PKYEK REBOOT #ABHIYA

CHAPTER 3

Piya hurriedly wore the violet gown Ma'am Mabel had gifted her for Christmas,last year. Students at her orphanange got a dress and good food only once a year,on Christmas eve. She needed to look nice for the orientation programme,after all,this college had a lot of rich students and high-class staff,like that rude security guard,Piya frowned,brushing her hair with a comb,half of whose teeth were absent. The violet gown was the best dress Piya possessed.She checked the wall clock,there was still an hour left for the orientation programme to start. Piya didn't want to reach early at the venue among such high-class people,so she started piling the little amount of belongings she had in the room's cupboard. Hearing footsteps she turned back to see a girl of about her age entering the room.

"Um,are you Piyali Jaiswal?',asked the new girl uncertainly. "Yes",Piya said.rubbing off a patch of sweat from her forehead. "Oh,well,then this is only my room,Warden Ma'am told me I and Piy-I mean you",she nodded at Piya amiably,"are sharing this room." "Oh gosh,we'll talk later,there's only fifteen minutes for the orientation to start. I'm Maya Roy". She practically threw her backpack and trunk at a corner of the bed opposite Piya,changed into an extremely fancy frock Piya had never been able to afford,tied her silky straight hair. Piya closed the cupboard,took her bag and was about to move out of the room when the girl called"Hey Piya,please wait. I don't want to go alone.I'm ready,I'm comng to the hall with you".

Ten minutes later,Piya and the girl were sitting side-by-side,among hundereds of other students,in the college's auditorium. The airconditioned hall was nothing like Piya had ever seen before,in her entire life. The chairs were adorned with velvet,bright red cloth covered the numerous aisles,the college emblem was painted sharply both on the ceiling and on the curtain obscuring the stage. It looked like the hall of a luxury resort shown in a movie Piya had seen long time ago. Feeing a need to relieve herself,Piya whispered to Maya,"Why isn't the programme starting?" "Don't you know dear,there's still ten minutes left for the programme to start",Maya replied,pointing to a giant gleaming sliver clock perched atop a board reading "RESTROOM",at a far corner of the hall. "Ok please keep my seat,I'm going for toilet",Piya said.

She moved up a staircase and found herself alone at a narrow passageway leading to the restroom. All the seats of the students were present far away from this passage. Huge glass windows along one side of the path showed an enchanting panorama of the same sunlit forest,which Piya could see from her hostel room.

Piya reached the end of the short, dimly lit passageway and pushed the door of the restroom but it didn't open. Piya checked,it was unlocked. Piya knocked on the door. There was no response. She waited patiently for about five minutes,thinking someone might be inside. She knocked again,there was no response."Who's there?",she called out,and she heard nothing but the muffled echoes of her own words. She looked back and saw nobody else in the full passageway. The atmosphere felt a little eerie,and Piya,nearly jumped on hearing a smooth voice saying behind her "The door is jammed. I'll open it for you. Please move aside." She was so sure that the whole passageway was vacant even a second ago. Before Piya could even turn around a strong sense of cologne reached her nose,and an oddly familiar shrill cry of a cicada reached her ears.