Four hours ago...
"Hey hey hey peeps. This is Dave from Dole Radio Live, here with the latest news."
As this broadcasts through the speakers affix on every lamppost on campus, a young man bolts out of Roland Hall, clasping onto a prosthetic leg.
"Today, the Physics Department has finally landed a project with the Henwrich Aeronautics Center a.k.a the HAC. But don't get your hopes up coz this project is based on the soil composition of the nearby Latvia Plateau and not Mars."
A booing sound plays in response.
The chaser stumbles upon a mobile kiosk while the thief slides past fellow students walking across the narrow passageway.
"But good news for all the sophomores. The Friggins Ball is now cancelled and has been replaced with an on-campus concert held by the famous rock band, the Daltons."
A cheery sound plays in response. "Man, I wish I had that luck last year."
The chaser loses sight of the thief when he enters a crowded street.
"Freshman Jessica Simmons has won the Best Cinematography for Shaidon Hoddon's 'A Time to Remember' at the annual Panorama Awards, making it her first international award."
A huge round of applause plays in response.
The thief almost reaches the Felmich Track and Field Center, when he skids over a banana peel, falling flat on his abdomen.
"And lastly, you will find newscasters from across the country talk about this - Jason Smith's back on the Dolphins' Diving Team, after his successful comeback last week at the Budgers State Championship."
A huge cheering sound plays, deafening the sound of chit-chats among the pedestrians.
The chaser finds the thief, who struggles to get up. Spectators surround the scene.
"That's the news for today, peeps. Hope you enjoy the barbecue organized by the Swatleys Cafe tonight."
An instrumental melody plays in the background. "This is Dave from Dole Radio Live, signing out."
The chaser removes his cap, stunning the spectators around. "I believe this leg is mine."
"No, it's not." The thief clasps tighter to the leg. "You have two natural legs." He sees the legs standing in front of him.
"You also have two natural legs." Jason points to the thief's legs. He squats to get a closer look at the thief. "Why did you take something that wasn't yours."
"It's my girlfriend's." He says, finally sitting up. "See the dent here." He points to the dent on the socket of the prosthesis. "This is proof that it's hers."
"Even my friend has that dent. Well, every model designed by the company has this dent." Jason says. "Look, my friend has made a mark here.' He points to a small skull sticker on the pylon of the prosthesis. "This is evidence that this leg is my friend's."
"Aiden!" a lady approaches him. "I found my leg." She looks at Jason. "Oh, congratulations for getting back on the team."
"Thanks, Tina." Jason replies.
"So this is not yours." Aiden looks baffled. "Sorry for this." He hands over the leg to Jason, embarrassed.
"It's alright." Jason says, while Aiden gets up and treads to the Center.
"Well, good luck for the National Championship, Jason." Tina says and follows her boyfriend.
As the spectators resume to their activities, Jason sits on a bench, panting. The prosthetic leg lays beside him.
"She wasn't lying when she said her boyfriend is an Olympic sprinter."
He wipes the sweat from his forehead using his handkerchief and takes out his phone, the inbox stuffed with congratulatory messages. He scrolls down through his inbox, specifically searching for someone. His head sags down when he finds no message from a Chris Barnslow.
"Jason!" a young man approaches him.
"Hey, Peter," Jason gets up, holding the prosthetic leg. "I was on my way."
Peter reaches him. "One of my friends saw you here, so I came. Thanks for finding it."
Jason gives him the leg. He hesitates to speak what he wanted to say next.
"My brother's recovering from his shoulder injury." Peter answers him. "The physician says that he can train again from next week."
Jason sighs with relief. "Thanks for telling me." He then rubs the back of his neck.
"I don't know what happened between you two. But-" Peter's phone rings. "Oh, it's from Professor Hopkins' office. Got to go." Peter rushes away, leaving Jason alone.
Ping!
Jason receives a new notification.
Pattin's Movers Inc.: Your belongings are now on its way to Eisenhower Aquatics Center.
"Okay." Jason wears his cap and slides his phone into his shorts' pocket. He walks past the Eisenhower Center, where a small truck labelled Pattin's Movers Inc. arrives. He steps toward the Manslon Liberal Arts Center for the last time.
...
"What is all of this?" Jason scans the various sketches plastered on the walls of his now vacant room. He starts peeling out all the sketches from the walls carefully.
