Both times.
As Aves absentmindedly kept his ears pricked up for that subtle gurgle that announced the kettle water's inevitable boil, his mind wandered back to the events that led up to his first and second visions. Or rather, more precisely, to the two likely reasons that might have helped in manifesting the vision both times.
Crowds and emotional distress.
He wasn't quite sure which of the two incidents acted as the key trigger behind the sudden appearance of the vision — that is if they weren't at all exclusive, and both of them were actually jointedly the reasons behind that phenomenon — since they were both present prior to the two instances: the first and second vision. But, he knew that if he wanted to stand a chance at defeating or, at least, evading the vision, he needed to determine what actually triggered it in the first place.
Looking back, moments before the first vision took place, Aves could vividly remember there being around fifty or so students in the lecture room around him, either talking to a friend next to them or just sitting in silence. Then, Jason and his goons came bulldozing their way into the room and started bugging him. It wasn't long before things escalated and he got strangely angry and indignant; a weird thing now that he looked back on it, since he was calm and collected most of the time. Regardless, the decently-sized crowd and emotional distress were there.
The second vision was a little weirder… There wasn't a crowd per se, but there were definitely a lot of people in the vicinity around and within the restaurant. And, just like the first vision, there weren't any telltale signs that a vision might occur until… it did.
Or rather, it happened straight after he blacked out.
'In other words, it happens after I let my negative emotions get the best of me… just like in the first vision.' The more Aves thought about it, the more convinced he was that it was his emotional outbursts that led to the visions, not the crowds.
One thing that helped cement that belief of his was that, between the time that the first vision ended and the second vision had started, which amounted to only a couple of days, he had found himself in situations with a lot of people around him, but not once did the vision manifest. So, it was safe to say that crowds weren't the reason he'd suddenly get the vision. They might be part of the reason, but definitely not the main one.
Catching a whiff of the pleasant morning-coffee aroma, coupled with the fact that he had managed to narrow down the possible ways in which he could kickstart a vision, Aves felt his body relax, if ever so slightly at least. He'd only just realised how stressed out he had been over the past few days, what with the visions, the date with Isabelle, the argument with his parents…
A lot of things had happened to him within the span of only a few days, causing his nerves to grow taut, so it was nice to know that he could take a breather for a bit. Still, just because he was safe and slightly relaxed now didn't mean that he was out of the woods just yet; there was still a lot of things he needed to plan out and get accomplished if he wished to survive his next vision.
Walking down the dimly lit corridor that led to his room, all the while completely ignoring his roommate, Max, who looked like he had just woken up, Aves took a few quick sips of his piping-hot coffee, and continued brainstorming once he reached his room.
Now that he was able to determine what triggered the visions, Aves needed to start considering a couple of things: the level of intensity at which his emotions needed to reach in order to trigger the vision, and how to prevent his emotional instability from reaching that level.
There had been multiple times where his emotions went out of control such as, during his argument with his parents, and the minor outburst he'd had with the bus driver earlier, but not once had the vision shown signs of manifesting; it should also be mentioned that, during eighteen years that Aves had lived, he had definitely had his fair share of moments where he lost control of his emotions, and, again, never had a vision occurred to him before.
It was certainly confusing as to why the first vision came about so suddenly, and why it appeared to take place randomly, but Aves didn't fancy frying his brain over something that didn't make sense in the first place, so he just moved on.
Oh, and Aves ended up just using the two times that his emotions had gone out of control as standards for the level of emotional intensity that might trigger a vision, since he didn't have any other data to work with.
Nevertheless, now that he had some sort of layout on how the vision worked, all he needed to do was figure out how to effectively prevent it.
Unfortunately, that was the hard part…
You see… in order to prevent the vision from suddenly happening, he needed to keep his emotions in check, or at least keep them at a level that was quite a ways away from being able to trigger a vision, but for a young man that had problems at home and an active relationship with a beautiful girl to top it off… needless to say, it would be very, very hard.
And it wasn't as if the mere thought of keeping his emotions in check was going to be enough for him to actually do so… Aves wasn't some sort of specially trained-for-war veteran that knew how to stay indifferent to the various mundane things in life. He was just a normal guy going through some rough times; he was going to react extremely to some things even if he didn't show it on his face.
