"Come to me, my child."
Her eyes fluttered opened and was shut immediately as she had the sun in her eyes. She turned her back on the blinding sunlight and was able to open her eyes properly. Then fear gripped her immediately. Even when she thought she had thought she would obtain sanity here in her childhood home, whatever or whoever had been haunting her would always find her.
She had not dreamt a thing the previous night, which was a bad sign as she had googled into various entries and reports. She had not dreamt last night but she had heard the voice, so vivid like she could almost touch it. The voice was smooth and yet husky. It was the voice of a man.
She recalled the previous day when she had asked Lydia of her parents, the only thing she had gotten was, "Find Nissa." She had no idea who Nissa was and even when she had asked further, Lydia showed no interest in the discussion. She was right, nightmares would always come haunting her.
But she was not stupid. She had not failed to notice how nice Lydia had been acting towards her. The same Lydia she used to secretly call 'Old Hag' when she lived with was now acting super nice and it was creeping her out.
She was also not fully welcomed in this house. She had to set things with Dan.
Just when she thought she had enlisted all her current problems, more came piling in. Raina plugged in her earphones. She was on gym shorts and a black tank top and thought it would be best if she jogged in the community park to clear her head before she had breakfast. Little did she know that she was in for more mystery.
The park was void of people but she wasn't exactly the only one present. It wasn't something to be curious about since it was morning. She started off jogging, her legs hitting the ground alternatively as her dark hair in a ponytail danced around her shoulders. All that continued until it passed.
Raina stopped to take a close look at the figure that had made eye contact with her although she hadn't catch a close look at the eye colour but the person had slid behind a bush. Her dark hoodie and strawberry blonde hair gave her away. It was like the person hadn't been there at all.
"Hey Raina," another voice made her turn her head. The familiarity of the face she was looking at made her quirk a little. She could have forgotten any of her coursemates in college but not her. Not Madison Carter.
"Hey Madison, right?" Of course she knew it was Madison but she was trying her best to sound polite and wasn't even sure it was working. This lady in front of her was the reason why her college life was hell.
"Yes. How's life been treating you?" Madison's gaze caressed Raina. Just that was able to convince Raina that it was Madison Carter who was standing in front of her. If Barbie could come to life, it would be in the form of Madison Carter. She still had her peculiar blonde hair but Raina was sure that this was not the girl who had hidden behind the tree.
"Fine."
She watched Madison took a deep breath and suddenly felt the atmosphere got tense.
"Uhm... Totally unrelated question but have you noticed anything weird happening in your life lately?" Madison knew something. It was almost like everyone she knew had something to do with her life.
Raina folded her arms, her eyes narrowed at Madison. "How weird are we talking here?"
"Just forget that I ever mentioned this to you, okay?" Madison said and sighed. She turned her back to leave but Raina grabbed her arm. Realizing how awkward the situation was, she let her hand go.
"You are right. I don't even know why I'm saying this to you but... There is a lot of weird going on in my life right now." Raina started off, "I'm not even sure how to explain it and no, I'm not cra-"
"-no. You're not crazy because I know exactly what's going with you," Madison's hands rested on Raina's shoulders, "But you can't trust me either but I can help you."
She hadn't even been able to pull her shoes before she slumped on her bed. She drew out her phone and hastily scrolled through her contact before she saw the name Leslie and quickly dialed it. She was about to give up when she heard Leslie's voice. For some reason, she felt like she could trust Leslie, sixth sense, she guessed.
"Hey Raina, what's it?" Leslie's voice was cool.
Raina took in a deep breath. "I need to know the place where the sun never set."
She was wrong, she needed Arion's help, whatever he's got to offer.
A/N:
Who do you think the girl behind the bush was?