The Message-Chp Finale

The E.R. light turned off, signaling that the operation was over. The parents of the four girls—parent, in Jackie’s and Shah’s case—stood up, waiting anxiously for their daughters to come out. Finally the E.R. door opened and out pushed four medical beds, each laid Becka, Jackie, Ameera and Shah, unconscious and in bandages. The doctor-in-charge came out the last.

“How are our daughters? Are they OK?” They all asked at the same time, looking worriedly as their daughters’ beds were pushed and ushered towards the ICU ward.

“They are fine. Their conditions are now stable,” the doctor replied as he addresses each parent one by one, “Mr. And Mrs. Vagabond, your daughter has suffered a blunt-forced trauma—probably because of the stairs she fell from—and a mild concussion to the head, a fractured left elbow and a dislocated shoulder and a possible slipped disc due to her fall. Mrs. Graham, your daughter has sustained self-induced cut wounds through the kitchen knife, and it wasn’t easy for us to pry it as she held it in a death grip even though we had administered sedatives into her bloodstream.

“Mr. Thomas, your daughter has suffered a severe break on most of her ribs, and it’ll be rather a while for her to fully heal, and she may have sprained her ankle and twisted her arm from her fall from the bus. I guess the worst injuries sustained would be your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Olson, for she had a hairline-cracked skull, a minor broken back—possible rehab is needed for her to walk—both her arms broken and her femur and ankle bone shattered. Her face also sustained multiple stab injuries due to the broken windshield and there is a very high chance that she needs to undergo facial reconstructive surgery in the future.

“We gave them an induced coma to make them sleep, so I’ll expect that they’ll soon come round in a week or two. They need all the slumber they can get,” he ended with a weary smile, then sighed and asked, “What happened to them? I mean, how did they turn out this way?”

“I wasn’t so sure,” Mrs. Olson replied. She was lucky to suffer only a few minor bruises and a deep cut on her forehead. “She suddenly went berserkers. I told her to keep her mind off school for a while because she looked so stressed out. When she asked me if we were eating out, I said yes, but she didn’t seem to hear me. She kept repeating her question and said I was scaring her. Then she just stood up and turned the steering wheel. When I told her to stop, she looked at me as if she saw a ghost.”

“So was our daughter,” Mr. Vagabond exclaimed, joining in the conversation, “We heard her suddenly screaming in her room when we got back home from work. When we were about to investigate, she suddenly shot out of her room and looked around like she had never seen the house before. Then she saw us and widened her eyes, like we were monsters or some sort.”

“She suddenly just blasted out of the house and screamed at every neighbor she saw. When we caught up with her, she was at the balcony looking really bewildered, like she had saw something that scared the daylights out of her when in truth, there were only curious passers-by looking up to see what the hubbub was about. She screamed and struggled when we tried to come near her and reach out for her, then she slipped and fell down the stairs. We were so worried when her head started bleeding…She kept saying the words ‘Let your dooms begin’…” Mrs. Vagabond burst into tears. Her husband comforted her.

“My daughter said the same thing too!” Mr. Thomas’s sudden voice made everyone jump. “It was raining this evening and I knew that it would be dangerous for her to go home alone. So I decided to fetch her, because it was supposed to be my wife’s turn to look after her, but she is still in Colorado performing a delicate surgery. When I got stuck in a traffic jam, a bus conductor suddenly approached my car and asked me if I knew my dear lil’ Jackie, and told me she was screaming wild in the middle of the road and that he knew me by my license plate number written in her address book. She continued screaming when I held her and said the same words your daughter said over and over again.”

“You’re not the only ones with daughters to worry,” Mrs. Graham lamented, near to tears but held them back, “my daughter was even worse. I rushed home briefly to drop her her KFC meal I bought for her, because I forgot to fix dinner and leave her usual dinner money. When I got home, I saw her sprawled on the floor waving a table knife in the air, as if she was trying to slash at something. Her whole body was smeared red and she was lying in her own pool of blood. The kitchen table was a mess too; a smashed plate of chicken with the chicken head on the floor and the pot began to smell of burnt metal and noodles because the water she was boiling were all evaporated. Even when I rang for the ambulance, she didn’t stop slashing. I don’t know why…”

“Neither do we,” replied the other three girls’ parents.

“Have you ever heard of the ‘Doom’ virus?” said the doctor after being silent for so long.

“Yes, I think so,” Mr. Thomas replied, “There has been a string of forwarded mail warning us about it. They often targeted school computers and always appear during black-outs on the computer screen and send a weird message reading ‘Let your dooms begin’…”

He suddenly stopped, looking at the doctor. The doctor nodded and said, “Yes, I believe that virus is the cause of it.”

“But how? How did they…?” Mr. Vagabond was so fumed, he couldn’t continue.

“When I checked your daughters, I found out that their brainwaves were abnormal and when I scanned their brains, I noticed some particles of radioactive rays circulating within them. I believe that besides destroying a computer, the ‘Doom’ virus also gives out radioactive beams through the screen which messes up the neurological patterns of the brain and triggered their brains to hallucinate. There is a high chance that your daughters were somehow exposed to it.”

“Then… then will my Becka be OK?” Mr. Olson voiced out anxiously.

“When they come round from their induced coma, they will still have the tendency to hallucinate, because although in small quantities, this radioactive virus seemed to be rather potent and wouldn’t just go away at such short notice. I’m afraid that we have no choice but to keep them isolated and committed into an institution temporarily and put them under solitary confinement so as not to hurt themselves and others,” the doctor replied gravely at first, then with an assured tone, he continued, “But don’t worry. I’ll get the paramedics specializing in radioactive engineering from Ukraine by then. I’m sure they will be most interested and willing to come after learning my story about your girls. Don’t fret. Your girls will be in good hands. We’ll fix them up in no time.”

The girls’ parents were restful then, after knowing their daughters are in good hands. Silently, they pray for their girls’ safety and wished that the culprits who caused their misery to be put to justice.

--:--

One rainy day, in another school, a few students were trapped in the Computer Room during a blackout. Suddenly, the familiar ‘Beep’ came from one of the computer…

The Message-Chp4

Jackie was taking the bus home as usual. She took out the novel she borrowed from the library and was planning to read it on the way home to kill time. Days getting caught up with homework, exams and meeting other people’s expectations of maintaining the valedictorian title forced her to renew her due date constantly and never got to sit down properly to read it. Coupled with the fact that having a traveling businessman for a father and a plastic surgeon for a mother who have high expectations on her honouring the family name with her prodigy skills in her studies and having to keep up with the image of being the Golden Child despite the fact that they were already divorced and couldn’t agree with each other on anything except this, she had her work cut out for her. Well, not this time, she thought. I am determined to finish all the leftover chapters if it takes me all night!

