The day ended up without big chaos and drama. The girls surrendered to their dorms. They changed into their other pyjama clothes.
Inside their dorm, they had a mini kitchen inbuilt. Ivy and Iris did the cooking for tonight while the remaining three girls sat on their bunk beds. Athena leaned on the back wall and her laptop sat on her lap. She keyed her password and a black screen with rotating white circles came into her vision. While Sarah had her earphones plugged in her ears. Grace sat at the study table and completed her assignment. She had her round and big framed glasses on her eyes. They were immersed in their work.
A few minutes later, a delicious aroma escalated in the air. It reached every corner of the room and the smell was so appetising that the girls halted their work just to inhale the aromatic fragrance. They felt themselves to be hypnotised by it.
Iris switched off the electronic gas stove, "I could see the fake saliva trickling by the corner of their mouths."
Ivy transferred the food on the plates on the small circular convertible dining table. The round table was attached to one wall. It had hangers for keyrings and key holders.
Athena and Grace together had taken it off the wall and then put it down. Athena pressed four small buttons on the table and four legs came out of that table. With those four legs, the table was set. The white surface had four short rectangle bars on it and the buttons on one side of the bars. Since Athena had pressed those buttons, those bars extended a bit and later the girls lengthened them to their fullest. After that, they turned it to 90 degrees and made those horizontal bars stand vertically.
Setting up the table, they helped Ivy in plating the food.
Iris clapped her hands. The noise distorted Sarah and she woke up from her nap. She had fallen asleep while listening to music.
Iris untied her apron and helped Ivy in undoing hers too. They washed their hands and sat on the ground without a chair. The table was not put up to so high therefore the girls had arranged the sitting plan like that. Sarah also climbed down from her upper bed bunk. She rushed into the vacant bathroom. Splashing up water on her sleepy and drowsy face. It drove away from the remaining sleepiness of her eyes. She cleaned her face with the dry towel hanging inside the bathroom.
Outside the girls didn't begin to eat, instead, they waited for their friend to join them. They had promised to eat together and even if they were to die from hunger they wouldn't break their promise. For the girls, promises are very sacred. They don't joke about it.
Sarah returned in less time than the girls had estimated for her to retreat. She locked the door after coming out of it. She had taken her seat beside Ivy and the next minute the silence was broken by the loud growling sound. The girls frowned while Ivy took her chopsticks and started to eat her ramyeon noodles. Athena also followed her after the short pause.
Iris and Grace moved their gazes around the room to discover the source of the sound. During this, they heard another similar sound.
Their eyes landed on Sarah, she had her arms wrapped around her stomach. She had bent.
Grace folded her arms, "You are the thief here. Why am I not surprised?" She deadpanned as she gave her friend a weird look.
Sarah flashed a sheepishly smile to her friends. She also grabbed her chopsticks and ate her food. They chatted here and there but mostly it was quiet. The girls preferred to dine in absolute peace. Although Sarah and Grace did bicker more than they talked, the girls got habitual to it.
Their dinner ended soon. Athena and Sarah had been given the duty to wash those dirty plates. The other girls began to set their beds. They felt exhausted. They would have directly fallen on the bed due to tiredness. Grace was already sleeping soundly under the comfort of her blanket.
Iris and Ivy had to complete their incomplete college projects and assignments. Athena got done with washing dishes earlier than Sarah. She slid under her blanket and closed her eyes, trying to catch some sleep without any nightmares.
"I didn't get a chance to tell them that those weird dreams are coming back again."
Athena tightened her grip on her comforter.
For the past 2 - 3 days, Athena had been having bizarre dreams. She finds herself falling down the cliff in the slow-motion graphics just like in the movies. She notices a man covered by a thick haze. She squints her eyes in an attempt to have a clear outline of the man but her efforts go in vain. Then she sees that her heart is missing as she succumbs against the power of gravity and free falls.
Another unbelievable thing happens in the dreams when she catches the sight of her red and teary eyes. Every time she encounters her eyes, she feels like someone is squeezing her heart. She feels immense pain. The distress makes her cry in grief. She tries to wake up but she finds that she can't open her eyes.
That time, unfolding her eyes appears to be the hardest and close to impossible task. Hence Athena keeps on sobbing in her dreams. Her sobs and whimpers might have awakened the girls if she produced any sound but no voice came out of her voice box. She considers this also an unusual and odd side effect of her dreams, which had successfully transformed into nightmares.
Athena didn't like the hopeless and helpless look she discovered inside her imaginary world of fantasies. It is unacceptable for a girl like her to believe such a scene, however, she felt as if everything had happened before and what she suffered was not a dream but a reality.
In the end, the only single thing she remembers the next morning was someone yelling her name. The voice gave goosebumps to her.
Unexpectedly, she explores that she feels more anguish after hearing her name in that unknown man's voice. She detects the yearning and longing in his broken sayings.
"Azaina….You can't die….."