"We're leaving now. Thanks for the drinks, Raine."
"Ah."
The voices startled her wide awake. Had she fallen asleep? 'Way to go, Zen', she scolded herself with sheer disappointment. For how many hours was she asleep anyway? She wasn't the type to fall asleep anywhere and at any time; she was more responsible than this. How could she let this happen to her?
It was eerily dark when she got up and took a roundabout look at her surroundings. [I can't see anything.] 'Of course, you can't, it's night-time, genius', her brain yelled back. [But seems like the dog is gone.]
"Get up both of you. Let's go... These two are totally wasted. Damn it."
Her hair stood on end when she heard the voices. She wasn't alone in the abandoned building. Though she couldn't see anything in detail, she could spot a staircase adjacent to where she was standing. There were people on the first floor. But what were they doing there inside an abandoned building? And why on earth did her university have so many deserted buildings on campus anyway?
"Hey, Raine?" Zen closely listened to the voice.
"Yeah."
"I need to get these two to my apartment. They can't go back to the dorm like this. Will you be fine on your own?"
There appeared to be four of them up there. Were they students from her university? Zen was dying to know what they were talking about yet, at the same time, was scared to go upstairs and investigate.
What if they turned out to be bad people and attacked her? Or worse, what if they were rapists? She immediately covered her mouth with the palm of her hands. She wasn't afraid of ghosts, in fact, it had always been her dream to have an encounter with a real ghost someday, but when it came to rapists, it was an entirely different story. She was terrified of them. Better just hope and pray she didn't dig up her own grave by entering the doorway to hell.
"Yeah. Just go."
"What about you? It's nearly 11 pm."
[What the fu-] Zen stopped herself from cursing out loud. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. 11 pm? She had been out for that long? 'I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions, but I'm so desperate here', she said to herself as if another part of her would answer back to ease all her worries.
"I can go back home. My parents are away on a business trip."
"Is it nearby?"
"Mm."
"Will you be alright? You seem pretty drunk."
"Kai. I'm fine. Just go."
"Okay... I guess this time we'll take the stairs instead of jumping through the window like how we came up," the person muttered.
The sound of tottering footsteps echoed in the old building. Zen immediately gathered her belongings off the dusty floor and dashed under the stairwell to conceal herself. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw three figures leave through the door.
Five minutes later, she gathered her stuff to leave but came to a halt when she heard a noise coming from above. The sound of ruffling clothes, clinking of glasses, and an irritated groan reached her ears. She'd assumed everyone had left but someone seemed to still be up there, and whoever he was making all those noises didn't seem to be doing well on his own.
As much as she dreaded running up the stairs to access the situation, her legs told her otherwise. In the blink of an eye, she found herself standing on the first floor right in front of a young man who had his feet sprawled wide apart on the dirty ground with his head sunk low. The moonlight was the only source of light in the area. Four empty bottles of alcohol lay undisturbed beside him. The man was as drunk as a skunk.