while Elec used some lip gloss, but Irsia's and Elec's faded by lunch. Maybe I was really careful subconsciously about my lip stain while I ate.

"Irsia, you have blue contact lens now?"

"Every other color looks natural except my sea-green eyes." Irsia slouched. That was Irsia's biggest insecurity.

"You just don't realize how mesmerizing your green eyes are, Irsia."

"I wish I had interesting eyes like yours. I feel like I'd forget the real color of your eyes." Elec suffixed to my statement.

"Better." Irsia chirped.

After school, I went to the library to rearrange the books and put them in their shelves. I got this job from Mrs. Eden Wilder - Aiden's mom. She was our librarian, a really sweet person. I found so many books on the tables, some on the floor. I started reshelving without delaying. If I took a minute to look at the books lying around and observe that there were loads of books to reshelve, I'd realize one hour won't be enough for reshelving. And that's not usually how I did things. I walked as fast as I could around the tables, stacks and shelves. I carried as much as my hands could hold and as much as I could lift. Whenever I put the books back, I knew girls and boys would rush the following morning and all my work would go to waste.

For a anxious freak like myself, this seemed to be a good exercise, but it would take a miracle to finish this in one hour. I finished reshelving the magazine and English stacks and walked toward the tables and to my surprise, I found half the books missing. I turned my neck in every direction to see if there was anybody. Did Mrs. Wilder hire someone else? And then I saw what appeared to be Aiden's head between the shelves. As he walked out of the shelves, revealing himself, he smiled.

"Surprised?"

"uh....," I dragged.

"Well, I am surprised." That was Mrs. Wilder. "I've never seen my son working so fast on anything."

I giggled. He gave his mother a funny stare.

"You can exclude my today's pay when you pay me Mrs. Wilder," I chirped, being proud of not getting that feeling of accomplishment that I usually get when I finish my work every day.

"Learn from her," Mrs. wilder said, walking toward her table.

I walked out of the library grabbing my funny raincoat and my bag with my steps like my thoughts. Unsteady. What was I going to do? Where would I search for him? Would people spread rumors that he went missing because of CONMISDUM? Thoughts swelled in my head. I felt every thought hitting a nerve in my body. What I didn't realize was that my legs were giving away. I heard Aiden calling my name in the outro.

The next thing I remembered was my head hanging down from something and my head was put in place immediately. I felt nothing. Nothing for a few seconds, just blankness engulfing the blackness from the back of my mind, covering every inch. I woke up at the back seat of Elec's car with water splashed on my face. Something about this felt similar. I have experienced this black blankness before with my head hanging down backwards, but I felt still and tranquil. A distant memory of the same experience was rushing from the back of my mind to my eyes to form a visual. Just then, it all vanished. The peaceful blankness was gone.

❤❤