Nocturne of Nightmares (Fanfic)

Chapter 2

The group all huddled together to sit in a circle in the centre of the room.

"Has anyone ever been here before?" Ray asked.

Mina took the time to scan the room with her eyes from one corner to the other.

It seemed relatively normal, aside from the fact it was dark and the blood moon outside dimly lit up the room.

'Nothing seems out of the ordinary...' Mina thought.

"Nope, not me." Thoma was the first to answer Ray's question.

"Me neither. This place is too creepy for my taste." Monica said.

"Nala and I have never been here before either." Mina said, using her sister's nickname.

Ray turned to Subaru and the latter shook his head, before Ray turned to Leila.

"Me either, but..." Leila trailed off as she debated on whether or not she should share her thoughts.

"But?" Ray encouraged.

"I just have a feeling. It's not very useful information, is it?" Leila admitted.

Ray didn't respond, but Leila expected as much.

"What was the last thing you guys did before coming here?" Ray asked.

Monica giggled.

"Aha, I was snuggling with my boyfriend. It felt very warm and cosy." She said and she cupped her chin in her hands as she blushed. "This is so embarrassing ahahaha. We were on the couch and-"

"Ahaha, okay! Me next." Thoma interrupted her. "I remember browsing the internet before bed. Nothing unusual though."

'Yeah, that does seem pretty normal.' Leila thought. 'Even me, I was determined to watch the new episode of my drama before I started feeling drowsy...'

"I was on the couch waiting for my favourite drama series to show the next episode." Leila said. "It was actually past my bedtime since it aired at around ten at night."

"Ten at night?" Ray repeated in question. 

Leila nodded and Ray rested his index finger under his nose in thought.

"Now that I think about it..." Mina said. "It was around ten when Nala and I fell asleep too."

"Yeah. It was around the same time for me as well." Ray said.

'That could be a hint.'

"Something was ringing." Subaru spoke up. "In my ears."

"I-I heard that too." Nalalie said.

"So did I!" Leila said.

"Right, it was a bit painful, to be honest." Thoma said, also admitting that he heard the ringing.

'At the sound of the ten o'clock bell... I'm suddenly overcome by drowsiness.'

"How about you, Monica?" Ray asked.

"Hmm... I don't really remember. Maybe?" She replied. "I was sitting with my boyfriend-"

"That's enough of the boyfriend talk." Ray said and Monica pouted whilst glaring daggers at him.

'She does seem to go overboard about it.'

"You simply don't know the sensibilities of a woman in love, Ray." Thoma said.

"I don't need to know. It's not relevant here." Ray replied and Thoma shrugged.

He turned to Leila and made faces at her, as if to mock Ray, and Leila had to stop herself from falling into a fit of giggles.