Spook

Chapter 24
Body Snatcher

FOR THE PAST few days since he had that talk with Charlie, Johnny Tangco had nothing on his mind but James. He could still remember the last time he saw James as if it was only yesterday. He could still feel his heart break at the sight of James' empty eyes. He could still recall all the things James said to him. He still regretted not being able to interpret James' words correctly.

He knew that James might try to kill himself. He shouldn't have chickened out and he should've just asked James outright if he had heard the news. If he had only realized it sooner, he wouldn't have left James alone that night. He could've prevented James' suicide.

"I should've been there for you, James," he said as he looked at James' smiling face on the large painting hanging on his wall. "I knew I shouldn't have left you alone." Tears were flowing freely down his cheeks.

The memories of his last day with James were persistent. He really thought James left for home when he woke up the next morning. The sadness he felt was overwhelming, but he thought it would be better for James to go as far away from UP as possible so that he could forget about Carlos. He never would've guessed that James never really left. He never left at all.

It was a few days later when their RA noticed the stench coming from James' room while he was doing his nightly rounds. Johnny didn't see the gruesome scene inside Carlos' closet where James slashed his wrist and wrote something on the wall using his own blood. He wasn't allowed to see James' dead body either as it was carried out of the dorm. The dorm manager tried to keep the incident under wraps, but since he was just next door, he heard everything that was said as they collected James from the room.

He mourned James' death alone. He was consumed by grief for a while. Then, he became angry... angry at the people who wronged James... who drove him to his death.

At first he was angry at Carlos for leaving James. But when he found out that Carlos had also died shortly after James, he couldn't stay mad at Carlos. He knew that Carlos' girlfriend was blackmailing him to stay away from James. He actually overheard Rosie threatening Carlos one time. When he asked Carlos about it, Carlos just looked at him with tears about to fall from his eyes and told him, "She knows." He understood immediately.

"Don't tell Jay. He'll just freak out," Carlos begged him. He just nodded his head.

Then he realized when the trouble started and who started it. It was when James got a letter from his father telling him to drop out and come home immediately. When he asked James why his father would want him to drop out, James just told him, "George told my father about me."

"What about you?" he asked. James just looked at him as tears began to fall from those beautiful eyes. And he knew.

"Please don't tell Carlos about my father's letter," James pleaded. He just nodded his head.

That was the start. Soon, Rosie became more and more demanding of Carlos. And Carlos began to spend less time with James.

He realized who started it all. It was George. And he vowed he would make George's life miserable if that was the last thing he did. He tried to gather information about George and the Group, which wasn't easy to do because hardly anybody knew that the Group even existed. Then, George seemed to have fallen off the face of the planet. Nobody knew where he went off to.

It was almost 10 years later and he was already teaching in UP when he finally located George. It seemed that George had become heavily addicted to drugs and he was wasting away in a small town in Laguna Province, preying on innocent little children.

It was the height of the Martial Law in the Philippines and it was easy enough to ensnare George. All Johnny needed to do was to tip the PC¹ of George's activities and they would do the rest.

He wanted George to suffer in jail. If the PC tortured George, as Johnny often heard they did, before throwing him in jail, that would be a plus. He didn't realize, though, that the PC would do more than just torture George and throw him in jail.

When the PC found George sniffing cocaine while being sucked on by a little boy, they hauled him to the boondocks. They beat him up, knocking most of his teeth in the process. They clubbed his balls until he couldn't stand anymore. And then they stripped him of all of his clothes, tied his hands to the police car and dragged him for miles on a rocky road. Almost all of his skin was ripped off by the rough road. Then, he was left for dead.

Three days later, Johnny heard the news about a man that was tortured and killed in the boondocks of Laguna. He later found out that it was George. He felt guilty when he found out how George had died, but he knew he didn't want him to die; he wanted him to suffer, yes, but not die.

He thought that he would feel satisfaction and relief after George paid for his sins against James and Carlos, but he just felt empty. He felt like he had no real purpose anymore. So, he immersed himself into teaching and molding young minds. Teaching became his passion. He never did meet anyone that he felt he could be with for the rest of his life. He knew that James was it for him.

"Nobody could ever replace you," he sighed as he continued to look at James' portrait. "Even now, I still love you with all my heart."

The loud knock on the door brought him back to his senses. He quickly wiped off his tears and headed to the bathroom to wash his face.

"I'm coming!" he shouted as the knocks became even louder. He hurried to the door and swung it open. He found a good-looking young man standing by the door. He looked familiar.

"Hello professor," the young man said as he took a handkerchief out of his pocket.

