The Narrator
2:48 a.m. The Next Day
In her capsule, AnnSophia Fabron laughed, in her sleep, as she was reminded of one of the pranks that Rhett and Tom Finkleberry had played. She didn't wake up, but as she was sleeping, she was thinking about that prank. The rain had ceased for a while outside.
It was done on AnnSophia's birthday last year.
On her birthday, because AnnSophia was busy with the decorations, she needed someone to help her with getting snacks for her party that evening.
That was when the beloved Finkleberry twins, Rhett Finkleberry and Tom Finkleberry, volunteered to help.
"It's very sweet of them to help me on one of the most important days of my life," thought AnnSophia when Rhett and Tom offered their help.
Throughout the day, AnnSophia was working on the decorations with Alice Boe and Catherine Newcastle. Hernanda Wilkinson and Emily Robinson were working on getting music. The party was a party targetting female attendees. AnnSophia didn't invite the guys over because she feared that boys would do things that would not be liked by teachers. However, she made exceptions for Kirt, Timothy, Rhett, and Tom. Those were guys she knew well. She was confident about their behavior and character. Also on the invite list were Alice Boe's enemies: Fiona Buckingham (whom Alice and Kirt called 'Fiona The Bratty'); Michaela Smith (whom Timothy called 'Michaela the Promiscuous' and whom Kirt and Alice called 'Michaela The Sassy'); Savannah Henderson; and, Alejandra Hernandez (whom Timothy called 'Alejandra The Terrible'). Though these girls messed with Alice and the others, they didn't mess with AnnSophia Fabron. They actually envied AnnSophia's popularity. AnnSophia wasn't very close to Buckingham, Smith, Henderson, and Hernandez, but she, having a character like Kirt Heinrich, didn't like leaving anyone out. So, she invited every girl in the grade for her party.
Before the party, while she was working on the decorations with Catherine "Cat" Newcastle, she would occasionally go to see what the Finkleberry boys were up to. Whenever she went to see what they were doing, she would see them preparing cookies or candies. They were playing with each other as they prepared the snacks. Rhett was an expert at making brownies, while Tom was an expert at baking cakes. Looking at the boys, she would laugh or chuckle because the way both of those boys talked, acted and behaved was amusing. They always found happiness in whatever they did.
After a few hours, AnnSophia and Cat Newcastle were done with the decorations, and the party began.
AnnSophia was relieved when all the invitees enjoyed the snacks; for, she had a fear that the Finkleberry boys might have played a prank. None of the attendees ran to the bathroom, or wolf down water. So, she was relieved that the Finkleberry boys hadn't played a prank with the food that evening.
That was when our beloved Finkleberry boys came into the room bringing something with them.
"Candied Apples, everyone! Candied Apples!" they said as they brought what appeared like candied apples on a trolley.
Everyone looked at them, as they brought the candied apples. They brought the trolley to the snacks counter, where a black forest chocolate birthday cake was.
After reaching there, Tom cleared his throat.
"Hey, guys in dedication to our lovely AnnSophia, Rhettie and I made the best delicacy we have ever made: our very own handmade Candied Apples! Do come and enjoy them," announced Tom Finkleberry in a way that everyone could hear.
"Right Rhettie?" Tom said as he looked at Rhet with a smile, while everybody was moving towards the trolley to try a 'candied apple'.
Rhett smiled back
AnnSophia wanted to eat only after everybody ate. She wanted to eat only after confirming that nobody had dropped dead in ten minutes after eating an apple.
However, smelling the candy on the apple, she changed her mind. She wanted to try one. She went towards the trolley. Rhett gave her an apple when she reached out for one.
Taking it in her hand, she bit into it.
It was delicious. Most importantly, it wasn't poisoned or laced with a laxative. She fell into a dreamy trance as she tasted the sweet candy-coated apple. It tasted perfect. It tasted like liquid happiness.
She only hoped that the boys didn't lace it with narcotics.
Just as she was munching her first bite of that apple, Tom came to her and said, "Ummm. AnnSophia, I and Rhett have to go back to our rooms. We have … a group project to do"
"Oh. Can't you guys wait for the cake?" AnnSophia asked.
"No, AnnSophia. We have to reach our rooms in time to complete the homework. Don't worry, we already had enough snacks," said Rhett.
"Okay then. Bye guys. Thanks for the help today. When the party's over, I'll send some cake over through Kirt," said AnnSophia.
"Thank you, AnnSophia," Rhett and Tom said in unison (like a choir), making their way out.
By the time AnnSophia turned around and brought the apple close to her mouth for another sweet bite, she saw her invitees were in confusion.
