54 Close Encounter

I had a lot of questions to ask Mr. Kenan, once I found him. Instead of putting everything back, I took the paper and the red notebook with me. It didn't matter if he yelled at me for messing with his personal belongings anymore. I had to learn more about it.

I was about to get out of the teachers' room to keep searching for either Mr. Kenan or the intercom controls, but when I opened the door to get back into the hallway, I've noticed something different. The color of the walls were different. 'Perhaps the top layer of the paint is peeling off because of the extreme heat', I thought. Just at that moment, the door suddenly escaped my hand and smashed to the wall, pushing me back into the teachers' room. The loud noise was deafening. My ears started ringing, I was not able to hear anything for about half a minute.

The items scattered around the teachers' room started vibrating and clinking. A few pens and cups left on the table were shaking. A book fell down the shelf located near the other side of the room.

"Earthquake!" I said loudly, and tried to position myself in a relatively safe position near the corner of the room. As I was curling up in the corner, a low-pitched humming sound filled the atmosphere. A strong wind started blowing in the building, just like it happened yesterday evening. The wind was inflicting a weird pain. All those, combined with the ringing of my ears, were definitely insufferable. I closed my eyes. I held my head with both of my hands and squeezed it, but the pain wasn't going away. I put my forehead on the wall and pushed against it. Yet, it was no use. I let out a scream out of pain and frusturation. The wind got stronger.

"Wake up!" someone said behind me. The voice echoed a few times. It was the voice of a young lady. I could not recognise her by her voice. I wanted to turn around and look at her, but I the intense pain kept me from doing so.

"I- I'm... already..." I tried to reply.

"Turn around." she said before I could finish my sentence. Unfortunately, I could not turn around. Just when I was about to reply again, she said something else.

"Stand up!"

I kept trying to talk but I could only make unintelligible sounds. I could barely even hear what I was saying. As I was struggling, the clock on the wall came off of it's place while vibrating and fell on my head. I wasn't injured, but it made the pain even worse than before.

I finally stopped squeezing my head and turned around to look at the girl. But when I turned around, there was no one there.

"Wh- Where did you go?" I said.

"My goodness... It was true!" the voice said in excitement. I could not understand where the sound was coming.

"I can't see you!" I shouted, still in pain.

"Why?" she said. "Why did you return?" Oddly, this time, the voice sounded a bit familiar; but I still couldn't recognise whoever she was.

"I don't understand!" I yelled.

"Oh." the voice said. "I almost forgot... It is not the real you."

"Help me." I said at last, heavily breathing. The wind got weaker and the humming slowly faded out; but the ringing remained. Objects all around the teachers' room had stopped vibrating. Just then, Mr. Kenan barged into the teachers' room. There was quite a scene.

"There you are!" he said. I had a lot to say to him, but I couldn't. I simply looked at his face. My eyes were full of tears. The red notebook and the architectural plans were on the ground, just next to me. He immediately noticed it. But instead of yelling at me, he spoke in a calm voice.

"I'm sorry that everything have developed a bit too fast for you to comprehend." Mr. Kenan said. "But don't worry, it will be okay soon enough."

"The fire..." I said Mr. Kenan.

"What fire?"

"You can't be serious!" I shouted at him. "The fire completely surrounds the building!"

"Hey, hey, calm down..." he said, then continued. "What fire? There is no fire."

I couldn't believe what he was saying. I got up on my feet and looked outside the window to show him the fire. But, when I looked outside, I was even more confused. He was right. There was no fire. There were no black burning marks either. The trees were green and healthy.

"The fire..." I slowly said, in shock.

Mr. Kenan approached me from behind to look out of the window. He stopped a few steps behind me.

"Look." he said. "I told you, there is no fire."

"But... But I've seen it!" I said.

"Did she tell you that?" he asked.

"Did who tell me what?" I asked in return. "Do you... Do you mean you saw the girl who was talking to me just a while ago?"

"The girl?" he asked.

"Yeah, there was a young lady."

"A young lady, eh... Did you see her?" Mr. Kenan asked.

"No, not exactly..." I replied.

"What did she tell you?" he asked.

"Well, she... While I was in that corner, she asked me to turn around." I answered.

"What were you even doing in that corner?" he asked this time.

"I was trying to protect myself from the earthquake." I replied.

"Protect yourself from the WHAT?" he asked in shock.

"The earthquake."

"Damn it, you are helpless..." Mr. Kenan said and sighed. "Anyway, did she tell you anything else?"

"No, she went away." I said. "Did you see her? Do you know her?"

"No and yes, respectively." he answered.

"If that's the..." I didn't finish my sentence. "Wait a minute. How on earth is that even possible?" I asked.

"Patience. Be patient. You will understand." he said.

"I am tired of being patient." I told him.

"Do you really want to know that much?" Mr. Kenan asked.

"I do." I answered.

"Even if it's bad?" Mr. Kenan asked.

"Yes." I said.

"Are you willing to sacrifice?" he asked and got a step closer to me.

"Sacrifice what?" I asked as I turned around. At that moment, something hit my head.