"Are you one of my students?" asked Johnny.

"Yes, sir," the young man replied with a smile on his face. "Philo 1, a couple of years ago." The young man's smile was unsettling to Johnny.

"What can I do for you?" Johnny prompted.

The young man's smile turned into an evil grin. "You can come with me," he said as he quickly covered Johnny's face with the handkerchief in his hand.

Johnny caught a whiff of the chloroform in the handkerchief. His legs gave in and blackness consumed his sight as the young man dragged him back into the house.

ANGELA knew that something big was going to happen that day. She felt it as soon as she opened her eyes that morning. Something just felt off. So she called her assistant and told him that she would be working from home because she was not feeling well.

She didn't bring Tyler to the daycare center either. For some reason, she didn't want to let her son out of her sight even for a single minute that day.

That was why she was in Tyler's room, staring at her son as she let him peacefully sleep in on his bed some more, when it happened. Her vision blurred in an instant and he saw Danny's face... but there was malice in his eyes. Then she felt a strong pang in her chest. As she clutched her chest, she saw Charlie and Danny fighting to the death.

She gasped. "No!" She closed her eyes as she tried to regain control of her senses.

"Grandpa!" she called out as soon as she opened her eyes again. Her grandpa instantly appeared standing before her. "Something's going to happen. Something really bad."

Her grandpa looked at her grimly. "I don't have enough power to stop the Ancient; only Danny can stop it," he said.

"He won't be here to stop it," said Angela. "And Charlie might die if he doesn't come back in time."

She felt another spasm in her chest, much stronger than the previous one. She clutched her chest in pain and bit her lip to stop herself from shouting. Tears began streaking down her cheeks.

She looked at her grandpa. "He's gone," she said, her face was panic-stricken.

"I will look for him in the astral realm," said her grandpa. He, too, sensed what happened to Danny. "If he's there, I'll find him and bring him back."

He then looked at her intently. "You have to warn Charlie. It seems the Ancient wasn't targeting Danny after all; he was just a means to an end... the end being Charlie. He is in grave danger," he said as he began to fade.

Tyler began to stir as soon as Angela's grandpa was gone. "Mom, what's wrong?" Tyler asked as he opened his eyes and saw his mom crying.

"Nothing, baby," said Angela as she sat on Tyler's bed and held her son tightly. "We just need to pray hard for Uncle Danny."

"Is he in trouble?" Tyler asked. "Some ghost after him?"

"Yes," Angela answered. "A very terrifying ghost is after him and he needs all the help he can get. We can send our help to him through prayer."

"I'll help him," Tyler said as he closed his eyes and began to pray for his uncle's safety.

A BREAKFAST date didn't sound too appealing at first, but Rommel had to concede that it was pretty nice. "The kiss was pretty awesome, too," he thought as his lips curled into a smile.

It had been his third official date with the hot swimmer and it was going really well for both of them. Rommel really liked him. He didn't believe that he could ever get over Charlie, but things were looking up. He had finally accepted that Charlie only liked him as a friend, nothing more. And it seemed that he finally found someone who was romantically interested in him. And for the first time in a long time, he felt happy. He felt like himself again.

He was almost skipping as he walked back home. His first class that day was only a few minutes away, and he realized that he should've brought his things with him when he went out for his date. But he didn't think he would spend almost three hours over breakfast. He didn't even realize that it had been that long until his date asked what time his next class would be.

As he came near his house, he suddenly felt anxious when he saw that the front door was ajar. He knew his granduncle was home, but the old man would never leave the door like that.

"Uncle Johnny?" he called as he cautiously approached the door. He pushed the door wide open and tentatively looked inside. He saw the old man sprawled on the floor. He quickly ran to his granduncle and knelt beside him. He took the old man's wrist and looked for a pulse. He sighed with relief as he found out that the old man wasn't dead.

Then he felt someone walking towards him. But before he could turn around, he felt a ceramic lamp crash into his head. He fell down as darkness enveloped him.

When he regained his consciousness a few minutes later, he felt that his belt was removed from his pants and was used to tie his hands behind him. He felt that his feet were tied up as well. He pretended to be unconscious as his captor rolled him on his stomach. He cautiously pried his eyes open and was terrified to see the man who had tied him up, frantically moving around the house looking for something.

"Marcus," he said under his breath.

"Where the fuck are your car keys, old man?" he heard Marcus mutter. Just like everybody else in the university, he heard what happened to Marcus. He knew that the man was supposed to be in a mental institution.

"What is he doing here?" he thought as he shut his eyes once more.

"Ah... there you go," Marcus said a he jiggled the car keys. "Time to go, old man."