She paid the conductor her fare and opened the page she left her bookmark on. When she found the page, she was shocked to see the book all covered with blood. The source came from the spine of the book that filled itself up with blood out of nowhere and overflowed out onto and out of the pages. It began to drip on her palms and onto her pinafore, staining them crimson. The metallic smell of it shot up to her nose and made her want to puke. On all the pages, instead of the words of the story she was supposed to read, were only written with the words ‘Let your dooms begin!’ She couldn’t find a single decent page, and as she flipped through it, more blood trickled out and painted her hands red, and the eeriest part was that as she continued to try and make sense of all this, the books slowly but steadily began to moan in agony, forcing her to fling it at the driver’s direction.

The driver looked up at her and Jackie gasped when she saw that he, along with all the passengers and the conductor, was bloodstained from head to toe and was gazing at her with bloodshot eyes. Their skins were as grey as the zombies portrayed in zombie movies and their clothes began to rot along with it. They began to circle around her, baring their fangs that were almost as sharp as a lion’s, eager to bury them into her robust pink flesh.

Jackie stumbled for her bag and rang the bell to get off, but the driver paid no heed. She had no choice but to jump out of the bus. She landed with a thump on the solid ground, resulting to a loud crack heard somewhere near her chest. She realized that she had broken her ribs but she struggled to get up and called for help anyway.

Suddenly the ground below her feet began to rumble and shake, like the world’s most seismic earthquake ever, and crack without a moment’s notice, making craters here and there. Steam came out of the craters like geysers and hot molten lava spluttered out. More and more zombie-like people appeared out of nowhere and moved slowly towards her, unaware of the sudden happenings around them.

Jackie could do nothing but scream.

--:--

Shah was gradually forgetting the scary library incident. She took her hot shower peacefully and was ready to lay her hands and mouth on her dinner. Then she remembered that her mother was out on a theatre practice and won’t be back until well after midnight. Shah expected that her dinner will be laid on the kitchen table and her mother will leave a note saying ‘I’m gone’, ‘Do your homework’, so on and so on.

Surprisingly, there was no note and no dinner as she expected on the table. It was rather unexpected because her mother seldom did these things, unless she was very, very busy with Committee Meetings and such, and even so, she would make a call home to tell her that her dinner money would be somewhere stashed under the table so that she can order take-out. Since her father was out on a business trip and there was no money stashed in the usual spot, there was not much she can do about it. Shah shrugged and went to rummage the refrigerator for something, just anything leftover, to eat. Fortunately, she found some leftover chicken which she got from one of her relatives’ wedding dinner a few days ago. She took it out and popped it into the microwave oven.

“Only the upper part of the chicken left, but that’ll just do,” Shah said to herself, satisfied with her find. She decided to boil an egg or two and cook curry-flavored instant noodles to go with the chicken.

While she was cooking the lot, she heard a muffled sound coming from the microwave oven. At first she thought it was the humming of the machine but when she listened carefully, it actually came from the inside; the place where she reheated the cold chicken.

Shah couldn’t help feeling curious and stopped the microwave oven. She opened the microwave oven door and a foul smell of burnt flesh emitted out, making her eyes water. When she was finally done flapping away the smell, she took a look at her chicken. The chicken was perfectly fine. Nothing was spoilt. The head of the chicken, which she had no intention of eating, was also in one piece. Shah scratched her head, puzzled and confused.

All of a sudden, the chicken head looked up and opened its dead eyes, staring at her eerily. Shah let go of the plate of chicken in shock and it shattered into pieces. Still the chicken head stared at her. Slowly it said out the words, one by one, “Let your dooms begin!”

Shah kicked out at the chicken and backed away to the kitchen cupboard to get a knife to eliminate it. But the chicken head had a head-start. It rose from the floor and started pecking at Shah. Shah grabbed a table knife nearby and swished at the chicken head for all its worth. The water she was boiling for her eggs and instant noodles rose out of the pot like luminous, boiling arms reaching out to get her. Though she knew that the knife couldn’t penetrate water, she slashed at it all the same. The scalding heat burned her immensely and the chicken head’s pecking was painful yet irritating. But she didn’t stop slashing, not even when she began to lose strength due to fatigue and hunger.

She knew that if she ever stopped, it would be the end of her.

The Message-Chp3

Becka was still on the way home in her car. She was the only one to fetch today because her brother Bobby was ill and didn’t go to kindergarten. She sat at the back seat, reading her Chemistry book and trying to re-memorize the chemicals’ names to keep her mind off the recent incident. Usually she find it easier to study on the way home at the back seat rather than the front (she gets car sick if she read her books there), but somehow this time, she couldn’t focus. She couldn’t stop thinking about the message on the computer and the library door opening so easily by the head librarian Mrs. Marge whereas she failed to do so. All the thinking made her quite hungry.

“Becka, you’re unusually quiet today,” her mother broke the silence, bringing her back to reality.

“Sorry, Mom. I was just preoccupied with things in my head. They’re making me kinda hungry though.”

“You should keep your mind off school for a while. I like a smart daughter but I don’t like her turning into Einstein the 2nd.”

“Thank, Mom. Are we going out to eat tonight?” Becka asked eagerly. It had been a while since she ate out. “I’m sure Bobby is better now; his fever had gone down this morning. Can he come with us?”

“I think you’re stressed out. Let me help you release your tension,” Becka’s mother replied, not exactly answering Becka’s question.

“Mom, I asked if we’re going out for dinner,” Becka laughed, “don’t worry about me!”

“You wanna have some fun? I’ll teach you a good trick to relax.”

“Mom, aren’t you listening to me?”

“Let’s have some fun, Becka, let’s have some fun!” Her mother’s voice began to sound eerie.

“Mom, you’re scaring me!”

“Here we go!”

“Mom!!!”

Without warning, her mother shut her eyes, pressed down the accelerator and let go of the steering wheel. The car was moving 80miles per hour and was going faster. They grazed a few cars and banged a few car trunks but the car was showing no signs of stopping. Suddenly she found their car running through a long highway where the cars were moving at the opposite direction and were in danger of hitting headlong at any of them.

Becka was horrified. She shot up and tried to turn the steering wheel to put the car back in control. Her mother laughed and cackled and pressed the accelerator even harder. She even pushed Becka’s hands away and held them so that she can’t reach the steering wheel. There were a huge number of near misses, but still, the car carried on in its murderous speed. The speed increased to 120miles per hour and going faster still.

Becka yelled for help and begged her to stop but her mother pulled her close to her face and spoke coldly, “Let your dooms begin!”

Becka widen her eyes in horror, the message of the computer ringing in her ears. Then suddenly a deafening bang exploded in her eardrums and slowly, darkness enclosed her…

--:--

Ameera walked up the stairs towards her home on the 2nd floor. She was afraid that the incident at the overhead bridge might happen again, but fortunately for her, it didn’t. She reached her home and was greeted by her black tomcat Salem. Ameera was tired out with all the goings-on and decided to take a nap before getting ready for her tuition class. Salem followed suite. She fell plop on the bed with her school clothes on and started snoring within minutes.

