Have you ever heard of the word “doppelganger”?

When I first heard about the term and its definition, I almost chuckled at its absurdity. I mean, was it really all that possible to have a paranormal being pretend to be you and fool the ones who can distinguish your silhouette a mile away? I didn’t think so either. Not until… Well, let’s just say a lot of things have happened since I first stepped foot inside this school.

In my early years of teaching, I had already heard tall tales of clones and doubles roaming around the campus. But that was what they all were to me — campfire stories. Stories you would exaggeratedly tell when the shadows seemed to linger and the night just won’t keep quiet. However, inch-by-inch, the stories I once thought of to be false transformed into a chilling actuality.

The first instance I encountered…whatever it is, was right after cheerdance practice. As the moon shone its light through the big windows of the gymnasium, two 4th year students  informed me that they were going to change their clothes. Naturally, I agreed and they headed off to the fourth floor girls’ bathroom. It was a serene end to a very exhausting day, so it was my surprise when the two girls came running back into the classroom sweat dripping off their foreheads with terrified expressions painted onto their faces.

“Ma’am! We headed into the bathroom because we saw our friend changing. We followed right behind her, but… but we checked all the bathroom stalls and she’s nowhere to be found!”, one of the girls said. Admittedly, my initial instinct was to laugh and tell the girls that the exhaustion from their practice has rubbed off on them. I didn’t believe what they said, but as the moon lessened its light as I was walking home, I couldn’t help but ponder upon their experience.

I didn’t consider the possibility that exhaustion was not the cause. After all, I wasn’t naive. I could tell when kids make up stories to scare themselves or others. But boy, was I wrong.

Weeks had already passed by since I last thought of that experience. It hid itself in the corners of my mind; replaced with a great amount of lesson plans and outputs to check. But then, all of the sudden, it came rushing to the forefront of my thoughts once again. PaSci back then didn’t have any air conditioning units yet, so doors were often open. I would catch glimpses of students walking past the door while I was teaching lessons, but when I came to check who it was, no trace of life was left for evidence. At that point, the hushed tales of the doppelgangers got to me. I didn’t think about it constantly, but I was now wary of its possible presence.

The last straw that really pushed me to believe this notion was when I was hosting a viewing in the e-learning center. I excused myself from the students as I headed to the comfort room. As I was walking back to the center, I noticed a male figure through the small window of the door. I recognized the person as one of my superiors. He was guiding the students in one of the cubicles, as if he was explaining something to them. I glanced back for a second to check if there were any other visitors to come. I immediately entered the classroom and asked the students if my superior had entered the room to teach them while I was gone. It was to my utter horror when they said that no teacher ever passed the room, let alone went inside.I felt a chill run straight through my spine as the words left that student’s mouth. I will never forget the terror I felt as I left that room.

Even after these experiences, I guess there really isn’t a certainty that any of these truly happened. Maybe I was just feeling particularly tired those days, maybe the stress got to me and caused me to hallucinate. But one thing is for sure, there is something out there. Its intentions, I cannot discern. All I know is the echoes of people I knew loomed in the hallways, even if their actual presences were never proven to be there in the first place, and that thought is something that I cannot shake.