Rommel heard Marcus' steps coming closer. "You are cute," he heard Marcus say. "No wonder Sam wanted you so badly," Marcus chuckled. "I wouldn't mind having fun with you right now... but I'm pressed for time. He's gonna be furious if I'm late. Gotta be in Kalayaan in a while... after a short trip to the Lagoon. That's what he said."

He risked opening his eyes a little and he saw Marcus lifting his granduncle on his broad shoulder. Marcus carried the old man out of the house and then he closed the door.

As soon as the door closed, Rommel frantically tried to reach for his cellphone in his pocket. He almost dislocated his shoulder, but he was able to whip out his cellphone. He let it fall on the ground in front of him. He then used his leg to squirm down and get the phone near his face.

He was thankful that his phone was fully touchscreen. He used his nose to touch on the call icon. It was hard to see what his nose was touching exactly, but he was able to finally touch the right icon after the third try. Then he used his nose again to scroll down on his list of contacts. He knew exactly who to call.

"Hey, what's up?" his heart leaped when he heard Charlie's voice.

"Charlie?" his voice was quivering as he said it.

"Rommel, what's wrong?" Charlie's tone has suddenly changed. He was alarmed.

"Please help me..." Rommel said as he began to whimper. "Marcus. He took my uncle. He tied me up. Please..." he said frantically.

"Just... just hang on," Charlie said. "I'll be there in a sec. It's gonna be all right. I'm coming to get you."

"Please hurry," he said as the call got disconnected.

THE CAR was old and crummy, but it was better than carrying the old man all the way to the UP Lagoon. "That's where he said he would be," thought Marcus as he drove towards his destination.

The instructions given to him just a few minutes ago were simple: get the old man, then get to the UP Lagoon. He would find Danny there. He was to wake up Danny and if Danny didn't smile at him, he was to run as fast as he could and leave everything, including the old man. If Danny smiled at him, he would know that they were successful. And the fun would begin.

He smiled at the thought. "Everything would be right again," he thought. "Everything would be all right."

He parked the car near the Amphitheater. He made sure that the old man was still knocked out on the back seat. He gave him another whiff of chloroform just to be sure. He got out of the car and walked towards the UP Lagoon.

He immediately spotted the unconscious boy lying under one of the big trees. He ran towards him. He gently shook Danny's shoulders.

"Wake up," he urged.

Danny's eyes began to flutter, then they finally opened. His eyes immediately focused on the man before him. A sinister smile crept across his face as he recognized Marcus.

Marcus smiled back as Danny began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Oliver," Marcus said. "You did it! You're back!"

"Yes, baby, I'm back," said Oliver as he felt his powers surge within Danny's body. "Now it's time to make them pay," he laughed again.

Marcus couldn't help but laugh with him.

"You got Johnny Tangco?" Oliver asked when his laughter died down.

"Yes," Marcus answered. "He's in the car."

"Very good," Oliver said. "Now we go back to Kalayaan to complete the cast of this epic tragedy," he added, the sinister smile never left his face.

CHARLIE didn't even bother to wash his face. He just grabbed a pair of pants and a t-shirt and he bolted right out of the dorm. He practically ran all the way towards Rommel's house.

He still couldn't shake off the overwhelming feeling of loss that he couldn't explain. But he couldn't get Rommel's scared voice out of his mind, either. What alarmed him the most was when Rommel mentioned Marcus.

"He's supposed to be locked away in a mental institution," thought Charlie. "What the hell is he doing out? And what does he want with Prof. Tangco?"

He sprinted towards the house when he got near. "Rommel?" he called out when he reached the door.

"I'm inside," Rommel shouted.

Charlie tried the door, but it was locked. He kicked the door hard and its hinges shattered at the power of his kick. He saw Rommel squirming on the ground. He quickly ran to him and untied his hands and feet. He noticed that Rommel's head was bleeding.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he helped Rommel sit up.

"I'm fine," Rommel said. "I just feel like I have a major hangover and I feel a little woozy."

"We need to get you to a hospital," he said as he rushed to get a towel for Rommel. "And we have to call the police. Marcus is extremely unstable. We don't know what he would do to Prof. Tangco."

"No, we need to get to my granduncle," Rommel insisted. "I don't know what that creep wants with him, but I know where he's taking him."

"Rommel, you might have a concussion," Charlie protested.

"I'm fine, okay," Rommel said. "It's not bleeding anymore. Just help me up and let's go back to your dorm."

"Why are we going back to Kalayaan?" Charlie asked.

