The Path No One Sees

Chapter 3

My life has never been so confusing and complex. It is as though I have just purposely walked into a maze filled with hazard and monsters lurking around every shadow. I am now in constant terror, and I no longer wish to be here. I don't care. I will climb out of this- this black hole as soon as I can.

I step out of the room and the smell of a gentle perfume stings my nose. I glance quickly behind me only to be hit with a powerful force that pushes me all the way to back of the room as the door slams loudly in front of me. I'm going mad. I am practically being dragged across the room by nobody!

My heart thumps out my body and my throat dries like the Saharan desert. The single bulb that hangs from the ceiling flickers and soon enough I am surrounded by darkness. My hands flung into the air searching for the door, and I can sense my breathing speeding up. A cold touch on my cheek appears and it feels like the fingertips are made out of a cold blanket in the middle of the night. But I do not step back as it is gentle and compassionate. They soon leave my cheek as a white orb floats down the ceiling, lighting up the center of the room. I gawk at it in awe. It is alluring and dazzling, like one of the stars in the sky.

It makes its way around me and I hear a woman whispers, "Hana," I widen my eyes and a light weight hit my chest. I have heard of that name before, it sounds very familiar. I close my eyes and fall to the floor, the pressure is now moving through my veins and into my skull. Pain- it hurts badly. It feels like my head is going to explode with so many pressures mixing up with my resistance to the pain.

The orb is now at the end of the room, and soon it flies fast towards me like a shooting star before transforming into a smoke of figure- a woman before halting right in front of me. But I am not in fear, for she is not as frightening as the one that I saw in the bathroom yesterday. The figure that is floating around me weeps and moans as though she is crying. "Find a woman that lives by the name Hitomi Moe. She will be your answer. Find her at the clinic, Hana,"

Her whisper soon vanishes with the smoke surrounding her and is soon followed by a strong, angry wail that adapts everything back to normal. The frown on my face turns into an expression of relief, and the bulb above me flickers and lights up the small room.

For a good 30 seconds, I just stand there while staring at the floor in shock after accumulating everything that just happened. I am going insane. I let out a small chuckle in disbelief. Hell- I want to go home, right now, this instance. I shake my head and take a deep breath.

I walk out of the room and fasten my pace to wherever the hell that looks familiar to me. I thought everything was a dream or maybe just a mere imagination like what I had as a child, but I have had enough. Everything seems to be so real, is this even reality? It is impossible! I'm seeing ghosts now and everyone will think that I am a lunatic. Classes haven't even started yet! I decide that I will take a taxi to the airport, the trip is about 2 hours and then I will use all of my savings to get a plane ticket back home. Everything that is going to happen after that is down my feet because all I want right now is to get the hell out of this place.

So I turn and turn for a half an hour now, before finding myself standing in front of the huge door that will lead me to the Magical Garden, just like yesterday. If I am in the second main building of the University, the other side will be my dorm's building. I walk out, but strangely the sky is very dark, as though the sun does not even exist. The weather is harshly cold contrasting the beauty of my surrounding. The only source of light is the lanterns on the ground. This odd and freakish place, even everyone here seems like they don't have emotions, just like that willow tree at the corner of the garden. Who the hell would want to stay here? This town is dead. Yes, a dead town. Thanks Dad, for sending me to this pit without any messages after that.

I storm into my room, ignoring the terrifying encounter yesterday that left me sick to my stomach. I lift my toes to get my suitcase on top of the cupboard just to the left of my bathroom door and throw it on my bed. Everything in the room is clear, and is now in my suitcase. I head outside until my suitcase stumble upon something. I glance downward and notice a key. I scowl, disgusted with where the key had come from- my stomach.

But something about it brings my full attention. I lift it up with my forefinger and my thumb, and hold it closely enough to my eyes. On the bow of the antique key is a carving with a Japanese writing, and below it are 2 alphabets- 'AH'. I frown and wonder what it could mean since it came from my stomach. I don't remember ever swallowing a key as child.

Since my head is full of curiosity, I decide to keep it in my pocket. Maybe my father knows something about it. So I stroll down the hallway with the key of the room all the way to the reception in the main building. It is a circle in the middle, with 4 Victorian columns looking big and strong enough to hold the entire building. The red carpet lies flat on the floor like a patch of dry blood on the marbled floor. The furniture looks ancient and an old, black chandelier above hangs strongly down the ceiling with candles around it instead of bulbs. It is odd- who the heck would light up the candles up above every day?

However though, the architecture of this building will never fail to impress me, especially the fact that it is divided and based on 2 different cultures. Japanese themed architecture and decorations in the dorms look just as good.

"I am checking out of my dorm. Here's the key," I give a fairly thin smile and hands the receptionist the key. She eyes me carefully with a stern stare and averts her stare to the key in my hand emotionlessly without moving an inch- not even a blink. Her gray hair sits in a high, bun on her head, and her lips are very pale- like she could be a living corpse. Chuckling in disbelief, I scratch my head and raise my eyebrows at her.

I hate how this place makes me seems very irritated and annoyed. I feel extremely moody with all the misery that fell upon me, and now this? "Room 25, Amberly Harriet Warren," I slam down the key on the reception table and leave with my bag with a deep anger. Everyone has a problem here with me. The doctor never wants to see me again, and Aya has left to God knows where- or maybe she was just my imagination all along.

So I stop in my track and glance backward, only to find no one at the reception. I frown and sigh exasperatedly. Don't tell me that was my imagination too. "Hello?" I walk back to the reception and call out. I hold my hand to my forehead- no fever whatsoever. I pace backward and hit someone along the way- the receptionist. Her skin is cold like ice.

"I'm sorry I didn't see you there..." I trail off as she walks back behind the reception with no expression. I frown at her peculiar behavior and look around to find no one in the main building, "I would like to know if there is a student called Akemi Aya,"

She nods her head lightly while staring off into the distance across the building, "Akemi Aya, room 65. Time of death is 12:00 am on the 3rd of February 1983," I shake my head and start pacing backwards in disbelief.

"No,no that's impossible I was with her the whole time in the other side of the building in her dorm!" The receptionist's mouth stretches into a grin as she stares at me unblinking.

"The other side of the building is a mental institution, what were you doing there?" She slurs and soon breaks into a series of giggles. 

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