--
You turn right and walk to her room. She’s the one person who you’d do anything for; the one person whom you hope is safe from all this craziness.
81… 82… 83...
You fling the door open to find an empty, air-conditioned room, impeccable in appearance. “Neatness was her trademark, but air-conditioning? Since when ?”, you think out loud in absolute wonder. You see her bucket under her bed, meaning she hasn’t gone to take a shower. Bottles are there on the table as well, implying she hasn’t gone to fill them. You look for her phone, for you know her phone is her constant companion. After a quick scan of the room you conclude that she most probably has it on her since it’s not anywhere in plain sight.
Heaving a sigh of relief, you decide to call her, but then you realise that you have absolutely no idea where your own phone is. From the time you woke up till this very second, you’d forgotten all about your phone’s existence. Weird, you think, as you rush back to your room. You see your phone lying on your bed, where you should have noticed it when you had come in barely a few minutes ago. This unsettles you more, and moreover you’re not the kind of person to leave your phone behind when going somewhere. You scroll through the contacts, frantically looking for her name, with rising panic at the uncanniness of the entire situation.
Thankful that at least your phone has been excluded from all the craziness, you call her. It rings. You pray hard for her to pick the call, and with a click, the call connects. You heave a sigh of relief but before you can get a word out she says,
“Come to the basketball court. We’ll talk there”
You find yourself running as fast as your legs can carry you to the court. Everything around you becomes a blur of fast paced motion. Out of nowhere, you slam hard into something. Someone. Your best friend’s hug is almost crushing you, but you hold on tight, hoping for respite from all this craziness.
You narrate to her your entire ordeal; the run from the Admin block in the desolated campus that felt like you were going back in time, the sign for the swimming pool and even finding an AC in her room! Once you’re done she lets go of you and takes a step back. For a moment she looks at you with a smile. Suddenly, she starts shivering uncontrollably, under the scorching sun, in the middle of the afternoon. You are just about to ask her if everything is alright when she lunges at you, tackling you to the ground. She has you pinned down and is using every ounce of her strength to keep you there. You are bewildered and ask her why, giving in, knowing she wouldn’t cause you any intentional harm. What she does next makes you regret your decision. She punches you in the gut, says “It’s all for the best”, and proceeds to choke you.
Just as you open your mouth to tell her off, you feel the excruciating pain of something hard slamming into your head.
The last thing you see is the ghoulish face of your friend covered in crimson red with your own blood as her face contorts to reveal gruesome reptilian features while the darkness creeps in from the corners of your eyes…
You wake up, bathed in sweat, thirsty and breathing heavily. You’re on your bed, and there is no AC in your room. Things are exactly the way they were. For once, you are happy about the notion of things staying the same. You think to yourself,
“That’s one dream world I never wish to return to.”
