The longest night of my life...

In my entry before the last one, I mentioned that something really weird happened some nights ago. I also said I'll be writing about it as soon as I get out of the "trance" I was in and get my thoughts together. Well, I think that time has come. Here's the story of the night...

It was Friday night (the 11th). I went back to my room really late after some reading, writing and cat-purring at one of the study areas of the International Center (dorm I'm currently staying at). My alarm clock said it was about half past midnight. Upon seeing that my Nagamese (from Nagaland in India) roommate was fast asleep, I turned the lights off. I said my prayers and got in bed.

Just as I was halfway to dreamland, my roommate stirred. Half-awake, I saw her get out of bed and walk out of the room. Soon, I heard her knocking on her Filipina best friend's door and calling out the best friend's name. I didn't mind her because I thought they had plans to study late. She came back to our room twice. The third time she went out, she checked if I was in bed and said, "I'm sorry" when she saw me.

Me: Are you all right?
Roommate: Yes, yes... I'll be fine. I'm really sorry...

I was starting to wonder what was with her. She started knocking on her best friend's door again and calling out the name. It got louder and louder and then I heard a crash. I still didn't get up as I thought the best friend asked to be woken up or something. And then, suddenly, she came rushing back to our room and turned the lights on.

Roommate: Diane, can you give me a massage, please?
Me: Uhm, I don't really know how, but okay...

So, I went to her side of the room and started massaging her legs and feet. That was when everything started. She started talking nonstop about me being such a good person and a good roommate, about God, about Jesus Christ (p.b.u.h.) or Jehovah Jireh, about her being such a bad person and her being punished for her sins, about her best friend not being a "child of God", about her boyfriend's and her best friend's plan to kill her. She started mumbling a mantra I couldn't make sense of. She said she was just praying in her language. Her voice became louder and louder. She started rubbing my back while I was rubbing her legs and feet still. Suddenly, she banged her fist on my back so hard that I thought I was going to throw up!

"Do you feel the power of God?" She was now shouting. I just said, "yes." And then, she started making me repeat what she was saying. At first, she'd talk in her language and then translate in English. She became hysterical! She started saying "Jesu Christa! Jesu Christa! Jesu Christa!" I said the same thing, still massaging her legs and feet and trying to calm her. Then, she insisted on giving me her Bible, I said it was okay because I had my own. She said, "Oh, you can return your Qur'an to your family, Diane, because you are now a child of God!" I just nodded and smiled because I knew, by then, that she was not in her right mind. She grabbed my hands and gripped them real hard. She asked me to say "Jehovah Jireh is the only true living God!" I obliged. She was getting really hysterical and that was the only way she'd be a little calm. She started yelling and started having this really weird lisp. It looked like she was really struggling to say things correctly, but she just couldn't.

She started writing words that she wanted me to say. I said them. All this time, I didn't know how to really react. I wasn't scared or anything (which surprised even myself, by the way). I even thought everything was funny. She, then, wrote Jehovah Jireh. So, I knew that I had to say "Jehovah Jireh is the only true living God." She wrote "ONLY God!!!" She wrote a very big "NOT ALLAH!!!" I knew I couldn't say that. I told her I couldn't say that. She got more hysterical than ever. When I still wouldn't say it, she found her voice after several tries and said, "Death is in my hands, Diane! Can you feel it?" I just said, "Okay." The thing was she had a knife on her table. She begged for me to say the words. She wrote "not Allah" again and again, but I wouldn't say it. She said she'd die if I didn't say the words. That was when I flared up a little. I stood up and told her to stop it, that she had to respect my beliefs in the same way that I respected hers, that we have one and the same God because there is only one God. She started to cry and said that she was really going to die. I hugged her and assured her that she wasn't going to die. I told her she had to calm down. She asked if she could use my mobile phone, so I gave it to her. She called her family... in India!

After talking to and shouting at whoever it was on the other line, she jumped up and down with both hands raised up and doing the peace sign. She kept repeating "Jehovah Jireh!" over and over again. And then, she suddenly fell on her knees. She became hysterical again. She was convinced that her boyfriend and her best friend were waiting for her so they could kill her. And then, she remembered our good Colombian guy friend and asked me to get him. And, she lost her voice again.

I went to get Mr. Colombian Friend. But, when we got back, the door was locked. We knocked and knocked. She wouldn't open. I got really worried because she might actually stab herself to death and all. It took us several minutes and lots of talking to get her to open the door. By then, her shocked best friend was awake and had joined us. When she finally opened the door, she was covered in sweat and she was reading the Bible to us. She kept pointing at her best friend. She told us that we should all hold hands, kneel down and pray as we were all sinners. We did as she asked. She, then, asked her best friend to give her a hug and the unsuspecting best friend did so. She gave the best friend a very tight hug! The best friend started to panic when the hug became tighter and tighter. We started trying to get the best friend away from her, but she wouldn't let go. The best friend started screaming because she couldn't breathe anymore. Looking at her face, I knew that she was capable of killing her best friend if we didn't do anything.

