“Have you seen the cat?” he asked.
“No, I have not seen the cat,” I answered.
What the hell is up with them? They won’t even talk! So I stand up, slam my palm on the table demanding they either speak or I leave. They didn't cringe a bit.
“If Gwen sent you here, it is for a reason,” he said. I walk over towards him. He is wearing a long black hood upon closer look. I stand there next to him with hands on my hips. I let out a frustrated huff through my nostrils.
“You know something about this Gwen, do you?” He ignores me once again as he continues his writing. “Hey! I’m talking to you!” He ignored me yet again. I’m getting pissed off.
“Internet tough guy, huh?” I paused. "What’s with the robe? Are you a member of some cult? Okay, I had enough of your bullshit! Now you’re going to listen to me!” I pulled his hood out of impulse. The gal rush to place his hoodie back.
I step back, covering my mouth in horror.
What is this shit? Is he a monster?!
“What the hell is that thing?!” I asked, pointing out at the guy. She rushes to cover my mouth, preventing me from raising my voice, which has drawn attention. The unwanted stares rattled the guy as he pulls his hood closer. The professor drags me outside.
“Okay, you have a lot of explaining to do!”
“I’ll explain if you calm down,” she said. She grabs my hand and takes me to the campus quad. I need some fresh air. We sit at the closest but furthest bench we could find.
I’m still shaky. Is he wearing a costume? I doubt it. It was quick before she covered him, but I got a glimpse of his metal face and fairy ears even in the dark.
“The one you saw is Aster. He’s not a professor of anything. Not even from this school," she said.
“Then why is he here?” I asked.
“It’s complicated,” she said. “You said a cat named Gwen asked you to come here?”
“Yep, she did. Do you know the reason?”
“No, I don’t.”
I sigh, so much for asking the reason. I decide to switch the subject in hopes of cheering myself up. “I would like a tour of the campus. But if you’re busy, that’s fine.”
“Oh no, I wouldn’t mind. But let me check my calendar first.” She pulls out the same brand of Bobby smartphone I own to check her calendar. Damn, her smartphone is better than mine with the bigger screen! “I’ll be teaching a class an hour from now, so I wouldn’t mind giving you a tour.”
Yes, I made her smile!
Date: March 15
Time: Afternoon
We begin our tour starting with the campus quad. She explains that the campus is crowded during midterms and finals but empty the rest of the year. She also says of the many degrees offered in engineering, the arts, etc.
The branch she teaches —Simona College— is part of The Royal House of Simone University system. Since it’s a private college, its tuition prices are through the roof. Only a millionaire could afford to be here.
We toured the labs, hubs, dorms, museums, theater, library, dining hall, and the stadium. She was very talkative throughout the entire tour. I can tell she is very passionate about all this.
“So, what do you teach?” I asked.
“I teach history and religion to undergrads,” she said, checking her smartphone. “Look at the time. I have to go, but there is one last thing I need to show you.”
She takes me to a large memorial. At the end of the hall displays a large painting of a royal family. The picture shows a young wife, an older husband, and three children (two males and a female.) I’ve seen this painting before, but this is my first time seeing it in person.
“You know who they are, right?”
“Yeah, that’s Queen Liz and King Morris. What about it?”
“You know about the descendants, right? There are many all over the world. In fact, one of them founded this campus, and some preach like me.” As proof, she pulls out her smartphone to show a certification photo.
I feel my heart skip a beat. Again, that odd presence and yet I still can’t see it. It's coming from her. Is she...? Nah!
“Hey, did you get promoted because of it?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“I saw an article about your sudden promotion.” I’m not sure if I should celebrate or not. The fact she got promoted after graduation is excellent, but it’s still weird.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” she said, looking away with an uncertain pose. Does she deny this? There’s something more into this promotion, but for now, I’m hungry and tired. I want to eat something and go home before it gets dark.
“It’s late already. I need to teach my class.”
“Okay, thanks but what’s your name.”
“Agneyastra, Agnes for short. Yours?”
“Glendolyn, Glen for short.”
“But Glen is a man’s name...” she said with an embarrassed sweatdrop.
“Yeah... I know,” I said, looking away with a bashful look. “Say let’s keep in touch, okay?”
To be honest, I’m not sure if I want to keep in touch with her. She’s not the type I hang out with, but it doesn’t hurt to add someone new to my network. We take each other’s smartphone to exchange contact information through Bluetooth. Technology is incredible!
Shortly, we part ways. I grab something to eat before riding the car back to the train station for another two-hour ride home. This will give me time to think all this.
Date: March 16
Time: Afternoon
A lot of things happened yesterday, so I slept way to the afternoon. I was tired! Yesterday’s events still linger in my mind. I look at Agnes’ contact info on my phone. I considered deleting it but kept it just in case.
As for Aster, it’s hard to tell. He seems young and yet looks older. He’s made of metal but has this magenta dye on his face along with smoky bronze eyes. It's hard to tell if it's cosplay or not.
Whatever! They’re both mysterious, and I don’t care. Moving on...
Date: March 17
Time: Evening
Yay for St. Patrick’s Day! I’m here with my buddies dancing on tables. Yes, I hooked up.
