With a white face cloth resting on her shoulder, Sarah entered the bedroom, delicate steam engulfing the air as she carefully held a bucket filled with hot water infused with the aromatic essence of fresh mint leaves. She gently set the bucket on the nightstand beside the bed and proceeded to open the expansive windows, inviting the crisp breeze of a rejuvenating Wednesday morning into the room. She returned to the bucket and immersed the face towel in the steaming, mint-scented water. After carefully wringing out the excess moisture and folding it neatly, she gently laid the warm towel on the forehead of the slumbering girl. Despite the girl's restless movements and furrowed eyebrows, signifying a troubled dream, she remained fast asleep, unable to awaken.
As Sarah eased herself onto the edge of the bed, she let out a deep sigh. Her heart was heavy with worry as she clasped her niece's icy, trembling hand. "Oh, Taki, please wake up and return to us."
"The nightmares she has should have woken her by now."
Sarah turned her head in the direction of the voice and her eyes landed on Naki. He stood by the doorway, hands casually tucked into the pockets of his black sweatpants. He stepped deeper into the room, crouching in front of the bed. With tenderness, he gently pressed his hand against Taki's cheek. Miraculously, as if she recognized her identical twin's touch, Taki's head nestled closer to him, seeking solace in his presence.
"Something is wrong," Naki told his great aunt, his tired puffy eyes focused on his sister, "It's been three days, she has never slept for this long, she can't even make it through a single night let alone sleep for three whole days."
Sarah gently placed a hand on his shoulder, assuring him, "then she needs all the rest she can get. She's alive, and she's fine, maybe she just needs the sleep."
"I know she does but... I can't imagine whatever kind of unbearable nightmare she has been enduring for seventy-two hours straight."
Sarah glanced at Taki's troubled face, which was unconscious but visibly disturbed. It had been nagging her for the past three days as well. Ritah had informed her in detail about the amazing abilities as well as the weaknesses and strengths of the twins. This made her acutely aware of the tormenting nightmares that would haunt poor Taki every time she closed her eyes to sleep. The mere thought of what her niece had to endure for three consecutive days filled her heart with anguish.
Ritah had informed her that the nightmares she experienced were either unsettling and chilling reenactments of past or future events, or perplexing situations that Taki could never fully comprehend or recall. Each morning, she would wake up engulfed by an overwhelming sense of dread throughout her entire being. However, there was one constant in Taki's recurring nightmares: an ominous and malevolent entity that relentlessly haunted her. It would manifest itself in various forms, such as a familiar face, a shadowy figure, a beast, or even a demonic creature. Yet, the appearance that frightened Taki the most was when the entity took on the likeness of her own biological mother. Even though Taki had never seen her mother and had no idea what she looked like or behaved like, when that evil presence will take the form of her mother, she would just know.
Ritah also mentioned that the first time Taki began having the nightmares was when she was only seven years old. She dreamed about the dog her grandmother had gifted her from one of her many travels being chased into the open road by an evil rabbit and a big tree falling on the dog, crushing it to its death. When she woke up with loud cries, she told her grandmother the story who reassured her that it was just a dream and to go back to sleep, but the very next day, as she and Naki were playing with the very alive dog, a much bigger rabid dog came out of nowhere startling the twins, and before any of them could react, chased their dog all the way to the open road, Taki watched with horror as instead of a big tree, a big truck ran over the lovely dog that had been in their lives for a little over three years. From that moment, the nightmares had been troubling Taki for fifteen years of her life, and they didn't seem to stop.
"I don't know what to do, I have to protect her but how do I protect her from something that's inside her head?" Naki was overcome with emotion, struggling to hold back tears as he tightly grasped the bedsheets.
Sarah wiped away her own tears, she wished for nothing more than for her niece and nephew to live normal lives. It was a miracle that they were born, defying all odds. Fate brought Ritah to their rescue that night. One would imagine that two souls for whom the universe fought so fiercely to survive would be destined for a life of happiness. Unfortunately, it appeared as though they were cursed, burdened by their extraordinary abilities and unable to lead ordinary lives.
"You're doing the best you can," was the only thing Sarah could manage to say, with a comforting hand on Taki's shoulder.
Right at that moment, Himari entered the room with a magnificent platter of delectable food. Instantly, Naki averted his gaze from her, an action that did not escape Sarah's notice.
"She's still not awake, huh?" she commented, as she walked towards one of the bedside tables. With a gentle touch, she placed the platter down, then picked up the other untouched platter of food she had set there the day before.
Sarah rose to her feet, gently taking the platter from Himari's hands. "Allow me to take this," she whispered, gratitude beaming from her eyes. "You've been immensely helpful these past three days, Himari. I cannot thank you enough." With a tender touch, she gently patted Himari's shoulder and added a warm smile. In response, Himari humbly bowed, softly uttering a shy "you're welcome". Sarah cast one final glance towards Taki and Naki before making her exit, ensuring to firmly close the door behind her.
"She's not waking up anytime soon, why do you keep bringing her food? What, is she supposed to eat it in her sleep?"
Himari turned to face Naki with a scowl on her face, "when she does wake up, I'm sure she'll be starving and very happy to find food waiting for her," she bit back.
"Wouldn't it be smarter to wait until she's actually awake to bring her the food?" Naki asked as he stood up to his feet.
"At least I'm being a thoughtful friend, not like you'd know what that is," she crossed her arms and gave him an accusing look.
Naki narrowed his eyebrows, questioning, "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"You know exactly what it means, Mr-I'm-going-to-be-your-friend-just-to-avoid-you," she looked him up and down, trying her hardest to make him feel guilty.