No sooner she fell asleep than she felt something on her. It weighed a ton and she couldn’t move. She forced herself to wake up and saw Salem sleeping peacefully beside her. She thought maybe it was her imagination and went back to sleep. Before she dozed off, she felt the pressuring weight again. She woke up and saw Salem looking at her unblinkingly with its blue eyes. She felt weird and decided to feign sleep, seeing if it would happen again. When it did for the 3rd time, she opened her eyes immediately and saw Salem sitting on her chest, staring at her spookily with his eyes blue but cold. Cold as ice.

“Salem, get off me!” Ameera ordered.

Salem didn’t budge.

“Salem, stop staring at me!” Ameera ordered again.

Salem suddenly grinned from ear to ear, literally.

“Salem ……?”

“Let your dooms begin!”

Ameera screamed and forced herself to get up. Salem jumped down and started laughing (yes, laughing) long and hard at its mistress, echoing throughout the whole house. Ameera then realized that everywhere was empty and bare save a few dirty newspapers and rubbish, rubble and huge amount of dust on the floor, as if she was living in a deserted house. She went outside to her supposed-to-be living room and saw it was equally empty. Two tall dark figures were looming about in the empty space. They had no facial features or limbs, just two tall dark transparent blobs floating around aimlessly, as if in search of something.

She couldn’t contain her yelp as she saw them moving towards her direction. They had noticed her and were coming nearer to her. She shrieked and ran out of the front door into the corridor, yelling for help. Instead of people, she was met by more tall dark spooky figures yanking the doors of empty houses open, all of them looming out to get her. She ran all the way up to the flat balcony to call for help but was shocked to see she was looking over a vast space with rundown buildings—some reduced to rubble, even—and even more dark figures below the flat looking up at her.

It was as if she was the only human being alive in the flat.

The two dark figures from her house emerged from the balcony door and gave chase. She screamed in fright and started running for her life, starting by pushing the dark figures away and made her way back downstairs. The dark figures within the flat also gave chase, extending handless arms at her. Tears began to run down her cheeks as she kept yelling Shah’s name and praying to God that she would be here to rescue her. But by then, the more she ran, the more slowly she went, as if a force was stopping her from moving. The dark figures were gaining on her every minute.

When they finally grabbed her with their icy, cold hands, she knew she was done for.

The Message-Chp2

It was raining cats and dogs outside and not the bright sunshine Jackie expected as soon as they done taking their things out of the locker and made their way out of the school entrance. Becka, who had her mother chaperon her to and from school everyday, saw her in the family car down the parking lot waiting for her. She waved to her mother and bid goodbye to the others before making a dash under the rain towards her ride, never daring to look back.

As they watched Becka disappear into the rainy road, they gave each other a decided look not to touch the library topic as they don’t want to think they are going insane. Jackie remembered that she often kept a spare umbrella in her locker just in case it was a rainy day, so she doubled back to her locker to get it. When she took out her umbrella from her locker and opened it to test if it’s still OK, she got the shock of her life as all of a sudden, dozens and dozens of wriggly worms, fresh and red, poured down all over her from inside the umbrella when she opened it. The worms fell onto the floor nineteen to the dozen with a squelch and started to multiply. Within seconds, the whole classroom was filled with squidgy worms that began to team up to devour Jackie, starting from her feet. Jackie yelled and made a dash to the nearest classroom she could find and jumped up onto the lecturer’s table, yelling even more as she watched the icky worms followed after her and began to gnaw on the table legs.

Ameera and Shah heard her screams and rushed to the classroom she was in. They were also totally shocked at the number of creepy crawlies dominating the classroom and were surrounding the table Jackie was standing on, trying to gnaw their way to her legs that looked like prime ribs to them. Weirdly enough, the worms’ train of thought were all focused on Jackie and were not paying attention to either one of the couple who were standing right at the door like easy prey. Jackie yelled her head off, not in fear, but of disgust.

“Come on! Jump from table to table towards the door and we’ll catch you!” yelled Shah, holding out her hand and kept her feet well away from passing through the classroom door. As much as she wanted to use the worms’ obliviousness towards their existence, there was no way she would ever want to set foot on any one of those creepy crawlies. Jackie did as she was told. One by one, she jumped, getting nearer to the door. The worms were also following her like a fox chasing its prey. Ameera and Shah got hold of her hands and supported her down.

“Run! And don’t look back!” Ameera yelled, heading for the school entrance. Shah and Jackie followed suite. They did not stop until they were outside the school gates. In a panicked state, Jackie had almost forgotten to use the umbrella to cover them from the rain. As she shielded her and her friends from getting any wetter than they already have, they willed themselves to look back and felt the school looked a whole lot sinister and spooky than they had ever known.

“I always knew this school is ‘unclean’,” Jackie panted, gulping down her bottle of water.

“It always had been unclean throughout the years,” snorted Shah, panting like a runner who just finished running a marathon.

“Let’s go home. I don’t think I want to come to school tomorrow,” Ameera lamented, cowering away from the eerie building behind her lover.

So the girls walked until they reached a junction. Since Shah drove to school and Ameera’s flat was about 10 minutes walk from school and Jackie took the bus that situated outside Ameera’s housing area, Shah kissed her sweetheart goodbye and took the right to the parking lot while Ameera and Jackie took the left. They waved goodbye and went on their way under the increasing rain and loud bangs of thunder and flashes of lightning. Jackie couldn’t help feeling disgusted over the recent incident. Ameera tried to calm her down.

“Cool, man! It’s not so bad. You’ve finally got out of danger, haven’t you?”

“Well, I can’t help it! How would you feel if dozens of squiggly worms showered on you so suddenly? Now I know how my cousin Evita feels the last time she took worm-killing pills and crapped out her tapeworm.”

“It’ll be fine. Let’s just go back home, take a nice hot shower and everything will be fine. It’ll turn out alright in the end, you’ll see.”

“Hope you’re right.”

Just when they thought everything was back to normal, they were struck with another phenomenon. They had to take the overhead bridge to cross the road, and while nothing occurred when they went up and walked along the bridge, but when they went down the bridge at the opposite road, they found out that it dragged longer and longer. No matter how fast they went down, they were always a few meters away from solid ground.

“What’s this?” Ameera exclaimed astonishingly, “When are we going to get down? It’s not ending anywhere!”

“Here we go again!” Jackie groaned, walking even faster down the stairs but in vain. They were still nowhere nearer the ground.

“It’s scaring me, Jackie,” Ameera whined as she shook Jackie’s arm, “how are we gonna get down?”

“I think we better jump.”

“Jump?!”

“Do you want to keep walking down for the rest of your life?”

Ameera didn’t need to be asked twice. They both shut their eyes tight, counted till three together and jumped. Surprisingly it wasn’t a long drop and they were thankful after their feet finally touched the ground at the bottom of the stairs. Funny how it felt like eternity when they walked down the stairs but took seconds to jump down.

Ameera and Jackie stared at each other in silence. They shrugged and went again in their separate ways; Jackie to the bus stop and Ameera back to her flat. None of them said goodbye for fearing that it would be the last time they’ll ever meet.

