Episode 5: Lost Labyrinth (3): Messages (1)
It was loud. Like a frightful lullaby, the siren rang in my ear as I slowly closed my eyes. I rolled my eyes looking at Sam just before I completely fell asleep. He wasn't moving an inch. The siren continued and I closed my eyes.
"1... 2... 3..." I counted in my head. "4... 5... 10..."
The siren stopped.
I opened my eyes wide open and shot up from the ground clenching my fist. "O-Ouch!"
My wound still hurt like hell. I glanced towards Sam and he was still soundly snoozing away.
"Did they give up on the search...?" I questioned myself. "What's going on outside?"
I didn't dare open the door. We managed to get in luckily and the room was locked. It was a good place to hide.
"They wouldn't suspect we are hiding here..." I told myself. I slowly breathed in, then breathed out. "Phew... calm down, Ray. We'll be safe here for a while..." I slowly leaned against the wall and slid down on to the ground.
By my side, Rose's bag was opened and lying there. I looked around the floor and the first aid equipments I used were still scattered everywhere. The blood stains were dried up and became fragile. I reached out, grabbed on to them and pulled Rose's bag closer to me. Slowly, I placed them back one by one.
Gradually, my hands became stiff as my eyes continued to stare at the bag. "Rose... Where did you go?"
It didn't make sense. The grassy field was as wide as half an ordinarily sized football pitch. How could she disappear like that without a trace?
Many thoughts passed my mind but one of them caught my attention.
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"Well... you see..." Rose handed me the power bank. "This was Janda's... I mean, you friend's power bank that he left you. I used it to charge your phone and Sam's phone."
~~~~~
I opened my bag and took out the power bank. It was the last thing Rose gave me. I squeezed tightly on to it and placed it near my chest closing my eyes.
"Where did you go, Rose?" I began to tear up. "Firstly, Janda... then Rose..." I glanced over at Sam. "Are you going to disappear as well...?"
I hiccuped and my wound gave off a painful sensation but I could care less. "What's happened...? What's happened to our peaceful lives?" My thoughts raced through my mind playing back the memories of Janda and I during the time at uni. "But, then again... if not for the fall of Coventry, I wouldn't have met you... Rose, Sam." I lifted my head and closed my eyes. Teardrops fell down landing on the floor.
The power bank was used to charge my phone. I took my phone out and opened my album. Swiping through the photos, I recalled the time we played games, ate meals and listened to Rose singing. I held on to my phone and we took selfies together.
One of them was particularly cute. I was crouching slightly with Rose, and Sam was standing as we took the photo. I wrapped my arm around the back and placed my hand above and behind Sam's head holding two fingers out. Rose blushed slightly looking towards the camera and Sam pulled a silly face. I waited for Rose to smile and I pressed the button.
It was fun times.
I continued to swipe through my photos passing the map I took before and finally the selfies I took with Janda.
"Where are you man...???" I sighed. "Why didn't you come with us...? We could have enjoyed the time together. The fall of Coventry, the fall of the world, it wasn't something we could handle."
I imagined that if Janda was with us, how the four of us would stick together. At least we would have been together and enjoyed the last day, the last struggles together.
"Where are you?" I thought to myself. "You only left me some messages and... that's it...?"
I pressed the home button and opened the messages; I clicked on Janda's messages.
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Unread messages: 10+
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I scrolled through them reading it one by one. The messages that I read before were still there but I noticed some unread messages.
"Did I miss these messages?" I thought to myself.
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Janda: I sure hope you grabbed my power bank…
Janda: Heyyy...
Janda: Heyyyyyyyyy
Janda: Read the messages...
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After scrolling through a couple more messages, I noticed two voice messages.
"Huh?" I said.
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Janda: "The power bank... is a disguise."
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What?
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Janda: "Open it up and you'll find some stuff inside."
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I held firmly on to the power bank and began to search for an opening on the surface of it.
*Clack*
I could hear something twisting inside like gears rolling. A moment later the side popped out.
I slowly gripped on to it and pulled it out revealing the content inside.
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Janda: "There's a pair of contact lens."
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"Haaaa???" I said. "Why would I need these???"
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Janda: "Put them on. It will help recover your eyes... well actually... never mind."
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"What the heck are you talking about???"
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Janda: "A long, long time ago... you had... laser eye surgery. Remember...?"
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I was confused. I didn't understand why he said that. Why would I have... laser eye surgery...?
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Janda: "Anyway... forget that for now. You should put those on and... *Ahem* use the bottle of eyedrops to help moisture the eyes a bit. The situation you're currently in isn't great... and I also know that we... might not be able to see each other..."
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That was the end of the voice recording, or so I thought. There was a long pause before he continued.
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Janda: "For now."
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