Chapter 19: Old Friends?
Third Person's POV
"Who are you?" Although Astra is a little nervous, she mustered up the courage to ask him.
"Don't you already know who I am?" the man responded, gazing that can peer through a hole inside of anyone.
"What do you mean?" Astra said confusedly.
The man in front of her didn't respond to her last question. Instead, the man took a step forward and looked into her eyes.
"You-" her voice was nervous as she stepped backward.
"Don't you remember me?" his face was 2 inches far from Astra's face while saying those words.
Astra is about to answer no when someone calls her.
"Astra?" Bryan came out and called her name.
The unknown man startles and disappears in an instant. On the other hand, Astra was confused and surprised about what she just witnessed. She didn't even move or blink for a couple of minutes.
"Why are you just standing there? Did you see a ghost?" Bryan commented, looking around as if he could find anything in the middle of the night.
"Didn't you see a man standing in front of me just now?" Astra asked, confused.
"No. When I saw you, you're just standing there like frozen fries," he answered, without a clue of what Astra is talking about.
"Just now, a man is standing in front of me. He was talking about me knowing him," she said. Her legs have no strength and ended up sitting on the floor because of shock, realizing what just happened.
Bryan immediately accompanied her and helped her to sit on the chair.
"Are you franking me? Just to tell you, I'm afraid of ghosts, ok?" Bryan started to let her know that he was afraid.
"No, I'm serious. There's a man standing here earlier," Astra answered, checking the area.
"Let's just say it's true. But where is he?" Bryan asked again while shivering.
"I don't know. When you call me, he immediately disappears," Astra explained.
"What was that? Like bubbles that appeared out of nowhere and disappeared in the air?" he said sarcastically.
"You know what? If you don't want to believe me, then don't. I don't need your opinion," Astra said and left him upset.
Bryan doesn't have a plan to follow her, but he realized that he is just now alone outside so he immediately followed.
"Hmmm, Astra, please wait! I'm afraid of ghosts," he shouted and rushed inside the store.
Astra was puzzled the whole night. Their shift was over when Bryan suddenly approached her in the locker room.
"Are you done? Let's go together," he said.
On the other hand, Astra chooses not to respond and ignores him like she usually do.
After putting her jacket on, she immediately leaves the store but feels uncomfortable because of Bryan, following her.
Astra stopped walking to confront him and said, "Could you please stop following me?"
"I'm not following you," Bryan responded.
Astra rolled her eyes at his response and continued to walk out of irritation. Bryan quickly followed her and stopped wherever Astra did.
For the third time, Astra stops and faces him with an annoyed face.
When Bryan notices her furious look towards him, he immediately speaks to defend himself. "Don't think too much, I'm not following you. This is also my way home," he said and passed her by to avoid misunderstanding him following her.
When Astra realized they had the same way home, she felt ashamed.
"Hays!" she said and began to walk again. This time, it appears that she was following him.
Bryan, on the other hand, just smirks about their sudden change of situation.
When Bryan reached the terminal, he thought that Astra would sit beside him and wait for the bus but when she reached the stop. Astra continues walking until he can't see her.
"What's wrong with her?" Bryan commented, not understanding what is running to Astra's mind. Soon after, the bus arrived.
~
Meanwhile, Astra decides to walk, appreciating the view and take the shortcut instead of riding a bus with Bryan.
When Astra reaches home, she immediately changes her clothes and lies down in bed.
She was thinking of what had just happened earlier when she suddenly fell asleep.
After an hour, Astra began to enter the first 3 non-REM stages.
*First Non-REM Stage
Astra has a blurred vision of a child running around with her dad.
She unconsciously woke up but soon fell asleep again. This time, it's her first time entering the real REM stage.
*First REM Stage
In her dreams, she was holding a teddy bear while two adults were laughing at her.
The stage ended and now it's time for her to enter her third REM stage.
She appeared standing in the middle of an old house near a playground.
"Astra!" A girl with a blurred face called her name.
She slightly closes her eyes to identify who it is. The girl soon arrived in front of her, but still couldn't recognize her.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have dirt on my face?" The blurred girl asked while touching her face.
Astra was confused and didn't respond. A little while later, the girl with the blurred face grabbed her hand and took her into the park, where three other children were waiting for them with blurred faces as well.
The tall boy says, "Astra! What took you so long?"
"Yeah, we're starving waiting for you guys," the second girl added.
"Nothing's new. You're always hungry," the first girl who grabbed Astra commented.
The second girl didn't respond and looked betrayed.
"I saw her just standing in the middle of the road," the first girl added.
The other boy seems deft because he didn't react or say anything during the entire conversation.
Astra on the other side was still unsure of what was happening. When she begins to speak with them, the atmosphere changes.
"Who are you?" she questioned.
All four of the blurred faces turn to face her.
"What? What do you mean?" the first girl said.
"You're acting strange," the boy said.
"Yeah, you're scaring us," the second girl asked.
"But-" Astra was about to speak when a man behind her called her name.
"Astra?" the old man called.
They all looked his way and saw a tall man. The sun is on his back, so they can't recognize who it is. He was about to reach them when suddenly the place changed.
It was a black space without anything. It's just Astra and a light coming from her sky.
"Hello?" she shouted to make the echo. "Hello?"
Astra notices something a minute later from a distance. From her distance, they made a tremendous roar that filled the entire space.
A snake is slithering toward her as other horses run after it.
She runs as quickly as she can out of fear that she might be involved, but she is unable to feel any movement in her body.
Then, without warning, she suddenly woke up gasping in tears. She wasn't sure why she was terrified.
She yawns while rubbing her eyes as she sits on her bed.
"What did I just dream about?" she unconsciously said, collecting all her dreams.
Tossing the incident aside, she got ready for her afternoon class, acting as if nothing had happened.
—School—
Astra arrived at the school 30 minutes early so she decided to browse her book for their preliminary exam this coming Saturday. A minute later, some of her peers enter the room, including Max and Lucy.
'If I'm not mistaken, they are the new transfer,' Astra thought.
"Look," one of Astra's classmates said to Lucy and pointed to her detection.
"tss, weirdo!" Lucy said as if Astra can't hear her.
Astra didn't expect it when Max approached her.
"Can I sit here?" he asked, which made Astra confused.
"yeah," Astra simply said and read her book again.
"Don't mind them. They are just jealous of you," Max said out of nowhere.
Astra looks at him confidently not because he's talking to her but because it's new for Max to talk much.
"why?" Max asked when he noticed Astra looking at him.
"Sorry to offend you but do I know you? You talk to me as if we knew each other," Out of curiosity, she finally asked, which made Max's mood change quickly.
~ To be Continued ~