"Thank God I came here." Jason tosses the sketches to the floor. He pauses when he comes across a sketch of a man in his early thirties.
"Do I know him?" he peels off the sketch. He looks at the other sketches that lay on the floor. After a few moments, Jason hits his forehead, "How did I forget Dr. Banks?"
He recollects the time Dr.Banks saved his life when he got into an accident fourteen years ago...
"What is this!" said a high pitched voice. Jason turns to see his friend Brian near the door, petrified. He rushes to the sketches. "Lenkins would kill us when he finds out we did this to his walls."
"No, he won't." Jason assures him.
Brian helps Jason peels off the rest of the numerous sketches.
"Hey," Justin says. "Do you know anyone who would do this?"
"No." Brian says, now calmer. "Did you check with Security?"
"No. I came in here just before you did."
Ping!
Jason takes out his phone to check the message.
Can we meet?
Jason beams up when he reads the message.
"What?" Brian looks at Jason, baffled by his sudden delight.
"Nothing. I have to go." Jason walks past Brian.
"Bro, what should I do with these?" Brian reaches the doorstep, but Jason's long gone. Brian sighs when he looks at the sketches.
...
Jason is seated at table 6 at Karspin Cafe. He checks the short one-sided conversation of his with Chris from a year ago.
-----
6th January 2017
I'm sorry.
I'm very sorry for not coming.
Please reply.
You have been blocked from this chat.
8th February 2018
Can we meet?
You have been unblocked from this chat.
Yeah. Where? When?
Now. At Karspin Cafe.
-----
Jason smiles, teary-eyed. It was too late to repair the damage he caused to their seventeen-year-old friendship...
The bell rings, a new customer arrives. The young man reaches the counter and orders a smoothie. He feels someone staring at him as he pays for his drink. While slurping, he turns to see Jason gazing at him. Chris slurps his drink with an emotionless face and ignores Jason. Before he could walk out Jason stops him.
"You said you wanted to meet." Jason says.
Chris walks past him and marches out of the cafe. Jason runs out to stop him.
"Hey, you haven't paid for the meal you've ordered." the owner says.
"Chris!" Jason says.
Chris stops at the empty passageway, staring at the lamppost in front of him.
Jason reaches him, unaware of the fuming cafe owner walking toward him. "You said you wanted to meet." He shows the message.
"I didn't send that message." Chris says, taking a step forward.
"I'm sorry." Jason says. "For not being there that day. I knew that day was important for you-"
"Don't you get it?" Chris says, looking at Jason. "I'm not angry at you for abandoning me at the finals that day." He steps away. "Why do you think I'm so pathetic?"
"I'm sor-"
"If you're going to keep apologizing, then just shut up." Chris says and storms away.
"Sir. You have to pay for your meal." The cafe owner reaches him.
"Sorry." Jason wipes the tears from his face while looking up at the star-strewn sky. He then faces the owner, "I'll pay."
...
Jason sits on the 10 m platform, staring at the pool below him. Though his hands don't shake anymore, the height from the pool at that moment looked terrifying.
Let go, you idiot!
He can still feels his hands grasp his sister's left arm as she dangles from a thirty floor building...
Jason's nightmare is interrupted by a phone ring. Jason looks at the now blue, clear pool below before checking his phone. He beams up after looking at the caller Id.
"Yes, Mr. Grevton." Jason answers.
"A car will be coming to pick you up in another ten minutes."
"Wait-" Jason checks the time on his phone. "I thought the car would pick me up tomorrow."
"Change of plans. The President wants to meet you tonight at 9. So get moving."
"You didn't tell me-" The call disconnects.
Ping!
A message arrives from Manager Grevton.
"A black armored D-segment sedan arriving at Eisenhower Aquatics Center Entrance Point."
"Gosh, I'm not even ready," Jason looks at his casual clothes. He climbs down the platform and rushes outside.
...
Jason hurriedly combs his hair while looking at the convex mirror near the Center, his garment bag and a small paper bag lay on the bench beside him. He tucks the comb in his coat jacket and sits on the bench. He wears a white linen shirt and black trousers underneath his peach colored coat.
He peeps into the paper bag, glancing at a neatly wrapped box.
I hope Mom likes it.
