Haunteds

Chapter 1

"And that's all the news for today. This is Channel 11's very own, Mel Enriquez, reminding everyone that today marks the start of the Haunting. Please make sure that your kids get their photos taken at the end of the day. Until next time, goodbye!"

"It's that time of the year again," Mom said with a shaky voice. My parents are of age. They've had me in their late twenties so now that I'm sixteen, the signs of aging are getting more pronounced. My mom made it clear that her flabby arms and the crow's feet around the corner of her eyes are forbidden subjects.

I turned the television off as mom sits down. Plates of chicken franks, pancakes, and fried eggs cooked sunny-side up filled our table. There's also a pastry basket full of round, bread rolls, next to a plate of cheese block, sliced to thin pieces. And for dessert, a custard pudding glazed with brown, caramel sauce. And a deep pan of chocolate rice porridge.

"You made champorado?" I said with a big grin and making sure the excitement in my voice is pronounced. I went to her side and give her a kiss on her cheek—something I don't normally do but the occasion calls for it. "I love you, mom."

The crease of her forehead tells me that that wasn't enough to take away her worry. "I thought I should make your favorite...especially today..."

By any standard, this is a bit extravagant for an ordinary, everyday breakfast. Except today isn't a normal day. Today is the start of the month every parent with a teenager fears.

The Haunting is a paranormal phenomenon unique here in Bastillio, our small city located between Manila and Quezon. It starts in October of every year. During this month, a creature of living shadow we call "Shade" haunts teenagers at night that often results in their deaths, making us the only city with "Haunted" written as the official cause of death.

Mr. Chua, our history teacher, taught us that the Shade first appeared fifty years ago, the year after the mass kidnapping of the cult (Mr. Chua said no one knows what they were called, as they were all killed during the massacre.) However, as we are underage, explicit details about the kidnapping are omitted from the books. You won't find any articles about the cult, their church, and belief system anywhere on the internet. Although he did say that the Shade was like a floating silhouette of a man, even though he never seen it before himself.

Back then, before U.V. lights were discovered to be an effective countermeasure against the Shade, there was no way of stopping the supernatural shadow from latching on to their kids. They've realized how helpless they were, so they did the one thing they could do. Accepting the fact that every morning might be their kid's last, families started preparing lavish breakfast for their loved ones every day or for as long as they would live every October. 

But that was decades ago. Although no one still knows what the Shade is exactly, at least we now have a system to identify who will be haunteds—the word became the name for those who had been identified as targets of the Shade. Best of all, we have the government shelter responsible for keeping haunteds alive. Anyway, the shelter has been doing a great job ever since. But the tradition sticks though, not that I'm complaining.

That's why this year, my sophomore year, I'm not too worried. Maybe a bit curious. I also haven't seen the Shade before. Or had been identified as haunted before, or knows someone who'd been haunted. And neither do my parents and my friends.

"Don't worry, mom," I said, loading up my plate with pancakes. "I'll be fine."

"He's right, honey," Dad said. He's the same age as my mom when they met way back in high school. One of those high school sweethearts that lasted forever, I guess.

People always told me I looked like dad. Fair skin, brown eyes, we even have the same straight black hair, only his have mixed of grays in them as if they were highlights. The wrinkles around his mouth and chin became more pronounced whenever he cracked a joke only other dads can appreciate. But when he's talking with mom, somehow, they don't seem so old all of the sudden.