"Because that's where the lunatic is taking my granduncle," Rommel replied.

"DON'T YOU have a class right now?" asked Tim as he was dressing up. Joseph was still lying in bed doing nothing.

"No," Joseph replied. "It's research day. We're supposed to finish up our research paper for Comm II so that we could submit it next week."

"So, why aren't you doing any research?" Tim said.

"I don't feel like it yet," said Joseph. "I have more than half of it done anyways. I'll just finish it up later when inspiration hits me."

Tim sighed. "You know, it's a wonder you're still passing your courses."

"What can I say?" Joseph grinned. "I am naturally smart."

Tim was about to respond to that when they heard a knock on their door. He stood up and walked to the door. He was shocked to see Marcus' face as he opened the door.

He barely moved as Marcus grabbed his shirt and threw him across the room. He yelped as he felt his back slamming on ground.

Joseph was quick enough to get out of bed and ran towards Marcus before the man could come to him. He was able to swing his fist and connect to the man's jaw.

Marcus staggered back, but quickly recovered. He punched Joseph's stomach and as the boy clenched in pain, he punched the boy's face, sending the boy on his back writhing in pain on the ground and trying to stay conscious.

Marcus lunged for Joseph's throat, attempting to choke him. But Joseph tried to push him away with all his might.

"Tim, help!" Joseph managed to say as he tried to fend off Marcus.

Tim staggered on his feet. He extended his hand towards Marcus and willed him to fall asleep.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Joseph screamed.

"It's not working!" Tim yelled back frantically.

"Well, try something else!" Joseph yelled back as Marcus' hands closed in on his throat. He was starting to see stars when he heard a loud crash.

Marcus screamed in pain as Tim hammered his head with a laptop. He groaned loudly as he lost consciousness and fell on top of Joseph.

Joseph gasped for air as he pushed Marcus off of him. He stood up unevenly as he looked at Tim who was still holding a large piece of the destroyed laptop.

"Really?" Joseph said. "You had to use my laptop? My research paper is in there, man!"

"He was killing you and it was the nearest thing I could grab," Tim said defensively.

"And you couldn't have done it much earlier because...?" Joseph asked.

"I was trying the sleeping spell on him," said Tim, confused. "But it wasn't working. It was, like, his mind is protected or something."

"Well, let's get out of here before he regains consciousness," Joseph said as he grabbed Tim's hand and dragged him out of the room.

"I wonder how he could've gotten past the guards," said Joseph as they walked briskly towards the lobby. "And how come nobody heard us shouting?"

"Something's wrong," Tim said as he forced Joseph to slow down as they were entering the lobby.

The silence around the dorm was deafening. There were no residents in the lobby. The RAs that were usually hanging out at the reception area weren't there. And there were no guards at the front door, which was surprisingly closed.

"H-hello?" Joseph nervously called out. "Where the hell is everybody, Tim?"

"Shhh," Tim said as he looked around the lobby as if searching for something. He began to walk towards the common room and Joseph followed right behind him. There was an unconscious man on the floor. And someone else was standing there right beside the man, smiling at them.

"Danny," called Joseph, feeling relieved, as he started to walk towards the standing figure.

Tim stopped him. "That's not Danny," he said.

The smile turned into a sinister grin in an instant. "That was really good, little one."

"Who are you and what have you done with Danny?" Tim said nervously. Joseph stood behind Tim looking confused. He could see Danny, but he didn't feel that it was Danny. It was somebody else.

"Are you sure you don't recognize me?"

"He feels familiar," Tim thought silently.

"Of course I am, Timmy. Come on, you know me."

"But it can't be..." Tim said softly. "There's no way..."

"I am here, aren't I?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Joseph yelled at Tim. "You said this is impossible! Who the fuck is in Danny's body?"

"Oliver," Tim said almost inaudibly.

"No..." Joseph huffed.

"Oh, yes," Oliver mocked.

"What the hell did you do to Danny," Joseph said angrily.

"I put him exactly where I was after that incubus cheated me out of my life," Oliver scoffed. "Actually, they're both there," he laughed. "Maybe they're dueling again... I don't know. I don't care. What I do care about is that they are both out of my way."

"I actually didn't think it would be this easy," continued Oliver. "I mean, I know how powerful he was. I saw it with my own eyes when he easily defeated the incubus in the astral realm... to think that the incubus is quite a powerful spirit himself. It was most impressive, really."

"But even before that, I already had an idea about the power that Daniel Castillo holds... or used to hold. The energy that he generated when he and Charlie kissed the first time was what roused me from my stupor in the first place. It did knock on heaven's door, or in my case, the doors of my hell."

