Part 1 - Chapter 2
Even though he knew Lisa, he did not feel bad for taking her friend away. For him, her death would serve a greater purpose. Not only was it of importance for the heavenly realm, but he would profit from it as well. Besides, she has reached the end of her lifespan anyway.
When he was a few meters away from them, he turned around, only see Camellia standing there. Alive.
Some unknown young man was holding her arm, as she was looking utterly stunned. “T-Thank you for pulling me away,” she managed to utter.
“Cami, if it
weren’t for Noah, you would have been in deep trouble,” Lisa said.
“You mean I
would be dead,” she corrected as Noah smiled at them.
By now, the passengers had already gotten inside the train and it had already left the station. At the moment, only four people were left on the platform: Camellia, Lisa, Noah, and Ray, who was already about fifty metes away from them.
“Anyway, I have to go now and catch my train. Actually, I oddly came to the wrong platform. Camellia, take care of yourself; and Lisa, would you like to meet up tomorrow to complete our group assignment?” Noah asked.
“Sure, I’ll text
you the time,” she answered and he walked away after flashing them a smile.
“Whoa, he came to your rescue as if he was your bodyguard,” Lisa stated after Noah was out of sight as she giggled. Camellia was shaken from the previous incident and it took a her a few moments until she answered.
“Well, he did
save me,” she whispered.
Yet, she was feeling restless. She felt as if someone had walked past them before the incident. As if someone had pushed her.
She looked
around, only to see someone standing quite far away from them. He was wearing a
black hoodie, had black hair and piercing grey eyes. Both of them made eye
contact for a few seconds until he turned around and walked away.
“Lisa, you can go ahead to your platform. I have to go somewhere,” she said as she immediately started following Ray. She followed him out of the train station and continued walking behind him as he was walking towards a narrow alley.
When he turned left, she did as well. However, he was gone. She looked around but saw no trace of him. How could someone vanish into thin air? It was as if he was never there to begin with. Moreover, Camellia has an analytical disposition. Why did she follow an unknown, suspicious person without thinking about any safety measurements? “What am I doing?” she murmured to herself confused. As she turned around to walk back to the station, she suddenly saw the mysterious man in front of her.
“Looking for me?” he asked with a fake smile. Camellia continued to look at him confused, as she did not comprehend how he was magically standing in front of her since the alley was completely empty a few seconds ago. Internally, she cussed at herself for following someone foolishly, but it was already too late to turn around and run away now.
“I saw you at the train station. Did you-“
She was cut off
by Ray, “try to push you on the tracks?”
Silence. Both
stared at each other for a second: Ray looking entertained while Camellia was
rather horrified.
A potential psychopath would not admit being one and even if he did, that would mean that he was not planning on letting her leave this place alive. She was immensely regretting her impulsive decision of following him and was trying to get out of this situation without getting into any trouble. “No. I wanted to ask if you attended the same high school as me?” she changed the topic.
“I am sure that we have never met before,” he answered, looking amused at her.
“Well, I must
have been mistaken then. If you’d excuse me,” she replied and turned around,
ready to walk away.
She took quick steps and kept her head down, only to bump into someone. As she looked up, she realized that he was standing in front of her, again.
“How?” she
questioned utterly perplexed. One moment, he is standing somewhere else and at
another, he is right in front of her.
“For your
information, I did not try to do any harm to you. After your near-death
experience, you were looking at me as if I was responsible for it. Therefore, I
assumed that you were following me since you seemed to be doubtful of me,” he
explained.
Liar. Telling lies was his domain, but somehow, Camellia was not convinced. Maybe because this situation was absurd from the beginning.
“But let me tell
you the truth.”
“I don’t think I
want to know anything. I believe I should leave,” she honestly answered.
“You are rather
ignorant for someone who is about to die.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, yes. I
have vital information for you but you just don’t want to listen,” he said with
a shrug.
“Fine, just tell
me,” she replied as she looked at the ground and rubbed her temple. He surely
seemed to be insane to her.
“Camellia Davis, let me introduce myself,” he continued, with another fake smile plastered across his face. “My name is Ray and I am here to take your soul to the afterlife.”
Honestly, Camellia felt creeped out at that moment. For a second, Camellia stared at him distrustfully. “I see,” she answered and turned around only to see Noah walking towards her direction. He was wearing his earphones, gazing at the sky, completely unaware of Camellia standing about forty meters away from him.
“I have to go now,” she continued and quickly ran towards her university colleague. “Wait,” she heard Ray reply but she ignored him and continued to run. As she was about to reach Noah, she was feeling lucky that he had come to her rescue for the second time on the same day. She grabbed his arm and consequently, he shifted his gaze from the sky to the person standing next to him.
“Camellia, what are you doing here?” he asked as he put down his earphones. He smiled brightly at Camellia. She felt as if all the uneasiness she was feeling had vanished away.
“Can you walk me
to the train station? There is this dubious person behind us and I fear that he
might follow me,” she whispered and he nodded.
As they walked towards the station, Camellia slightly turned around to check if he was still there. He was no longer there; he had disappeared like a magician.
“So, what happened?” Noah questioned.
“Did you see
this person back there?” she asked.
