The woman in my dreams

"Mornin' " Hazel or... should I say Anastasia, greeted me at the door while sipping her cold drink.

"Good morning." I smiled. "Come in."

I couldn't help but let my eyes get drawn towards her legs. It would take some time for me to get used to seeing her actually walk, even though she sits on a wheelchair while going out to the garden since she's still Hazel for the others.

She was back to her friendly self, but different from the Hazel I used to know. Hazel was a cheerful and energetic girl always smiling at me from her wheelchair, whereas Anastasia, I have yet to know how she really is.

She sat on the couch across from me, crossing her legs on the table, and looked at me through her glasses with a smile while placing her cold drink on the table, "You don't have to look at me like I'm a different species."

I realized that I was staring at her too much and quickly averted my gaze, "I-I am sorry. It's just..."

Her smile faltered, "I know you're curious to know who I am, why did I lie, and many other things. I know I've disappointed you for a long time by being Hazel and I am... sorry for that."

She took a deep breath and smiled, "My name is Anastasia and I am a 17 year old hacker.... Let's start from there."

I smiled and jokingly said, "Nice to meet you, Anastasia."

"What...?"

An angry and deep voice echoed through our happy moment.

A small gasp escaped my lips when I realized who's voice it belonged to and I turned around to see Noel, a scowl covering his face. He was practically radiating anger, but his anger wasn't directed towards me, it was towards the girl who he thought was his best friend, Hazel.

Anastasia stood up, a look of cold panic sweeping through her face, "I-I can explai—"

"Did you just say you're a HACKER?" His growling voice echoed through the room.

Everything was going wrong. I had to stop him before something further happened. I stood between them, facing Noel, my expression serious, "Listen to what she has to say, first. This is not the time for anger, Noel."

He glared at me and retrieved his hand which he was about to use to shove me.

"You better have a good reason." He glared at Anastasia.

They sat down and Anastasia told him everything. Noel listened to her story carefully, always on the hunt of catching a single lie in her story, which he probably thought was made up.

He sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "So what you're saying is you're a hacker and you were following Sam and Aleck's orders because you wanted something from their boss." He continued in a mocking tone, "And you followed their orders that almost killed Rai."

Guilt washed over her and she bit her lips and looked down.

Noel scoffed and rolled his eyes as if he was finding the situation unbelievably funny.

"Noel, stop accusing her. She must have her reasons." I frowned.

He laughed, finding my words unbelievable this time.

His expression faded into disappointment, "I don't know what reasons you had, but I'll believe you for now." It was sure enough that their years of friendship was severed and was filled with doubts, as if they had never known each other. They couldn't even look each other in the eyes.

Noel glanced at Anastasia and sighed again, "I don't know what's going on but I'll come up with a plan about this situati—"

"I already have a plan." I interrupted.

Both of them stared at me curiously.

"What do you have in mind?" Noel asked, leaning forward curiously.

"I have to play dead for sometime." I said flatly.

"Huh? But what would you gain from doing that?" Anastasia asked.

I gave her a small smile, "I want to know why they wanted to kill me. It couldn't just be because of a small grudge against me. I will need Noel to set up a fake funeral. When the two of them will get to know about my death, they'll either call or meet up with their boss to inform them that they've confirmed I was dead. At that time, I want Anastasia to use her hacking skills to find out where they're headed or what they talk about in their calls so that we can get a clue of what they're up to."

I stared at the two of them, expecting them to approve my plan. They thought for a while before nodding.

Noel heaved an exhausted sigh and glared at Anastasia, "I already have so much work piled up, and now this just had to happen."

I could see Anastasia clenching her jaws as if she was holding back from crying. She was visibly guilty.

"Noel, there's a limit to how mu—" Before I could say any further, Anastasia raised a hand as if to stop me from speaking.

"No, I deserve it." She got up from the couch with a challenging look, "I'll help you in any way I can, and this time I'll be completely honest."

She got out of my apartment and my eyes followed her out of the apartment while Noel just sighed and relaxed on the couch as if to say, "Do whatever you want."

"What're you going to do?" I asked Noel in a worried tone. I just hoped he was not going to take any decision impulsively.

Noel glanced at me and then looked back up at the ceiling, "I talked with the man whom you sold that necklace to."

I perked up at his words and turned to him anxiously, "What did you find?"

"Apparently, he has no idea how it got stolen from his house, right under his nose. Since it was stolen during the night a few days ago, it couldn't have been you since you were with me the whole time."

"I didn't do anything. You know it." I said without hesitation. Noel sighed, "Yeah, I know. I know. Anyway, my father wanted to meet you. Go to his office, he must be waiting."

A confused look crossed my face, and Noel noticed it too. But he didn't bother to explain further; he was too tired. I simply nodded and stood up from the couch. Before opening the door, I looked back at Noel, "There's some food for you on the table. Make sure to eat. You look awful."

I made my way out of the building and headed for the principal's office, all the while thinking what could he want to talk about. As soon as I entered the hallway, I could see his glimmering name plate on the door at the far end of the hallway. I walked for a few moments before reaching the door and swinging it open, "Did you ask for me, sir?"

But he wasn't there. My eyes scanned the room, "Sir...?"

"Maybe he had to leave urgently." I thought to myself and decided to wait inside his office. When I walked into the office, the cold air seeped into my shirt, and uniquely sweet and pleasant smell hit my nose. It made me wonder if he likes his office scented. I sat down on a chair and looked around. There were several certificates framed on the walls and photos of himself with the orphans. I got up from the chair to have a closer look at the photos; surely he wouldn't mind that.

I noticed a photo of young Noel and the principal on his table. They looked like a happy family. Just as I was about to move on to the other photos, I noticed a small folded piece sticking out of the corner of the frame. Curiously, I tugged at the folded piece and pulled it out. It took me by surprise when I saw that it was actually a folded part of the photo. I unfolded it and there I saw a woman standing next to Noel. She had fair skin and dark black hair which reached up to her waist. She wore a flowery lavender dress and a kind smile was plastered on her lips. Noel had definitely not inherited any of her features, if she was his mother.

Something about the woman made me uneasy. It felt like I had seen her before but couldn't place a finger on it. Suddenly, something flashed across my mind.

"You have to survive...!"

It was the voice of the woman from my dreams. My head began throbbing and I could feel every single vein starting to boil. I barely managed to keep the photo as it was in the first place, before slumping down on the ground, clutching my head.

Just then, I heard the door swing open and a pair of polished black shoes met my eyes.

"Rai..?"

It was the principal.