"Being locked up in my hell where I get to relive thousands of past lives where I was either killed or defeated was no fun at all. That energy blast made me realize that I didn't have to relive my past failures; I just have to claw my way back to this realm and claim my victory!"

"The energy that Danny generated when he fucked Charlie the first time was even more enormous that the first one. And that energy finally allowed me to break out of my hell."

"But I bade my time. I realized I might not be strong enough to defeat Danny if we went head-to-head right then. I had to be stronger. And the incubus actually had the perfect way of obtaining power, although I doubt he realized it... get it from the sexual energy of horny teenagers!" Oliver laughed evilly.

"You were the incubus who almost killed Rudolph, Jason and Jeremy," Tim said, the truth finally dawning on him.

"Yes," Oliver said as he giggled. "I got too excited at first. I almost sucked all the energy out of their bodies. But then I realized that if somebody actually died, people would get suspicious. Well, you got suspicious anyway. So, I held back a little. And I looked for other 'hunting grounds'. And soon, I was stronger than ever!"

"He will get out of the hell you put him in, you know," Tim said. "And when he does, you're gonna be finished."

"Oh, I don't think he has enough power now to get out of there... not without his beloved's help. But there is an easy way to get out of there," Oliver said with an amused smile. "It's called rebirth. And if he goes that route, I would have my victory long before he could even be strong enough to stand against me."

"What victory are you talking about?" probed Tim.

"Victory over Charles Gonzales," Oliver's wicked grin grew. "I just want to make him suffer over and over and over again as I torture and kill everyone he loves while he helplessly watch."

"You son of a bitch!" Joseph yelled as he charged towards Oliver with deadly rage in his eyes. Oliver just flicked his hand and Joseph was instantly thrown into the wall. "Ahhhhhh!" he screamed as he felt a massive force pinning him to the wall, making him unable to move any part of his body.

Oliver squealed with laughter. "Oh, you're gonna love this body, little Timmy. This is unlike ordinary vessels that trap the soul and lock the soul's powers. This one is the perfect conduit for the soul's power. All my powers in the astral realm flow freely through this body, even enhancing it and adjusting it accordingly for this plane. It's unlike anything I've ever had before!"

Tim tried concentrating his energy on the palm of his hand as Oliver was speaking. He threw it at Oliver as soon as he felt ready. It hit Oliver squarely on the chest, but didn't even budge him a little.

Oliver looked smugly at Tim. "Bad little Timmy," he said. "Now I have to teach you a lesson, too." He flicked his hand again and sent Tim flying to the wall next to Joseph, pinning him there.

"Told you this vessel is awesome!" Oliver taunted.

Marcus came out staggering and holding his bleeding head. "They've escaped," he said huffing.

"Don't worry, sweetie," said Oliver. "I got them."

"Now let's just wait for the arrival of the guest of honor. Then let the killings begin," he said with a chilling voice that sent shivers down Joseph's and Tim's spines.

THE WALK back to Kalayaan took a lot longer than Charlie's mad dash towards Rommel's house. Rommel was still a bit groggy, but at least he wasn't vomiting. However, Charlie still needed to adapt to Rommel's pace.

 They were near the dorm when Charlie's phone started ringing. He saw Angela's caller ID and immediately answered the call as they continued walking towards the front door.

"Hey, Angela," Charlie greeted, as he wondered why the front door of the dorm was closed.

"Charlie, something terrible has happened," Angela said anxiously.

"What happened?" Charlie asked as he opened the door. He held the door for Rommel before he let himself in. He suddenly felt that something was very wrong. The silence was disconcerting. And the absence of people in the dorm lobby was disturbing.

"Charlie, it's Danny," said Angela.

Right then, he saw Danny inside the common room. He quickly walked towards Danny, with Rommel right behind him.

"Danny's right here in front of me," said Charlie as he entered the common room. His heart began to hammer in his chest when he saw Marcus standing behind Danny. He saw the unconscious body of Johnny Tangco lying on floor. And then he saw Joseph and Tim being held by an invisible force on the wall of the common room. He looked at Danny's familiar face, and he knew that something wasn't right. Danny was smiling at him with malice in his eyes.

"That's not Danny," he heard Angela say before the phone slipped from his hands in shock.

"Hello, baby," he heard Danny say with a sinister grin. "How was your day so far?"

"Not good," Charlie said, looking at Danny's smiling face defiantly.

"It's about to get worse," Danny's grin broke into an evil laugh.

¹ Philippine Constabulary. The dreaded police force in the Philippines during the Martial Law era, known for summary executions and torture. back