“No, I did not.
Actually, I was completely zoomed out. I didn't notice what was happening
around me,” he replied as he scratched his head.
“I bumped into
this weird person and I think he was mentally unstable. He was talking about
souls and the afterlife. Besides, he made me feel extremely tense and anxious.”
“Don’t go walking around in empty allies. Although, if you want to take a stroll, you can call me anytime and I’ll accompany you,” he offered and Camellia smiled at him.
“Anyway, what
are you doing here? Were you not rushing to your platform, to catch your
train?” she questioned.
“I missed the
train, so I thought that I might as well take a walk around here since the next
train will arrive in another twenty-five minutes.”
Not only did he escort her to the platform, but he also walked her home. As they conversed, they noticed that they have similar hobbies and even similar preferences when it came to food choices. Both liked to engage in sports in their leisure time and coincidently, both have been playing the piano since they were children.
Furthermore,
both only had one family member: their mother. Even though, as for Noah, his
father had passed away in a car accident when he was a teenager, while Camellia
was adopted when she was four years old. However, soon after her adoption, her
newly found loving father passed away due to an illness.
Noah had a warm aura around him. Usually, she would only converse with Lisa this openly; however, she felt as if she could trust him.
“Why have we
never held a proper conversation before?” she wondered as they were about to
reach her home.
“Maybe because
you have never shown any interest in talking to somebody. I mean, we know each
other for three years now, but we never talked to each other,” he answered
truthfully.
“That’s right. I
am glad that we have become friends now though,” she replied. By now, they had
reached her house and were standing in front of the main door.
“Well, I better head in. Why don’t we meet up one day and have a piano session together?” she suggested.
“And have
something to eat afterward?”
“Yes, sure. I
will let you choose the location. Since we have a similar taste, I am sure that
you will find something to my liking.”
She took out her key and opened the door. “Sure. See you,” he responded, turned around, and walked away. Before he was out of reach, Camellia uttered a quick ‘bye’, loud enough for him to hear.
One day later, while Camellia was coming back home from university, she received a text message from her mother, which stated that she would return from work sooner than usual. As she entered her house, she saw her mother preparing lunch in the kitchen.
“Cami, you came right on time. I just finished making some pasta. Do you want some?” she questioned.
“Of course,” she
replied, took out two plates and placed them on the table. “Are you also baking
cookies?” Camellia asked as she noticed something being made in the oven.
“Yes, and also a
small pie.”
Camellia’s mother, Alissa, was a hard-working lady in her early fifties. After her husband passed away, she faced many financial hurdles, but for the sake of Camellia, she did not lose hope and worked overtime to make ends meet. As a consequence, she was rarely at home and Camellia took on the job of handling the household. While her mother was busy with her job, she would clean the house, do the grocery shopping, and even cook.
Both respect each other deeply: Camellia has always been thankful to her mother for being such a responsible person, who has continuously been there for her, while Alissa admires her daughter’s sensibility. One day, when Alessia entered her home after a hard day at work, she saw that Camellia had made an omelet for her. Back then, she was only ten years old. Even though her omelet was overly salted, it was the most delicious meal her mother had eaten for quite some while.
As time passed, Camellia perfected every skill she set her mind to. While her friends would talk about going to the cinema after school, she would always go back home and make sure that dinner was prepared before her mother came back.
Therefore, it felt peculiar to Camellia that her mother was in the kitchen, baking cookies, and pies when she usually would not have the time for this sort of activity. On ordinary days, she would not even be home at noon. Something had to be going on.
“What’s the occasion?” she wondered as she gazed at her pasta being served on the plate.
“I have good
news: our new room tenant is moving in today. I have been searching for a
renter for such a long time now,” she explained as she gazed at Camellia
relieved. “Hence, I took a day off from work to clean up our vacant room,” Alissa
elaborated.
“That’s great
but who will be our renter?” Camellia wondered, completely concentrated on
eating her food.
“Oh, he is a university student, just like you. He contacted me yesterday and said that he has to move in immediately because his parents threw him out spontaneously,” she replied.
“He? I thought
you only wanted a female tenant.”
“I can’t afford
to be choosy,” her mother replied with a shrug.
In the afternoon, Camellia went out for a jog. As she was jogging, all her worries were flashing through her eyes: Her mother was working restlessly to make sure that her daughter was living comfortably, however, it was evident that she is overworking herself. Camellia was already working part-time in a convenience store and was eagerly waiting for her graduation, as she would be able to get a full-time job within her field of study.
Yet, there was another obstacle to clear to obtain her degree: she was on the verge of failing in one particular course, which would delay her graduation. For a student who generally receives decent grades, this was hard to digest.
Pushing all of her thoughts aside, she went back home. As soon as she arrived at her house, she sensed the presence of an additional person. A few bags were dropped in the hallway and her mother was laughingly talking to someone in the living room. It had to be the new tenant.
“This pie tastes incredible. You need to share the recipe with me,” she heard a male voice say. This incredibly smooth yet listless voice seemed familiar to Camellia. Puzzled, she entered the living room, only to see non-other than the ‘psychotic’ Ray sitting on her sofa, with another fake smile spread across his face.
Loving this story so far ��
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