Though, it had to be said that Aves had definitely become a lot more calm and confident than he was before the vision, as could be seen by the way he treated Max like air — he would've made a conscious note of him in the past, but Aves didn't see the need to anymore since he had more important things to think about — and that was mainly because of how the vision forced him to mature in the face of life and death, something he had never experienced before. Although, he doubted that it would be enough to stop the vision.
'This is really frustrating, though.' Aves scratched the side of his head. 'From the looks of things, unless I turn into cold-blooded robot, I am bound to get a vision. It could be as soon as tomorrow, or even a year from now… It all depends on when I lose control of my emotions.'
Since it didn't seem to be possible to prevent the reappearance of the vision, Aves started deliberating on ways to battle the vision.
The first thing that came to mind was to carry with him a weapon at all times, hoping that the ghosts might possibly die if he stabbed them enough times with a knife or something. But, it wasn't even a second after that he discarded that thought, mainly because the ghosts didn't seem like things that would get injured by physical objects — that, and the fact that killing the ghosts might also mean killing the innocent people that they represented, which made him quickly give up on that idea.
It wasn't necessarily the idea of killing people that repulsed him so much — after all, he did admit that he would kill someone if it was his life pitted against theirs — but considering that killing those people might earn him a lifetime in jail — minimum — or even death by execution, Aves figured that dying at the hands of the ghosts would be a better fate than that.
'I really can't seem to think of something that will help me beat the vision…' Aves started pacing around the room as he pondered. 'This next vision won't be interrupted like the last one, so I am definitely going to lose all of my stamina right off the bat. That means that I will only have a short window which I could use to beat the vision, but what do I even do to defeat it?'
After spending the next thirty minutes surfing the internet and contemplating over ways to defeat the vision, he eventually came up with something. It was a very, very stupid idea, but… Aves was grasping at straws here, so it was either this idea or he could just offer up his head on a silver platter the next time the vision came rolling around.
Balancing his pencil on the tip of his nose, something he'd been doing subconsciously for a while now, Aves reclined back into his seat and thought, 'One peculiar post that I've read online says that ghosts are afraid of getting caught on cameras. I don't know if that's going to work, considering that the ghosts I'm seeing aren't your conventional ghosts, but it's worth a shot. I'll make sure I have my phone ready when I feel that a vision is about to occur the next time. If that doesn't work, worst case scenario, I'll just bring a knife with me as a final hail mary attempt… What's the point of worrying about jail when I'm about to die anyway, right?'
Having made up his mind, Aves stretched his arms while yawning, and slowly made his way over to his bed, a few things still on his mind.
'I wonder what Isabelle is doing right now… I hope she isn't too angry with me for leaving her so suddenly. I might have to buy her a gift from Trevor's store, just in case she really is angry.' Aves tiredly thought as he made himself more comfortable under his blankets.
'Speaking of Trevor, I need to… return that old comic book he lent me the other day…' With one last yawn, Aves made himself a mental note on what to get done later in the day, and felt himself sinking into his own dreams soon after.
***
Aves had barely had any sleep earlier on the bus, so he ended up sleeping for a good few hours, and it wasn't until the sun reached its zenith and shone its rays through the blinders next to him that he finally woke up.
It was Sunday today, meaning that he didn't have any lectures that he needed to attend, meaning that he didn't have to worry about being surrounded by ghosts in case he lost control of his emotions, meaning that he could go deal with a bunch of things he'd been wanting to take care of.
After having a quick breakfast, Aves put on his shoes and left the dormitories. His roommate, Max, was nowhere to be seen — probably out with his friends — so Aves locked the door behind him and made his way down to old man Trevor's store.
If Aves said he wasn't nervous, fearful that he might suddenly receive a vision out of the blue, he would be lying. After all, even though he was confident that he would have to lose control of his emotions in order for it to happen, it was, after all, a hypothesis on his end.
He might be completely wrong, and the reason behind the vision's trigger might be something else entirely for all he knew, so he kept his wits about him over the entire length of the journey — which was only five minutes of walking — on the odd chance that something fishy came up.
