ATLAS 776

21

"Honey, are you in there?" a man's voice was heard. Victoria opened her eyes, panting and reeling in fear from the encounter. She quickly tried to accustom herself to her surroundings. She was in the Economy toilet. The familiar scene came into recognition. The lighting, the sink, the mirror, the toilet seat... Victoria calmed herself down, occasionally closing and opening her eyes. She felt the walls and objects around her, to reassure herself of her reality. There was some commotion going on outside, but she could pick up what was being said, her mind was not focusing well. The man outside was banging on the door.

Victoria turned the tap on, and placed her hands under the running water to wash her face. She splashed her face multiple times, to feel the cold sensation of the water, another source of assurance.

Leaving the toilet, Victoria looked around. It was the passenger cabin. Everything seemed normal. Victoria placed her hands in her pockets and slowly walked down the aisles. She recognized the woman who talked to her previously. The woman was reading a book.

"Excuse me ma'am, did we meet before?" Victoria asked. The woman lowered her book, and looked at Victoria for awhile. "I don't believe so. Actually I meet so many people in my life I can't remember, just a thing with age." The woman replied. Victoria paused to think for awhile. "Okay, thanks anyway." She smiled back and replied.

Victoria continued to walk down, thinking about her dreadful experience. It had seemed like a nightmare, but what was she doing in the toilet? Victoria thought hard about her possibilities. Sleepwalking? She was unsure. She checked her wristwatch for the time. 11:12. She felt some relief, judging that the time is earlier than the one from her encounter.

"Hey!! Where the hell have you been!" a familiar feminine voice interrupted her perplexed state of mind.

"Kate. Kate! Oh my God." Victoria said with a smile as tears broke out in her eyes in relief. She hugged her friend tightly, embracing the warmth of a human companion.

Kate squinted her eyes. "Alright, cowgirl. What have you been doing?" she asked as she tried to comfort her friend.

Victoria wiped her tears off, and held onto Kate's shoulders. "I... I can't explain it... I..." she talked in pauses and whimpers. Her voice was shaky and dry.

Kate held Victoria's hands and looked into her eyes. "Hey, hey. You need to calm yourself down, okay..." Kate's reassuring voice seemed to work. The passengers sitting around the scene looked on for a while, before going back to their own matters. "Your friend looks really afraid. She has that look in her face. Anything we could help with?" A man in the row beside said. Kate smiled back. "It's okay. I'll talk to her when she's calm... Thank you." she replied. The man nodded, and replied as he leaned back to his seat. "You never know... Best to make sure." he said.

Kate ushered Victoria back to her seat, much to the boys' confusion and worry. "Later, guys." Kate gave a stern command.

Victoria slumped on her seat cushion. Kate sat quietly beside her, not doing anything. She was giving her friend her full attention, ready to help with anything.

"I went up there." Victoria said as she looked out of the window at the dark sky and a thunderstorm going on. Kate leaned closer. "Up where?"

"I climbed into a shaft above the toilet. Aiden said you and Darryl went up there to explore the plane. I wanted to find you guys... Then... Then..." Victoria's voice started to whimper again. Kate place her hand on Victoria's arm. "Hey. Nothing of the sort happened. It's probably a nightmare." Kate said.

"It felt so real..." Victoria swallowed hard. "I saw Aiden... His eyes... His eyes were gone. There... There was blood." Victoria whispered. Kate placed her arm over Victoria. "Hey now. Just a bad nightmare. Don't you worry now."

Victoria nodded. "Thanks." she replied as she sniffed. Kate smiled. "You shouldn't be in the toilet anyway. The harvest is upon us." she said.

Victoria froze. "The what?" she replied.