The Last Light Companion [Chapter 3.2]

‘Remind me why we’re here again?’ asked Jannah, stirring her lemon juice. She sat at the corner of the small Subway restaurant--smaller than the classroom, in fact--with Rachelle and Manisha sitting in front of her.

‘We’re here because I’ve something important to say,’ said Rachelle between bites of chicken tandoori wrap--they all decided to buy that one because it was the cheapest. ‘Also, I’ve been starving since I used my second recess to speak with Zafuan.’ And Subway was her favourite because of the foods they sold. All meats packed in wrappings or breads were her preference.

Manisha was staring at her wrap, considering whether it deserved a bite or not. ‘The food here is expensive.’ This was true since the twelve-ringgits wrap (roughly four US dollars) costed more than Malaysian’s regular foods.

Rachelle rolled her eyes. ‘It's the nearest restaurant from school. We can’t talk at the library, classroom or canteen because there’s no guarantee no one wouldn't eavesdropping our conversation. This Subway is small, we can see the door here. We know who’s in or out.’

Jannah took a slurp and smiled. ‘Well, out with it.’

‘He’s not going to stop, Jannah,’ said Rachelle. She laid her food on the wooden table. If she knew she was going to the Subway today, she would have brought her favourite brown jacket. ‘He wasn’t even ashamed of what he was doing, even when facing a student representative.’

Rachelle, despite her dislike of school in general, was chosen to be one of the many student representatives, part of a student organization that was in charge in handling the orientation for new students as well as considering complaints or suggestions by the rest of them. Unfortunately, she was not like a prefect; she did not have the authority to punish a student when said student did something against the rules. Now that she thought about it, perhaps that was why Zafiq was not afraid of her.

Jannah sighed. ‘Let him be. If you can’t persuade him to stop, and if Dafina doesn’t do anything about him, then there’s nothing we can do. It’s better to focus on more important things.’ She brushed away a strand of hair falling over her forehead. ‘And one of the things happened to me last night.’

Rachelle gasped. ‘What was it? Don’t tell me--was it about the "protective force" that’s done unnatural things to you? I’ve made some research. I think the force is actually a spirit stuck on Earth, unable to pass over until whatever business he or she has here is resolved.’ She paused, then whispered, ‘There’s a ghost clinging to you, Jannah. ’

Manisha snorted.

Rachelle looked at her and Jannah. ‘What? It’s the most likely scenario, isn’t it?’

‘The most absurd one,’ said Manisha, smiling at her.

Jannah joined her. ‘I agree with Manisha. It’s ridiculous.’ She held up her hand to stop Rachelle from saying anything. ‘Just let me tell you guys what happened last night. You know I like writing in my diary at the middle of the night, right?’

Rachelle and Manisha nodded. ‘Yeah, something about you can’t sleep early,’ said Rachelle, looking at Jannah's panda eyes. ‘I’m still wondering how can you go to school early, lacking sleep like that.’

‘That’s not the point,’ said Jannah. ‘When I was writing...’ she trailed, and frowned. Rachelle could see her shake her head slightly before she continued. ‘When I stopped writing, the pencil moved on its own.’

Rachelle was about to spurt the drink in her mouth when she heard that. ‘You’re kidding me!’ said she. ‘Pencil can’t move by it’s own; it’s impossible.’

‘So did the hovering glass, but that didn’t stop it from hovering, did it?’ asked Jannah, raising an eyebrow.

‘Well, yeah... but -’ Rachelle hesitated. ‘I mean, it was funny with the glass, Dafina certainly deserved it, but the pencil moving by its own is just creepy.’ He eyes widened. ‘Are you saying it wrote stuffs on your diary, though? That’s exactly what a stuck-up spirit would do!’

Manisha giggled, but she still did not say anything. She semeed to be content with listening to both of them.

Rachelle continued with her point; her wrap was, unsurprisingly, gone. ‘What did it write to you? It must have given you a message!’ To emphasize, she nodded, hopping for her tone to persuade Jannah and Manisha.

‘Rejected souls...’ Jannah shook her head. ‘I don’t believe in them. When a person dies, he goes to barzakh, a barrier between the physical and spiritual worlds, and waits for his resurrection in qiyamah. There’s no exception.’

‘Well, that’s what Islam says,’ said Rachelle. ‘I personally believe a soul goes to either Heaven or Hell after his death. But what if there is an exception? What if there’s a special case?’

‘The force is not a soul,’ said Jannah, her tone firm. ‘If it is, it wouldn’t reveal itself as a blue light.’

Rachelle opened her mouth in surprise while Manisha froze. ‘What are you talking about?’ asked Rachelle, leaning forward. ‘Are you saying it showed itself to you?’

Jannah nodded. ‘I didn’t believe it, of course, I thought it was a dream.... but when I woke up, I saw my diary on the table, unfinished, and the pencil on the floor. Those two could only happen if the light was real.’

Rachelle frowned, and took a long sip of her Coca Cola. ‘Well, maybe the ghost took light as his or her form...’ she trailed. She shook her head. ‘Or maybe it wasn’t a ghost. I don’t - I don’t know anymore.’ She sighed in surrender. This is still interesting, she thought. She could hear Mum’s voice, demanding her to seek what was real rather than what was fantastical. She mentally shooed it away.

‘What was more interesting,’ said Jannah, ‘was that it talked about helping me. And humankind, I think. I wasn’t sure about that. I freaked out. I went back to bed and forced myself to sleep. I checked for the light, a few minutes later, and it was gone.’

Seeing Jannah’s blushing cheeks, Manisha nodded. ‘Naturally you freaked out.’

‘There’s something wrong with all of this,’ said Rachelle, waving to her food, as if she was talking about it. ‘I saw, Jannah, Manisha, when I talked to Zafiq. I think - I think his eyes turned pitch black for a second.’

‘Full black eyes?’ asked Manisha, her voice dripping scepticism.

Rachelle nodded eagerly. ‘I’m pretty sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Maybe Zafiq’s sudden interest on Jannah has something more to it.’

Jannah finished her drink. ‘How can you know for certain, though? Perhaps it’s a trick of the sunlight.’

Rachelle gritted her teeth. Oh, so if it was Jannah, everything was possible and sure. But if it came to Rachelle herself, everything might be a trick. She could not blame Jannah for being doubtful, however. She was the only one who witnessed it, and she had to prove it. She groaned inwardly. If only Jannah and Manisha were with her at that time, they would also see how Zafiq’s eyes turned creepily emotionless.

She leaned back. ‘I’ll prove it to you guys. Just wait for it.’ She was not going to give up.