Missing

Iza opened her eyes and stretched with a loud yawn, which did not quite match the image she wanted to maintain, but with Natalia she did not have to care about appearances.

"Natalia, what time is it?" she asked half asleep.

Natalia was an early riser, so she usually sat in books from the early hours, a nerd. She always answered right away, because she wasn't listening to music while reading, so she never had headphones on. This time, however, there was no answer.

"Nataliaaaa ... are you sleeping?"

Again Iza heard only the silence.

Iza decided that either Natalia is actually asleep, or she went to the bathroom or went to the vending machine. The girl reached for the phone to check the time and couldn't believe it was so late. She immediately jumped up from the sheets. Late for the lecture!

The lecture was like a lecture, but the classes were attended by a very handsome boy whom Iza chose to be her new boyfriend. She has already interviewed and found out that Bruno likes the intellectual type. She heard from his lips as he spoke to his friend that he appreciates girls with whom he can talk. That's why Iza decided to show him that she is not only attractive, but also intelligent, so even though she fell asleep from boredom during classes, she tried to show interest. She even wondered whether she should buy glasses to make herself seem more intellectual?

So far, however, it has not taken such drastic measures. However, this may change as the situation develops.

Putting on the slippers, Iza noticed out of the corner of her eye that Natalia was not in bed. So her friend did not oversleep. So why didn't she wake her? Who does she think she is, princess? She doesn't know how much Iza cares not to be late? May Natalia not be in the bathroom!

She wasn't actually there. Iza had a bathroom all to herself.

Iza did not have time to think about what to wear, luckily she had planned and prepared everything yesterday. Maybe she wasn't usually that methodical, but when it came to getting the guy, a special mode was triggered in her head that turned her into a completely different person. After all, a woman can do anything to get her dream man!

Natalia was still not there and Iza decided that her friend had to leave earlier. When she was about to leave the room herself, she noticed that all of Natalia's pairs of shoes were on the rack. She went barefoot? However, Iza did not have time to think about it any longer, because if she didn't hurry up, she would be late, and it would look bad in Bruno's eyes.

Iza did not notice at all that not only Natalia's shoes were in their room. While disappearing, the girl took neither a bag, a wallet, nor even a phone with her. She disappeared completely and without a trace, as if suddenly disappeared into thin air.

***

Bruno had naturally fair hair and was tall. He had a nice and gentle disposition. He was also a bit shy, so he was unlikely to start the conversation first. That's why Iza was completely amazed when he shyly approached her and asked:

"Hi, are you Natalia Smuga's roommate?"

Iza's excitement dropped significantly when she heard the name of her friend.

"Yes, why are you asking?"

"She was supposed to return the notes to me, but I can't find her anywhere."

"Notes? I didn't know you had any subject classes together."

"Only one. Do you know where I can find her?"

Iza's heart prickled with jealousy. Take it easy, she told herself, he only cares about the notes.

"You don't have her number?" She asked.

"No," he admitted, blushing.

God, how sweet he is.

Iza quickly analyzed the situation she found herself in. She pushed jealousy into the deepest recesses of her subconscious and decided to play the "good friend" card.

"Natalia left before I woke up, so I don't know where she is exactly at that moment, we were supposed to meet at the university," she lied. "Wait a minute, I'll call her right away."

She had nothing to lose, she thought, and with a kind smile, dialed her friend's number. But Natalia did not answer.

"I think she has a muted phone," she informed Bruno. "She probably stopped by the reading room to check something. I'll text her."

"Thanks," he smiled gratefully. "I hope nothing happened to her ..."

These innocent words of concern ignited the fires of anger in Iza. She almost asked, "What could have happened?" but luckily she bit her tongue. After all, she was a good friend and some comments should remain unspoken.

"I'm sure everything is fine."

Iza was proud of herself that she was able to bring up such a warm smile.

Natalia, however, did not show up at the university all day and people who before the whole hate thing even liked her, now suddenly started looking for her. Especially since yesterday, as some have recalled, some stranger young man was pulling her hand clearly against her will. Nobody reacted then, and today Natalia was gone. She wasn't even answering the phone.

Early in the evening, Iza returned to the room and finally noticed that Natalia's bed was still unmade, which has never happened. Her phone was beside the pillow. There was a bag on the chair. Did Natalia really disappear in the air? Is she really… missing?

Was it hate?

Iza logged on to her laptop with a fake account. She read the question to her: "What are your further instructions?"

If Natalia actually did something to herself because of hate, the police will definitely investigate.

"Wait," she ordered.

They had to act more carefully at this point.

***

Natalia wasn't sure if she was awakened by the bright light or the sound of a dental drill? Whatever it was, it made her wake up unpleasant. In addition, as soon as she woke up, she felt the irritating smell of disinfectants. She shifted uneasily, but felt some straps tie her arms and legs, and even her head. Meanwhile, five bright lights - just like the ones in science fiction movies that show alien abductions - shone right in her face.

Did Natalia suddenly find herself in a horror movie?

"Ah, you wake up, my dear," she heard a voice exactly like the mad scientists in horror movies speak to their victims.

"Where ... where am I?" She asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"Master of the Knife, please turn off these devices. You are bothering her," she heard a steel voice that seemed strangely familiar to her.

The drill went silent and the lights above went out. Natalia's eyes slowly adjusted to the new stimuli.

"Now untie it, Master of the Knife."

"But…"

She heard a resigned sigh, but first her head, then her legs and arms were released. Although Natalia was almost scared to death, she made no attempt to escape. And where was she supposed to run, not even knowing where she was?

She slowly sat up and felt the bed shake beneath her. She looked down and saw that it was hovering above the clouds.

"What ... what is ...?"

"An apology," answered the same voice. "You are in a mobile research facility of the National Academy of Sciences. We tied you because we were going through the turbulence and we didn't want anything to happen to you. Natalia, don't look down, look at me."

Trembling, she looked up. She was in some kind of laboratory or weird hospital room filled with a variety of surgical instruments and a whole bunch of pots of stuff. She definitely preferred not to know what was in them. Beside her, staring at her like at an exotic animal in a zoo cage stood a short, bald old man with a white beard reaching the ground. A few paces away stood the most beautiful man in the world, dressed exactly as she remembered him - minus the bow and breastplate.

Take it easy, just take it easy, she reminded herself. You are clearly dreaming. You are in dreamland because THIS IS NOT REALLY HAPPENING!