Later that evening, Yuri left for her house. Lucinda and her mother had already cleaned up the dishes and retired for the night, but unknown to Lucinda, today was the day things went up a notch and she'd never expected her condition to escalate from manageable to severe.... As she came out of the bathroom, her phone rang out. She walked up to her bedside table and picked up her phone; it was an unknown number with no name that flashed on her phone screen.
"Hey," came a rich baritone male voice from the other end of the line. Lucinda couldn't trace where she'd heard this voice. However, she felt like she knew the person and he sounded like he had just woken up from a nap.
"Uh, hi," she replied, unsure of what to say. Kei could sense through her tone that she was unable torecognise that it was him.
"It's me, Kei." He quickly said, to avoid awkwardness.
She suddenly remembered that he had given her his contact information. Oh, how're you? How did you get my number?" she asked, relieved that it was someone she knew, but confused as to how he got it.Then it dawned on her that she meant to call him, but did not, making it her fault.
Recalling this, she hit her foreheadwith her right hand. "Kei, I'm so sorry I totally forgot to call you," she said with sincerity.
"A littlebirdie gave me your number as I met her on the way home, so don't worry about it," he teased her.
"Do I know this birdie? Just tell me who and I promise on Yuri's life not to skin that birdie," Lucinda joked, hanging her towel in the bathroom on the towel rack, finding a pair of pj's to put on, she wedges the phone between her ear and right shoulder......
"No, you don't know the bird, but it was hungry and took sea weed crackers in exchange. I know it's weird," Laughed Kei as he explained through the phone, dropping a hint for Lucinda to catch on.
'Yuri,' Lucinda muttered to herself.
"People who eat seaweed crackers are clowns," they both said on cue like it was destined.
"Jinx," Lucinda quickly said before Kei, and they both laughed in unison.
"I'm glad we agree on something."
"Yeah me too."
***
They talkedthroughout the night, when Lucinda noticed it was 11:30 pm. She needed to go to bed because she had to go to work the next day.
"It was a pleasure talking with you, but I have to get to bed, work calls in the morning," Lucinda explained as she cut Kei short on what he was saying.
"Sure, goodnight Watashi no ōjo (my princess)," he said, before cutting off thecall. Lucinda blushed.
Placing her hands on her chest and she could feel it beating so fast, "stop beating, it's not like we like each other in that other way, he's only a friend and him calling me his princess is no big deal," she kept saying to herself while patting her fast beating chest, trying to calm it down..... after a while, she'd slept off with her phone beside her pillow.....
***
Lucinda lay in the darkness, the temperature dropping gradually, a little girl ran up to her, giggling and tapping her arms, Lucinda starred a bit, and she opened her eyes, upon looking at the child she was shocked at how she got into the room, ' when did okasaan (mother) bring another child home?' She thought to herself, wondering why she was dressed in white. The girl smiled at Lucinda, her bruised cheek swelling up from the naïve smile. Lucinda was fully awake this time, but didn't know she was dreaming.
Lucinda sat up from the bed and looked at the girl, "hey, catch me if you can," she said in a light child like voice, also giggling, before Lucinda could get up, she'd started running, Lucinda immediately got up and ran after her, "hey, stop, stop running, you'll trip," before Lucinda finished saying the word, she tripped and fell into a sea of blood.....
Mrs. Hayashi was in the kitchen making a midnight snack when she heard a loud sound like someone had broken into her home, she rushed to her room, went to the safe hidden in her wardrobe and brings out her fnx-45 tatical surpressor hand gun, she carefully walks out of her room and heads straight to the stairs, she points up first, and scans the area, carefully taking her time to go up the stairs.
On reaching the last steps, she crouches low and scans the area. She had her gun in front of her, ready and alert to any movement. However, she hadn't pulled the clip yet, who knows, maybe it was just Lucinda falling out of bed. Seeing that it was also clear, she quickly heads straight to Lucinda's room. She carefully places her hand on the doorknob, not to startle or alert whoever came in, since the other parts of the house were clear....