Date: March 18
Time: Evening
Yeah, tonight’s the party, baby! We’re here in Galicia City to celebrate my BFF’s party. The reason we celebrate here instead of at home is because my BFF invited a ton of friends! Dance joints at home are small, and the ones in Simona City are already taken. It sucks going to the country of Izberia to hit the dance floor, but the trip is worth it.
It’s a giant joint with three DJ’s with one in the left, one in the right, and one in the center. The hall after it contains three bars also with one located on the left, one on the right and one in the middle.
There are lots of lounge chairs in every corner; naturally placed far from the center so people can dance.
The joint is unusually crowded. The only person missing is her fiancé, of course. There are tons of guys here, meaning many chances for some insane hookup.
I’m sitting with my BFF and the other girls drinking our martinis. We make cheers to my happily engaged best friend.
“Let’s make a toast,” boasts one of them.
We raise our glasses while shouting praises.
“She’s getting hitched!” said another one.
“Woo, this is the best time of my life!” shouted my BFF, already drunk.
I’ve been happy for her since she announced her engagement, but the truth is I’m envious. I don’t understand why the guy wants to marry her when she’s done the same thing I did. I bet she’s marrying him for the money while he gets to have a trophy wife. Still...
But hey! This isn’t the time to get depressed! We must keep dancing all night long!
I watch the clock on my smartphone: it's like seconds before midnight. My stomach knots like something is about to happen. I should warn my friends, but they would ignore me. They’ll thi
nk I’m crazy or something. I lost my appetite.
Date: March 18
Time: Late Night
Just as the clock strikes midnight...
Just as the DJs start their next round...
BOOM!
We hear the roof collapse in the other hall. Lots of screams arise. My friends and I rush to the collapsed room, and to our horror, we see splattered blood everywhere. Shit! I even spotted a person’s severed hand. The girls immediately begin to scream.
The rest of the survivors begin to run. Then I see robed individuals coming from above the hole. These cloaked-in-white folks look like the crooks from the museum. Are they related? There’s no time because we must leave now.
They didn’t waste time firing their machine guns at us! I see people run towards the front door only to find out it’s blocked! Then I turn to look at them run towards the emergency exit. That one’s stuck too.
Wait! How come the emergency exit is blocked?
As for me, I run to hide under the table with my girls. However, the girls were so desperate to escape that they burst out towards the exits.
The cloaked people started shooting all over the place, and the girls are caught in the shot. I see them fall one by one with blood spread out on the floor. My BFF wanted to scream, but I covered her mouth.
The cloaked shooters turn their backs and walk further from us. I don’t know how many of them are and frankly, I don’t care. I just want to get out.
I take this as the perfect opportunity to escape from under the table, grabbing my BFF. An explosion suddenly hit us as we run! My BFF is knocked towards the wall where the rubble fell on her. She’s not buried entirely, but the wreckage landed on the lower part of her body which made her bleed.
Thank the stars I’m not hurt, but my shiny new blue dress is ruined by the explosion and dust. Then I hear more explosions coming in. I don’t get where they’re coming from when it’s just machine guns here. But that’s not all! I even witness an explosion taking out on the crowds at the exit doors in one blow!
What?! Is there a more massive explosion coming?!
It’s faint, but I hear a clock ticking.
SHIT! A BOMB!!
I must grab my BFF fast, but she's trapped under heavy rubble. I try pulling the wreckage away with no relief. She’s still bleeding, which has spread on the floor. I notice her getting weaker with her head lowering down.
“Glen, ugh ...save yourself...” she muttered, but I can still hear her. “No! I have to get you out of here!” I try in vain to pull her out from the rubble by grabbing her hand. She’s going to be married soon, and I don’t want her to die like this.
I keep trying to pull her out despite the bomb threat. I’ve noticed she’s not moving.
NO! NO!
The timer of the bomb has set off to its last countdown. The most massive explosion has begun. I don’t have time to run, and there's nowhere to escape. I’m about to be engulfed by the fiery blast ready to die on the spot.
Shit! It’s all over...
When I open my eyes, I find myself outside the dance joint. The explosion left a volcano-like crater. Nothing of the building remained as if it were vaporized. Usually, a bomb wouldn’t produce an explosion like this. Some rubble would stay, but there is none of that. The people inside it vaporized too. All I see is smoke coming from the crater.
I’m located far from the joint between some trees. I considered running towards the scene, but I was stopped by a mysterious voice behind me.
“You shouldn’t continue any further...”
I tried turning around, but I was teleported back to my apartment. Was it the voice? I don’t know! I thought I heard a male voice. Anyway, I didn’t care. I was beyond exhausted. I just want to lie down, but first I turn on the TV. Breaking news shows the incident with police and military troops surrounding the crater.
I was horrified. I’m the only survivor of this incident. All my friends died in one night... I collapsed in front of the TV and started crying. I switch it off because I didn’t want to hear any more.
Then I hear something drop from my hand: my BFF’s engagement ring. I must’ve taken it off while I was pulling her from the rubble.
