chapter 3

Jelly was inside her room with Molly once again. Molly was not saying anything: she just keeps on sobbing. Why ate? Why... hic... hic... I was faithful. I was faithful until the end. I even promised myself that I will be serious this time. I’ve been crazily in love with him. But he said he has never been the same. He just dated me because of my looks—never of my whole being, uwaaa...

This is the worst, Jelly thought. She has never been good at consoling or giving pieces of advice. She tried to comfort her sister, but with no avail. She does not even know the boyfriend Molly was referring to since there were a number of them to begin with. She even attempted to search on WikiHow about comforting someone who had just had a breakup, when suddenly a message came in.

Teacher Jelly, the headmaster wants to talk to you regarding your late submissions.

It was teacher Grumpy. Oh no, she thought. She has been passing her LPs really late. She was about to send a reply when she suddenly heard a feeble voice calling her out: Elly... Elly! Hey… you... wake...

She jerked up and hungrily gasped for air. People are about the perimeter. A middle-aged man is over her—checking her up.

“Are you alright? Here, try to hoist yourself up slowly,” the man suggested with a lot of concern in his voice. He supported her up to lean against his left arm.

"Jelly! Oh my God, we thought you're dead!" Ritchelle interjected.

“Hey! What are you saying? It’s just you, not we. Also, don’t keep on thinking negative thoughts, Nica. You’re scaring her,” Alyssa added.

“Hey, Elly, can you hear me? I know it’s hard, but please keep on breathing,” Vhina said seriously, putting both of her hands on Jelly's cheeks. She thought she had just given a bit of good advice, but somehow, with her choice of words, it seems kind of off.

"Everyone, kindly clear up the area," the man suddenly requested, who is a doctor. His facial features are of a robust type for an Asian man. He has a really good-looking face with a well-trimmed beard paired with a strong jaw and a short but attractive goatee.

Jelly went over a lot of check-ups and interrogations by the doctor accompanied by teacher Mary when the crowd has subsided. She can hardly notice the surrounding people—they're blurred. Her glasses, according to Ritchelle, got lost. She felt very tired and a need for sleep calls her to do so. She gave away in seconds.

† † †

Jelly was almost drowning in her sweat when she woke up. She was lying on a makeshift bed made out of random clothes and blankets. She checked her surroundings: nothing much is around except her stuff. She is inside a very small space with a pointed roof. Seems like I’m in a kind of tent, she concluded after a few more observations around the cramped space that might have been oddly cozy if not for the temperature. It was too hot inside so she decided to go out.

People were very busy doing their own thing amidst the glare of the torturing sun. She can count up to almost half of the number of people she has counted on the barge, including the passengers and crew. She saw the doctor who helped her attend to someone else now. The young-looking old lady she has seen on the barge was walking around, giving bread and different types of protein bars to eat. The Pikachu shirt has been replaced with a tiled-Jigglypuff sweater. What’s with this manang? The shoreline was dotted with different makeshift tents that were made out of almost anything—from clothes to woods to metals that might have been pulled out harshly from somewhere. Metal? She wondered, and in a matter of seconds, it all went back to her. The barge!

She approached teacher Mary, who was keenly observing the people doing things on the shore. “Where’s the barge, cher?”

“Oh, Jelly! Glad you’re already awake. Have you eaten already? Ate Corazon, can I ask for some food and water?”

The old lady who was handing out provisions came and greeted them awkwardly. “I'm sorry ma'am, but I've run out of food already. Maybe we can get some inside the island. There might be locals here as well.” The Jigglypuffs were all crumpled and soggy from her sweat.

“That’s okay, te. Besides, I’m not that hungry yet,” Jelly lied, trying her best to suppress her hunger.

“Well, if you say so. Thank you, ate. Now, what were you asking me?” Teacher Mary clarified after the woman scurried away.

“About the barge, and also these,” Jelly gestured around the camp.

