12. Vengeful Spirit: Spirit, spirit of the coin. Please come out and play with us (Part 2)

Maisarah is studying alone in her room. Her roommate, Zulaikha, had a group discussion and staying overnight at another dorm. She glances at the clock on the study table. 1.05 am. Hah, no wonder she felt tired and sleepy. Maisarah had stayed on her chair for about two or three hours, reading nonstop. She has a test tomorrow. She at least needs to prepare herself sufficiently before taking her exam. Her ranking is on the line.

Bam!

Maisarah is so startled because of the loud noise that she accidentally brushed aside her alarm clock. The clock fell on the floor with a loud thud. The batteries inside roll around outside its casket, one of them disappeared under her bed. She heaved out a deep sigh.

"Hah..." She patted her chest to calm herself. "That...what kind of person does such a rude and unruly thing? Where is their common sense? It's early in the morning. Luckily, I didn't have a heart problem."

Maisarah didn't close her door, so she could saw the rude person in question. Thalia, her housemate rushing to her room with a terrified expression plastered on her face. Maisarah squinted her eyes before started collecting her stranded clock.

What's wrong with her? A girl's problem? She couldn't help but keeps wondering about her friend's condition.

Thalia is an odd girl. She never discloses her daily activities to her housemates. She will occasionally greet them in the morning or when they stumbled upon each other on the road. The pleasantries are exchanged awkwardly. Other than that, she never had any intention to gets close to her housemates.

There is a boundary that she put to separate her from the others. In class, she is always alone. She had her circle of friends from another course and different departments, a group of first-year students like her.

They're free-spirit, with obstinate and wild natures. Thalia's gang never mingled with other students. They are isolating their group from outsider's influence.

Maisarah is contemplating whether she should approach her and ask about her condition or ignore her. What if Thalia gets angry if she is being busybody with her affair? Maybe Thalia had a breakup session with her boyfriend or something, and asking will worsen her ailing heartache?

Haa...Being a good person is hard.

***

Thalia cannot remember how she comes back to her dorm, but at that moment, she only wants to run away from that place. She desperately hopes that the thing she saw is an illusion, as the one who saw it was only her.

Rania didn't even catch a glimpse of the girl on the other side of the building. The girl is smiling eerily at them, yet no one sees her except her. That girl...is she not a human?

She felt uneasy around the new girl. Every time that girl approached her group, she unconsciously raised her guard around her. There's a bad feeling that warns her to not trust the new girl. This is the reason why she always felt something wrong happening. It's her!

"Thalia, can I come in?" A gentle voice asked for permission to enter her room. Maisarah, the popular girl in her department, peeked her head from behind the slightly ajar door. Her worried expression is transparent on her beautiful face.

"Mai..."

Maisarah sits beside Thalia, quickly scanning her housemate with frown eyebrows.

"You don't look too good. Are you okay, Thalia?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Thalia averted her eyes. Somehow, she felt guilty as she told a lie. However, could you blame her? There's no way she will inform her that her group is planning to play a game to summon evil spirits on the rooftops right now. Can you imagine how angry she will get when she knows about it?

"You're lying. There is something you want to say, right? Say it. If I can help you, I will."

"I'm not..."

Maisarah flicked her forehead. The finger flick is not too hard, and it's not even hurt. But, Thalia had a disbelief expression on her face.

"Why did you do that?" She rubs her forehead.

"A punishment for a bad girl who is lying through her teeth. You're a bad liar. Tell me the truth, or do you want me to force it out from your mouth?"

"Whoever said you're a gentle person is the lying one. I am fine. Really."

"Still not willing to say?" A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes. Maisarah 's chilling expression is making Thalia scared. "If I find it out from the other person's mouth, you will get a heavy finger flicks on your smooth forehead, miss."

"...What's your evidence to support your accusation of me? I already said..."

"What are guys doing, at the rooftops, during this time?"

Thalia's jaw dropped. What? How does she know?

"Tell me. Do you guys do something illegal? Do you want me to report such a juicy matter to the management office? Tonight, our Tigress is on duty. Rather than paying the compound, you might be punished with something else. Let's see, how about, be a cleaner for a month? I think there is an empty slot on the job."

"Wait! How...how did you know? Did someone tell you?"

Maisarah raised her eyebrows.

"Oho? So, why are you and your friends are sneaking out to the rooftops in the middle of the night? I just take a guess, never thought it hit the spot. What are you guys doing over there? Didn't you know about the new rules the dean set to avoid the thing that happened to Hanna from repeating itself? Have you not learn your lesson? Are you guys tried to be a hero? Or troublemaker that stirs the peacefulness of the college?"

"We were...induced by someone...to play some game. That girl said, if we play this game at that place, during the night, we will get the anticipated results we want."

"Result of what? What kind of sick experiment are you guys doing right now? Everything revolves around the said game you mentioned since the beginning. What is the game, Thalia?"

Thalia fiddled with her fingers.

"Maria, Rania, and Sofia said, there are no ghosts nor evil spirits in this world. They made a bet with some people from another department. If any of them could prove such things never existed in the first place, and Hanna's condition is unrelated to the matter from the other side of the world, we win. And, we will get paid."

"Are you stupid?! Because of some stupid bet, you're endangering your life? Don't tell me, the game you're playing is the Spirit of the coin?"

Thalia slowly nodded her head.

"Oh my goodness!" Maisarah's anger spiked up. "Where are they right now? Your friends, do they playing the game right now?"

"I think they will. I tried to persuade my friends to stop this madness, as I could not trust the new girl who suggested such a game to us. But, they refused to listen, and I get yelled back because of that."

Maisarah abruptly stands.

"Let's go. We should stop those brats before it's too late."

"You mean..."

"A game or not, you should never let your curiosity overwhelmed you. There are better things to do to prove their point! This college is a dangerous place. If they play those cursed games in another place, I will probably let them off. But, do you know where is this? This is Astana Bintang, one of the places where vile and wicked creatures reside! Do they want to start the chain of a curse which currently being withheld by only a single promise? No. I will not let them started those evil fates again. Once is enough, there should be no more!"