The Message-Chp1

Started: 11-07-07 Completed: 11-27-07

THE MESSAGE

Four girls sat in the middle of the campus library of Fearstreet College, books of all sizes, colorings and coverings scattered all over the table. It was exam seasons, and while many had gone home to take a break for dinner before cramming their heads back into the books to study, these four girls had no choice but to stay back to soak in as much information as they possibly can through the library because they have an image to keep: as the school valedictorians and pride of all lecturers.

Ameera Vagabond, the blondest of all blondes, and Olga “Shah” Graham, the most brunette of all brunettes, (she was called Shah due to her obsession with Middle East and Egyptian culture) were the campus’ most gifted Physics students and the famous lesbian couple. Both would not go anywhere without the other and no one ever saw them apart. They took classes together, ate lunch together, attended extra curricular activities together and even went to the bathroom together, even though sometimes it was only one of them who needed to relief herself of her full bladder or bowel. The only time they ever separated was when they went home, because Ameera and Shah, although approved by their parents of their relationship, lived in different parts of the city too far away to be able to meet each other without driving for about an hour and a half, and since both families were not exactly well off enough to afford the expenses for them to move out, they’ll have to settle being apart until after they finished college, thus often the result of seeing them hugging and clinging onto each other everyday in front of the school gate when they’ve only separated for a night’s hour.

Rebecca Olson a.k.a. Becka (not to be confused with the Olson twins), on the other hand, was a flaming redhead with very high self-confidence that made her tall and proud despite her minute figure. She and her counterpart Jacqueline Thomas a.k.a. Jackie, the resident tomboy with the longest hair (due to her unruly raven hair that would go wild like a bushfire whenever it’s cut short) and stood twice her height, were the pride and joy of Biochemistry lecturers and the famous Macro-Micro Duo of the campus. Though both were straight and already having lovers of their own (who fortunately studied in another campus lest they get mauled by jealous admirers both men and women alive), these two childhood friends have been together since forever. No one knows exactly who started the friendship first, but they have been through thick and thin and have been going to the same school since first grade. Them and the lesbian couple, after meeting up during orientation week during their first year and discovered their love for science, became like peas and carrots and were often seen together in many academic and extra curricular tournaments—acing them in the process—and became well known as the Valedictorian Princesses of Fearstreet College, with their favourable physique to boot.

As I was saying, the four girls were no doubt the last people in the campus library, judging by the towering number of books surrounding them like they were in Info-topia and the quiet eerie-ness of the empty library. Ameera and Shah were reading a thick book of Physics each while Becka was screwing her mind out trying to memorize the names of all the chemicals in her Chemistry book. Jackie, on the other hand, was scribbling furiously on her notebook, copying down all the notes she needed to study for Biology. It is hard to believe that from first glance, you would think these bimbo-like girls who should be starring in The Bratz Movie or rooting out for the Homecoming Queen competition or be hanging out with a bunch of sweaty, glistening jocks would be science geeks.

“I hate studying! It makes me go insane!” yelled Ameera silently, despite the emptiness of the library.

“Then don’t! You’ll be even sicker,” Shah replied, unable to concentrate herself. “I’d hate to have my girlfriend to suffer a mid-life crisis before her time.”

“Yeah. That would be a sure-fire way to booking a ‘presidential suite’ at Fearstreet Asylum,” Jackie replied solemnly, not looking up from her notebook. Ameera got annoyed and threw her eraser at Jackie, brushing slightly against her ear as she dodged, in which Shah chuckled at the sight.

“I can’t see why we have to put up with this act when we can be just like everyone else, partying and not have the burden to excel hanging over us like dead weights,” Becka sighed as she massaged her temples.

“That’s the price you have to pay for being the campus geniuses, I guess,” Jackie sighed. “Somebody’s gotta uphold the campus and their family names if no one else is willing to.”

The girls became silent again, preoccupied with their own tasks, quietly agreeing to Jackie’s statement. If no one was willing to be the genius and suffer the consequences, who will? Becka was finally getting to remember all the chemicals’ names when suddenly, the lights went out. Jackie screamed at the top of her voice and zoomed underneath the table, for she was fret of the dark, a clear result of a prank gone wrong done by her cousins when they bullied her and locked her in the dark basement overnight when she was a kid and had not yet become the tomboy she was today.

“AAGH! Help! Help! Call the fire department! Call the police! Help!!!”

“Shut up, Jackie! It’s only a blackout. It’ll come round,” Shah said, feeling her way around the darkness.

Becka, who was the campus volunteer librarian and used to the route of the library, went straight to the library door to let in some light for the phobic-of-the-dark Jackie to get out to the bright sunshine. But when she turned the knob, the door wouldn’t budge. No matter how much she pushed and pulled, it wouldn’t move an inch. It was locked.

“Come on, Becka! Open the door and let the light in!” Jackie yelled from underneath the table, still shivering with fright, “I’m getting a nervous breakdown here!”

“It won’t move! I think Mrs. Marge has locked us in when she left for the toilet,” Becka replied, giving up on the non-moving door. She tried the windows instead, but no matter how much she tugged at the drape cords, none of them budged. It got to the point where Becka pulled so hard at one of the window drape cords that it snapped and broke, but the drapes still remained as it is: unopened. Everyone was astonished, especially Jackie, who finally came out the table and held Ameera’s arm tightly; so tight Ameera squealed, “Ouch!”

“Looks like we’ll have to wait for Mrs. Marge to come back from the loo then,” Shah sighed as she started packing her books after she jealously and protectively yanked Jackie’s hands away from her lover, “let’s get out of here as soon as she opens the door. There’s nothing to do during a blackout, not to mention study.”

“Yes! Do let’s!” Jackie agreed at once, for once not sounding like her tomboy self. “I can’t stay a minute longer here! I’m sure something bad will happen. I can feel it!”

So the girls started packing their books as soon their eyes adjusted to the darkness and sat at the table nearest to the door. While waiting, they chit-chatted about their latest gossips of who-and-who, where-and-where and when-and-when. There were so many goings-on between them when they are together. Slowly Jackie felt less afraid, but still kept a watchful eye over the surroundings just in case.

Suddenly a familiar ‘BEEP’ was heard, coming from the library computer. The 4 became silent and turned towards the direction of the computer, including Jackie who, had calmed down before, got terrified again.

“Did you hear that?” Jackie asked, panicking.

“Yeah, I think I did,” Ameera was quite nervous herself. She moved nearer to Shah, clinging to her lover’s arm like her life depended on it. Obviously, Shah had always been the more masculine and dominant of them two.

“I think it came from the computer at the check in and out counter,” Becka said, not taking her eyes away from the direction they were looking.

“Isn’t it supposed to be a blackout? What’s with the computer?” Ameera asked.

“Look! There are words printed on the screen!” Shah exclaimed, pointing at it.