The car reaches the security guarded entrance of the Center. After the security's approval, the car enters and stops in front of Jason.
"Mr. Smith?" the driver walks out of the car, tapping into his phone.
"Mr. Alec Devron?" After he receives a nod from the driver, Jason pulls out his phone. "Yeah, the code is EH6745."
The driver dials in the code. "Sir, my code is ZX0349."
Jason enters the code in the security app. The profiles of both the driver and the car pop up on the screen, matching with the details Mr. Grevton sent earlier. The Emerald House Security Seal is found at the end of the profiles, showing both the car and driver are harmless.
The surrounding CCTV cameras lock into Jason who enters the car.
The driver glances at Jason checking his phone through the rear-view mirror and lets out a small smile while he starts the car.
...
"Sorry, it's taking so long." The driver says, trying to ignore the honking behind him. The car waits in front of a red traffic light.
Jason checks his phone. 8.30 pm.
He sighs, rubbing his forehead. "Do you know any other route we can take to the Emerald House?"
"Yes." the driver beams up, as if waiting for Jason to ask that. "After this signal, we can go straight instead of taking a right. Then we can reach the Emerald House faster."
Jason nods.
The driver looks at Jason getting anxious about the duration of the traffic through the rear-view mirror. The next moment, the traffic lights turn green. The car swiftly glides past the other vehicles that begin to move to their destinations.
Ping!
Jason checks the notification he received.
Brian: The pics you asked for.
Several pics of the nearly crumbled sketches follow. Jason scrolls through all of them and finds the sketch that he saw earlier. He then swipes to find a sketch of Dr. Banks seated next to a girl on a bench, both holding ice creams with a smile.
Why does she look familiar?
Jason finds another image, the one that caught his eye when he left the room to meet Chris. A young woman's face is drawn adjacent to that of the girl he saw in the last sketch. Jason zooms in to read the caption scribbled below the young woman's face.
Predicted face? Jason again reads it. Is she missing?
He then realizes that the last time he saw Dr. Banks was when he was discharged from the hospital fourteen years ago.
It can't be. I haven't gone there since then. But...
The car comes to a stop in front of an Airton Cafe.
"Sorry, sir." The driver looks at Jason. "I urgently need to use the restroom." He notices Jason's patience wearing thin. "Meanwhile, you can change into your suit at this restaurant."
Jason looks at the time in his phone. 8.40 pm. "How much longer till we arrive at the destination?"
"Fifteen minutes."
Jason notices the driver getting uncomfortable with every minute. "Okay," he sighs. "Go and come back quickly." He gets out of the car, leaving the gift bag inside.
The driver locks the car after getting out and smirks when Jason enters the restaurant.
...
Jason sits at a table near the front door, his garment bag laid unzipped on the table. He toys with his ID card he found in his coat pocket.
Why do I keep getting the wrong bag? He stares at a strange, white suit in the bag he grabbed in a hurry from the laundromat.
Well I look good in this. He straightens his sleeves. Just need to get a tie when I reach there.
He looks up to find a the waiter behind the counter, biting his fingernails and rinsing his hands in a glass of water. The same glass of water that was offered to Jason when he walked in. Jason shrugs and looks around.
There's nobody else here.
His gaze falls on the grandfather clock in a dingy corner of the restaurant.
What?
He checks his phone - 8.50 pm.
Jason gets up from his table, keeping his ID back in his pocket and walks to the door labelled Men's 'Restrom', not noticing the waiter walking out of the restaurant.
"Mr. Devron?" Jason looks at the empty compartments near him. "Where did he go?"
He walks further to search for his driver. When he opens the last door, he sees a small bird sitting on top of the toilet tank. The brown-feathered sparrow flies past him, making Jason flinch.
"He's not here." Jason pulls out his phone to call for security when his phone suddenly switches off.
"Why did it have to die now?" Jason frustratingly says, while trying to restart his phone.
Jason then looks at the mirror before him. He steps back with surprise upon seeing the iris of his left eye turn from blue to green.
"What the... I need to get out of here."
Jason bolts out of his room to get to his car.
Kee-arr!
Jason is stopped by a gigantic hawk on his table. The hawk extends its brown wings, blood dripping from its golden beak and onto the white shirt of the dead waiter on the floor.
...
