Chapter 56 - All Seeing (1)

"Wha-"

"! "

The moment Nida opened her eyes, she couldn't continue what she was about to say because water went inside her mouth and nose the moment she tried.

She flailed her legs and arms, but felt nothing solid.

"Calm down!" she shouted internally as she tried her best to calm herself in an unexpected situation she was in.

She started to feel okay once she calmed down and held her breath to not breath more water.

She looked around, and all she could see was water.

There is a dim light above her.

Nothing else but her and the water.

She tries to swim upward, but she is not moving into her place no matter how many times she swings her hands and feet.

"Why am I even here?" 

She tries to recall why she is even underwater.

The last thing she remembers is that she was having a lunch break nap.

"Is this a dream?"

She gave up and just let herself be surrounded by water.

The water was still swirling, yet it had become calm and cool.

The sound of silence was deafening. All she could hear was the swirling of the water and her heart thumping as if it was going to rip out her rib cage.

The twisted feeling of fear grew bigger and bigger the longer she stayed under the silent water.

Wooooo

A unique sound was finally heard down below at the lowest part of the water.

She looked down and tried to see what was beneath her.

The pitch black bottom of the water she's in is quite frightening.

"Hmm?"

She flinched once she realized what was making the bottom pitch black.

"AAAAAAA!" she screamed internally as she tried to swim upward again, but it was useless. She was not moving at all.

Even though it was useless, she kept her gaze above her and swung her whole body, but suddenly she felt something was pulling her downward.

She looks at her legs and sees a group of people grabbing each other's bodies until one of them hugs her lower body.

"Why did you kill me?"

"Why?"

"Die!!"

The group of zombie-like creatures started to chant the word "Die" repeatedly while pulling her down.

She struggled to get out of its grip, losing more precious air.

She moves her body to get away from the people grabbing her down, but her strength is nothing compared to the mass of people grabbing her.

The dim light above got farther and farther away as she was dragged even more.

Her chest was hurting badly, and she could feel her heartbeat beating louder and louder.

Fear consumed her as she desperately needed air.

Everything started to hurt, and her chest felt like someone had stabbed her.

Then, with her last strength, she flailed her arms once more. 

No luck.

"Killer!!"

"Why did you attack us?"

"Bring back our lives!"

Her body is not hurting anymore.

'Ah, these people are the ones I killed.' She said to herself as she let herself be dragged deeper and even more.

Then everything went black.

"Nida!"

Her eyes snapped open. Nida is covered in a cold sweat, shaking, her heart pounding, and she is looking around the room, suspicious and paranoid that the horror may have followed her here. She moves her body cautiously, shivering, rubbing her head and eyes as she tries to fully awaken.

"Are you okay?"

A lady in her early twenties gently taps her back as Nida tries to learn to breath again.

"Ms. Lisa, why are you here?" She asked, finally calmed down.

She then looked at her officemate with a little bit of embarrassment. 

"Did I bother you?"

"Oh! Not all! I just got a little scared of your moaning in your sleep. "

"Bad dreams," she dryly said as she looked at the time. "It's past one o'clock. Let's go. We will get into trouble."

Nida didn't eat her lunch today and chose to take a nap to replenish her energy that has been drained due to traveling into other dimensional places.

However, she didn't expect to have a nightmare. 

The deaths of those people who died at their hands were still so fresh in her mind that they hunted her in her sleep. 

"Don't worry, the managers have a meeting right now. They wouldn't notice even if we were not back on time. " Lisa said as she poured water on a cap she offered to Nida.

Ms. Lisa is her officemate. She has the lowest position of being just an encoder, but she's also the jolliest among the people in her department. 

"Does work stress you out?"

"Not really. I am not slightly bothered by our manager's strictness."

"Then love life?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, what other thing should you be stressing out about if it is not love or work?"

"You're hilarious, Ms. Lisa." She ignores her weird ideas and gestures for her to stand and go back to their office to work.

"Nida, where have you been?" Randell welcomes her with concern.

"Should I be reporting every place I go?"

"Ah, no. Sorry." Randell's concerned expression turns to gloom as he slumps over his shoulder. Nida let out a sigh and felt bad about her coldness.

"I took a nap." She said shortly that this automatically made Randell feel better.

She went back to her seat, but she couldn't start her work because Lisa approached her again.

"What is it, Ms. Lisa?"

"Actually, Jenny, Olive, and I are going to attend a group blind date."

"Then?" Nida tried not to appear cold in front of her fidgeting officemate.

She softly said, "We are lacking one person," but instantly perked up and held both of her hands. "Ms. Nida, please go with us! This is a good way to relieve stress! I promise you will enjoy the date. " 

Lisa's eyes sparkled as she anticipated her reply.

"I am not fond of that kind of thing." She politely refused.

"You are not fond of it since you haven't tried it yet! Come on, please join us! You don't have a boyfriend now, right? "

"No, I don't."

"Then it will suit you perfectly! Your stress and fatigue will be swept away if you find someone to date! Love is power!"

Lisa's nonsense was laughed at by Nida, but before she could notice, the two other girls Lisa was talking to had already gathered around her. 

"Please come, Ms. Nida!"

"Yes, your pretty face is being covered in stress. You need new things to be rejuvenated! "

"Yes! We will help you dress up! "

Even when the two are conversing in such a way that Nida cannot easily overhear what they are saying,

"Do I really look very stressed?" She touched her face to feel her eye bags and dry skin.

"You're still pretty, but you're really exhausted, Ms. Nida."

"You need to do something to relieve your stress."

"Yeah, right! Let's go on a blind date! "

She's thinking of considering their offer now that they're too into it.

Maybe if I get to know other people, I'll be able to forget about my fears.

She thought.

She only knows a few people.

It was Toto, Randell, Daniel, and her parents.

She's thinking that maybe she's making her life miserable because of her own fault of rejecting meeting new people.

She hesitantly responded, "I'll just hang around, but don't expect me to be very active."

"Seriously? You'll join? "

"Yes."

"Oh, YES!"

"No, you can't!"

Her three officemates' celebration was interrupted by Randell's protest as he slammed his hand on the table.

"What are you shouting over there?" Nida asked him as he realized his sudden reaction.

"I said it's dangerous to go out on a blind date. Do you even know the guys you will meet? "

"Haha Sir Lobo, it won't be a blind date if we know them already." The girls laughed at Randell's cute reasoning.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" Nida asked him.

"No. Sorry for shouting. "

"Anyway, Ms. Nida, let's meet at Millano Mall at 2 pm on Sunday."

"Isn't that too early for a blind date?" Nida asked since she thought blind dates always happened around dinner or lunch time.

"Olive's parents have a salon at the mall; we will prep there. We will also get you a dress to wear, so you don't have to worry. " Lisa excitedly shared.

"Isn't it a bit too much if I also use your dress? "

"Don't worry about anything!"

"Yeah,! I will make sure that everyone is super pretty on that day. "

"Yes! Let's make the boys' eyes pop out! "

The girls loudly giggle at each other.

Nida just smiles while watching their jolly and cozy conversation, as if she feels like it is too rare for her to have this kind of peace.

The four of them spend the afternoon office hours without doing any actual work. Taking advantage of the absence of their manager, they chatted for a long time about their Sunday plan.

On the other hand, someone is watching the girls talk with a gloomy expression. 

Randell is holding onto the important documents for trucking service tightly, not realizing that he is crumpling them due to his dissatisfaction with the topic. 

"Nida shouldn't meet other guys," he murmured.