The girls rushed towards the computer to see what the message was, despite the fact that no one besides librarians or volunteer librarians are allowed beyond the counter (Golden Rule of Fearstreet College Library to prevent information tampering). The message filled the screen in bold letters, writing only one sentence: ‘LET YOUR DOOMS BEGINS!’ Slowly the words began to separate into small specks of particles, forming a pair of sinister-looking eyes and an evil grin. The eyes glowed continuously from red to green and back again. The whole library was filled with the most bloodcurdling, eerie laughter that rang through the speakers of the computer.

The girls were dumbfounded. None of them moved. They were too scared and shocked even to react. They just stood there like statues looking at the spooky face on the screen amidst the mocking laughter that grew louder by the minute. A few minutes later, which seemed like an hour just passed, the lights went on and everything was bright. The blackout was over. The laughter stopped and the only thing left on the screen was the sentence ‘It is now safe to turn off your computer’, blinking mockingly at them.

The door of the library internal office upstairs opened and the girls screamed out loud, finding their voices again. There stood the Mrs. Marge who was taken aback by their sudden exclaims.

“Oi, are you OK? You gave me a fright!” Mrs. Marge asked, patting her chest in shock.

“Mrs…Mrs. Marge? Weren’t you at the loo?” Becka started the conversation, quite astonished.

“No, I was in the office room finishing up the filing and paperwork. I couldn’t find my way around during the blackout and had to ride it out until it came back on before I saved all my recovered files in the computer and finished printing and stacking the files and ledgers into the shelves. When I came out, I just saw you girls all here in front of the computer,” Mrs. Marge explained detail by detail (a rather OCD habit of hers), “by the way, why are you all here? You’re not playing with the Internet, are you? And Becka, non-librarians are not supposed to stand behind the check in and out counter. You know better than to let them past that territory.”

“Didn’t you hear that laugh? That spooky, banshee-like laugh?” Jackie exclaimed, her face gaining color.

“Laugh? The only thing I heard is you girls laughing, that’s all,” Mrs. Marge replied, looking surprised, “Are you girls leaving? ‘Coz I have to leave now. And please move away from the counter. It’s a restricted area.”

So saying, she went to the library door and the knob. Like magic, the door opened, as if it was never locked at all. Becka felt like a sucker because she was the first to try out the door. The other three were equally surprised. They couldn’t find the words to explain it all. Without even a peep, they gathered their things and went out of the library as silent as never before.

As they collected their bags from their locker, there was one question that rang through their mind simultaneously: What the hell is going on?

The Elevator

Created: 10-10-07

Day 1
A new girl came in this building. She’s very pretty. She had nice auburn hair and bright sky-coloured eyes, and she was wearing a brown one-piece dress carrying a handbag and a file filled with documents, with black high-heeled sandals to match. I wondered if she’s here for the interview the stinky old Graham and his wife Susan are giving. I heard he was going to hire a new clerk for his company, which is recently expanding. I took her upstairs to his office on the 3rd floor and, true enough, saw the other candidates that I took up filling in application forms already on the table outside the office. The candidates chattered among themselves loudly and asked each other how to fill in which section. She, on the other hand, went up to Clarice, the head secretary, and asked for an application form and sat alone at one corner to fill it up. After she was done, she gave the application form and her file to Clarice before leaving. I took her down and watched her leave. I hope she gets hired.

Day 2
The girl came again. This time she was wearing a pink dress with white sandals and had her hair tied up into multiple braids, like the Jamaican client who came to talk business with Graham. It was her second interview, and this time, the interviewer was Graham’s wife Susan. Through experience, I could tell that there is a high chance she would be hired, especially when she was called in for a second interview. She seemed to be nervous around Susan, and I can’t blame her; Susan has the face that has “I’m gonna eat you alive” written all over her face when in truth, she was much more good-natured than her husband. I silently cheered the girl on and gave her quiet moral support. She later shook hands with Susan and I heard Susan saying to her, “So I will see you Monday morning.” I was right; she was hired. As I escorted her down the building and watched her talking excitedly on the phone, a warm feeling surrounded me. Was this love?

Day 3
I’m starting to miss the girl already. Is this really love?

Day 5
It’s the girl’s first day of work today. She’s wearing a very nice white work blouse, black office skirt and the ever famous black high-heeled sandals, along with a denim handbag slung over her shoulder. She got acquainted with Clarice and Millicent, our resident new mother-to-be. Her job was to do proofreading before allowing the IT boys on the other side of the office to upload any form of articles onto the web. Graham runs a big commercial website whereby he helps a couple of newspaper companies to post up their news online for a daily fee, and also help other companies to post up advertisements for a bi-weekly fee, while Susan was under the sales department, going around selling and promoting the website to draw in customers who want to have their companies advertised through her husband’s company. I pity for her to stare at the screen for hours just to correct words that the incompetent IT boys could never get right. This was one of the reasons why Graham should not hire foreigners, but it’s not like he listens to me anyway. At the end of the day, she would come to me with her red tired eyes and constantly yawned as I escort her all the way down and out of the building. How I wish I could make her feel much better than that, but I am not built to do so.

Day 7
She met her first clients today, and that client was giving her a hard time. They demanded that she correct certain posts on the website and scolded her for writing it wrong when in truth, it was the clients’ fault. They told her they wanted their posts to be this way, but they blamed her for putting it the way they asked her to post it in the first place. She tried to explain to them but they simply refused to listen to her. Graham tried to persuade them and talked them into another direction so that they would be happy, then gave a rather long lecture to her about respecting clients’ decision and be careful in whatever the customers are asking and all that crap. Customers may always be right, but in this case, I put my money on her.

Day 13
It’s been a while since she worked here, yet I never knew her name. Even as I escort her and Clarice and Millicent down after work, I never heard them mention her name. It’s as if women have this ability to talk to each other without having to call each other’s name and knows who is talking to whom. It’s a wonder anyone could ever understand them at all. But that’s what I like about her. Her adaptability was incredible; it was as if she was part of the firm already. I hope she would stay in the firm forever.

Day 20
Tonight, she is doing overtime. She had experienced first hand how truly a slave-driver Graham and Susan really were. They would simultaneously ask her to do more than two things at once, and whenever she accidentally makes a blunder, they would bomb her like there was no tomorrow without even wanting to hear her explanation or even acknowledged that they were the ones who put her into this blundering situation. Clarice and Millicent told her to just bear with it because she’s still new in the firm and it’s not wise to be getting onto the bosses’ heads. She couldn’t afford to be fired anyway because she had failed so many other interviews because of her lack of qualification. She hopes that one day she will be able to earn and save enough to continue her studies, as she had to quit halfway through college because her negligent mother thought it was time she stopped wasting her pension money on paying for her daughter’s ‘waste-of-time-and-money’ education. This would mean that she’ll leave once she’s earned enough. I don’t want her to leave, but I have no right to stop her from pursuing what’s important to her life. What am I to do?