"I haven't been avoiding you..." he lied straight through his teeth, avoiding her piercing eyes.
Himari scoffed and boldly approached him, pointing an accusing finger at him, "What about the time when you spotted me walking toward you from a distance and tried to sneak into someone else's apartment to avoid me? Sarah had to intervene and persuade him to stay and not cancel his lease."
"Uh, I-"
"Or how about when Sarah told you to work the front desk with me, so you could learn something, and you ran into a wall and got yourself hospitalized?" Himari's voice got louder, and she took a step closer with every word she uttered.
Naki stepped back the closer she got, "that was an honest accident!" he lied again.
"Oh yeah!? What about just yesterday when I got inside the elevator with you, and you climbed up the vent? You're lucky we didn't reach the top floor, you could have died you idiot!"
"Well I-uh-" Naki tumbled over his words, trying hard to find the right thing to say to come out of the room alive and in one peace.
"You asked to be my friend, then you should act like my friend!" They now stood toe to toe as Naki's back had made contact with the bedside table, unfortunately for him, "I hate being ignored, friend."
"I-I'm sorry?"
Naki's heart raced as he witnessed the steam emitting from Himari's ears, her face turning crimson. With a firm grip, she clutched his gray shirt, her fingers tightly interwoven.
"YOU'RE SORRY!? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF A FRIEND SO HOW CAN YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS YOU STUPID FU-"
"Can you guys not be so loud?"
Himari instantly released Naki, and he watched her attitude do a complete 180 as her eyes softened.
"Taki!" Himari exclaimed, her voice gentle and heartfelt, as if she hadn't been yelling like a fierce dragon just a moment ago. "You're finally awake," she said, taking a seat on the bed and gently holding Taki's feeble hand. "You had us all so worried. Some of our neighbors even brought you flowers and 'get well soon' cards," she gestured towards the pile of flowers and cards in the corner of the room.
Naki couldn't believe the complete shift in Himari's attitude. Just moments ago, she had almost frightened him to the point of wetting his pants.
"I'm sorry for the trouble," Taki weakly smiled, slowly sitting up, the face towel falling from her forehead as she did so.
"Are you okay big sis?" Naki came forward, sitting on the other side of the bed and grabbing Taki's free hand in his.
"I'm fine, I was just sleeping, I'm sorry for worrying you," it broke Naki's heart how frail and broken Taki's voice sounded.
"You should never apologize for that. No matter what, I will always worry about you because you mean a lot to me," he whispered as he gently kissed her forehead. Himari couldn't help but smile at the endearing bond shared by the twins.
Taki's eyes met Himari, and they looked apologetic, "Himari I'm sorry for my brother, he's a big idiot, but he meant no harm. He just didn't know how to explain the situation to you, about who we are and why we're this way, don't be too hard on him."
Naki cast his eyes down in shame.
"I'll try not to, but I was never going to force you to say anything, so you could have just spoken to me, you idiot!" and with the final word, Himari harshly brought her knuckles down on Taki's head.
"OW!" He cried, rubbing his head with a pained expression on his face. Taki couldn't help but giggle at both of their dramatics.
"Hey, I promise to tell you everything...right after I get some food into my system," Taki confessed, her parched lips quivering. She hadn't had a meal in three long days, and her stomach felt like a bottomless pit, and as if it was devouring itself.
Himari gave Naki an 'I told you so' look then jumped to her feet, picking up the platter of food and putting it in front of the hungry girl.
"Thank you so much Himari! You are so thoughtful, this looks amazing," Taki wasted no time in digging in after thanking Himari, she felt like she was eating for a hundred very hungry men.
Himari stuck her tongue out at Naki who rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm going to let Sarah know that Sleeping Beauty is finally awake," Naki stood and headed for the door, "glad you're okay Taki."
Taki barely looked up to acknowledge her brother, focusing all of her attention in devouring her food. Naki couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he left the room, delighted to see his sister in much higher spirits.
Himari also bid farewell, explaining that she had to get back to work. B, she promised to come back later in the day since Taki needed to rest in bed for a while to recharge her energy. As soon as the door closed, leaving her alone finally, Taki's pace of eating slowed down, and she couldn't help but release a loud and weighty breath, while tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
She tried not to show it to the two that just left her as to not worry anyone, but the past three days had been hell for her. For past three days, she experienced an incessant vision of impending agony permeating her dreams. It was a harrowing sight of countless lives being destroyed, people succumbing to death, and utter despair encompassing all. The haunting echoes of anguish, the collective cries of shattered souls, reverberated relentlessly within her consciousness. Every ounce of their anguish seeped into her being, inflicting unbearable torment upon her.
Not only did she have to endure her personal torment for the past fifteen years, but now it seemed that her tormentor, manifested as the enigmatic figure of Kenji himself, was taunting her. He cruelly reminded her that countless lives were about to be lost, while she could only bear the burden of this knowledge without the power to change anything.
She let out another exhale, then took a big gulp of the freshly squeezed orange juice to calm down her racing heart. After placing the glass back on the table, she gently dabbed her eyes and resolved to complete her meal. Her hunger was undeniable, and she knew she needed nourishment to gather the mental strength necessary to process everything that had been unfolding with a clear and rational mind.
A chilling sensation cascaded down her spine, causing her hand to clench with unease. She fought against her natural instinct to shrink away or react, determined not to succumb to the sinister aura that enveloped her room.
Someone or something was keeping a close eye on her.