Jamie could not believe his eyes. Why was he facing eye to eye with the devil? Terror and disgust overwhelmed his spirit.
"You need to be strong," Dr. Alvarado was saying to him. "We need you to make the cure."
"What do you mean?"
"You are patient zero and you survived. You have the cure."
"No!" Jamie screamed.
He pushed away Dr. Alvarado's arms violently and tried to run away. However, there were men in white around him and he was kept, or imprisoned, inside what looked like a closed cell. Its walls were painted with silver. There were no openings except for a small white door.
Jamie ran around the room but not one of the men chased him. They simply let him run until all his energies were exhausted.
"Please, let me go," he pleaded.
Dr. Alvarado just shook his head, his evil smile still lingering on his face. Jamie slammed himself on the wall and kept punching at it while wailing loudly. Two men grabbed him and dragged him back to the middle of the room. Jamie felt a slight heaviness in his arms and when he looked at them, they had turned into concrete painted silver, just like the walls of the room.
"What's happening to my arms?" he whispered.
"Interesting," Dr. Alvarado said. "There is something intriguing you can do with your hands. Let's see what's inside them. "
The two men seized him again but Jamie resisted. They pulled him hard while he screamed and shouted. He yelled and yelled until Jamie finally roused from his sleep. His blanket, bed sheet, and clothes were soaked with sweat. His body ached as some blisters exploded when he shuddered in his sleep. He struggled catching his breath and despite forcing himself, he was not able to sleep again until early morning.
Meanwhile, Tonton could also hardly sleep that night. It had been several days already since his last dream so he did not think his visions would come back again. But that night, he had those dreams again; this time, they happened in Subangdaku.
He was outside their house. His bike was all cleaned up, ready to take him to school. Jamie was sick so Tonton would have to start their ride. He would fetch Kiko, then Bogart, and then the three of them would go to school together. That had been their daily routine but without Jamie of course.
Tonton boarded his bike and slowly began riding. He wore a face mask as advised by the government. It was a fine morning, except for the people who were out in the streets, coughing and writhing on the ground in pain. The sight was more than just scary, it was frightening and dreadful.
"Why are they outside?" he asked himself. "Are there no hospitals?"
He entered Kiko's street and the same thing was happening. One woman was even hugging his barely breathing child. To his surprise, Kiko could not go out. He was in bed and terribly sick that he could hardly get out of bed. He hurried to Bogart's house and he was in similar condition - bed-ridden because of extreme body pain and high fever.
He went alone to school but the campus was already transformed into a quarantine area. Silver medical tents were put up on the open ground. Medical professionals were all over the place, tending to the countless number of sick people.
"Is this what's going to happen to Subangdaku?"
Tonton felt a heavy sadness in his heart. He knew it was only a dream but the misery was all to real to ignore. Cries of agony could be heard all over the campus. He could not bear the sounds anymore so he covered his ears with his hands and shut his eyes.
The eerie cries soon ebbed and when Tonton opened his eyes, he was lying on what looked like a hospital bed. His arms and legs were tied to the siderails. He shook his body but the knot did not loosen up.
He lifted his head as high as he could possibly do. He looked at his surroundings. To his wonder, he was not inside a hospital but in an abandoned building. The room's walls were painted white, but over time, they were covered with dust, dirt, and cobwebs. Birds were also inside the room and dried leaves were hanging on the webs.
"Why am I here?" Tonton whispered. "What is this place?"
The room was wide and there only two metallic doors, both on the longest wall and each on the opposite ends of that wall. He was in the middle of the room and it would take a great amount of effort to reach either of the doors. Suddenly, one of the doors opened forcibly, its loud bang echoing in the dreary room. Tonton went back lying on the bed as he heard footstep hurriedly walking towards him. He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
"I bet you are now up, little man," an old man's voice said.
It was a familiar voice. Tonton's heart beat wildly, especially upon realizing that the man must have seen him moving. In few seconds, the man was right beside him, holding his arm. He turned his head sideways and he was staring directly at Dr. Alvarado, a wide smile spanning his lips. He shrieked.
Tonton immediately woke up from his sleep. He was scared and sweating hard. His nightmare had taken a face in the person of Dr. Alvarado. Tonton tried to doze again but he only had a restless sleep throughout the remainder of the night.
In another house somewhere in Subangdaku, a child was also having trouble sleeping due to bad dreams. The child screamed in sleep and immediately, the mother came to rescue. Like Jamie and Tonton, the child was also not at peace, and so was the mother.
In the old haunted house in Subangdaku, something evil was forming. It was only as small as a fat larva moth. But it kept growing as it fed something on the air. It was a chilly creepy night and so the larva opened up its mouth to nourish itself. It wriggled and rolled, enjoying its food from the night....