Kiras' Academy[UNDER REVISION]

4. (1/16/23)

Deadly Exam

Spiraea

"The fuck is this?" inis na sabi ni Jas nang madatnan namin ang napakahabang pila papunta sa colliseum. Dito raw kasi gaganapin ang entrance exam. It's a bit strange that the exam would be held here since hindi kasing rami ng estudyante sa Xiuhan University ang narito. Oo mahaba ang pila pero kahit na ganon ay nakikita ko pa rin ang unahan.

I told them to leave five minutes late and dahil early bird ang mga kasama ko at iisa na kami ng kwarto, wala akong magawa kundi sumunod sa kanila. Ngayong maaga kami, kailangan pa tuloy namin mag-antay ng ilang minuto or worse, oras.

Wala pa kami sa loob ng colliseum pero alam ko na kung gaano kalaki ito. Sa labas, para lang siyang isang napakalaking pader ng semento pero alam kong magiging kamangha-mangha ito sa loob.

The strnge feeling can't get off past me. Hindi ko alam but I just can't shake off the thought that this might be a bad idea after all. But my friends are all eager to find out what's in this school. And based on what happened yesterday, it was just a pretty normal yet prestigious school.

Napalingon ako sa likod at napansin ang isang lalaki na nakaitim. Maging ang suot niyang sumbrero at sunglasses ay kulay itim. Napakunot bigla ang noo ko, I am certain he was looking at our direction when I wasn't looking. Now, his head looks like he's scanning the area.

I don't know what's into me that I am really curious about the guy. Is it because his red hair stands out?

"Hoy, kanina ka pa tulala."napatingin ako kay Jas na biglang tumingin sa tinititigan ko.

"Crush mo?"

I shook my head. "Parang nakatingin lang sa atin. Creepy."

She squinted her eyes to see the guy closely. "I don't know why but that guy seems familiar to me." saad niya.

"Let's just go. Umusad na yung pila." I said diverting the topic and she nodded. The three are busy doing selfie and taking pictures of the surroundings. Napakarami kasing puno at sa gilid namin ay napakarami ring iba't ibang klaseng bulaklak. Napaupo ako saka tiningnan ng maigi ang red roses. Under the bush, there's a faint red stain that you won't see unless you look closely.

That sent goosebumps to me.

"What if we back out?" I blurted making my friends look at me. They stopped and then laugh.

"We're here na!What makes you think of doing that?" Dea asked.

"I just...think this is wrong."

"Cmon, you're just nervous." Euca said saka inakbayan ako.

Umakbay rin si Jas sa akin. "You'll ace the exam. You have the brains."

"That's not it—"

"Hello, who's your leader?" natigilan ako nang mapagtantong nasa harapan na kami ng pila. I feel creeped out by the woman's smile but my friends seem to not notice that.

"Here." Crys pointed at me. Ako na naman. As usual.

"List your members and the name of your group." she said and then handed the notebook to us. Kinuha iyon ni Crys saka nagsulat.

Wait, by group ang entrance exam?What kind of test are they doing?

"Think of a silly name."Crys asked.

"Tangabels, like you."Dea answered.

The four giggled and Crys starts writing again. "And...there. Here miss." saad ni Crys saka binalik ang notebook at ballpen. Seryosong tumingin ang babae sa notebook bago sumilay ang isang ngiti. That smile looks like she's mocking us.

Tch.

"You can enter now. And you might want the front seat. The view would be nice on there." she suggested. Pumasok na kami saka nakita na may kakaunti pang vacant seat sa harap kaya napagdesisyunan nilang sa harap na nga kami. My eyes wandered and saw a table full of weapons sa tapat lang namin.

What the fuck. Are those real?

Euca took out her DSLR and start taking pictures, Crys was busy retouching while Dea and Jas are talking out some things. I busied myself by looking at the surroundings.

Others are happy while others are...scared?I can feel strong presence on others too. Presence like just by mere looking at them you'll feel goosebumps out of fear.

Others are serious while others are minding their own businesses just like my friends. I looked at the table again where the weapons are laying. There's a wide space in front of us. Space like what they use way back the ancient times where they would fight in the middle and see who's the strongest. Above us are a huge monitor where we can see the new groups entering the coliseum.

What if this is by group because its a physical test?I may have knowledge but seeing other people in here, we can still lose.

What kind of school holds this kind of exam?What are they teaching?Self defense?Why would it take one year to finish?I'm freaking curious now and it aches my head not having any answers to it.

------

"Welcome to the annual entrance exam, aspiring serial killers!I am Daniel Mercado, your host." hindi ko na narinig ang mga sunod na sinabi ng host nang banggitin niya ang mga salitang 'serial killer'.

"What the actual fuck did we get ourselves into." Jas said, totally shocked. My other friends were shocked too and all frozen to their seats.

With lips quivering, I start talking. "I...I told you this is not a good idea!" I screamed, enough for them to hear.

"This...this might be some sort of mistake, right?Like a prank?"Dea said.

" Right. This is a prank."Euca agreed, but obviously scared.

"...remember,no judge will be here. If you won, you'll live, and if you don't, you'll die. Thats it. So lets start the exam?Lets look at the monitor who will fight first,"the host said  then start looking up on the monitor.

"Fuck." Jas mumbled.

"Okay...let's, let's calm down." I instructed.

"CALM DOWN?We're about to die today and you're telling us to calm down?" inis na sabi ni Dea.

"Tingin niyo ba hindi ako natatakot?I keep telling you this isn't a good idea but you all insisted! Now we have to fight and live on this fucked up school!"

"We can't just accept defeat like that. We have to fight." Jas said.

"I...I can't. I'm scared." tears start falling from Crys' cheeks.

"We can do this. We have to." I was cut off by a blood-chilling scream. We all looked up to see what is it and its the last standing girl from her team. Her face's full of blood, tesrs and sweat as the other group's approaching her.

"P-Please, I've just been f—" before she was finished, one of the guys shot her in the head making her drop to the ground and bathe with her own blood.

I cover my mouth so I wouldn't scream but I can feel the hot liquid on my cheeks. We can't be like her. We have to live and then go home. We have to go back, alive.

"We have to plan. We—We have to live." I announced. They all nodded and I slightly smiled.

"We can do this." Crys motivated us.

"Red nail polish fresly from blood isn't bad after all I guess." Dea said picking up her confidence back.

My smile grew wider. "I guess it isn't. Tangabels squad, let's do this okay?"

We all nodded except Euca. "Yeah but we should've chose a better name for us."

"Agreed."

❣