***
Lucinda still lost in her dreams, couldn't help but scream out for help, she didn't know how to swim, but this time it wasn't water it was blood, suddenly she felt someone grab onto her leg, which made her sink faster in the viscous thick iron stench called blood, she shouted out like her life depended on it... Unknown to her she screamed out in her dreams and fell directly on the floor in front of her door....
***
The moment Lucinda fell her mother barged into her room at the same time, pointing the gun around, but she was met with nothing but an empty space, her daughter on the floor traces of blood around her could be seen on her night wear and the floor... Lucinda didn't know that during chasing the little girl in her dream, she had scraped her wrist on the edge of her desk, when she bumped into it. This was the second stage of her night terrors, and it came faster than expected.
Dropping the gun on the floor, Mrs. Hayashi flips Lucinda over, carrying her off the floor, she notices she had lost weight, she dropped her on her bed unceremoniously. She put her right ear on Lucinda's chest to check if she was still breathing because she couldn't see her chest moving. The sound was so faint, like she was between life and death. Panicking, she immediately rushes to the bathroom and sits her up to rest her back on the bathtub, Mrs. Hayashi rushes downstairs to get a bowl and filled it with ice and cold water, on getting to the bathroom, Lucinda's body slouched, she sits her up properly again, before pouring the bowl of water and ice on Lucinda.... The shock that went through Lucinda's body felt like it was lightening that had struck her in her dreams, she gasps for air and her eyelids flew open, her eyes were wide like saucers, like she had seen a ghost, her lungs were trying to cope with the amount of air that it had just been filled with as she started coughing violently, Mrs. Hayashi throws the bowl to a corner and pats her back, "take it easy baby girl, breathe in and out slowly, slow deep breaths," she said, encouraging Lucinda......
***
Lucinda finally went back to bed, but this time she slept in her mother's room. Her mother had changed her nightwear and treated the cut on her wrist, luckily it wasn't a deep wound that needed stitches but rather it was a surface cut thatbled out more than it was meant to almost taking her life.... Himari Hayashi couldn't leave Lucinda alone that night, stroking Lucinda's hair, her eyes got all teary just remembering the state she'd seen her daughter in made her tear up in the dark, she had to be strong for Lucinda, the last time she remembered seeing Lucinda like this was when she was little, taking one last deep breath, she went to bed...
***
The next day Mrs. Hayashi wakes up early and calls in sick to Lucinda at her workplace. She calls Yuri over to watch over Lucinda while she ventures out to shop to make Lucinda's favourite soup... the time Yuri came over it was already 2:30pm, but Lucinda was yet to stir. Mrs. Hayashi didn't want to panic and told herself that all Lucinda needed was a rest and she'd be alright...
"Okasaan (mother), I ran as quickly as I could when you called me, where's she, is she awake? what happened?" Yuri asked in a flurry of questions, sincerely worried about Lucinda, with the tears in her eyes threatening to fall out, she could feel pain, from just knowing something had happened to her best friend that is a sister to her.
"She's alright, she hasn't woken up yet, she's in my bedroom. Just look after her until I get back home." Yuri nodded her head as Mrs. Hayashi instructed her, unknown to them Lucinda had already woken up and the first voice she heard was Yuri's own sounding so distressed, till now she didn't know she'd fainted all she knew was that she was drowning in a blood of sea till she lost consciousness in her dreams, her throat was very parched, so she couldn't utter a single word, as she got out of bed she fell face flat on the floor.
Mrs. Hayashi and Yuri both ran to the room on cue as they heard a crashing sound. As they got there, they saw Luicnda on the floor and helped her off the floor, propping some pillows behind her back. Yuri couldn't contain her tears anymore and cried out in relief that Lucinda was awake and it was nothing serious.
Lucinda was confusedabout why Yuri was crying. Her throat was dry, so she couldn't talk or make a sound. Seeing the way her face had contorted, Yuri immediately brought water for her, knowing Lucinda needed to drink some water... The cup rim was gently placed on Lucinda's lips to let her drink. Lucinda immediately gulped the water and choked on some drops. Seeing this, Yuri took the cup away and wiped her mouth with a napkin while patting her back. Mrs. Hayashi left for shopping after seeing Lucinda was okay...
***