I plopped myself down on the nearest seat I could find and set my phone down on the table. I tilted my head upwards to meet a pair of stormy eyes staring at me. My brain had to process a little before finally realizing who the girl was.
"Uh… Helen, не так ли?" My left eye twitched, wondering why she's looking at me like that. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention. I saw her mouth open and close and then stopped. I blinked and suddenly, I was back.
"Can you repeat that?" I said, reaching for the ketchup bottle on my right. "I couldn't hear you."
"I checked the library." She replied and my eyes diverted onto the book she was holding. "I saw the poster but wasn't able to read it."
"Why not?"
"Dyslexia." Helen mumbled.
"Oh верно. Did you take a pic?"
She nodded and handed me her phone. The lock screen was adorable, with cats everywhere. I asked for her password but she just snatched the phone out of my hands and typed incredibly fast.
"Here's the photo I took." She mumbled, showing me the screen. I leaned in closer, squinting to get a good look at the poster. From the illustrations, I can make out some of the lines. A trident for Poseidon, a lightning bolt for Zeus and… The words blurred and suddenly I had a massive headache just looking at the pictures. Dyslexia.
I skipped along the words, trying to find something similar to Helen's case. And there I found it. A gray owl, representing… something. I would've known if I hadn't had this damn disorder. Seriously, that thing ruins my life.
"Серая сова. Let me search something up." I muttered and then turned to pick up my own phone, using the Google microphone so that I won't have to type. The sudden assignment was bad enough.
There were about a hundred results and I clicked on a website which I thought was the best.
"The gray owl symbolizes wisdom and knowledge, intuition and insight…" The audio read. It was lucky that the website had an audio option because I couldn't even make out anything my eyes were seeing. "Does that mean that you're smart? And also, why did I even recommend the Greek mythology thingy in the first place? There's a gazillion other themes we could've looked through."
"Instinct?" Helen murmured, now settling down with a bowl of porridge.
"That doesn't make sense. Greek Mythology isn't real. That's why they're myths." Christal chimed in while chomping down on her burger. Her tone was a bit off. It's like she experienced these things too many times already to take any notice. "Besides, why would our instincts tell us anything?"
"Try searching for what an owl means in Greek Mythology." Esmé sneezed. "The answer's right in front of your face."
"Owl meaning in Greek Mythology." I repeated the line through the phone a couple of times before it started loading. There were a bunch of sites to visit. Ugh, why is it always like thi-
There was a crackle. All of a sudden the lights went off. Or at least I thought so because the lights had a slight transparency to them. Now, my eyesight had an unusual glow, too. Murmurs erupted from all over the room until a voice silenced them all.
"ALL STUDENTS TO THEIR DORMS AT ONCE," A voice boomed from the speaker and I flinched, taken by surprise. "ALL STUDENTS TO THEIR DORMS AT ONCE."
I glanced around, trying to see how everyone else reacted before I pretended to mimic them. Then, a loud splatter came from my right and I instantly knew that it was Christal. She was startled and had dropped her burger, the ketchup created quite a big mess.
"Sorry." She muttered, trying to wipe the ketchup from the tablecloth but instead knocked over the mustard.
"Ack!" She scowled, looking quite embarrassed; but there was no time to clean the mess.
"What now?" Esmé muttered and I could already hear her packing. There was a clunking sound where she sat and I whirled around to see what she was trying to do. I wasn't surprised when she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and felt her way to the exit. I did what I thought was the most normal. Taking my stuff and evacuating this place as quickly as possible.
A while after, the racket started again, with irritating sounds of metal chairs dragging on the floor trying to demolish my eardrums. Seriously, I would rather be deaf than be able to hear in this kind of environment!
I was about to stand up when I heard Christal call my name, "Nebby!"
"Hm?" I hummed, trudging out the door like a normal person even though I felt like I was walking too confidently. "You good?"
"Where are you?" She staggered, fumbling blindly and tripping over her own chair. "Ouch." She grimaced.
"What are you talking about?" My brow slightly raised. Oh no, I just gave myself away!
"You're kidding me right now." She grumbled, her hand running through her hair. Now that I have a closeup of her face, I can kinda see the eyebags under her eyes. "Lead the way. People are waiting, Neb."
I yanked on her wrist and led her through the corridors with Esmé and Helen trailing behind, occasionally bumping into very obvious things placed in very obvious places.
Now this was helpful.
I dragged them towards the stairs. Each staggered up the steps and they all fell to their faces at least five times.
To be honest… It was hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing even though Christal tried to choke me a couple of times.
Soon, doors greeted me and I searched the halls for our rooms. Fortunately, our dorms were right next to each other so I had no problem leading them.
I searched my pockets for the keycard, panicking because I couldn't find it.
I couldn't find it.
"Christal, did you bring your keycard?" I uttered, now sweaty. This was the first time I've ever forgotten anything. I wasn't that clumsy.
"Uh… No? Why are you-?" She tilted her head to the side, her forehead creased together. "Nebby? Did you… oh… my God." Her voice was cracking and it trembled slightly. So I proposed a plan. After all, it was mostly my fault we got locked out.
I scanned through Christal's bag while she tried to pick the lock. We were both sweating like crazy. I felt like someone was watching us. Staring at us and spying on our every move.
