Sophia Codache
I brought with me my backpack while striking my way to school. Twirling with me my pen between my fingers while my other hand placed inside the pocket of the skirt I wore, I groaned. I blew an air after roaming my eyes around the gloomy skies above me. Everything around felt boring. There was no sense of excitement at all. The environment I am living in, the school, the road, the birds, the wind, all those things that I always encounter, it felt irrelevant.
My life revolves around waking up, eating, going to school, going home, and vise versa. The feeling of loneliness every time I opened my notes at home is killing me.
Seeing those leaves that flew at every corner of this road, the wind clothed around my arms. I stilled, wondering about this strange feeling I felt right now. I was about to start walking again when I heard footsteps from the back. I swiftly turned around to see who that was, but unfortunately, there was no one there. I blinked my eyes several times, thinking that I was hallucinating. I glared at the surroundings for a couple of minutes to observe, but there was no trace of weird sounds at all.
I raised my shoulders to overcome my nervousness. What the hell was that?
When I took the way with several steps, I heard rush footsteps at my right. I was startled as I quickly turned my head in that direction. However, all I saw were bushes with leaves that swayed together with the wind's direction. What now?!
I can feel my body shaking a bit inside while trying to cope with my negative emotions. I was looking closely towards those bunch of bushes when I heard someone moving from the opposite side. I instantly stared in that direction again, seeking answers. Does this mean that there were more than one of them that surrounded me?
I can't stop making passive thoughts this moment. I was wondering if those footsteps came from the animals that lived around the rural, but no. Those heavy steps sounded from a person. From all my life that I lived here, this was my first time encountering such a skeptical situation. So I can't stop feeling in danger right now.
"Sophia." A soft, medium volumed voice whispered at my back while I was looking around, feeling unsettled about the circumstance. That unfamiliar voice brought me a spooky feeling. It came from a female, but I did not recognize her voice as someone that I knew, even before.
"What the hell is this?" I silently whispered to myself while facing the grassy area where tall trees grew. The wind became humid, and it felt colder than a while ago.
With furrowed forehead, I slowly stepped forward towards the bushes to see who freaking called me. I took away those branches that blocked my view to look for that person. While doing so, my hands were shaking like hell. But to my surprised, there was no one behind the bushes.
My eyes were a bit frightened as I roamed my sight around, especially to those tall trees. I thought maybe that strange woman hid there, but she wasn't there anyway.
"Sophia." Again, she spoke. At this time, I wasn't startled anymore because the voice calling me was still the same. I tilted my head towards my left, where I heard that voice. A woman quickly hid behind the towering tree's trunk. I was not able to see her face because of her fast movement.
My instinct told me to follow her, and so I did. When I was walking towards the tree, I can feel my heart and breath racing in panic. But I need to calm down, or else I will freak out.
"W-Who are you?" I asked in hesitant. My mind was overthinking that maybe she'll attack me anytime. I was waiting for the woman to respond, but she did not speak even a single word. Later on, she threw a bow and arrow at the side. I felt confused when she did that.
What does it mean?
"A-ah... Would you mind showing yourself to me? You're making me feel like dying." I said while raising my eyebrows, trying to sound friendly.
I moved a little step at my side to see her hands tapping above her legs. Her fingers were longer than mine, and her nails were in color black. She was wearing a long-sleeve red thin dress with a skirt falling below her ankles. I looked away, full of enigmas.
Who in the world would wear those types of clothes in this place?
I get her point of not speaking with me, so I cleared my throat before I initiated to communicate with her. "Look, I don't know who you are and why did you know my name, but honestly, if you don't want to clear things up, then fine! You're just wasting my precious time." I gasped while making heavy steps fetching the bow and arrow that she threw. She was taking too much of my time. Most probably, I was late at school now.
When I picked those things, I did not bother to face her. Well, honestly, I was kind of afraid of this woman. I stayed in my kneeling position for a while before I slowly stood once again. I recently realized that there was no way to get out from here except to turn my way back. And I have no choice but to get a chance to look at her face.
From my vision at the side of my eye, I can still feel the presence of this lady looking at me. This is making me sick.
When she asked me a random question while pointing a sharp object at my back, I froze. "You are the sister of Sarah, right?" Her voice felt stagnant but timid. Why was she asking me like that, huh? I guess this lady knows Sarah and our family too.
I wanted to run away from her, but I think that was not a wise option. If I run, she can harm me. She might think I am avoiding her question and sees her as an enemy. I held the bow and arrows tightly while breathing in deep silence. I was trying my best not letting her see my reaction. She might consider it as my weakness and mistook it as her advantage.
"What do you need?"
I heard her laughing in a second. It was irritating, and it sounded sarcastic. "You don't like her, am I right?" Her question attacked me personally.
I stilled and couldn't make a move. She caught me off guard. But, why did she appeared? Who was this mysterious lady? And, how come she knew those things even though we're strangers?
"Awe! Poor soul, you must be wondering a lot this time. Oh! In that case, I suggest keeping your hate in your sister.~" At this moment, I can feel hear footsteps getting closer to my ears while still holding that sharp thing behind my neck. She was now standing closer to me.
"Hm..." She acted like she was having a deep thought, but her voice sounded too obvious for me to get her point. "Aha! Why don't you join me with-"
Her words cut off when a guy appeared in front of us from nowhere above. He landed perfectly on the ground while those dust were floating in the air, making my sight blurred to see him clearly. But one thing that I was sure about was his color ash gray hair.
When he stood up, I can vividly see his hair covering his right eye. He was looking down in a straight face and chest-out posture. His nose was average in sharpness, and his face was perfectly angled in a curved jawline. When his eyes suddenly opened, looking in our direction, I was frightened. I accidentally moved back, but this lady behind pushed me using her sharp, metallic object.
"Is that how you convince someone, Hanaele?" His cold, deep voice disturbed me. It wasn't clear because of his physical appearance. The aqua blue eyes him were the ones that caught my attention.
From my back, this woman named Hanaele sighed. Even though I cannot see her, I knew that she was rolling her eyes while looking at this guy. She moved the sharp object away from me. The disturbing sound of two metals sliding with each other was irritating to my ears. I closed my eyes to remove that sense before I observed them back.
During this time, it was them who were taking.
"How dare you interrupt me, Cassius."
"I wasn't, Hanaele. It was that you made this innocent lady right here frightened that brought me here." When I heard him saying that I was innocent, I vomit inside my head. Damn, he was like saying that I was still a child.
"Oh, well. What do you expect me to do?"
Cassius didn't answer her. Instead, he smiled while walking closer to us. When he stopped right at my side, facing Hanaele, I almost lost my breathing. I looked away, planning to escape. These people I met right now were strange. It seemed that they live in other dimensions. The clothes that they were wearing, especially this guy's oversized black pants with his upper body covered by half of the clothes, and the way they speak with each other.
I made a move to run, but I was late. I almost jumped because of being terrified when Cassius held the upper part of my elbow. I gasped when I realized how strong he was by just standing right there, unbothered while looking straight.
I sighed in frustration.
What do they need from me?!