"HELP!" Jason hurriedly retraces his path back to Frighton University, not looking back at his burning car. His face is severely bruised, his right shoulder bleeding.
Kee-arr!
Jason runs faster, the hawk's attacks on him at the restaurant flashing through his mind.
"GOD, HELP!!" Jason enters a forest he had never seen before.
He feels the wind blow past him as the hawk descends from the sky. He collapses forward upon tripping onto a rock in his path. Jason winces in pain as he tries moving his twisted ankle. The hawk grabs Jason's shoulders and lifts him off from the ground. Jason shrieks as the hawk's talons dig deep into his injury, his vision hazy with the increasing altitude.
The hawk descends after a few moments and as if tired of playing with its new toy, throws Jason to the ground. Jason rolls down the steep hill and lands into a thicket of bushes.
Why is this fricking bird doing this to me? Jason grumbles as he tries to get up, clutching his numb right arm with his left.
Kee-arr!
He manages to get up when he sees an elegant manor at the end of the forest, glistening in the moonlight.
Kee-arr!
Jason limps hurriedly to the manor.
The bird slowly descends, flying towards its prey when suddenly it gets hit by an invisible barrier. The bird falls to the ground, unconscious.
Jason reaches the door and upon failing to unlock the door, bangs frantically on it.
"Please open." He says, while he hears approaching footsteps.
...
Jason's eyes slam open, shaking off a recurrent nightmare. He finds himself in a room, an unattached heart monitor beside him.
He moves his right shoulder slowly. Upon not feeling any pain, he notices that his shoulder injury's vanished, only leaving the blood stains on his ripped coat.
"Thank God." He says, sighing with relief.
He then remembers about his eye. He gets off his bed and walks to a mirror in the corner of the room.
The reflection reflected a tall, young man with green eyes. He steps closer, noticing the green fluid encircling his pupils. Jason is lost for words.
The next moment, the image in the mirror slowly dissolves to reveal a woman in her late-thirties.
Jason steps back and so does she. He moves his left hand and so does she. He nods his head... and so does she.
This is creepy. he says and turns back. This is a dream right?
"Unfortunately, no." she answered.
Jason turns back, astonished. "How-"
"Jason," she says.
"How do you know my name?" He looks at the nameless board at the foot of his bed. "How are you even here? Is this a live video?"
"Jason, my time's running out." She looks at a baffled Jason. "I'll explain about this later but please call Elizabeth Banks now. I have to say something to her."
I don't even know who she is.
"She is the owner of this house." She steps closer to the glass. "She brought you in here."
I need to get out. I'm talking to a mirror.
"No, you're not. You are talking to me."
"How can you read my thoughts?" Jason demands.
"It's because," she pauses, lifting her right arm. Jason's right arm involuntarily lifts up. "I'm in you."
Jason starts to laugh. He tries pulling his hand down but can't. The lady still has her hand lifted in the air.
"Send Elizabeth Banks please, right now. I don't have much time left."
Jason starts panicking.
"First get out of me," he tries to pull his arm down.
"Okay," she says, letting go, making Jason lose his balance and fall on his right shoulder. Jason winces in pain. He looks at the lady in the mirror, she's still there.
"You have three hours to bring her here." She says. "If you don't," Jason gets dragged to the mirror. "Then you'll be stuck in here for eternity." She says and disappears.
Jason gets up, petrified by what happened.
I need to get out of here. N-n-no. I need to find Elizabeth Banks.
Just then the door slides open and a young girl enters.
"Morgan, why did you-" She looks up to see Jason getting up.
"Hello. I'm Jason." Jason clasps his right arm nervously. "Can you tell me where Elizabeth Banks is?"
Morgan smiles, her hands behind her back becoming red hot.
...
"Ahhhh!!!! "
Jason shrieks along the hallway, ducking a fire bomb. He was almost barbecued by a fiery monster. He climbs down the staircase, losing her.
I'm going out of here. This place is crazy!
He reaches the Entrance Hall, but stumbles upon a vase and falls flat on his stomach.
"Ow," Jason groans.
After a while, he turns, laying his back on the floor, his eyes getting accustomed to the sudden brightness in the room. He hears hurried footsteps approaching him and at the same time, gazes at the unstable chandelier above him.
A young woman then enters his view, her face filled with anger.
Oh... she's the missing girl.