Some were spitting out the 'candied apples'.
Others, who were enjoying the apples said, "What's wrong with you?" to those who spat out the 'candied apples'.
Everyone was confused. Some threw their 'apples' in disgust while others enjoyed it.
Suspicious, AnnSophia, put down her apple and took another. She then brought it to her mouth and took a bite.
As soon as she bit that candied 'apple', she tasted the acidic, strong and hot flavor of an onion.
Curious, she inspected the bite she made on that 'apple'.
When she inspected it, she realized that instead of having white flesh like an apple, that 'apple' had the layers of an onion.
It was an onion.
She then understood what the Finkleberry boys had done. They made candied onions by dipping onions in candy, and they had put those onions among candied apples on the trolley.
Shifaly's body appeared lifeless as it lay still on the boat. The boat was tossed in the waters of the raging river, yet she lay still and unperturbed. She wasn't dead. She had fainted. Her chest was still heaving, proving that she was breathing. On many parts of her body, there were bruises and lacerations from Basura's beatings and torture.
Basura, Agash, and Malindu were dead. After they went into the water, the undercurrent swept them underwater.
They struggled, in vain, to come to the surface, just like how Shifaly struggled when Agash and Malindu held her down amid the gruesome torture that Basura inflicted on her.
No matter how they tried to surface, they failed to overcome the pull of the undercurrent.
After an intense struggle, the three of them died underwater.
They died a watery death like convicts condemned to die, with no means of escape.
In their case, the undercurrents condemned them to die a watery death.
Alice Boe saw AnnSophia smiling and laughing in her sleep, as she tiptoed to the stairs that led down to the boys' deck of the bus. She thought that she saw Kirt and Timothy go into the forest, from her capsule window.
She decided to investigate what the boys were up to.
As she went downstairs, she took care to ensure that the sound of her boots didn't wake anybody up.
When she came near the door of the bus on the lower deck, she gently opened it and closed it without attracting attention. She then realized that Kirt and Timothy forgot to lock the doors on their way out. Not finding the key, she just left the door unlocked like how it was, and put her foot on the muddy ground.
The first thing that struck her when she got out of the bus was the thick slush and mud on the forest floor. Her boot completely sunk until the ankle. Despite not liking that, she was determined to find where the boys went. Looking around at the camp around her, she realized that though she had seen the boys leave the bus, she didn't know in which direction they went. She deliberated over the consequences of staying and going after the boys. After a while of thought, being the curious, inquisitive girl that she was, she decided to go after the boys. Not knowing in which direction they went, she just headed in the direction that Sergio headed when he took them to see La Muchachita.
With no lamps outside the bus, illuminating the camp, it was pitch dark. It took a while for her eyes to get adjusted to the moonlit environment around her. After a minute or two, she was able to see her surroundings that were lit by the cloud-veiled full moon.
Taking a breath, she ventured towards La Muchachita.
"Where are you, Kirt?" said Timothy as he walked through the thick forest. He couldn't recognize anything. The mud and slush covered the forest floor and even the jungle trail was covered by the mud and slush. The winds, during the previous days, had uprooted some trees and had ripped-off the branches of some. The forest was disfigured entirely by the storm, such that even an experienced man who lived in the forest could never be able to find their way to a destination in the forest.
Timothy was in the forest after trying to follow Kirt, who secretly went out with an emergency lamp in his hand. He thought that Kirt was going towards the trail to check if all of the students could walk through it and leave the forest. Timothy, however, realized that if it was the forest floor that Kirt went looking for, he would be disappointed; for, the trail was indistinguishable from the rest of the ankle-deep, mud-flooded forest floor. To Timothy, it appeared as if the trail disappeared.
In a completely different direction from where Timothy was, Kirt was searching for the trail. He couldn't find it anywhere. Kirt lost his sense of direction in the disfigured forest. He didn't even realize that in searching for the jungle trail, he actually went around the camp into another side of the forest. He still thought that he was walking in the direction that he initially he headed towards, after leaving the bus.
Poor Timothy was searching in the wrong direction for Kirt.
Poor Alice was searching in the wrong direction for both of them.
It was dark, chilly and cloudy outside. Alice thought that she nearly stepped on a snake when she walked towards the river. She then realized that it was only the corpse of a snake with a severed head. Relieved, she continued for a while in the direction where Sergio took them. She saw that none of the landmarks that were there when Sergio took them to the river, were there. The trees were uprooted and it was all chaos where she was. Nevertheless, she walked through the forest.
Timothy was nowhere to be seen where he was a few minutes ago.