“Oh, yes. By the time I woke up, we were already ashore on some sort of island. We tried to use our phones with no avail. There's no signal. People are crying, especially the student council officers. They're in the orange tent, by the way,” she pointed to the awful tent on the left side. It has no orange color at all, except for the bold word “ORANGE” that was hurriedly stenciled on a piece of driftwood. It was hung around a protruding metal from the pointed roof. Teacher Mary was the one who initiated the idea. She was a very organized person, and on top of that, she loves colors, but with the lack of actual colors, she might as well improvise. “The barge has been anchored behind that cliff where you can find a cove. One of the problems we were facing was about the missing passengers. It’s almost half of us. Abled men were also trying to get the captain out of his cabin because he never got out. What terrifies us was that he never once called out, nor even made a noise. The captain's cabin is not soundproof, he can shout or bang the door if he wants to. There’s also a pool of blood in one of the cabins of the crew, and it's still fresh. We can't identify to what or whom the blood belonged to. Let's be hopeful it's not of a human being. We can't exactly tell the hours we've been stranded here since the time on our phones are not working properly. However, we have a rough approximation that it has been two to five hours since then.”

“Who are missing, specifically?”

“There are too many to mention. I would appreciate it if you will complete your rest for now. We will need a lot of manpower to at least survive another five hours, or a day if push comes to shove until rescue will arrive. Surely, one of our families here will eventually notice something strange and report to the authorities. Some people are trying all means of communication outside of the island as well.”

“But, cher, please. Tell me who are missing from our faculties at least,” Jelly insisted with eager eyes.

Teacher Mary shot a menacing look straight at her, trying to grasp what she was thinking through the doors of her soul. She can understand why Jelly would be so concerned about it, but the relentless bravado she continually omits is oddly different. She noticed a flicker of resolution in which she believed would not be shaken. She gave up and reluctantly sighed, “To count off, there are seven. Five teachers and two students.”

“Who are they?”

“Blanch, Veruca, Chevonne, Josh, Samuel, and Arjun for the teachers. And-”

“The students?”

“Finlay and Priscilla.” Teacher Mary cannot believe that Jelly was overpowering her in terms of authority. She cleared her throat and in an absolute manner ordered, “Go back to your tent. Rest properly.”

“It’s too hot inside. Can I go inland and explore for a while?” Jelly suggested. This made teacher Mary quite mad, and she approached her with an authoritarian gait, shooting her face close to hers, leaving an inch gap between.

“Go. back. to. your. tent. and. rest.” An ultimatum she gave.

Jelly slouched her shoulders and pivoted to go back when suddenly a commotion was brewing from the cove where the barge was anchored. Lots of people—mostly the crew—rushed to the ship, and shouts and screams followed suit. She squinted her eyes because she cannot see it properly, but a figure was surely approaching them. Teacher Mary was just there standing with crossed arms, indifferently assessing what the hullabaloo could be about. The figure reached them in a matter of seconds—out of breath. It's Alyssa.

Teacher Mary allowed her a moment to catch her breath and ordered Jelly to get some water for her to drink. Luckily, she still has her hydro flask in her bag. She gave it to Alyssa, and after some mouthfuls, finally reported, “Cher, the captain’s cabin has been opened.”

The three rushed to the cove. It was not afloat or anchored in a manner that she thought it was: approximately one-fourth of it was already sunken. Thankfully, the water here is shallow-enough for them to walk across. If it is not, it would be over for the captain.

People are now congregating around the captain’s cabin area. What intrigued Jelly the most was why they seemed like they had seen a ghost inside. “Give way. We would like to see what’s happening inside,” teacher Mary calmly said, rather, ordered, making sure that her voice is well-poised—not too loud nor too weak but intimidating enough for everyone to scurry aside. When they reached the threshold, their jaws dropped in the maddening sickness of the sight.

It was chaos. A disaster.

It looked like a monster had a wild party inside. The walls and furniture were all damaged, and some were wrecked by something unimaginable. Scratches can be seen everywhere: from the roof to the walls, even on the floor. Jelly kneeled down to inspect them. It is not something a human being can do, she presumed. Teacher Mary let out a screeched when she saw the figure on the far corner of the room, which made Jelly jump out of her place as she has never heard her screeched before. She followed teacher Mary’s line of vision until she saw a blurred figure sitting on a sort of armchair. She squinted, but not enough light was reflected to her eyes for her to see clearly the figure, so she approached warily until it all became lucid-enough to see the accentuated body line from the shadows. The figure is of a human being, but it looks weird. She dauntlessly moved closer until a crystalline view of it made her stop in her tracks, and the feeling of nausea climbed up her throat.

It was the captain sitting on his armchair—holding his own head. The neck area was a mess.