Date: March 27
Time: Morning, New Moon
I’ve been invited by some relatives of my dead friends to attend the memorial at the church. The ceremony ended, and as I make my way outside the church, I hear a sob from my BFF’s fiancé.
Somehow, I took the engagement ring with me to the church. I considered returning it to him. Instead, I keep the ring to myself. I didn’t want to give him more pain than he already is.
Shortly after, I return home. I lay on my bed in tears with my lips shut. My mind is entirely blank, unable to think anything. Then I close my eyes, hoping to forget it all.
Month Two - April
Date: April 1; Time: Morning
“Good morning. Please wake up.”
I sit upon hearing a sudden voice. I scan around to see something odd on my bed, which I let out a shriek. Eek!
I shake the sheets, knocking the figure facepalm to the floor. The thing slowly lifts its head up and stares at me with an annoyed expression.
“Is this how you always greet someone?!”
Upon opening my eyes, I notice this is the same feminine cat from two weeks before. Well, it’s a stuffed animal posing as a cat.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
How did it get in here? The doors and windows are shut tight!
Unless... maybe a burglar?
I sprint out of my bed and rush straight to the living room. And I skid in my tracks, standing in the middle of the open space. Nothing has changed.
The cat shrugs with a sweatdrop.
With that settled, I make my breakfast.
“So, this is where you live. Not bad.” The cat makes acute observations about my apartment. It wanders around, looking at every corner, making comments, and nodding. I still don’t get why it’s here in the first place.
“Do you live alone here?” the cat asked.
“Yes, I live alone here,” I replied. It’s so weird to hear a cat speak.
Upon finishing my breakfast, I decide to do some house cleaning. The cleaning takes an hour or so of my time, so I might as well get it out of the way. The cat quietly stands in a corner to observe me. Somehow, I find its presence comforting and distracting at the same time. Then after cleaning, I sit on my sofa to watch TV.
The cat sits on the sofa with me, but I keep my distance from it. “So, you did what I asked you to do?” the cat asked, looking towards me. I nodded but didn’t felt like saying it. The cat follows up with more questions.
“How are you doing? Are you eating well? Did you sleep well last night? Are you feeling well? Did you drink eight glasses of water a day? This last one is half a joke, ha-ha!”
I ignored its questions. The cat's not my mom, so I don't reply. Sensing that, the cat backs off with a sigh. I loop through the channels by pressing the remote.
“Wow! I see little people in the box!” shouted the cat in amaze. I don’t get what’s to be excited about TV. Maybe the thing is old school. I stop at a news channel talking about a specific drug company’s stock going up. Yawn!
“How do you reach out to them?”
“You don’t. You just watch.”
“Really?” The cat gets closer to the TV and lightly taps the screen. “Ah!”
“Get away from it!” I barked. The cat steps back to the sofa. I loop the channels again, hoping to find something that catches my interest.
I’ve been terribly bored since the incident. There’s no one I can talk to; no one to text. I feel like my smartphone is collecting dust as it sits still on my nightstand.
Next, I stop on a movie channel. It shows a young sorceress on an adventure. She looks familiar somehow. Suddenly, my heart beats faster. Why is this happening? A mere movie couldn’t trigger me like this!
It’s those visions again!!
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I curled up on the sofa with my head lowered down. The cat looks at me with concern.
“Hey...”
I calmed somehow. Now I’m sweating up a cold sweat. I turn off the TV, so I can go to the kitchen to make a cup of latte.
The cat followed me and stood at the kitchen entrance. I dropped my latte in surprise when I saw it. The cup didn’t break since it’s made of plastic but still annoying.
“Please allow me.” The cat uses its powers to pick up the cup and place it on the table.
“In case you forgot, my name is Gwen. I’m going to live here from now on.”
WHAT?! This isn't an April Fools’ joke? What kind of bullshit is this?! I can’t believe I have a stuffed talking cat living in my house. I have no choice but to accept it here.
Date: April 3
Time: Afternoon, Half Moon
Gwen and I officially live together. It’s settled. There’s no going around it.
We sit on the sofa to talk about ourselves. Oh well, it’s better to talk to someone (even if it is a stuffed animal) over no one.
“As you already know, I’m Gwen, short for ‘Gwendolyn.' I used to be human once, but that was long, long ago. It’s nice to meet you.”
I see, so she shares the same name as me except hers fit the feminine mode. Get it? Gwen is a girl's name. Therefore, Gwen is a female cat.
Although, it’s kind of confusing. I mean, there’s a difference in a letter. But eh, I can live with it.
“So why you're here?” I asked.
“To watch you, of course,” she replied.
“Like, take care of me?”
“Yes, to make sure you’re doing alright.”
“Okay, so how do you know me?”
“I know you far more than you think. I’ve been watching you for a long time.”
“Like exactly for how long?”
“Three years.”
I get this discomfort in the pit of my stomach of the mere mention of three years ago. I decide to switch the topic for my relief.
“You said you were human once. How long?”
“Heh! You'd be in a shock if I were to tell you. Are you familiar with peasant life? Castles? Royalty? Crusades? How about sorcery?”
Legacy of Dolyn Page 2