Day 25
She sighs as she came to me and pressed the ground floor button. Closing hours was over three hours ago and she had just finished doing her job she was entrusted to by the slave-drivers Graham and Susan. It was overtime for her as usual, but she had no idea that I knew Graham and Susan would not pay her for her work’s worth. I doubt they even thought of adding overtime bonuses into her paychecks. I watched as she ran her fingers through her hair and leaned against me to support her tired body. Her hands held lightly on my railing and her soft, tender fingers traced circles around them, making me shiver with delight. She hummed softly to herself the song “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston that she always played in the office to curb the deafening silence that often hung around before she came here to work. Clarice and Millicent seemed to like the change of scenery and didn’t mind her playing music in the office, but Graham and Susan seemed to share their distaste for music as they would look at her disapprovingly whenever they pass by her table, but never really telling her to turn the music off. I can tell that she didn’t really care anymore, and that she was beginning to show loss of interest towards the firm. I fear that I might lose her.

Day 30
She didn’t show up for work today. I heard from Clarice and Millicent’s conversation that she had caught a bout of fever and had called in sick. It must be the rain last night. It was raining rather heavily and there was thunder and lightning and all that hubbub associated with heavy rain. At least I learnt something new about her today. I finally knew her name when Graham noticed her absence and asked for her. Graham has a tendency to call his workers by their full name, and that is where I heard her name called out: Juniper Ashley. I hope she gets better.

Day 35
Life for Juniper in the office fluctuates everyday, depending on Graham and Susan’s mood. They both really were match made in heaven—they worked their workers down to the bone and never really gave them the appreciation they deserved. Juniper was getting thinner and paler everyday and my heart ached watching her deteriorating as she continued her days in the firm. I fear for her life sometimes when she would be too busy to eat and by the time she got back home (according to her stories to told her colleague any idle chance she get when Graham and Susan are not in the office) she would be too tired to eat. Most of the time, the lunch she brought from home were either left untouched or half-finished. Not only that, she had a hectic fight with her mother over her negligence and irresponsibility and her not wanting Juniper to continue her studies and wanting her to keep working to feed her sorry ass, and life in the office was not making it any better. I’m beginning to hate Graham and Susan even more than I used to before Juniper came to work in this firm.

Day 40
I am so in love with Juniper. I can’t get enough of her. All I could do is just watch her from a distance as she sat at her desk with her side facing me. Occasionally she would turn around and look at me to see if I had brought Graham or Susan or clients to the office, and I would savour the few seconds of staring at her beautiful fair face and sparkling sky-blue eyes, and would ache when she looked away or when I see her blue eyes getting duller and duller with stress. I would sometimes linger for a few seconds before taking her down when she pressed the ground floor button because I want to have her presence within for as long as I can. Sometimes my lingering lasts for a minute before I had to remind myself to move when she starts pressing the ground floor button again. I want to keep her. I want her to stay. But Graham and Susan are slowly killing her. And I know she wants to leave as soon as possible. I know she wants to leave to find a better job than this shit hole. But I don’t want her to leave. I don’t want to…

Day 43
She had another bad day today. Not only was she forced out of her home by her mother who thought of her as a burden and someone expendable, but also Graham drilled her again and finally, after so long, she broke. As soon as she managed to get off after office hours, she ran to me and sank down and cried. It was overtime, and she was the last person to leave, so there won’t be anyone to wait for my escorting services. She wailed and wailed like she couldn’t stop. She slammed her fist against me and buried her face on me and cried some more. All I could do was silently take in every echoing sobs she made and let my carpet and cold walls be her only solace, and I let stay with me as long as she wanted. Finally, after almost an hour, she held onto my railings and got up before pressing the ground floor button. As I quietly escorted her, I knew I had to do something to make her feel better. That I promised her as I watched her walk out of the building.

Day 45
Graham and Susan didn’t come for work today, thanks to me. Clarice and Millicent were gossiping about how I malfunctioned and those old hags found that they were stranded in the middle of the floors and couldn’t call for help since it was a Sunday and not office hours. They both had a heart attack from the shock and were found out cold by the janitor. Actually they were only half-correct about the situation. I didn’t know how I did it, but I managed to suffocate them enough to pass out and sent them to the hospital in an almost near-death state by stopping in mid floors and lowering the air pressure until they almost couldn’t breathe. I don’t plan to kill them. Not yet. I just want to teach them a lesson for hurting my Juniper. At least today, Juniper and the rest of the workers in the firm get to relax and not worry about their appearances.

Day 50
Juniper was all smiles today. When Clarice and Millicent asked why the sunny look, I had the shock of my life to hear that she had found her true love. She attended a high school reunion during the weekend and had met some of her best friends whom she lost contact with. One of them brought his cousin along to the reunion and it was love at first sight for them. As I watched them girl-talking about the bastard whose name is Jasper Kevin, I saw the joy and glee I had never seen before radiating around her. She looked so happy, like she didn’t have the care in the world, and Graham and Susan’s harsh commands were no match for the sweet nothings spoken by the love of her life on the phone during lunch hours. It was as if I don’t exist anymore.

Day 52
She no longer stayed in the office and ate her packed lunch anymore. Now I have to escort her every lunch hour down and out of the building and send her into the arms of the bastard Jasper who often wait for her outside the building with that ugly Mercedes Benz. He looked like a nerd with that stupid clean-cut hair and glasses and his idiotic built. He was a sorry excuse for a boyfriend. What does she see in him? What does he have that I haven’t? Just because he’s human and can touch and kiss and sweet-talk to her doesn’t mean he’s the perfect match for her! Who does he think he is, Casanova? She had moved out of the rickety apartment she was forced to live in after her mother kicked her out and moved into Jasper’s expensive 850-dollars-a-month condominium. She even talks more on the cell phone with him than spending her usual quality quiet time with me. She no longer leaned her rose-scented auburn hair on me and gazed in a mysterious distant and let me guess what is going through her mind. She no longer ran her fingers through my railings that often send pleasurable chills down my body. She no longer smiled her lovely smile as she longed for home from this dreary office life. She no longer hummed the Sean Kingston songs or any other songs she used to play in the office for me. Now all she did were looking at her phone to see messages from Jasper telling her to wait and that he’d be on his way to pick her up soon, or sometimes call her to ask her if she was going to do overtime and reminding her to give him a call when she’s done with her work so that he could fetch her

Day 57
She had done the unthinkable. She announced to the office that she was quitting and had prepared her two-week’s notice to Graham telling him that she was leaving this godforsaken company for good. Jasper—that son of a bitch—offered a job for her at his company as an ad and web designer, which fitted her talent and skills perfectly, and was promised a handsome 4-figure sum in her salary despite her limited qualifications. Clarice and Millicent were happy for her and congratulated her for being able to get out of this hellhole and be with the love of her life. They envied her for her change of luck and hoped that she would remember them even when she’s gone, in which she promised them she would. But I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy at all. That fucking Jasper took away the one thing I held most dear! He’s separating her from me! He’s taking her away from me! Juniper belongs to me, not him! I’m the one she fully trusts with all her problems! I’m the one who knows all her secrets! I’m the only one who knows her more than he ever will be! She is mine! MINE!!!

