Campus Haunts and Rules (4)
1037 Words
Glancing at my smart band, a jolt of realization hits me—it is already past 8 PM.
The day has slipped by in a whirlwind of eerie occurrences and adrenaline-fueled moments, leaving behind an emptiness that now gnaws at my stomach with an intensity that is hard to ignore.
I had thought about heading to the cafeteria, but ultimately, I decided against it. In this bizarre world, who knows what strange things the cafeteria lady might add to my meal.
With a resigned sigh, I turn towards the cupboard. It is my last bastion of hope for a scrap of normalcy, something, anything, to quell the mounting hunger. Yet, as I open it, my heart sinks—the cupboard is barren.
“Ah, I am not going to starve to death here, am I?”
Hearing my sigh, Julie’s head rotates 180 degrees on her neck to look at me.
“Aaah!” With a sharp intake of breath, I leap backwards, a jolt of shock coursing through me. “Julie, can you turn around instead of spinning your head next time? It’s really scary.”
She gives a stiff smile. “Sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.”
Then she awkwardly pulls a cardboard box from under the desk, and to my surprise, it is a treasure trove of sustenanceit—biscuits, bread, chips, everything.
“I’ve been saving these, hoping to share them with you. But now, I am beyond such needs, so they are all yours…” Her voice trails off, as she awkwardly angles her body towards Bai-Wan, “and your friend’s.”
The depth of her thoughtfulness pierces through the surreal veil that this world has draped over us, rekindling a warmth in my chest that I feared lost. Overwhelmed by a rush of emotions, tears well up in my eyes once more.
“Can you still find rest in sleep?” I ask.
Her stiff shake of the head confirms my guess. The thought of her, devoid of the comfort of food and the refuge of sleep, tightens a vice around my heart.
Tears streaming, I turn to Bai-Wan, “That’s great, she can’t sleep, so you can use her bed at night…”
Bai-Wan, however, seems to be on a completely different wavelength, and he looks at Julie with astonishment, “You mean you can live normally without eating or sleeping?”
I am speechless, “How is that considered living normally when she cannot even eat or sleep?”
“But she can still code!”
Ah, in the eyes of a capitalist, being able to code equates to living a normal life.
Excitement sparkles in his eyes, “Imagine, if M Company’s employees could work without needing to eat or sleep…”
?
Is that even something someone would say out loud?
Thinking about how I once dreamed of joining M Company, I now feel like slapping myself. How could I have idolized a company that, through its CEO’s eyes, sees employees merely as machines?
Impulsively, I toss a pack of bread at him. “Just shut up.”
After filling our stomachs and chatting with Julie for a while, it is suddenly 11 PM. The sound of knocking and the dorm supervisor’s voice come at the same time: “Room check, open up room 603.”
I grumble as I stand, about to open the door, but Bai-Wan stops me, reminding me of the “rules.”
Rule number 5: “Curfew is from 11 PM to 6 AM. You must stay in your dorm and cannot open the door during curfew.”
I quickly catch on and shout back, “We are all here and already undressed for bed. We are not opening the door.”
The supervisor keeps knocking, her voice turning sharp. “Open up. Don’t think I don’t know you are hiding a man in there.”
What does she mean by “hiding”? I brought him in openly. “We are not opening the door, no matter what!”
The supervisor suddenly laughs eerily, “You think you can defy me? I have the spare keys. Just you wait, I’m going to fetch them now.”
Hearing her high heels clicking away, I freeze. “This is bad, the supervisor has spare keys to our room, and not just one!”
Julie asks, “Alia, why can’t we open the door?”
“It’s against the rules, and breaking them means death for me. Not only can’t we open the door, but I also can’t leave the dorm, or I would have escaped through the window by now,” I point to the window next to the door.
After a moment of thought, Julie says, “I can help you.”
The supervisor is coming back; I can hear the sound of her high heels growing louder, each tap a foreboding drumbeat against the stillness of the night. My heart races, panic and fear intertwining as the threat looms ever closer.
“Help? How?" I question, my voice barely above a whisper, laden with despair. "Even if you stop her now, she’ll just call security. You can’t stop them all. As long as she has a spare key, you will…”
But before I can finish, Julie climbs out the window. Turning to me—this time actually turning her entire body to face me. She remembers what I have said—she always does.
Her face suddenly shows a fusion of gratitude, love, and an aching sorrow. And then, with the quietude of a whisper lost in the wind, her lips move, “Julie will always protect Alia.”
A wave of panic washes over me as I rush to the window, yelling, “Julie, what are you doing? Come back!”
But it is too late. In the moment the supervisor approaches, Julie lunges at her, embracing her as they both leap from the building.
The world around me narrows to this single, heart-stopping moment. Time stretches, dilates, and for a brief, eternal instant, everything else falls away, leaving only the fading silhouette of her disappearance.
A loud thud follows, and then silence reigns once more.
- Writer