Jelly quickly lurched to the side and threw up. Teacher Mary collected herself rather quickly and covered the decapitated corpse with the captain’s jacket, which was lying around, enough to cover the from the neck area up to the waist. The crew was still barring people from entering, but some have seen the decapitated captain already and quickly retreated to the shore to spread the news. Other passengers were now coming and pushing each other around the perimeter of the deck. Teacher Norkie and Selena came and shouted orders to clear the area and to go back to their tents. The crew also helped in pacifying the passengers about what happened inside the cabin.

A ruckus has now erupted on the shore. The news spread like wildfire, and it was terrifyingly uncontrollable.

“Teacher Selena and Norkie, kindly go the orange camp and make sure that the students will not go out of their tent; unless, they will need to relieve themselves in which a teacher should be accompanying them. Always, wherever they go,” teacher Mary hastily ordered.

The two teachers rushed to the tent and the rest of the crew cleared the area, trying to be forceful as some of them were already forcing themselves in and crying out in gobbledygook. This kept the crew occupied, leaving Jelly and teacher Mary alone on the deck.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am, but you will also need to go back to your tent,” One of the crew members dauntlessly asked teacher Mary as he noticed that they are still inside the cabin. “It’s something gruesome that you ladies would not fancy looking at.”

“Yes, we will go back in a moment. We would just like to investigate the matter. Is there anyone here who is better than me in this job?” Teacher Mary flashed an ID to the crew’s face and quickly pocketed it. “I’ll leave once you’ll introduce me to someone I’m asking for.”

The man scratched his head and at length left them alone.

Jelly approached teacher Mary and asked, “What was that, cher?”

Teacher Mary moved a little bit farther from her as she smells of vomit. “Nothing. Just an ol’time job,” She matter-of-factly replied. “So, what could have happened here?”

They approached the captain’s study table and investigated anything that they can find. They found assorted IDs, personal belongings, some porcelain ceramics, and jars full of ginamos and hipon in the overhead cabinets. Teacher Mary is brave enough to put her hand in one of the pockets of the captain's pants. She salvaged a purse that contains ten five-centavos and three fifty-peso bills—and a condom. She threw it away in disgust, muttering something incomprehensible under her breath, and tried to lift the jacket she covered up the body with to investigate the neck area and the head. Here, Jelly went outside and sat on the cold metal flooring, putting her weight against the cabin's wall. She sobbed and asked God why such a thing had happened. It is starting to traumatize her.

After a few moments, teacher Mary went out and nudged Jelly's shoulders who was slumbering. Jelly looked up with a smudged face from her tears and puffy eyes. Teacher Mary felt pity for such a young woman to be traumatized by such a thing. She tried to think of words she can use to ease Jelly’s mental shock. Had she only known what was inside the cabin, she would surely not bring her.

“Let’s go back now,” The only thing teacher Mary can think of saying as of the moment.

“What did you find out there, cher?” Jelly murmured, trying her best to be stable.

Teacher Mary noticed this, and she silently commended her for fighting the traumatizing experience. “Nothing but one.”

“What was it?”

“It might be too gory for you to hear.”

“Try me, cher.” She lied, faking a front. She was terrified but at the same time wanted to know what happened.

“It’s about the captain’s right eye socket. It has been scooped deep and hard enough to leave a bloody hollow. I can’t find an eyeball near the area. This hints that this is not something that will just naturally happen. Someone must have killed the captain.”

“Well, it’s quite clear just by looking at the chopped neck. Does it not terrify you?” Here, Jelly remembered it again and started to act like throwing up.

Teacher Mary gave a wistful smile, and she put an arm around Jelly’s shoulders, supporting her on her feet. “I know it’s your first time seeing such a sight. I might be asking too much of you, but please, try to forget what you have seen, or at most, get over it. Try to be in your best composure as much as possible once we return to the shore. The students would freak out if they will see you like this. It’s for their own good, so please overcome this.”

Jelly started to sob again and thought, how can she demand such an impossible thing? For her, it would take years to forget such a gruesome scene. If only she has not accepted to be part of this training camp in the first place, things would be different.

They were guided by some crew off the barge and unto the water. Sloshing their way to the shore, Vhina and Ritchelle greeted them halfway with worried faces. Jelly tried her best to act cool and indifferent to the matter. “Hey, how were the students?” She intrepidly asked while keeping her voice from cracking.

“They stopped crying and some were working with a workbook teacher Selena gave to keep them occupied. Is it true there?” Vhina boldly asked, pointing to the nearly-half-sunken ship with teary-eyes.

