Orenda

Chapter 1

"Hey, kid! Wake up!", a deep husky voice echoed in my head followed by a light tap on my shoulder. With blurry vision, I rubbed my eyes and sat up. Nightguard was standing beside my desk.

"Why are you still here?" the old man said with a bit of irritation in his voice.

"Huh! What do you mean why? Prof. Lee Seok-hoon 's lecture is within few minutes in this classroom." I replied while looking at my phone.

"Waaaaait What! 6:30 pm. How is it possible?" I was here at 3:45 pm and and and......"

"Well....... if now you know. Exit is over there. Would you mind leaving? I have to lock up every classroom, you know. Let me do my job without any trouble please.... (sigh) Damn these young brats." Watch-guard ajhussi gave me a warning glare and went outside muttering something. I quickly packed all of my belongings and dashed out of the classroom while apologizing to the night guard.

"How can I be so careless! ....(ugh) .....And I can't believe Sera left me behind.....! So much for being Best Friend Forever and I'm always there for you....just wait till I get hold of you" Cursing my best friend I took out my phone only to find 20 missed calls from her, low-key feeling guilty for cursing her.

I was lazily dragging my legs through the campus's botanical garden, which looks more like a mini forest, on my way back to dorms. It was getting dark, not a single person was visible in my line of sight, strange! considering how active college students are during the nightlife ....(ugh) maybe they're all doing their neverending assignments... but the garden is looking a bit creepy under low light plus there are stupid rumors about the garden being haunted and whatnot? It's already been a year since I started using this route, but I am nowhere near becoming familiar with it. It was scary then and still is.

"Lia!"

"Lia"

I hear someone calling my name. I halted and turned around to check who it was, but there is no one, absolutely no one. Assuming fear must be playing with my hearing abilities. I decided to ignore it.

"Lia"

"Han Lia"

Again I heard my name being called, I stopped to check, but this time too there was no one around. Assuming I am hearing things, I ignored it again, "Ahhhh...I must be really exhausted ......I am just tired.....there is nothing to be scared about. There are no such things as Ghosts.....I promise myself, as soon I reach dorm, I will crash on my bed, no games, no webtoons, no k-dramas, no social networking, no anime or whatsoever for today. I should take care of myself". I tried consoling myself.

"Han Lia"

I was still pondering in my thoughts when I heard my name again, but this time louder than before. Chills ran down my body, even if wanted to, I can't ignore the fact that I actually heard someone calling me. I stopped for a moment, or more like froze on the spot. Reassuring my mind and heart to stay calm, I slowly turned around to check if someone is pranking me, but again there was no one. ......" UUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH"....... Suddenly my legs were all shaky... heck ... my whole body was shaking. All the bad rumors about the garden started playing inside my head. I was sweating badly. Being a scaredy-cat like me, I was counting my last minutes.....With all the itsy-bitsy strength left in me, I decided to call Sera to calm my half-dead nerves. I was just about to click the call icon when.....

"Ahhhhhhhhh" something hard hit my head. I don't know where I got the strength from, but I immediately made a run for my life..... but fate had other plans for me..... Damn you fate.... I tripped on God know what and fell flat on my face.

This is it.... I am going to die tonight..... I was ready to be stabbed or dragged by someone......

A FEW MOMENTS LATER

Cold sweats were running down my body as my eyes were tightly closed. Even after few seconds passed, nothing happened. I opened my eyes and checked my surroundings, but there was nothing. At this point, I didn't care if there is someone or something. I was so scared that I decided to sprint for my life, mustering all my strength I stood up, counted 1, 2, 3 in my head, and ran as fast as I could, only to stumble and fell flat on my face a few meters ahead.

"What the......" I lift my head up and saw a dreadful, torn, ancient, and most importantly SUSPICIOUS looking leather-covered book lying near me. Trying to console my soul by the book, maybe just maybe this is all a prank and a few moments later, maybe somebody will pop up and tell me that YOU ARE BEING PUNKED. I don't know why but I picked up the book. I saw the foreign engraving on the front cover of the book. While I was still observing the book...

"Lia"

"Han Lia"

Again I heard my name being called. Collecting all my leftover strength, I stood up and shouted or more like stammered, "This is not funny...Okay... And I am not..... returning this book...... until you come forward and..... formally apologize to me." still trying to convince myself, it is just a stupid prank.

Suddenly birds started chirping viciously, making the already creepy environment creepier, this time I ran away as fast as I could only to stop inside the dorm building (Thank God I didn't fall this time). I was drenched in a cold sweat, my lungs were begging for more oxygen while my legs were still shaky. While taking support from corridor walls, I reached my room, opened the door, and saw familiar figures, I took a breath of relief and hugged them. I altogether felt calm, peaceful, and exhausted, all my tensed-up muscles relaxed and my vision started to blur out and the only next thing I heard was my name being called out in tensed-up voices.

***

I felt something cool and refreshing on my forehead, it felt so soothing I didn't want this soothing sensation to end. I opened my eyes, bright sunlight hit my eyes at once, I blinked few times to adjust my eyesight. I felt light breathing next to me, turned my head, and saw my best friend Sera sleeping next to me. I slowly sit up trying not to wake her and suddenly fever compressor fell into my lap. "So, that's what felt so good on my skin". I stood up and checked my alarm clock, "8:30 AM" I almost screamed. First-class starts at 8:45 am, what the...... Darn this alarm clock, I gonna be late for Mr. Kang's class..... I rushed around the dorm room getting ready and looking for my bag and books, but you know what, when you are late, things that I need suddenly decides to ditch me and hid in god know what corners as if they can smell my fears, I couldn't seem to find them. I really didn't want to wake Sera up since her first class was at 10:45 am and she really looked tired. I decided to look for them in the common room. I went outside and saw my other friend Wonwoo heading out.

"Lia! OMG girl, are you okay?" He hugged me out of nowhere.

"Yes! What would happen to me", breaking his embrace and not paying much attention to him, " Dude, have you seen my bag?" I asked him.

"Lia.... Lia ... Lia listen" he kept bugging me.

"What Wonwoo...! Can't you see I am busy looking for my bag if you know where it is, tell me otherwise bug off" I irritatedly shouted at him.

"Lia we were so tensed ...."

"Not now please....."

"Han Lia! listen up", this time Wonwoo blew his cool and shouted at me.

Hearing all the commotion, Sera woke up and came rushing to the common room.

"Lia are you okay?", this time Sera hugged me and I could totally tell from her voice she was about to cry.

Hearing her cry made me panic and I held her by her shoulder, wiped her tears, and asked her " Why are you crying?"

"She is crying because she was worried about you!" Wonwoo said and brought a glass of water for Sera.

"Me? huh? What's wrong with you guys why you are acting like this?"

"Okay let's settle down first, Sera looks like she gonna pass out any second," Wonwoo said and we both took Sera and help her sit on the nearby sofa in the common room. I saw my bag lying on the table," So there you are", and grabbed my bag.

"Okay, guys! why don't we let Sera rest now and talk about this whole thing that happened right now later because I am seriously getting late for class" and I rushed out of the dorm room before Wonwoo could say anything?

to be continued.......