Jake darted towards the tent, grabbed his bag and cellphone, and ran out to the unpaved path. "I'll just follow this path and maybe I'll get back to my car", he thought, while briskly walking away from the tent.
"You think it will work?", Caryn asked Andres, as they emerged from the mango tree. They hid there until Jake was out of sight.
"It will", Andres replied. "Do you remember how I found you?" Caryn nodded, as they entered the tent. "Now try to remember what happened that made you believe: You might find an answer there somewhere. Something we can use to hasten the process with Jake", Andres instructed, before laying down on his mat.
Caryn sat down and started her journey down memory lane. She studied Communication Arts at UP Los Banos and stayed in a dorm along Kanluran road inside the campus. Ms. Bermudez had it all: looks, friends, and a social life. She was failing some subjects though...too much partying and boys. Things started going downhill when her parents died. She distanced herself from friends, devoted all her time to studying, and training for the school's basketball varsity team. Occasionally, she'd join parties to keep up appearances.
One night, while walking home alone from basketball practice, she passed the bridge behind the library. She felt someone walking behind her and had goosepumps. She started walking faster, and faster, until she found herself running all the way to the dorm. Too tired from practice, she skipped dinner with dorm mates, took a quick shower and slept. Later that night, while Caryn was lying on her side, facing the wall beside her bed, she saw the wall beside it with some brass jars on the side. "Why is the wall color cream?" She wondered, recalling all walls of the dorm to be a bright mint green. "Where did these jars come from? Am I dreaming?" She thought, as she touched her eyes and felt they were indeed closed. As she realized she was dreaming, she started hearing laughter...dark, evil, witch-like laughter approaching her. Frightened, Caryn started reciting the Apostle's Creed until the laughter went away. While having breakfast the following morning, Caryn remembered the nightmare so vividly but couldn't remember how she fell asleep again. "So, I guess it was just a bad dream after all", she thought, trying to dismiss the terrible experience as she went along her day.
The week was almost over. Caryn has forgotten that terrible nightmare she had Monday night. She partied with some friends at the Fork, a spot just up the street of her dorm. It was almost 2am, her friends and some upper classmen didn't seem to want to go home yet, when she decided to call it night and walk home alone. She was drunk but was mindful enough to silently creep inside the dorm, past Lando, the caretaker. She went straight to bed.
That night, as Caryn slept silently, she was awoken by a feeling of doom. This time, she didn't see the wall beside her bed. Instead, all she can see was darkness. Agitated, Caryn started praying the Apostles Creed again when suddenly, the wicked laughter was back. This time, it was getting closer and closer until she felt something breathing down her nape.