“We’ve heard strange stories. They vary from person to person which leaves it difficult for us to understand and believe,” Ritchelle added. Her knees were starting to wobble. Jelly sensed they might have been horrified. How will she tell them what they have seen inside?

Teacher Mary handed out Jelly and instructed them to go back to the shore immediately. When asked what she will do, she told them that there are some things she needs to examine.

Sloshing back to the barge, teacher Mary turned and gave Jelly a look that she somehow understood. She reached the barge and talked to the crew. They lifted and assisted her around the barge.

“So, will you tell us the full story?” Vhina started as soon as teacher Mary is out of their sight.

“Why so eager? Let’s go back to my tent first. I’ll tell you everything there.”

Right after going inside the rashly made shelter of a tent, Vhina handed Jelly her hydro flask and she joyfully snatched it out of her hands. She jugged a mouthful and sighed deeply. She told them everything they have seen. Ritchelle cannot believe it and started crying her eyes out. She slumped and threw herself to Vhina, who was oddly understandable of what just happened. She keeps on saying things like they will be killed first before they will be rescued. Vhina, on the other hand, started to sob a little, but her brows crumpled in a way that shows bravery and resiliency. Jelly stood and clapped her cheeks, remembering teacher Mary. I need to cool my head and act accordingly from now on.

“We need to tell everyone about what really happened,” she announced with noodle knees.

“And, how? How are we going to tell them amidst the misunderstanding? It’s almost dusk and it would be too hard to gather them around because some were already getting inland to find more food and locals. Some are even forming their own factions, not trusting the crew of the ship, not trusting us, believing that the only man who can get us out of here is already dead. Headless!” Ritchelle continued sobbing, then added, “We are getting separated, Jelly. We can’t control them!”

“I know, but somehow we need to break the news to them. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if we will keep this by ourselves.”

“Wouldn’t it be much better if we gather the teachers first?” Vhina suggested.

“Yes, we’ll do that first. And the students. No matter what happens, don’t tell them. They’re too young for this kind of crap,” Jelly lashed out.

“What about the rest of the crowd? There are still some who can’t decide for themselves and chose to stay on the shore. They might be hoping for us to do something since we are the capable-looking ones.”

Ritchelle brought herself up to her feet and grabbed Jelly’s shoulders hard enough, forcing her to sit down on her makeshift bed. “Jelly, I’ll gather everyone that I can around here, teachers and strangers alike. You tell them the news while we keenly observe each one of them for any suspicious acts.”

“I’ve seen the doctor going to the barge earlier. Teacher Mary might have called him for some help with the matter. I think he's out of the picture.” Vhina shared.

“How about the varsity guy? He has a large built and he surely is suspicious, bringing that baseball bat with him. I don't believe that he keeps it around solely for self-defense.” Ritchelle asked Vhina with curious and somewhat vengeful eyes. Jelly cannot follow the conversation they were having.

“I've seen him go off inland. He's with a lot of younger women and as I've heard, he assured them that he will protect each one of them with all of his strength. If he’s the one, he would be a tough one to bring down.”

“Are there any suspicious-looking guys you’ve noticed?”

“None that I can remember. Why are we deducing it to guys only? Women are also capable to do it.”

“Well, are there any suspicious-looking women that you think could have done such a terrible thing?”

“Um... none that I can think of.”

“So, we don’t have a lead yet. How about the teachers?”

"What are you saying, Ritch? How could we do such a thing?"

“We can’t rule ourselves out here, Vhi. He or she might be among us lurking around the shore at this moment.” Ritchelle touched her chin, thinking hard, almost recovering from the shock of the news. She was rather moving on faster than Jelly thought she could. “So, this might be something that has happened between the time of the captain’s announcement regarding the seaquake while we were on the barge, and the time we all washed ashore here. Anyone remembers who woke up first?”

Jelly cannot stand it anymore and stood up, bringing her fists up the air, and in a confused but inquisitive manner asked: “Hey, you two, stop it! I can’t understand a thing you’re saying. What are you up to? What’s with all the nonsense you’re talking about?”

Both of them gawked at her and looked each other in the eye. With a sigh of finality, Vhina simply answered in a monotonous tone, “Elly, we’re trying to figure out the one who murdered the captain. He or she is absolutely one of us.”