Chapter 2 - The Campus Detective
1158 Words
Two weeks had passed since Aira was admitted to the hospital, and she was finally allowed by the doctor to go home, provided she continued monthly check-ups due to her amnesia.
The next day, Aira began her first activity as an outpatient. She insisted on returning to college, persuading her parents with great difficulty to let her.
Aira was finally able to enjoy the bustling streets of London again.
The temperature in London had reached 10°C, with melting snow piles along the roadside, signaling the transition from winter to the cooler spring.
Standing at the bus stop, Aira boarded a red bus, took out her Oyster Card, and tapped it on the machine near the bus entrance.
She chose a window seat, allowing herself to breathe in the London air she seemed to have missed. Her sense of smell fortunately, was unaffected by her memory loss.
Opening her bag, Aira checked her now-crumpled novel manuscript, ensuring all pages were intact. Today, Sindy had promised to introduce her to Sindy's detective friend.
The bus stopped, and there is a blonde woman who Aira recognized was waiting for her at the bus stop near their campus.
"It's a Miraculous that you came safe here alone," Sindy said with a broad smile as she approached Aira stepping off the bus.
"There's a thing called GPS, you know," Aira joked.
"Wow! Are you from the future? What kind of technology is that?" Sindy replied playfully.
Aira and Sindy arrived in front of their classroom, which was already filling with students. Sindy pulled Aira to a seat by the window.
Aira gazed out the window beside her seat. Across from their campus building there was another building which looks similar with her campus building.
"What’s that place?" Aira asked Sindy, pointing to the building resembling their campus.
"That’s also part of our campus, but for different departments. Ah, by the way, my detective friend is over there. I’ll introduce you after class," Sindy whispered as their professor entered.
"Alright. I can’t wait," Aira whispered back.
***
After class, Sindy led Aira to the building across the campus to meet her detective friend.
Aira followed Sindy to a classroom that was now nearly empty. Scanning the room, Sindy’s eyes landed on someone.
"That must be him," Sindy said with a smile as if finding treasure.
Aira followed Sindy’s gaze but saw no one except a guy—sleeping by his head at a desk?
"Hey, Mr. Detective. Wake up! Time to work!" Sindy said, tapping the guy’s desk with her pen.
Aira stood silent as the guy stirred like a zombie, stretched, yawned, and said, "Ah, you’re here."
Aira froze for a moment, surprised by his appearance.
"Where is the guy with thick glasses, a buttoned-up white shirt, and neatly parted hair?" she thought, recalling her imagination when Sindy mentioned the word "detective" earlier.
But that guy is the opposite—wearing only a black T-shirt and jeans, his hair slightly messy, and ... quite handsome.
"You’re the detective?" Aira asked the guy.
"Yeah ... not convincing, is it?" Sindy interjected.
"Yeah ... at least I’m not the only one thinking like that," Aira replied, agreeing.
"Could you gossip about me when I’m not here? I’m still standing right here," the man said, deadpan.
Aira and Sindy burst out laughing at his response. Sindy, still chuckling, introduced Aira to him.
His name is Alden Altair, a law student at their campus. Sindy explained that Alden had solved several campus cases, ranging from stolen items and vandalism in the dean’s office to cheating scandals.
"Sounds like trivial cases. But worth to try,' Aira thought.
Alden extended his hand to Aira, who shook it and introduced herself.
"I’m Aira Smith. I can’t remember much about myself, so I don’t have much of an introduction to offer."
"I wasn’t asking for a handshake. I want to see the manuscript," Alden said nonchalantly.
Embarrassed, Aira quickly took the manuscript from her bag and handed it to him. Sindy mentioned that she had already explained Aira’s situation to Alden.
"Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" Aira asked Sindy, elbowing her. Sindy just giggled at her friend’s reaction.
Alden read through the manuscript intently, page by page. After finishing, he asked, "Is this all?"
"Yeah, that’s all. I thought you’d know it’s unfinished," Aira replied.
"I can’t take this case," Alden suddenly said, surprising both Aira and Sindy.
"What?! Why?" Aira asked, disappointed.
"I’m not interested in someone’s love life. You’ll remember it once your memory returns," Alden called before shouting, "Ciki!"
A parrot suddenly flew toward them, startling Aira and Sindy. The bird landed on Alden’s shoulder, and he affectionately stroked it.
"So, you won’t take my case?" Aira asked.
"No. Sorry," Alden replied.
With that, Alden casually bid farewell and left with his "bird friend."
"I forgot to mention Alden has another nickname," Sindy said as he left the room.
"NerdBird. Now I get the 'Nerd' and 'Bird' part."
"A weird guy with a bird friend?" Aira guessed.
"Yeah! Probably," Sindy laughed.
"So ... how can I find my mysterious man?" Aira asked Sindy.
Before Sindy could answer, Aira’s phone rang. She saw the caller ID: "Apartment Landlady."
Aira answered, hearing a middle-aged woman’s voice on the line.
"Miss Aira, how are you? I just wanted to inform you that I need to send someone for maintenance in all the apartment units. Yours is the only one that hasn’t responded. When will you be returning to the apartment?" the woman asked.
Still puzzled over Alden, Aira now looked even more bewildered at the revelation that she owned an apartment.
***
Aira finally asked her mother for permission to check the apartment she rented.
When she arrived at the apartment, Aira entered the elevator and headed to the fifth floor. It was very quiet that night, and she found herself thinking about horror scenarios that could possibly happen to her inside the elevator.
As she stepped onto her destination floor, she saw a dog doll in the middle of the hallway in front of the elevator door. She tried to pick up the brown furry doll to move it. Just as she was about to touch it, suddenly ....
Just as she was about to touch it, suddenly...
"It m-moves?! ? So, it's not a doll?!" Aira stuttered as she tried to make sense of the object in front of her.
The doll, which had only moved slightly, now barked, breaking the silence of the floor. Realizing that it was a real dog, Aira slowly began to back away from it.
Unfortunately, the dog started following her and began to chase her. Without thinking, Aira ran down the hallway in front of her. There was no one around to ask for help, so she kept running until she saw a slightly open door to one of the apartment units.
"Please ... open wider! Help me!"
- Writer