Fortunately, nothing out of the ordinary happened and he ended up making it to the shop safe and sound.
Since Aves wanted to avoid triggering a vision as much as possible, especially since he was about to enter a closed off space — a terrible environment to get a vision in — he decided that he would go in, get everything he needed to get as quickly and silently as possible, and get the hell out of there.
Luckily, it seemed like Trevor was in a bad mood — whether it was still about his wife cheating on him, Aves didn't know — so he was able to get a few house supplies, a gift for Isabelle — a box of chocolate, since he was too poor to get her anything meaningful — and returned the old comic book, all the while being utterly silent. There were a few other people in the store, but since the mood was tranquil, Aves didn't experience any emotional upheavals, much to his delight. If he had triggered a vision right then and there, it would've been horrible to say the least.
Leaving the store as silently as he came, Aves made his way back to the dormitories. Since he wanted to limit his exposure to any extreme stimuli that might help trigger a vision, he decided that he would call it a day and return to the dorms, despite the fact that he had wanted to go visit his parents and have a talk with them about their future course of action regarding the upcoming baby.
All in all, though, it was a pretty good day in Aves' books, seeing that his limbs were still intact and his life wasn't in jeopardy. It was nice and peaceful, just the way he liked it.
Although, it was almost too calm…
With a soft click, Aves shut the door to his room and sat at the edge of his bed, cradling the box of chocolates in his hands as he fell in thought.
'I'm going to have to walk amongst a lot of people tomorrow since I will be meeting Isabelle at the library. Although it will be dangerous, it needs to be done… I can't let fear ruin my relationship with Isabelle, no matter what.' Aves slumped onto his bed — not before carefully placing the box of chocolate onto his desk.
Even though he was all energetic, Aves couldn't afford to leave his room, unless there was a strong enough incentive for him to do so, so he spent the rest of his day either contemplating some more on the vision or using his laptop to study, until he finally fell asleep at night.
It might look like Aves was giving the vision much more credit than it was worth, judging by how careful he acted all day, but he had promised himself during the second vision that as long as he had a second chance, he wouldn't let the vision catch him off guard again.
All of this preparedness and caution was but a consequence of that promise.
***
Feeling and hearing his shoes squeak against the marble floor tiles of Stars College with every step that he took, Aves fidgeted with the box of chocolates in his hands as he kept his head up for the sign telling him where the library was.
Dragging his lead-heavy feet across the ground — whether it was a misconception out of anxiety, or just him being tired from having woken up so early in the morning, he didn't know — Aves brought his free hand up to his chest, right where his heart was, in a bid to calm down his raging heart rate. If it hadn't been for the constant chatter echoed by the students walking up and down the hallway past him, he reckoned that the only sound he would've been able to hear was the constant drumming of his heart.
He didn't actually know what this feeling of apprehension and tension was, or where it even came from, but it felt as though he had gone back in time to the day he confessed his true feelings to Isabelle. It came as a surprise — albeit, an unpleasant one — to Aves that he was this nervous even though he was merely going to apologise to Isabelle, so he tried to redirect his attention onto what he was going to say once he met up with her.
A feeling of deja vu hit him as he felt the door to the library grow nearer and nearer, as it was the same place he had met up with Isabelle in the past, and would be doing so again. Except, obviously, this time, he was going to the library to apologise about his abrupt behaviour at the restaurant.
Bathing in the sensation of the warm, regulated air enveloping his body as he stepped into the library, Aves took a brief moment to straighten his slightly crumpled clothes and made his way further in.
His heart-beat now abnormally booming in his ears, Aves felt the hand holding onto the box of chocolates on his side grow increasingly clammy and sweaty, forcing him tighten his grip on the box. Not wanting to accidentally drop it, since he was getting increasingly closer to Isabelle's spot, he supported the box with his other hand as well.
'What the hell's going on? I shouldn't be this worried over something so minor, right?' Aves wondered.
Truth be told, although he didn't show it, Aves had been very pleased with how much his personality had changed over the past few days. It was a tiny change in that he no longer stuttered and no longer kept his head down all the time, but it did wonders in helping him brighten his mood whenever it was low. So, he was especially disappointed to find out how his body intensely reacted to a situation that wasn't even remotely cliffhanging.
