“I was attacked!” said Dev at last.
“Attack? Who attacked you?”
“I don’t know!”
“Say it rightly!” snapped Nania.
“I’ve said it correctly.”
“Don’t make up stories to convince me!” The girl still thinks that Dev is just bragging.
“You must have seen the CCTV footage on Elios’ cell phone, right?” Nania glanced at Dev for a moment, then she fell silent in contemplation.
“Dev, did you go into the cold room earlier?” Dev shook her head weakly. How could she possibly admit that the one in the room was indeed her.
“Are you thinking about someone you suspect?” Dev guesses. Trying to understand what Nania’s silence meant.
“I don’t know! Dev, did you make trouble so you got a mysterious attack?” Nania’s brain is still full of question marks.
“No. Since resting here, I haven’t done anything. I went out looking for you after I got all these wounds.” Dev made up her best.
“Okay. Get some rest. I’m on the second floor if you need anything.” After giving the message, Nania got up and left the room, leaving the vase fragments still scattered on the floor.
The clock ticks on, Dev’s thoughts drift to Elfara. She had forgotten what had happened to her body a while ago. At a glance, there was a small scream that hit the eardrums. A characteristic scream of contention led her feet into a room.
In a hushed voice, Dev’s footsteps stopped at the side of the door. The sight full of surprise almost took her eyes. A girl with long hair sat cross-legged among chicken carcasses surrounded by radiance of fire. Dev can see it even though the room is low light. The girl then made an expression like a madman because she was possessed. The scene ends soon when the sound of Dev’s shoes creates a commotion. Dev’s steps are stopped by a touch on her shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” Dev immediately turned around and immediately found Elios’ face in the lens of her eye.
“I ….” Looking back, Dev gasped to see Elfara sleeping sideways on the bed. Even more shockingly, all the fire and chicken carcasses that she had seen had disappeared.
“I heard screams from here!” continued Dev.
“Nothing! You’re tired and still sick. Maybe that’s why you misheard. Come on, I’ll take you to rest.”
“I can’t sleep, Elios!” Dev complained which was greeted by Elios’ warm gaze.
“To be honest, I’m not sleepy either. Would you like to accompany me to drink coffee?” Dev nodded. Good opportunity for Dev to dig for information.
In the inner garden of the villa, Dev is led to sit on a wooden chair, facing the glass wall which gives a nice view of the back of the villa. Elios drops the weight on Dev’s right side. Two cups of Arabica coffee complete their restless night.
“What keeps you from sleeping?” Elios broke the silence that was created.
“I don’t know! What about you?”
“I thought about your condition.” Silence. Dev’s eyes are busy penetrating the scene behind the glass.
“So, how long have you known Nania?” Elios changed the conversation as if he understood what was in Dev’s heart.
“Recently!” Dev gives a short answer.
“I have been friends with her for a long time. I am very grateful for this coincidental moment.” Elios’ smile grew behind the puff of coffee he was about to sip.
“Elios, I want to ask you something.”
“Yes, I’ll be happy to answer that.”
“Who is that girl?”
“Why?”
“Just asking. She seems very special to you.”
“You’re right, she is special to me. She looks so much like the girl who managed to make my brain stop thinking about her.” Dev spontaneously touched her face, but her brain failed to process Elios’ words. Seeing Dev’s expression like that, Elios assumed that Dev understood what he meant.
“I know it’s too soon, but I can’t stop what my feelings want.” Elios’ words made Dev’s brain even more tangled.
Dev closed her eyes as she took a breath, then she said in a slightly suppressed tone “Who is she? What’s her name and what relationship do you have with you?”
“She–”
“Dev! Devada!” Nania’s voice cut off Elios’ words.
“It’s her again!” said Dev annoyed. Not long after that, Nania’s figure appeared.
“Dev, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Why did you go out without my permission? You’re really outrageous. I’m tired of worrying about you, but you’re actually drinking coffee alone with Elios,” Nania squeaked out of her annoyance in one word.
“Don’t blame Devada like that! I invited her.”
“I’m not asking you to talk, Elios. So, you’d better shut up!”
“How can I be silent? You crossed your line.”
“Are you–”
“Enough!” Devada’s jolt made them pause for a moment. She left after exhaling an emotional sigh.
“You freak! A waste of my time.” Grunts accompanied Dev’s massive steps.
“I guess I’ll have to find out myself,” she added.
***
Early morning ….
Dev is awakened by her sudden chaotic heart rhythm. Her breath hitched as soon as her eyelids opened. The blanket, which had been stuck on the body for some time, was blown away and fell over the nightlight. Hastily, she left the room.
“Elios!” Dev shouts once across the study. Elios was sprawled on the side of the chair with his eyes closed.
When Dev checked, air was still blowing from the young man’s nostrils. Dev believes that Elios had been unconscious for a long time. Given the slightly thin body temperature is still warm or normal.
“What happened to him?”
Prang!
Noise distracts Dev. The increasingly loud and intense voices pulled Dev’s steps into a small underground passage. A dim light peeked out from the gap in the room. From the dim light, two incomplete shadows told that something bad was happening. Dev carefully, peeks at the side of the door. From there her eyes stopped.
“Nania!” A scream full of anger escaped her mouth as her feet rushed in spontaneously.
“Devada?” The girl flinched at Dev’s sudden presence.
“Abominable!” cursed Dev. Her eyes were so cold looking at Nania who was scared. However, her eyes lit up in an instant as she turned to someone not far from Nania.
“Devada, you misunderstood! I didn’t commit such atrocities as you think.” Nania is busy arguing, but Dev closes her ears. Dev’s attention is currently only focused on the girl who fell down in front of Nania.
“I helped you to your feet.” The girl looked up, then looked at Dev in silence.
“Are you hurt?” Dev’s question gets a nod.
“One more time you touch it, you will face me, Nania!” Every word Dev press is full of threats. Dev’s expression that was not playing for a moment made Nania look frustrated.
“Dev ….” Dev doesn’t care about anything related to Nania.