Day 60
Graham and Susan had hired a new girl to fill in for Juniper’s job, and Juniper came occasionally to train the new girl on what to do. The new girl was ugly, clumsy, and looked like she hadn’t slept in days, what with the dark rings below her eyes, but Graham and Susan couldn’t care less about appearances. As long as she had the qualifications and willing to work like a dog, she could look like a zombie from hell for all they cared. Juniper was as beautiful as usual as she showed the new girl the ropes with her sweet smile and polite tones. And by the end of next week, she would leave for good. I have to do something. I must.

Tonight
Juniper has finished packing her belongings from her desk and is now heading towards me. She is going to leave and starting tomorrow, I won’t ever see her again. As she presses the ground floor button, I can see the way she giggles that she cannot wait to start working together side by side with Jasper. I cannot allow her to leave. I will not! I stop mid-floor and refuse to budge. She thinks I malfunctioned and presses the emergency button. I smile inwardly as she realizes the emergency button is not working. She presses it a few more times but I make sure it doesn’t go off. She begins to panic and bangs at the door, calling for help. I call her name, and she looks around in fear, trying to see where the voice comes from. I call her again and she begins to cry, demanding who is playing a prank on her. But I’m not playing pranks. I just want her to stay with me forever. I call her name again, telling her I love her and I will never let her go, that I will never let her out of my sight. I reach out to hold her, to bring her close to me, to feel her rose-scented auburn hair on me, but she struggles and screams bloody murder. It’s understandable. After all, I’ve been secretly yearning for her and she hasn’t really had the time to get to know me yet. But tonight, it will all change. We will have all the time in the world…

--:--

Juniper’s disappearance was all over the news. Jasper had exhausted every mode of media in order to find her. There were no last witnesses to see her, and the only thing they ever found was her office belongings she had dropped on me. Authorities came and went, searching for clues, but they find no clue as to where she might have last disappeared to. There were no leads and the police were left with a dead end. Graham and Susan, the sneaky bastard and bitch they were, spoke awfully and exaggeratedly well about her and put up the little ‘good little bosses who treat their workers like angels’ façade that no one suspected any foul play or the real way they treated their workers in the office. We were off the hook and the police began to divert their attention to any other possible leads, although Jasper still suspect that Graham and Susan could have been responsible for Juniper’s disappearance, what with her leaving the company when she proved to be their company’s best asset. His search still continues and I know for a fact that he would never ever find anything.

Juniper screams sometimes. She often bang against me and scream for help. I made sure she cannot be heard. There is a transparent barrier between her and the outside world that I prepared for her so that she can always see what’s going on out there, but strong enough so that she would never leave me. I sometimes talk to her, telling her that she is mine and that we would be together forever, but she would reply me with tears and sobs and frantic screams, begging me to let her go, which, of course, was out of the question. She would see people came into me to be escorted upstairs or downstairs—be it Clarice or Millicent, the police or Jasper, the IT boys and also be it Graham or Susan for that matter—and she would immediately pound against me, screaming for their attention and for them to rescue her. She was right under their noses yet they didn’t know she was there. I made sure of that.

I finally have you, my dear little Juniper.

And if it means keeping you in here forever until you realize my love for you, so be it.

It’s time for a fresh new start.

So here goes:

Day 1
It’s a rather hot day today. Juniper and I…

The Ones for The Boy Who Lived-Chp Finale

CHAPTER 24 – LIFE AFTER HOGWARTS

Dear Jude,
Howdy there! How are you getting along with ol’ Snape? Pretty good, huh? I suppose that getting at each other’s throats is your idea of a happy marriage. Lotsa luck!

Cedric and I came across Bill Weasley today. Those dragons he was studying are simply magnificent! They are so large, almost a size bigger than Fluffy. And the fire, woah! You can make a barbecue for 10 families using that fire. Interesting! Speaking of Fluffy, I spotted Norbert somewhere in the distance. I think he has a mate and a few kids of his own. Fascinating sight. Tell Hagrid for me that they are doing just well. I even took a picture of him. There are 2 copies. Give one to Hagrid. He’ll like it.

We’re still traveling around the globe. I’m happy to announce that Cedric and I are in Norway, home of Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback, studying a new species called The Sludges. Their habitat is just right in the deep edges of the sewage (gross, but true) and we’ll be studying them very closely for some time. Wish us luck!

I always believe that both of us are going to succeed in publishing the true facts about magical creatures and the species of the unknown. I know we will, unlike some cheat like Gilderoy Lockhart. So look out for our 1st edition. You’re gonna love it! We’ll be traveling to Dominica next after we’re done with the Sludges.

I know you’ll take good care of my Cyril and Henrietta, so I won’t ask about him too much. Tell him that his baby sister’s doing just fine and will be due next fall. Lotsa love to you and the people of Hogwarts! Ta ta!

From your friend BECKA

---

Dear Jude,
Hello, Jude! Glad to see my letter? I bet you are. It’s been a long while since I wrote, what with all the business and everything. But I’m doing pretty fine, really

Guess what? I’m pregnant again! My dear Slipper is going to be a father again! Don’t tell Chris yet. He’s easily jealous, just like his father. I just went to a medi-witch and she said it could be another boy again. Haven’t I have enough boys yet? First it’s Talos, then Chris, and now this. They sure can be a handful sometimes.

Slipper and I are managing the apothecary really well. Business has been good, mostly because I make the best potions for the wizarding public. Stock’s been pretty good too, so if you and Prof. Snape need anything for the lab, be happy and feel free to order from me. I might give you a discount.

So how’s Becka? Got her letter yet? I know I got it. I wish I could go around the globe with her but the apothecary’s just fine. I’m still into making potions for our fellow wizards and witches, and also for the first-years-to-be of Hogwarts. Diagon Alley is just the perfect place to set up businesses. I could even sell some of my unwanted Muggle junk for extra income! He he!

Remind the kids to take their vitamins and don’t go about cursing people. But then again, kids will be kids. Let them have as much fun as they want, so long as they don’t get expelled. Send them my love.

Your loving friend, RACH

---

Jude smiled as she put the letters into her collection of other letters in a large box. It was the 3rd time she enlarged that box in order to add in more and more letters from her girlfriends.

Her studying days were over, but her life in Hogwarts hadn’t. She and the others had graduated with flying colours and became Top Students of Hogwarts for the Year, first in Hogwarts’ history to have that much Top Students. They even received a medal for saving Hogwarts and the whole witchcraft and wizardry nation from the wrath of Voldemort for now.

Jude’s awakening was a shock and surprise to Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey almost had a heart attack when she saw Prof. Snape coming in with Jude in his arms, alive and kicking, beaming at her. She then burst into tears of joy as she fed Jude with the Skele-grow concoction. It tasted really nasty but Jude wouldn’t want to spend her whole life on a wheelchair.