'Wait… it can't be because a vision is about to happen, right?' Unwilling to admit he was nervous over meeting with Isabelle, Aves warily looked around him as he turned around a corner.
There were people with books in their hands as they sat tidily across from each other at some of the tables located randomly around the library; some could be seen sifting through the books as Aves passed them by, aisle by aisle.
However, aside from the serious expressions that they wore, nothing was out of the ordinary.
'Huu… These people might not be ghosts just yet, but I need to stay alert, just in case.' Aves would've grasped the phone in his pocket to reassure himself, had he not been holding onto Isabelle's gift.
'Finally, I'm here.' Aves sighed in relief at the sight of the familiar dark-oak wooden aisle.
This was where he had confessed to Isabelle the last time, and where he would be meeting her again.
'Hmm?' His footsteps slowed down a notch as a few muffled female voices reached his ears.
Whoever it was that was speaking was doing so in a whisper, so Aves couldn't quite tell who they were from his distance of a few aisles away. However, he did recognise one of the voices…
It was Isabelle.
Curious to see who she was talking to, Aves made an abrupt turn into the aisle right before the one Isabelle was on, and pressed his ear onto the bookcase separating him from her.
Sure enough, the voices turned less muffled as soon as he did so.
"—your family?" A female asked.
Aves couldn't quite catch what they were trying to say, but he did find that tone of voice familiar.
"Yes." Isabelle responded.
"Wow…"
'What are they talking about?' Aves was starting to become more impatient the more the silence he had been suddenly subjected to went on. It also didn't help that the only thing he could hear was his heart beating erratically, that only seemed to get louder for some reason, so, eventually, he decided to do something.
Moving over a couple of paces to the left, Aves subtly peeked his head into an opening in the bookshelf that he found, in the hopes of trying to take a glimpse at whoever Isabelle was speaking to. Ignoring how creepy this would look if someone were to catch him red-handed, Aves was actually able to get a clear view of the situation.
As it turned out, there was only one other person than Isabelle present at the scene, and it was actually someone Aves knew — though not personally — which explained why he found her voice to be so familiar. It was her friend, Georgia.
'Or was it Georgie? Bah, who cares? I never liked her the moment I saw her anyway.' Aves wasn't normally one to judge a book by its cover, but he could see the blatant looks of pity, or even contempt, that she would throw at him whenever he was around, as clear as day.
He tended to not mind that kind of stuff since he'd seen those looks one too many times in his life, but that didn't mean that he was okay with it. To people like Georgie, Aves leant toward ignoring them most of the time, since they weren't technically doing anything wrong or illegal. He would definitely not be friends with them even if he was begged to do so, however.
'I wonder what they're talking about, though.' Aves shifted his eyesight onto Isabelle, whose face he couldn't see from his angle. Her mouth was covered in contemplation as she stood opposite to Georgie, that much, he could see.
Fortunately, he didn't have wait for too long as Georgie suddenly broke the silence.
"So, umm, what about… him?"
"Who?"
"You know… your boyfriend. His name was Aves, right?"
"Oh, him… He isn't my boyfriend."
"Is that so? I really thought… You know what? Never mind. I always thought that it was weird seeing you two at that restaurant that one time. Turns out it was nothing. I'm glad, because as your friend, let me tell you, that guy is very creepy. Trust me, you don't want to associate yourself with a freak like him." Georgie chuckled.
"Yeah—"
*Clang!*
"Hmm, what was that?" Georgie suddenly asked as she looked over in the direction of where the sudden noise came from. Isabelle followed suit.
Realising that the sudden clatter came from the next aisle over, Isabelle and Georgie slowly made their way over.
"What's this?"
Peering around the corner of the dark-oak aisle, the two girls spotted a round, plastic box lying on its side in between a couple of books that looked like they had just fallen over.
"Someone was here." Georgie whispered as they walked and stood before the little mess on the floor.
Isabelle didn't seem to have heard what she said though, as she kneeled on the ground and picked up the purple box of… chocolates.
Caressing it lightly, Isabelle slowly raised her head and looked up and down the aisle. But, aside from her and Georgie…
No one was there.