Me: Calm down, S. You're hurting W.
Roommate (to best friend): You think I don't know what you're planning?!
Best Friend: Let go, S! Let go!
Me: Please, S...
Roommate: No, Diane! That's my hand you're holding, not hers. Hold hers! We shall perish, W! We shall perish together!

The best friend was so scared she started screaming again and struggling to be free. Our neighbors had probably woken up, by then, but were too afraid or too weirded out to actually go out of their rooms. Finally, Mr. Colombian Friend and I got them separated. But, my roommate grabbed her best friend's shirt and she just wouldn't let go. She was really strong, too! I asked her to let go, so I can hold the best friend properly.

Roommate: Don't let her go, Diane! I'll give you ten thousand pesos if you hold her...
Me: I'm holding her. You can let go now. I won't let her go.
Mr. Colobian Friend: C'mon, S. She's got her.

But, the best friend was just so scared that she was trying to run away and escape even from me. I wouldn't blame her, though.

Me: Kumalma ka. Umarte ka at sakyan mo na lang... (Stay calm. Just act and go with it...)
Best Friend (freaking out and screaming): No, no! Please, pleeeease...
Me: (raising my voice) 'Tang ina!!! Sasampalin kita kapag hindi ka kumalma diyan! (Damn it!!! I'll slap you if you don't calm down!)

Fortunately, the best friend understood what we were trying to do. So, she stopped struggling a little. Mr. Colombian Friend was able to bring my roommate back to our room. And then, she suddenly came out again heading straight for her best friend. The best friend got to her room just in time and I barely got inside when she slammed the door close. I opened the door a little and assured my roommate that I was still holding the best friend. She went back to our room where Mr. Colombian Friend tried to calm her. I asked the best friend if they had a fight or something. She said they didn't have any fight whatsoever. Apparently, my roommate got a call from her sister after which she cried and that was it. She and the best friend even had dinner together. Two Indonesians and the guard joined us and we explained things.

"Is she on drugs?" No!
"Maybe she's possessed?" No!
"Did she drink anything?" No!
"What happened?" It seems like she had a nervous breakdown.

And then, all of a sudden, she came out running with Mr. Colombian Friend running after her. She was carrying some things. We all ran after them. She saw a car parked in the garage and she immediately got on the backseat and locked the door. She bid us goodbye and cried. Mr. Colombian Friend was fast enough to take the front seat. I wasn't fast enough. Mr. Colombian Friend said they'd just take her to the hospital. It was a blessing that the girl (an American resident's girlfriend who just happened to be there to drop her boyfriend off), who was driving the car, was kind enough to take them even if we didn't know her at all. It was almost 4 o'clock by that time.

Oh no, it didn't end there. At a quarter past five, the guard knocked on our door. I was talking to the best friend inside our room.

Guard: Diane, may mga pulis. Kakausapin ka daw... (The police are here. They want to talk to you...)
Me: Okay po.

The policemen, with their guns drawn out, looked at me as if I were a criminal. I wondered why. They asked if they could search the room. I let them in, but not without giving them one of my famous 'evil side eyes' first. They were with a man and this woman who was also 'evil side eye-ing' me. They asked if they could see my roommate, so the best friend and I told them that she wasn't around. Before we could tell them everything, they told us the reason they were there. They were actually there to rescue my roommate and arrest me. At that moment, I wanted to just laugh out loud.

We found out after some explanations that when my roommate called her family, she actually told them that her Muslim roommate was holding her at knife-point and that they were never going to see her again. The frightened and shocked family called their Indian friends in the Philippines and the friends called the police. Everything fell into place. I really thought everything was funny. Imagine being a witness to a nervous breakdown, struggling with someone who just went totally nuts, and then being questioned by the police for hostaging all in a few hours?! I just couldn't help but laugh despite everything.

After our collective narration of what really happened, the people who brought the police were really apologetic. I said it was okay. I didn't get offended. I couldn't blame them. I mean, if you knew a friend of yours was being held hostage, you'd do all you can to save them, right? I would, too.

After everything, I just couldn't believe that all those things really happened. I couldn't believe that the whole time, I never panicked nor got scared. Not even a little. I never thought that I'd have presence of mind at a time like that. I've always known and felt that I would die for my faith if need be, but never had that been tried before that night. As I was looking at the knife's silver glistening on the table, my roommate's 'transformed' face and then at her hands gripping my own hands so hard that they hurt, I knew that she was capable of doing anything at that particular moment. But, I knew I just couldn't and would never say that Allah is not God even if she suddenly stabbed me right then and there. If she tried to kill herself, I'd have done everything to stop her, but I would never, ever have had the courage to allow that to come out of my mouth. I could never renounce my faith. It was weird, but at that time, I felt like I was ready for whatever. God was with me. I thank God with all my heart. :)
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I'm off to Boracay later... I'm extremely excited! Yay!!! Thank you, God, for SSEAYP!!! :)