Prof. Snape sent an owl to Hagrid to tell him about the good news. He was overjoyed and started running around the castle spreading the news, his heavy footsteps thumping away like mad. Peeves helped by gliding in and out of every house dorm and upsetting anything that might go bang, yelling, “The Black Witch’s alive! The Black Witch’s back!”

Many refused to believe it at first and yelled at him not to joke about the dead (although he was the dead), but when Hagrid started banging at the dorm doors and hollering about Jude, everyone rushed out to check it out.

Becka and Rach were the first to arrive at the Hospital Wing, followed by Harry, who was carrying Jude’s baby, and the gang, Draco Malfoy and the Hawkins siblings. They all fussed about Jude, hugging her and crying happy tears. The whole castle of Hogwarts rejoiced that night, including all the staff of Hogwarts, and the next morning, when the Skele-grow finally took effect, she received the warmest welcome during breakfast at the Great Hall.

All and all, the trio finally completed their 7th year and during the graduation ceremony, their parents came to Hogwarts castle see them. Jude visited Tony’s grave which was situated inside the Forbidden Forest after the graduation ceremony. She laid a few forget-me-nots on the grave and kissed his tombstone, thanking him for sacrificing his life for her and apologizing to him for accidentally murdering his parents.

Cedric was there to see Becka graduate and two days after the ceremony, he sent her an owl inviting her to join him on a quest to study creatures of the unknown throughout the globe. And she did. Taking her daughter Henrietta with her, she packed her bags, said her goodbyes to her parents and started her journey with Cedric. Romantically, they were married in France and had a son in Germany named Cyril Diggory.

Rach didn’t go very far. Being trusted of independence by her parents, she took Talos along with her to a number of potion houses and magical shops to practice and enhance her potion-making skills. She even did a self-study on the ancient runes of the world and knew almost all the ancient languages from the four corners of the earth by heart, including Elvish and half-creature talks. Becka always asked her to translate anything that she found during her journey throughout the globe.

Finally she opened an apothecary shop of her own at Diagon Alley, selling anything from potions to elixirs to potion ingredients. She, after many attempts, finally found the permanent spell and potion (that has to come together to take effect) to make Slipper into a real human. Slipper changed his name to Matthew Roberts Lee, but Rach still liked calling him Slipper. After a few years being together managing the shop and all, they were wed in spring and had Chris 2 years later during winter.

What about Jude? Well, she furthered her studies as a medi-witch. Draco came to her to propose to her, wishing that she would marry him and be his wife, but Jude told him the truth about her love towards Prof. Snape, shattering his heart into a thousand pieces. She came back to Hogwarts to become another member in the Hospital Wing. At first, Madame Pomfrey wasn’t too thrilled to have a colleague in her workplace when Prof. Dumbledore informed this to everyone in the staff meeting, but when he called Jude to come in and say hello, she changed her mind immediately. She welcomed Jude warmly and became the best of friends in the Hospital Wing.

Prof. Snape hadn’t change a bit when she came back to serve Hogwarts. Apart from a few unnoticeable streaks of white hair, everything in him stayed the same. And the way they have their conversation hasn’t changed a jot. Prof. Snape still gave her cold remarks and cynical answers and Jude still tried to sweet-talk or reason with him and loud-mouthed him occasionally. By then, all of the staff knew about their relationship and the love hidden behind their arguments. Draco had actually enrolled himself into Hogwarts as the new DADA teacher in order to see Jude everyday and hoping that one day she would come back to him. He may be jealous at seeing Jude and Prof. Snape bickering at each other for all they care, but he refused to give up hope. He was determined to make her his wife and no one else.

You don’t get this type of loyal man everyday, you know.

Finally, after a few years in Hogwarts, Prof. Snape proposed to her. He dragged her all the way to his private domain a.k.a. his room and said directly to her in a cold, stern voice “I want you to marry me” and kissed her deeply, catching her by surprise. He must have gathered a lot of guts to do this because before he kissed her, she saw his sallow face actually blushing like mad. The rest that happened in Snape’s domain…well, you get the idea (saucy hot blushes ensured).

They were married in the castle grounds, conducted and joined together by Prof. Dumbledore himself. It was a joyous occasion and everyone, including the students and ex-students of Hogwarts (except Draco), cheering and waving out sparks and confetti from their wands. A year later, at the end of summer, Jude and Prof. Snape became the proud parents of twin girls named Severia and Severee Snape. Her son Kiaran was the happiest of all.

Jude was pretty famous in Hogwarts, and it goes the same with Rach in Diagon Alley and Becka almost across the globe. She was cheerful and friendly to all her fellow students. Sometimes they would come to her and complain about her husband’s unfair attitude and she would laugh it away and comfort them. She even put her Divination practice to use, only to caught by her cold husband and be lectured on. The students found it hard to believe that this husband and wife had such different characteristics yet able to stay married for so long. At other times, she drew comics and asked her Muggle parents to help her mail it to the publishers for extra income.

The children Chris, Cyril, Severia and Severee, Talos, Henrietta and Kiaran enrolled into Hogwarts together and became the best of friends. Seeing them together often reminded Jude about her school days with her girlfriends.

“Mummy, Mummy! We are going to Honeydukes to buy some goodies to watch the Quidditch games! We need money!”

Jude smiled as she filled the twins’ and Kiaran’s pouches with money. Kiaran, Severia and Severee were her prized jewels. Both the twins had long flowing black hair and dark eyes like their father. No crooked noses, though. The other kids came in to usher them to hurry up. Chris inherited his mother’s blue-black hair and intelligent looks while Cyril had the same brown hair and silver eyes of his father.
“Be careful now, kids,” Jude reminded. “Don’t go…”

“Running into trouble. We know!” The kids said in unison and giggled as they got onto their brooms and left. Jude shook her head and smiled weakly. Kids will always be kids.

Slowly the sky darkened. Thunder boomed at a distance, coming closer. Jude could feel the aura. The familiar dark aura.

So evil.

So sinister and dark.

Voldemort.

Prof. Snape rushed into the Hospital Wing. He felt the aura as well. The Death Eater’s mark on his wrist was burning pretty bright. He took Jude’s hand and whispered, “He’s here. The Dark Lord is back.”

“I know, Sev,” Jude replied, worried. “I felt it too.”

“Looks like he had replenished his strength again the last time we defeated him.”

Jude nodded. Then she realized something and said, “Sev, the kids! They went to Honeydukes just now! Go and bring them back, quick! Please, Sev, I fear the worst!”

“Don’t worry, Jude. I’m on it,” Prof. Snape assured her and left the Hospital Wing. Moments later, she saw him riding the broom and disappearing into the horizon. Jude hunted her briefcase and took out her slightly modified crystal ball.

“Time to call Harry and the Witches,” she muttered as she hovered her hands around the crystal ball, closed her eyes and concentrated.

What happens next? Well, that’s another story for you to think…