I was certain that Christal felt it too, evident in her sudden brisk movements and the expressions that flashed across her face. It was starting to get brighter, the moon now felt like the sun. I sighed and stood up, groaning from my leg cramps.
I cracked my knuckles and slapped Christal hard on the back. "We're hopeless… Let's go."
***
It was funny how just a moment ago, we were getting all panicky, and now we were all just chilling in Helen's room.
"PILLOW FIGHT!!!" Christal hooted and a pillow flew straight into my face.
Esmé laughed hysterically, kicking her legs in the air.
"CHRISTAL!!!" I bellowed, my hands clutching the pillow and continued to yeet it towards her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to aim it at your face." She grinned, mumbling sarcastically, catching it between her hands. I didn't expect her to be able to catch it since it was supposedly pitch black to her. Then, I realized that Helen's phone was on flashlight.
"Sowwy~" I mocked her and then shrieked as a pillow came at me. This time, my arms shot out, creating a barrier against the flying pillow midair.
"That was supposed to stop once it touches your face, not your arms!" She screamed in delight. Before I could respond, another blow struck my face.
Even without much eyesight, this girl's hand-eye coordination was already superb to mine. I wonder how much better she would get if she got even the slightest training.
"Alright, girls." Helen walked in from the bathroom with a pink towel wrapped around her hair that seemed to fall off every 10 seconds. "Time to sleep."
"It's only 9:56… My beauty sleep starts at 10:00…" Esmé whined. "I haven't even done any skincare!"
Well, this was getting interesting. I started burrowing into the mountains of pillows and blankets, getting ready for bed. "Hey, if Esmé doesn't wanna sleep, I'm calling dibs on the bed."
"Can someone give me back my phone?" Helen's eyes landed on the bright screen of the device. "And Christal, the shower's free."
"Okay, thanks." Christal rose from the armchair she had sunk into and made her way towards the bathroom. It was quite funny to see people just bumping into stuff even when we know they now lack the ability to see properly. I mean, the phone is there, so why not use it?
"Here's your phone." I said, swiftly retrieving it from the bedside table and proceeded to hand it directly to her so that it wouldn't go smashing into the ground.
"Thank you." Helen muttered.
I nestled into the comfort of the blankets, slowly drifting into a slumber.
***
I groaned and my eyes flung open. I couldn't sleep when all I could hear wasn't the peacefulness I was expecting but a whole lot of banging and thumping from the outside. I shook Helen violently until she was awake as well.
"GAH!" Helen gasped, her pupils shaking and sweat beading on her brows. "What happened?"
The noises were getting louder and louder each second. My surroundings were still blurry and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep.
"ROOM SERVICE!!!" The voice hollered from the other side of the door and I saw Christal's eyes snap open. "ROOM SERVICE!!!"
"Huh?" was all I heard from her before the door burst into flames. Helen screamed and threw the alarm clock on her right at the person, who was standing by the doorway, his face smiling ear to ear. I didn't even know if I could call it a person or not anymore.
The face of a man, the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. The only thing that popped into my mind was the word 'devil' and nothing else.
I half-expected the flames to spread further since the floorboards were made of wood. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Christal trying to haul Esmé's sleeping body onto her shoulders but failed. I jumped down from the bed and rushed over to her aid, supporting Esmé's left side while Christal did the same with her right. Helen was now standing, her brows creased together and her stormy eyes showed only fear.
"Manticore… MANTICORE!?" She shrieked the words before trying to fling another object at the thing but nothing happened when it hit the creature. Not even a scratch.
This isn't real, I tried lying to myself, This is just a dream.
But this wasn't just a dream. This was real. I could feel the heat on my face as the monster tried pouncing on us. Suddenly, wind whooshed in and I could hear the whispers louder than ever along with… a man's voice?
It sounded eerily… familiar. But now wasn't the time to dig up memories from the back of my mind, was it?
Before I could react, Christal was already on the balcony, dragging Esmé with her. I then realized I wasn't even near the pair.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I yelled but it was no use. Christal was outta her mind.
"HELP ME YEET THIS GIRL DOWN!!!" Christal screeched. By the time I actually got myself together, the manticore was already this close to me. "WE NEED TO ESCAPE!!!"
I dashed towards Christal, the wind blowing in my face and specks of dust caught on my lashes. But Helen was still here, wasn't she? Blinded by the darkness with a bounty on her head. There was absolutely no way she could escape this. I had to help her.
You must, hero. You were destined for this… The voice was faint, but it gave me exactly what I needed. Save my daughter.
I whirled around to see Christal launching herself down with Esmé in her arms. I screamed. I didn't know what was happening anymore.
They said the line between stupidity and bravery was almost invisible and here I am, trying to become the 'герой' that the voice in my head was talking about.
"HELEN!!! RUN!!! I'LL HOLD OFF THIS MAN…TICORE!!!" I roared, wildly throwing pillows and books at the creature. Even when I tried trapping him with a very thick blanket, the monster effortlessly tore through the fabric as if it was paper-thin.
I had to admit, I was scared out of my wits. I actually hoped someone would sprint back in and give my 'heroic death' some credit. I could already see his barbed tail, poised and ready to strike. All of a sudden, the manticore stopped in his tracks and his human pair of eyes rolled back. Then, he collapsed. The floor shook and the plastered walls began to crumble. And the last thing I saw was… a girl.
Then, everything faded to black.